Why are we doing this?

“Why are you doing this?,” our friends and family asked. A straightforward question with a multitude of answers, both simple and complex. Maybe we are doing this because we thought it would be fun and a good challenge. Maybe it’s because with all of Chessie’s audiological expertise it seemed a shame not to share that with the world. Maybe it’s because we wanted to have a crack at an industry that to us seems ripe for disruption with its preferred supplier deals and limited product offerings.

All of the above are true, but there is also one more reason. My dad passed away earlier this year and his hearing had been poor for a long time. A working life spent in factories as a fitter & turner can do this to you. I had assumed Dad’s hearing was not fixable and that no hearing aid or other medical intervention could recover the damage to his ears over 40+ years. My mother told me that Dad had been provided with very good hearing aids through ACC but that he basically got handed them and told to go use them. Dad took them home and put them in the drawer, never to be used. He didn’t know how to put them in or care for them and it all seemed too hard.  I recall how Dad used to find family social events a real strain as he struggled to hear anything specific and how often he would just sit, very happy to be there, but not really participating.
So in the response to the question, I would also add that we are doing this for dad and anyone else’s loved ones, no matter what age, who may be struggling to fully engage with life because of their hearing. I wish I had done something about it sooner.