30 Questions with Brandon Sawalich: Celebrating 30 Years in the Hearing Industry

In this special episode, we're celebrating a big milestone. Starkey President and CEO Brandon Sawalich is marking 30 years in the hearing industry this month. To commemorate the anniversary, Dave asked Brandon 30 questions—one for each year he's dedicated to this field. Brandon shares insights from his experience across various roles within Starkey, all of which have given him a comprehensive understanding of the industry.

They also chat about some groundbreaking Starkey moments. Under Brandon’s leadership, Starkey pioneered the incorporation of integrated sensors and was the first to utilize artificial intelligence and health and wellness technology in hearing health products. This is a conversation you won’t want to miss!

Link to full transcript.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:02

Welcome to Starkey Soundbites. I'm your host, Dave Fabry, Starkey's chief hearing health officer. Now, today we're really excited to bring back a five-time guest on the soundbite. Yes, you're the first five-timer. So we need to work on the jacket or however we're going to commemorate that. But um, Starkey president and CEO Brandon Swalich uh this month celebrates 30 years uh with Starkey and in the hearing aid industry. So I know you started when you're 12. We always have to say that. And when did you start? How old were you? Uh in the industry? Uh 17 or so um, but yeah, I I don't wear it quite as well as you do with 42 years in the business now. So, but this month, you know, we thought we'd have a little bit of fun by doing our own take on the ESPN series 30 for 30. We're gonna do one question for each of your 30 years with Starkey. And we're gonna try to do it 30 for 30 in 30. So this is gonna be a lightning round of questions, yeah, and really uh commemorating uh that you know significant milestone in terms of you were named the president of Starkey in 2017 and CEO in 2020. And you've really shepherded us, led us through an era of great transformation in the organization. You were the first in the industry to embed sensors and use artificial intelligence, which has now uh become ubiquitous but also meaningless. But we were way out in front of this under your leadership, and we'll come back to that a little bit later in some of the questions. But you know, June 20th is your 30th anniversary with Starkey. Congratulations on that, Brandon, and welcome back to Soundbite.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Well, thank you. And I appreciate uh being here, and you're right. It's kind of like the uh fifth time time flies when you're having fun. And uh this is my favorite topic, talking about myself. That's what people most people would think, but it's my least favorite topic. But I know that. But um, sure, let's uh let's have some fun here and see what you can find out.

SPEAKER_04 1:57

And spontaneous softballs because we we want to try to get that pace to see how closely we can come to the 30 for 30 in 30. Okay. And we'll start up cats versus dogs. Dogs. Yeah, figured as much. Yeah, uh, and uh favorite dog. Bulldog, English Bulldog. Okay. So May was better hearing month. We talk about hear better, live better, and that's really the the focus of Starkey. And under your leadership, we've really live and breathe at every day. With May being Better Hearing Month, uh, one of the things when we talk about Hearing Better and Living Better is music. What's your favorite song?

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Oh, um What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.

SPEAKER_04 2:36

Wow, that surprised me. I was expecting summer of 69 or something.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

I like Brian Adams. I could do, yeah, Blues Brother, Soul Man, go down the list. But uh that song always, yeah, resonates, calms. I'm an old soul, Dave. So I did not have that on my bingo card.

SPEAKER_04 2:50

So that was good. Um you're known for your commitment to innovation. Talked about AI. And how did you come up with the initiative and the goal, the objective to be our industry's first company to embed AI into hearing aids?

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Well, I don't, it wasn't a uh uh myself. You know, I don't, as you know, I don't use the word I because that takes a team. And a lot of what you said are where Starkey's at because of a team. And it really evolved, but in a short and fast-paced uh way. You know, Bill had a vision for where the hearing aid was going. You know, we've we've talked that about it for 20 years. And then we had an opportunity of uh bringing new talent outside the industry. Um, you know, Achin Bomick and and and as our new CTO from Intel, who was uh their expert in AI, and then started talking about the possibilities. And then you find out around the campus of Starkey and RD what it can do for the patient for technology, and you have to start somewhere, right? And if you're gonna fail in some areas, you fail, fail fast, you do in some features, you do in some ideas, whatever it might be. But when it comes with AI, I knew it was time for Starkey because I've been in it long enough, the industry, even in 2017. You know, let's go, let's take a swing at the fence. Let's be different. None, no, no more incremental, you know, improvements and changes. Let's be bold.

SPEAKER_04 4:17

Yeah, I love it. And we're not doing AI just for technology's sake, but to benefit the patient. Patient, yes.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Has to benefit the patient. It's been central.

SPEAKER_04 4:25

So um, you're also a huge baseball fan. Yes, yeah. Favorite Cubs player of all time?

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Oh, Brian Sandberg, number 23. Why? I grew up in Southern Illinois, so my grandpa was a Cubs fan. So in Southern Illinois, you're either a Cardinal fan or a Cub fan. And 85, 90 percent are Cardinal fans. So I guess I was going against the grain a little bit even back then. And uh I think it was a 1984 Cubs team, so I would have been eight, nine years old. And uh Ryan Sandberg was uh MVP and went from there. Followed him his whole career. You met him a couple times, yes.

SPEAKER_04 5:03

Yeah, yeah, I have. What is your favorite job that you've had at Starkey aside from the two you have now as president and CEO?

SPEAKER_02 5:14

When I started, I you know, I did a lot of different jobs. I used to joke that chief executive gopher because I had a lot of it was a variety, but that also was the foundation of learning the business or Starkey, the business, and then meeting people that I still have strong relationships to say that are customers. So, you know, there's that. I did the reception, you know, um answering the phones, which I think is one of the hardest jobs at Starkey. I mean, we have eight operators, they answer with a live voice, and you don't uh understand until you do it, trying to get that person to the right person that they want within the company while more calls are coming in. But I always, you know, so I kind of go two phases of my career, and then later is sales and marketing, right? I back to the to the market and the patient and the customers. The marketing is fun because you get to create all the different uh personalities and bring out the personalities and give the new products and the technologies, you know, talk about market what they are doing, and give them, like I said, yeah, their own character. So summarizing all of them, I guess. Yeah, I guess it's that's a hard one. But I I, you know, I would um I would go, it's a customer side, the events, probably.

SPEAKER_04 6:26

Well, put a pin in that for a little bit. But uh, you've had the opportunity, as you mentioned, to meet a lot of people in your career. What's one person that you haven't met that you would go back in time to meet if you had the opportunity to time travel?

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Billy Graham.

SPEAKER_04 6:40

Billy Graham. So you never met Billy Graham?

SPEAKER_02 6:42

I didn't. That's the one I had the opportunity to go with uh Bill, and I can't recall why I didn't. And I, you know, it was one of those, oh well, you know, I'll get to meet him again. And it's just, I think there's people throughout history that are known around the world and you know, that influence, and you say their name and and you think about who all they have met. And I think, you know, the I don't know who would be left. I think the passing of Queen Elizabeth is one of those, you know, uh figures of history that you think of all that all the people she met in her lifetime, name that you know, how many US presidents, right? Just start there. And Billy Graham was an another one. Yeah. Um, I think one of my favorite was that I did meet was Walter Cronkite. And I got to spend, I think it was 96, 97, picked him up at the airport. He came up, you know, um, we took care of his hearing until he passed. Uh and I got to spend the day with him, I got to pick his brain all day. He was the nicest man. The very just very nice, and we just talked all day. Because I'm a history buff, as you know. So I got to learn some things.

SPEAKER_04 7:46

So let's play Brandon and Dave's excellent adventure and say, independent of if if we fit them, is there a is there an individual in history that you would love to meet if we could time travel?

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Uh Lincoln. Yeah. I would say Lincoln. That was good. Because of the adversity, and just I mean, I could go down the list. I've read enough books and biographies and studied, yeah. Lincoln. In Southern Illinois. In Illinois, yes, of course.

SPEAKER_04 8:12

Um, I also know you're a space nut. Yes. Um who is your favorite astronaut?

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Oh, didn't see that one coming. Um I would say Alan Shepard. Why? Because he was the first to get on top of a rocket that was uh uh built by the least uh uh inexpensive parts that uh that uh anybody could uh uh that the contract called for, and it had never been done before. Yeah. So think about it.

SPEAKER_04 8:43

I mean that quote has been widely attributed to a number of different aspects.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Yes, it was uh Shepard and Glenn, and but no, I've studied out Mercury program, Apollo, um Gemini, all of it. It just fascinates me.

SPEAKER_04 8:56

Recently we had the opportunity to watch uh one of the SpaceX.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Um we've had a lot of the Mercury 7 astronauts up here earlier in my career, and I got to become good friends with uh Scott Carpenter. So I went to NASA um uh Kennedy Space Center with Carpenter once and got toured around. And being able to ask him what it was like and going through all of that. Again, just I learned from by uh people that have been there, done that in various points of history in their careers. And you said from time to time that when you were little, you you wanted to be an astronaut growing up. Yes, I would be an astronaut. Um, but I gave up on that, I think, somewhere in high school, because of um you had to be really good in math, I was told. So I didn't apply I didn't apply myself as I should have.

SPEAKER_04 9:40

You're better than you give yourself credit for it. I've seen you with numbers. Um what is, in your opinion, the most underrated hearing aid feature?

SPEAKER_02 9:48

I would say, well, waterproof just popped into my the coding, and and I think what goes into what we're doing with our Hydro Shield and what I see and know the process and the automation that hearing aids avoid the daily things that we take for granted. And uh so candidly that's the first thing that pops in my head because the second thing I could go into would be the um edge mode. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:13

Well, and I think it's but it gets a lot of play, so it's not now underrated. Not underrated anymore. It's our third most used feature after volume control.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

Edge mode plus is is I use it pretty much every time.

SPEAKER_04 10:23

Yeah. But I agree. The the waterproof element, the ear is a hostile work environment. And so it's underrated.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

It's underrated because if you don't have it, I also know what happens on the other end. So it's that's where it's you know, take it for granted, but never take it for granted.

SPEAKER_04 10:37

Can you describe or remember the first time you saw a hearing smile from a patient fitted for the first time or in a long time with hearing aids?

SPEAKER_02 10:46

When I first started at Starkey, so '97, and I went on the very first, I would say what we now call it, you know, the missions that the Austin's and and the foundation now does. Um, I went on the first one in 1997 to El Salvador. So that would be my third year at Starkey, and had no idea what to expect. And I my assignment was just uh bringing in the people, standing with uh Bill, helping him out, doing whatever was needed. And that was the first one when I saw this uh kid, and I have a picture, uh, and I don't know her name, but you know, where again you've seen it more than I have, probably out on missions, and couldn't hear her mother, and then boom. The dignity 1997, yeah, then it was a three days, and uh, you know, we were down there, or Bill and the team was just down there to help. There was a request, and then from that, you know, people that were with us from Starkey, it was only a handful, and then somebody went back, created a video that night, and then it was just Niagara Falls with everybody. And I think from that moment on, it's just kind of that was uh genesis of what came to become, I'll say, the the staple at the Stark Earring Foundation, and then the Gaelist and such.

SPEAKER_04 12:02

Yeah, and three years in. So three years into the three years, yes, yep. I'm paraphrasing the quote where you know, the most important day is when you're born. Yeah, second most important day is when you figure out why you're born. That probably was the hook. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Who is the person you most admire or is your role model and why?

SPEAKER_02 12:21

Uh boy, you're gonna put me on the spot. Yeah. There's gonna be a lot of people, several people.

SPEAKER_04 12:26

Wait a minute, what about me?

SPEAKER_02 12:27

Yeah, no, my mother. Yeah. I mean, without a doubt. I mean, I look back now and seeing what um, you know, she did with her career, and but also, you know, making it seamless to being a um stay-at-home mother, but she wasn't a stay-at home mother. You know, she was out in the industry uh locally. She had her own uh hearing dispensing uh practice, and then, you know, but she made it seem like she didn't because she was always there, you know, for sports or whatever it might be. But then also going through when I started Starkey in the last 30 years, um, you know, seeing what she has done then and through in this industry, uh, yeah. I mean, that's no doubt. I mean, it sounds might sound oh, mama's boy. Well, I guess so. I'll take it. I don't know, I don't want up to that one.

SPEAKER_04 13:17

Uh Tanny is uh admiring theater person for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

I'm I'm blessed because I have, you know, her and then you know, Bill, who's been the mentor for me, and you know, the things that he would talk to me about in the 90s and the aughts and all these classes and travel and things you can't get out of a textbook. Um, and I would, you know, you saw he's like, Yeah, I've heard that story before. You can't, here we go again, you know, walk to school uphill both ways. Both ways. But it he's right. I mean, I appreciate it more and more. And, you know, I'll still take the time to go up and and talk to him at night and just pick his brain. Like you said, you've been fortunate to have a number of great men. Yes, I have. What's your favorite food? This one's an easy. Yep. I think I think most of people uh probably that know me know that one.

SPEAKER_04 14:07

So what is the best advice you've received during your 30 years here at Starkey?

SPEAKER_02 14:13

Uh take the initiative. You know, I s this is still true today, is don't wait around for somebody to tell you what to do. Or um it's okay to be proactive, take initiative. There was really nobody said, well, that's not my job description. Right. I don't do that. If you needed, if something needed to be done, didn't matter if it was helping with the classes, dishes, trash, customer service, receptionist, you you did it. I mean, that's the best because that's how you learn too.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

You know, if people want to be helped, um, they're not going to tell you no. It's just your attitude and how you're going to approach it.

SPEAKER_04 14:47

Right. Around here, I mean, to people just starting, we always say, you know, don't point.

unknown 14:52

Right.

SPEAKER_04 14:52

Take if someone asks a question, don't point, lead them to there.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Yeah. It goes along with our, I'll say our mission statement. Just, you know, help service and and help people.

unknown 15:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:01

So now that you're 30 years in, you're president and CEO of the organization, what advice do you have for other leaders or emerging leaders?

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Oh, it's it's about the people. Don't get caught up in the title. I mean, you have a responsibility that comes with your job and your role, but you're only going to be as good as the people you put around you and have on the team. Because at the end of the day, you win or lose as a team, not as an individual, uh, being a leader. It that's the responsibility. And the responsibility that comes with that is, and it's hard at times. I I will be uh candid. It's it gets hard where you, you know, I'm a fixer, so you want to do everything or kind of, you know, go around and help people out or you know, move things along or try and take care of it because if you can, but you also have to have a team that you know you help develop, grow trust. And, you know, I'm fortunate to have that team that has, you know, matured in their job every year, just like I have. And they know what to do, they know who Starkey is, and you know, they work together as that team. So hire caring people with the great attitudes, and then develop the talent. That's that's the advice. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 16:14

I've heard you speak to that authentically over the years. Uh what is one word you would want all Starkey employees to use when describing where it is that they work for purpose.

unknown 16:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

Because we're a company with purpose because we help people. I mean, we change people's lives through connecting them back to their family, their job, whatever it might be, bringing the best out of them as we can uh through better hearing and our caring technology. So, I mean, you know, people stay at Starkey, people come to Starkey for that one word. That's that's what I would say. Do you have a favorite quote? The one that popped into my mind when you asked that, honestly, was um Mike Tyson's quote. Oh, yeah, no, it was everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. Um live. I've been there, done that. So yeah. Churchill's quote of uh, you know, if you're going through hell, keep going. Is there going to be bad days, right? And you just you got to keep moving forward. Um, but you know, I've always used, and I have it on my desk at home, a Lincoln's quote. Whatever you do, be a good one. Yeah, I love that one.

SPEAKER_04 17:19

All right. Um, if you could help the average person, not not someone working in the organization or one of the hearing care providers we work with, but the average person understand one thing about hearing aids, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02 17:31

Oh, the the stigma is is is so far 30 years ago. I mean, it's cool technology. It's, you know, what hearing does. And to sum it up, what I would say to them is, you know, the five senses you hear hearing is feeding and exercising the brain. That's driving and and doing everything that you need to for the day. And we're developing and providing technology that nobody else is doing in our industry. Uh and we have to make complex simple.

unknown 18:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Right. And I mean, you look at AI and and and some of our features. Um, you know, what AI can do and help, you know, as you know, through our processor and and get people back in the game on on what they're missing. I always think of the movie Up, right? From Disney, whether it's, you know, movies or TV or articles, uh, how they portray the technology that can help people now and what you know we're we're doing. It's, you know, it's no way does it do it justice. And, you know, hearing aids are cool. That's what I say. I always try to think of what's does that, you know, word date mean because my son, you know, likes to say lit. It's lit, yet. Lit. That took me a while to figure that one out. But yeah, so it's it is. We're working on really cool stuff. And we're seeing that.

SPEAKER_04 18:48

The the age of first-time hearing aid users is coming down. So I think we're we're innovating in that area and helping drive that rather. You're fond of saying, you know, we really need to have fun at work too. And when we do launch events, I think we achieve that. Uh, there have been a lot of great launch events over the years. Is there a single one that is your favorite?

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Oh, 1A, 1B. Yeah. You have to enjoy where you're coming to work at. You know, are you going to enjoy it every day? No. I mean, we're human. But I think part of Starkey's culture is that fun. And getting back to let's celebrate as a team, the launch events are, you know, frankly, designed um starting for the team to celebrate their success. And then it was like, oh, well, let's put this out virtually or let's share it with the rest of the. I mean, so you know, that kind of evolved. The first one was Livio. I mean, the Livio launch, I think we did it out here in the parking lot. It was hot. And it was hot. It was hot. Whoever decided to do that one in August, I tell you. Um, but that was a fun one because that was a transition for Starkey. You know, that was, you know, the the start in that transition. The second one would be what we just did last year, of course. So I know you asked for only one, but I'd be, you know, remiss if I didn't say it. Like the Genesis launch, we arrived. We're we're at the level and we're now on our path for our vision and where we're going to be. And it started with Genesis, five years in the making, and a new Starkey had just been introduced.

SPEAKER_04 20:18

How'd you come up with the idea for the Hearing Innovation Expo? Legend in the U.S.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

I don't, yeah. I don't know. Um, I know, but I don't know if I've ever really told anybody, to be honest with you. I told, I told people, um, which is true when I was uh used to jog, um, you know, we had just come back, I can't remember, I think it was five or six weeks from somewhere, various customer groups. And like, I never want to do that again. It was just so long, and it was so long on the staff and um away from families and and everything. And every time we did a customer group or product training, you know, I kept thinking, how do we like we gotta do this differently? It can't be just by group, by group, by group, and because some groups, you know, they think they, you know, well, you like me better. It's kind of like your kids, right? Like, no, there's gotta, there's a better way. We're but we're stronger and better together. And I wanted to show the the also that that size of the customer group together um that we have more in common than differences, and start breaking down those barriers in that mindset.

unknown 21:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

2012 was expo, so it was probably 2011 or 10. Right. And the word expo, all of that, Starky, and um I've never told anybody this. Okay. I should say maybe one or two people. But it was um Iron Man 2 because I think in there there was a Stark Expo, and I was thinking, Expo, Expo, yeah, and that was kind of the name and where we got it. And then uh kind of went from there. Because wanted to there was so many other events in the industry. Let's showcase what we're doing, let's showcase the people, the talent, and you know, the rest. Is history, they say. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:01

No, and and um I I want to feed right into that one then. What's been your favorite interview at the Expo? You've had the opportunity to have some tremendous guests. Oh, we could go down this road.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

Um, one President Bush. Present Bush by far. Noted. We share that in common.

SPEAKER_04 22:17

Yeah. No, I know we both got to do it, and and people see it on TV and you watch like uh Barbara Walters or whomever interview someone live for an hour. Looks pretty easy, but I guarantee you they probably had four hours of video to condense it to one hour to do a live hour for an interview, you know, because I was fully sweated through my shirt underneath my forehead.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

I think he and I have done, we've had those discussions, those interviews four or five times at various events. And we're now um, you know, we just get up there and talk. You know, I I always kind of like you, you always have a guide, kind of like, okay, we're gonna want to take a conversation and get out of it. But he's he's one of the individuals, you know, former president sitting, you know, or sitting up there, you're incredible. You know what you're thinking, you're sitting here talking, and then there's always stuff going on in the back of your mind. But he just naturally puts everybody easy, and you just have a conversation.

SPEAKER_04 23:09

Yeah, it's like interviewing a river, it just flows.

SPEAKER_02 23:12

And and we all know there's been tough ones too. There's always, you know, but that's it's it's been a remarkable experience.

SPEAKER_04 23:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

If you weren't working in the hearing industry, what would you be doing? Um, well, I think that, as you said, the astronaut thing's probably out. You know, I don't know why this pops in my head. I think it's more of a hobby than what I would do, but uh weather fascinates me. And I think my arm is kind of blown, so I think pitching's out anymore.

SPEAKER_04 23:37

Pitching's out by this point, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:40

What keeps you awake at night? Oh, you know the answer. Complacency.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:46

I'm I'm wired and hardwired to always keep moving forward. Keep what can we do better? What can we do better? And I think that's for me, I and you know, and as a leader, that's that's a motivator. But I've also had to learn how to um adjust my throttle on that one. Because you can't go, you want to go hard and fast and and go at it, um, but then you also have to know that you can only push the organization so much. And there's been times some will tell you that I might have pushed too hard. Um, but we're still here. Nope. But it's uh complacency. You can't, it's the blockbuster syndrome. You know, lead, adapt, or die. And you cannot just think you've arrived and get comfortable. You have to be comfortable um being uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_04 24:36

You mentioned throttle. Your son William is a budding NASCAR uh rock star. And um, but I also know you like to drive. Uh on a scale of one to ten, how good of a driver are you?

SPEAKER_02 24:50

Uh I'll give myself an eight.

unknown 24:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

I'm an excellent driver. I'm an excellent driver. I'm an excellent driver. Okay. Yeah. No. I yeah, he has a talent that, you know, I won't claim it. I it's his own talent, but uh for me, I've you know never went as fast as he does. But uh sure, I'll give myself an eight.

SPEAKER_04 25:08

Okay. And I've I've ridden with you a couple times with uh we've we've filmed a couple times when you went into launch mode on one of your cars. Let me get to that. Then you're you like to drive and you're a car guy, uh, and not always fancy cars. But no, I got out of that car of all time that you've had.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

1979 black Ford Bronco. Pure steel wood cars were made of that. And I know that's not, but it was just a fun, fun car. Yeah. And I had that actually had that soft soft warrior junior in high school. Love to have that now. I'm always looking for well, you know, that back then I I guess maybe a little problem with a gas line, and it literally blew up. Um, but uh obviously I got out in time, but you know, I had a big pull of Corvettes, right? Or Corvette and driven a Corvette, got that. Uh, I now it's just how do I get to work? I don't even think about it, to be honest with you. But my favorite car, yeah, would be the LeBron.

SPEAKER_04 26:09

I'd I'd I'd love to have one of those. Can you isolate and think about what has been the most impactful moment of your career? Is that even possible?

SPEAKER_02 26:18

Hmm. A lot of things come up. I would say um the most impactful now, as people would think you can go two ways on this. Impactful being something that obviously was was known a big win or whatever. I would you know, for me, impactful could also be the most um it was a motivating the hardest and um reality is probably April 4th, 2020. When the industry was shutting down, offices were shutting down and people looking at me, what you know, do this, do this, what do we need to do, and coming up with a plan to you know, unfortunately, uh cash flow and preserve what we could with the pandemic. But the day that again we had to uh furlough a lot of people. And I think that was probably the most impactful day of my 30 years. Because we have fun, like you said, and we've done a lot of great things things over the years, but that was the most impactful because then everything got real, yeah, as it did in the world real fast, and then you just buckle down and it's like figure it out.

SPEAKER_04 27:34

Well, that reminds me of the Tyson quote. You know, when we got punched in the world, got punched in the mouth. Yeah, we had just launched Edge. Yeah, we just came off the expo, had all the training plans and everything, and it all had to go virtual. And we and initially people just had to worry about we had to worry about how people could keep their doors open.

SPEAKER_02 27:51

And you made your plan each day. You you couldn't plan out. And so that was that's how I define when you when you ask when you asked that, that's what came to my mind because that redefined the world as we know, but uh for me, um took my pushed me way outside my um not comfort, so well, there was no nobody had experience in this. Well, and you and one of your qualities. And the people and doing and you know, seeing people that were, you know, leaving and and they were thanking me. And that was the hardest part. I mean, that was because you know, they knew what we had to do and why. Um everybody was sacrificing then.

SPEAKER_04 28:30

Yeah, yeah, I I can't imagine how difficult that was because it is, you know, a culture here. Take care of the company, company takes care of you, and and those had to have been just incredibly difficult decisions. What is the first thing you do when you come into the office in the morning?

SPEAKER_02 28:47

Apologize and say sorry I'm late.

SPEAKER_04 28:49

Yeah, I would I would say that, you know, you're not necessarily the first in the office, but you're the last one to leave.

SPEAKER_02 28:56

You know, my routine changes some depending on the week or if there's traveler or you know, jet lag, whatever. But you know, I try and do emails in the morning at home because emails just turned into a full-time job. And then you get, you know, yes, I talk to uh the people who start get calls, customer calls and some things, and then yeah, I always I'm aware of the time, but I always know that I'm kind of uh run a little bit behind.

SPEAKER_04 29:19

So yeah, well, and and you've got to give the attention to the the person that you're on the phone with or in in the meeting with and what's the case. Or text. I mean you get bombarded from all different everybody nowadays. I mean it's everyone wants peace. Yes. What excites you the most about the future of the hearing industry?

SPEAKER_02 29:37

Technology. Because I think we'll I know we will expand where we're going um with uh and who we're reaching and helping. I mean what the technology is going to be able to do, and that we're uh not catching up. Yeah. And I firmly believe this. Because I'm pretty real about where we're at. We're leading in the areas that this industry needs to go, not only for the the professional and the tools and and that role, how it evolves, but it's always about the patient. And we have a great team, and being privately held, we are making decisions for the patient. And at the end of the day, the patient will decide. And we have yourself and so many others here that know the patient and know this industry. I am grateful that I get to come here every day. And I do think back and like who would have thought? Yeah, because I not me. Wasn't this wasn't the role like many of us, you know, we're at now. Never thought this is where destiny would take you.

unknown 30:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

Literally and figuratively.

SPEAKER_04 30:38

Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Um, so 30 years in, what advice would you give to someone just starting out in the hearing aid industry? There's always fear around the corner, whether it's some disruptor. But what advice would you give to someone just starting out?

SPEAKER_02 30:51

It's the people business. Yeah. If you start looking at PLs and all that stuff right out, then you're you're you're not setting yourself up for success because you can't save your way to success. And you have to care and you have to work with people.

SPEAKER_04 31:07

Make sure you have the passion for it and then everything else.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

It starts with caring. Yep. You have to have caring and passion, and then with that service mindset. If you have that, you'll be successful.

SPEAKER_04 31:17

Personally, I know you're kind of a bucket list person, but what's at the top now? You've done some, you've knocked off some bucket list items, but what's at the the top of your bucket list now? My bucket list seems to always be spontaneous. Kill and Jarl wasn't spontaneous. I was there when you were working out.

SPEAKER_02 31:34

Well, yeah, but I it was spontaneous when I told Heinz and committed, said ask, sure, I'll do it. It was a day. I didn't know it was eight days and 19,341 feet. That's spontaneous. Yeah. Um, you and I talked about this in Antarctica. I think I I want to touch the South Pole. Me too. Why? Because it's there. Right. And then say you've been on on uh all seven continents. Yeah. For me, it's seven continents before incontinents.

SPEAKER_04 32:02

What is one thing that you have not accomplished yet, but you want to personally or professionally?

unknown 32:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:10

You know, the first um wisecrack was I was going to say, get in shape. But um you continue to train and develop yourself to enjoy life or I know that's not the answer you're looking for. Um, but what's great is that being a part of the team and you build a team on your professional side and you, you know, have a great supporting team on your personal side, is you know, you're not feeling the stress or anxiety or that you gotta be doing this, this, or this, where normally if I go on a vacation, it takes three to four days for me to really start just you know cut it off where you feel like you're on vacation. Yeah. So I guess you know, you go the mental, personal well-being, and I guess it is exercise and just feeling good about where everything is.

SPEAKER_01 32:51

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Turning turning my uh switch off. I don't have an off button, right? No, I'm um, I know that that is a struggle for for you.

SPEAKER_04 32:59

So I don't know if I answered your question, but in several several ways.

SPEAKER_03 33:02

But yeah, here's a here's a hard one. What would you like your legacy to be? Oh, my kids, family. Yeah. Because I think that's anybody's.

SPEAKER_02 33:11

It's it's not Starkey is you know, Starkey should go on without me. I'm not the end all be all. None of us are. And I think anybody's legacy is personal opinion that your greatest legacy is going to be what you leave um with your kids and what how they're gonna contribute. And family overall, not just you, you know, some people have kids, some people don't, right? Personal choices. But it's what are you gonna do with um helping others and paying that forward? Love it. I don't think it's business. It is all about you know, paying it forward and just helping others. It goes back to the word purpose. Love it.

SPEAKER_04 33:48

All right. How about uh from the standpoint of if one thing if you're willing to share one thing about you that most people wouldn't know?

SPEAKER_02 33:58

You know, other habits, good habits, bad habits that I have, uh, just like everybody else, I have few vices I haven't drank in nine years. Um, you know, I uh you know, I'm starting because of my son. Um, you know, getting more of a NASCAR fan than probably even baseball. Baseball's changed so much, but I still love baseball, but it's the we love the nostalgia, right? Yeah. Um I used to think I could ride uh horses like John Wayne, but my daughter proved me wrong on that.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

Um so I mean there's you know, you think back and and uh there's a lot here to me that you know I think is pretty boring, but I also naturally always deflect and that's not I don't mean that in a negative term, but just when people ask about that what you did, just you know, I always kind of make it about them too.

SPEAKER_04 34:53

I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 34:54

I don't know why honesty.

SPEAKER_04 34:55

No, I appreciate that honesty.

SPEAKER_02 34:56

I've always been like that. It's just because I always make it about the team.

SPEAKER_04 35:00

Last question went to your mom for that. No. What would your mother say is your best attribute?

SPEAKER_03 35:09

What would my mother say my best attribute? Mm, kindness, I think that's what she would say.

SPEAKER_02 35:20

I know I say uh because I could think the first thing that popped in my head was all those dimples. No. Um get them after her. Uh my heart is what she would say. Because I think in this role as a CEO or whatever you're, you know, there's an image or thing, you know, you start thinking you gotta portray. Or even your vice president, your manager, your director. It doesn't, you know, you've got to portray this. And you know, you everybody reads the Jack Welch books and and all that. And, you know, then there's two different people. I think what I've learned is that you know, this goes back to what she said too, and and and Bill, and you know, lead with your heart. You know, I think if you're genuine, I think the insecurity drives uh that facade, right? The robot mode. Um but once you get comfortable speaking about what you're doing, where you're going, the the company, you got the people. And it's a maturity thing too. Um but for me, I I like helping others. I mean you you know, you you've done the same as somebody needs help with a hearing aid, you know. I don't look at how much it costs, like, okay, I know we can afford it to help somebody out if it's going to help them, X, Y, Z. And we do it around Christmas, or you know, I just do random uh things because I think that's people ask me what my hobby is, and to me that gives me energy. Just helping others, and I don't ask anything in return. Want to know what you really said? Probably a lot shorter than that.

SPEAKER_04 36:50

Heart came up, uh for sure, of course. Um, because you're always looking on social media to find stories of people who are in need, and and your heart certainly you lead with that. But she we talked quite a lot about this. We talked about your independence and your drive. She said that she had you in a walker, one of those rolling walkers at six months, that you were walking independently at nine months. Then the the part I liked was first day of kindergarten, she took you in and you wanted to be dropped off at kindergarten, first day, two blocks from school, because you wanted to go in on your own, your independence. And she said she had to form a compromise with you on the spot that she could drop you off in front of the school, but you went in by yourself. And she said that independence was evident in you when you were nine months old, certainly carried through in five. And then to see that blossom into uh where you are now, she knew that you were going to be destined to run a business, own a business, lead a lead an organization because of that independence. But then she did also mention Well, I wouldn't see I wouldn't have said it.

SPEAKER_02 37:54

You're yes, she's right. But that getting not talking about myself, it's like that's a character of mine that has always been there, but I wouldn't proactively but yeah, I can see her saying a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 38:06

You don't want to hear about that.

SPEAKER_02 38:07

No, well, it's it's I I'm listening, I could hear her telling that story. It's but it's points all through my life, just like ever others have. I've always wanted not to be in charge, but the responsibility, which goes with the independence.

SPEAKER_04 38:21

Yeah. And and the other part that comes back to this heart is, you know, lots of people have had opportunities through circumstance or otherwise. But the opportunity is not a promise or a guarantee of success. And she said the other part, your heart, but also your drive and the energy that you're willing to put in to ensure that you don't waste an opportunity. No something that's it's beyond intuition. It's sort of recognizing that you have an opportunity, but you want to not waste that opportunity because you realize you have to put the hard work in effort.

SPEAKER_02 38:58

I am driven and yes, yeah that comes, but I it comes with uh the passion you have for what you're doing, for sure. Um, but you know, yeah, you don't uh you keep moving forward. You know, it's you you just I'm not a quitter by any means.

unknown 39:14

Nope.

SPEAKER_02 39:14

And I've had a lot of good people around me, and I've had a lot of great people I could name endlessly for another 45, 30, 45 minutes or an hour that's you know helped me through my career. But um, you know, I've had a great upbringing. I've been fortunate. We've all had ups and downs, but you know, we're all at a good place and and we're gonna keep doing great things.

SPEAKER_04 39:33

I hope so. I I I plan to be here for as long as you'll have me. So um we've gotten through 30 for 30. Uh, and then a couple follow-on questions with those. So I appreciate your uh willingness to sit through and let me throw some curveballs at you to continue with the baseball metaphor. And congratulations on your anniversary on June 20th of 30 years and stewarding the company in your role now as president of CEO.

SPEAKER_02 39:59

30th uh skip year, because I started, came up here, um, did a summer job, was gonna go to college, my second year of college, said, uh, it's just skip year. I had another two more workers I love Starkey so much. And 30 years later, the skip year continues. And I'm very fortunate to work with you and many other great people of Starkey.

SPEAKER_04 40:16

Well, and thank you for your leadership. And you know, we you know, it's cliche where people say, Well, if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. You you'll work your ass off a lot of days if you work. Um, but you know, it your passion for what you do comes through. And uh, and everyone in the organization can see that. It we try to do this in 30 minutes. We didn't hit that, but some like some years, uh, the 30 questions, uh, some were a little longer, some were a little shorter, and some flew by a little faster. But I thank you for going through them all with me. I pleasure. And for our listeners, thank you for your attention on this special episode celebrating 30 years with Brandon. And um, if you have other ideas of topics that we should consider in the future or bring Brandon back for a sixth time, I think that's a pretty sure bet. Uh, send us an email at soundbites at Starkey.com. Until then, thank you for listening. Thank you for watching if you're on the YouTube platform. And we'll look forward to seeing and hearing you again really soon. Thanks, Brandon.

SPEAKER_02 41:11

Thanks, Dave.