Hearing Matters Podcast: Hearing Aids, Hearing Loss and Tinnitus

Advocacy, Access, And Modern Hearing Tech with Bridget Dobyan

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Policy shifts, lived experience, and modern tech meet in a conversation that makes hearing health feel urgent, hopeful, and actionable. We sit down with HIA executive director Bridget Dobyan to connect the dots between 2026 advocacy priorities, the real value of professional care, and what the latest MarketTrak 2025 data tells us about adoption, satisfaction, and consumer behavior. From state-level licensing updates after the OTC rule to federal student loan reforms that shape the workforce pipeline, we map a clear path for clinicians and consumers to navigate change with confidence.

Bridget shares a practical playbook: invite lawmakers into your clinic during district work periods, show them the full care journey, and partner with AAA, ASHA, ADA, Listen Carefully and IHS to align messaging. We dive into why the timeline to seek help is shrinking, how satisfaction remains high for both devices and professionals, and why many OTC users say they would have benefited from clinical guidance on assessment, selection, and troubleshooting. This isn’t theory; it’s data-backed insight that reinforces the power of counseling, empathy, and real-world fine-tuning, even as AI tools evolve.

You’ll also hear how HIA’s man-on-the-street campaign blends humor and education to make hearing health relatable at every age. A new mother finds comfort in newborn screening; a new hearing aid user lights up about Bluetooth streaming and wishes he hadn’t waited. These stories counter fear with possibility, positioning hearing care as part of total health—supporting communication, safety, and cognitive well-being. If you’re a clinician, you’ll leave with steps to boost advocacy and awareness. If you’re a listener on the fence, you’ll see how earlier action leads to better outcomes.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s been “waiting to hear better,” and leave a quick review with your biggest takeaway—we read them all.

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Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

You're tuned in to the Hearing Matters Podcast, the show that discusses hearing technology, best practices, and a global epidemic. Hearing loss. Before we kick this episode off, a special thank you to our partners. Care Credit, here today to help more people here tomorrow. Fader Plugs, the world's first custom adjustable earplug. Welcome back to another episode of the Hearing Matters Podcast. I'm founder and host, Blaise Delfino. And as a friendly reminder, this podcast is separate from my work at Starkey. I'm your founder and host, Blaise Delfino, and joining me on the Hearing Matters Podcast once again, we have Bridget Doby, and she is the executive director of the Hearing Industries Association, or most commonly known as HIA. Bridget, welcome back to the Hearing Matters Podcast.

SPEAKER_01:

Blaise, thank you so much for having me. Really excited to be here again.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

I always appreciate our conversations. And this episode today is definitely geared towards hearing care professionals, but also a consumer-facing approach as well. Because being the executive director at HIA, I love your passion for advocacy. I love your passion for policy as it relates to hearing healthcare. Now, in a past podcast conversation you and I had, we talked about your own experience with hearing loss. You do wear a bone-anchored hearing aid, most commonly known as a Baja. How has your, you know, your personal journey shaped your advocacy priorities at HIA?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think there's kind of two approaches to, you know, my personal experience and how I integrate it into this position. Number one, and I've talked about this before, is that before I came into HIA back in 2020, I really didn't know that this entire hearing health advocacy coalition space even existed, right? And I've been dealing with ENTs and audiologists in a very positive way, you know, my entire life. I lost to the hearing in my left ear when I was pretty young, obviously adopted the Baja when I was in my teens. But, you know, throughout that entire journey, I just didn't know that this space was there. I didn't know that there were these huge groups that were advocating for hearing health and for hearing technology. So that's one major perspective that really shapes what we do at HIA is that there are still so many people who don't know about us. And if they don't know about us, then they possibly don't know how important it is to take those steps to address their hearing health. So that's kind of the first piece of it. You know, and the second piece of it is being able to extrapolate your personal experience and then apply it to the issues that you're advocating for, mostly for, I would say. Um, you know, it's it's destigmatizing hearing loss. It's letting people know that, you know, this isn't just an aging issue, right? We of course know that the incidence and prevalence of hearing loss increases dramatically as you age, but that this is really something that affects every age, every demographic. And if we can have that conversation, you know, this is impactful at all stages of life and it can positively impact you if you're addressing this at every stage of life, then we can really make greater strides.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

I'm excited the word destigmatize because this has been something that we've talked about for years and years and years. Hearing aid adoption rate, what does that look like? And unfortunately, today there is a stigma. I believe that it's less and less as the years go on, because of, and we'll dive more into this, the work that you and your team are doing, the media actually portraying hearing aids as they should be, not these big clunky things on your ears, but they are technology that is so small and discreet that does help you hear better, live better, and communicate with your loved ones a lot better. And then also I want to touch on your lived experience that allows you and your team to do the work that you do. I absolutely feel that as well as a former private practice owner, Bridget. When I'm talking to current practice owners and I say, listen, I get it. I know what it's like running the practice, working with patients, case presentation, what does that all look like? And a lot of it is the education aspect around when a new patient comes in, they've waited seven to 10 years to actually see a hearing care professional. So I love that I can share my experience with current hearing care professionals. And I love that you use your shared experience all the time, not only at HIA meetings, but on social as well. And we're talking about advocacy here today. I wanted to connect with you to talk about the initiatives that you and HIA have planned for 2026. What are HIA's key advocacy initiatives for 2026? So, like what policy areas or regulatory topics do you expect will be most impactful for hearing healthcare landscape this year?

SPEAKER_01:

So we can really look at this, you know, from two different perspectives. I think there's the state perspective and there's the federal perspective. And each one brings a regulatory and legislative perspective to them as well. Taking a look at the state level, you know, we've done a lot of work since the over-the-counter hearing aid rule was published and then subsequently became effective because that created this entire new terminology, right, between prescription hearing aids and over-the-counter hearing aids, whereas, you know, before that, it was just hearing aids as codified in state law. So as states are adjusting and responding to this new purchase pathway since 2022, it's making sure that those professionals who were able to dispense or order the use of prescription hearing aids before the rule and this new purchase pathway are still able to do so as they move forward. So, you know, we anticipate that among kind of a deregulatory push at the state level to create more professions that perhaps don't have that licensing structure, that we make sure we're maintaining the infrastructure that's necessary, not only for consumer safety, but to comply with that federal rule and federal law as well. You know, if we look at workforce at the state level and making sure that we have this access to professionals, that's also a federal effort. You had a guest on Jill Dejan a few weeks ago who spoke about the student loan reforms that were included within the one big beautiful bill act that was passed in 2025 and signed into law and how important it is that we make sure that whatever's happening at the federal level, that we still have this pipeline of hearing professionals, you know, highly educated, highly trained hearing professionals to continue to serve this growing population with hearing loss.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

I was very excited about having Jill DeJon on the show because there was so much going on and a lot on social media, Bridget, was like inaccurate. And just me wanting to continue to be pragmatic, look at both sides of what's going on. Let's go to the source, let's talk to someone who's a professional in this. And I'm so happy that you connected with Jill. And that's why Hearing Matters does what it does. We want to continue to help professionals and consumers make educated hearing healthcare decisions because, again, unintended consequence as it relates to the professional licensure, if we don't have professionals that are seen as a professional degree and have access to those loans, well, that can adversely affect our industry as well. So thank you for bringing up state and federal advocacy initiatives that you and your team are working on. Now, let me ask you what can hearing care professionals do today to continue to advocate for awareness of AUDs and SLPs not being considered under a professional degree? Because not being part of that professional degree does have adverse implications as it relates to getting student loan funding federally.

SPEAKER_01:

So this is something that we've talked about for years. Even if you pull this out of that very specific context of access to student loans and how you can attend these degree programs, if you just take a look at what dispensers do or what audiologists do, how many people are fully aware? How many lawmakers, policymakers are fully aware of what you actually do as a licensed hearing care professional? And, you know, I continue to say this invite policymakers, invite their staff, I invite the community into your offices. Be out there talking about what you do, be on social media talking about what you do, because there are so many times that in an unintended manner, hearing professionals are pulled into some other issue and it impacts what you do specifically, but a lot of it is because they might not know exactly what you do and what's required. So I think that's kind of an ongoing and long-term project, right? Get out there, educate people. That's a big part of what HIA does. We may be the industry trade association, but we work so closely with the professional groups, with AAA, Asha, ADA, with the International Hearing Society, with the consumer advocacy groups as well to get this holistic hearing health message out there, right? It's about the journey from start to finish. And each one of us are a part of this collaborative ecosystem. So I think that's one of the simplest, easiest to approach things to do is be talking about your profession and how you serve your community.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

Bridget, that resonates so much with what we believe here at Hearing Matters podcast. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Audiology Online, and I talked about how artificial intelligence is not going to replace the hearing care professional, but it will enhance them. And within that interview, I talked about what you just said, this collaborative, holistic approach. In that article, I said, hearing care professionals, we need to continue to play the tape forward, collaborate with dentists, eye doctors, neuroscientists, PTs. And while a lot of what we do isn't in their scope of practice, they might have a patient who might be showing early signs of dementia, but when was the last time they had their hearing tested? So that's where my personal vision is and professional vision is we need to connect with like-minded individuals while their scope is different from ours. If I know someone needs a crown or dental surgery, I'm going to make sure that I refer them to the appropriate dentist who specializes in that. This is holistic health. This is a holistic approach, and that is part of advocacy as well. So I love that you are encouraging hearing care professionals to have elected officials come to the office. Let me ask you, you talk to so many hearing care professionals on a daily basis. Trying to schedule this podcast was very challenging because you're so busy. And I love that because you're advocating for us. What are some things that hearing care professionals you're talking to today? Like, how are they going about inviting these elected officials to their office? That's my first part of the question. And then second part of the question, is there a better time throughout the year to have elected officials come to your office when they're on recess, or what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01:

So something that you can very easily take a look at is the, and I'll focus on federal officials, just you know, for purposes of example a bit more, especially since with a lot of these proposals, they're taking place at that federal level. You can take a look at the congressional calendar, and it will tell you very clearly when there is a district work period. So that's when your federal policymaker would be back in their home state, their home district, visiting different businesses. So a very easy way to do that is reach out to the district office, introduce yourself as a practice owner, as a small business owner, in whatever way you'd like to communicate that to that district office. I invite them for a visit, you know, send an invitation to them to come and see you at your practice and what you do. Especially it being 2026, that means it's a midterm election year. So policymakers, lawmakers are spending a lot more time back in their home districts. They are traditionally at home in August for the month-long recess. October in an election year also tends to be very light for their DC work. It gives lawmakers the opportunity to go back and again keep having those conversations with their constituents. So, especially in an election year, there are some ebbs and flows that you can take advantage of. Outside of that, I would absolutely encourage hearing care professionals to work with their professional group representation as well. We mentioned the three major audiology groups, AAA, Asha, and ADA. And then, of course, the Hearing Aids Specialist Group, the International Hearing Society, also known as IHS. And they can offer, you know, again, that that direction and those connections to your lawmakers. But I always say this you, as a constituent, have so much more power than someone, you know, a lobbyist in DC, right? You are the constituent. You are the one with that direct pipeline to those who represent you. And so you should absolutely utilize that connection.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

Bridget, thank you so much for bringing us through that roadmap. And as a former private practice owner, I really leaned into inviting elected officials at the tail end of COVID, of the pandemic, because we were in Pennsylvania deemed non-essential up to a certain point. And I was like, well, so many of our patients depend on their hearing to work, to communicate. So what can we do? And I had a call with Michael Scholl, and he's like, Blaze, invite your elected officials to the office. And we did so. And what we didn't believe would happen, because it kind of just happened out of nowhere. So Senator Scavello visited our office, gave him a tour, and then a couple of months later, he invited myself and my father, who's an audiologist, onto his legislative report, which was a television show. And Bridget, had we not invited him to our office, given him a tour, he obviously saw the passion we have for hearing health care. That was an opportunity for us to get on his television show to spread awareness of hearing healthcare. Forget about our own branding and marketing. This was about the industry. This was about patient safety and satisfaction. So yeah, I just have to back up everything that you just said because it's a roadmap that works. Sure, you have to put some time, effort, and energy into it, right? But 10 hours a year, put into your own internal advocacy. Of course, lean onto the amazing groups that we have, but I just had to share that example there.

SPEAKER_01:

That's great.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

Bridget, we have the annual HIA meeting coming up in a couple of weeks. And the HIA meeting brings together leaders from across the industry. I had the opportunity to attend for my first time in 2025. Awesome meeting. I loved seeing everyone in person. For 2026, what collaborative efforts or consensus areas do you personally believe will or could emerge?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. So the HIA annual meeting, I think, is incredibly unique in its approach in that it is a close-knit event and it brings together, as you mentioned, we of course have the leadership from HI's membership. So the manufacturers, the retailers, distributors, battery manufacturers, components, the parts, the list goes on. We also bring together the leadership of our partners, those allied associations, the hearing health community, from the specialists to the audiologists to the ENTs to the consumer groups. And it just offers this great opportunity to sit down in this small group forum and have these impactful conversations. And we bring in speakers that really reflect the challenges and the opportunities. And that's really what we want to focus on this year are those opportunities. We're excited that the theme will be here what's next. And so it's very forward-looking. It's not, you know, we celebrated HIA's 70th anniversary as an association last year. And it was this great look back at where the industry started, where the association started, and how far we've come. And really with this year, it's looking at where we're going. And I think taking that forward-looking perspective and bringing these incredible voices together to discuss where we're going next is just going to be a phenomenal meeting.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

I love the think tank aspect too of what are we seeing? How can we continue to provide the best patient safety and satisfaction that we can? Technology that is absolutely changing the patients' lives on a daily basis. And professionally and personally, I'm just super excited to hear what's next. Because Bridget, I mean, you've seen so much change in the industry in the seat that you hold. And I don't want to, yeah, I'll call it a tool. A tool in a survey is Market Track 2025. This really offers a deep look at consumer behavior and hearing aid adoption, which is always very interesting to me. And you know, you talk about hearing aid adoption and then return rates, but that's a whole other podcast episode. But in Market Track 2025, what findings stood out most to you? And were there any data points that sort of surprise you or confirmed trends? Because we talk about so much of this amongst ourselves as professionals. And then now it's like, well, let's kind of look under the hood and see what consumers are saying. So what stood out most to you?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and we're so excited to share the information in Market Track 2025. I think the first survey was administered back in 1989. So almost but not quite four decades of having this consumer sentiment and behavior study, it's pretty incredible to look at this longitudinal data. I think there's some very positive trends in here. You know, we see the adoption rates continue to incrementally increase, especially when you look at all different types of hearing technology from your prescription and OTC hearing aids to when you add in the implant numbers, to when you even add in, you know, earbuds with hearing improvement features, which again, we've seen come onto the market over the last two years. It's just, it's another way of meeting consumers where they are in that hearing health journey. I think one of the most positive trends, though, that we've looked at is the years to take each step in the hearing health journey. And, you know, you briefly mentioned this earlier that it used to be that seven to 10 years to take that step to see a professional or to get their first hearing aid. And we've seen that down to three years for a hearing professional and four years to getting that first hearing aid. So that's a one year decrease in seeing a professional. And that's a consistent from market track 2022 in the time it takes to get that first hearing aid. So those are two. Two very positive trends that we're seeing.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

And for consumers tuned in right now, why that decrease in adoption being one year is so important is because when we talk about the comorbidities linked to untroated hearing loss, that being cognitive decline, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and increased risk of falls. So what we're doing and what we're seeing essentially are patients adopting technology sooner. And what that tells us and shows us is we're going to fit the patient with technology, and it is our hope, and also having data and research backing this up, we can reduce the potential of said comorbidities occurring because you, as a patient, have addressed your hearing loss much sooner than waiting so long. So what we're seeing, of course, is better technology, reduced stigma, higher adoption rate. And I mean, Bridget, you and your team are really leading so much of what is being done. That's got to be super exciting.

SPEAKER_01:

Every part of this job is honestly incredibly exciting. There are amazing things happening in the technology. We, of course, have the ongoing data. My personal passion is the advocacy component of HIA. And so being able to bring each of those, each of those elements together, and you're really weaving this narrative at the end of the day that, you know, as you take care of your hearing, it's a part of your overall health and well-being. And that's a big part of what we're incorporating into the future of the Hear Well Communications campaign as well. And, you know, I don't want to get ahead of our conversation here, but it really flows into that. It flows into it perfectly, right? People, people don't want to be scared and they tend to not take action because they're scared. So, how are we talking about your hearing health in a positive way so that you want to have access to those healthy benefits? Again, overall well-being, you know, physical, emotional, mental health, and the way that your hearing health positively supports each of those other elements of your health.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

Absolutely. And goes back to our initial total health and wellness. With today's technology, with the fact that we transfer information quicker than any generation to ever exist, Bridget, as a hearing care professional, understanding and reviewing the market track data, what and how should hearing care professionals interpret the 2025 results? Like, where does what does this even suggest that we as hearing care professionals continue to do, stop doing, especially as it relates to some of the marketing and outreach?

SPEAKER_01:

Speaking to the positive trends that we identified on the adoption side of Market Track 2025 and the positive perspectives on hearing technology and overall satisfaction with hearing technology, we see that corresponding high satisfaction with professionals continue. So with devices, it's over eight and ten individuals are satisfied with their hearing aids or hearing technology. With professionals, it's over nine and ten. And that's been a pretty consistent number over the last few iterations of market track. And what we're seeing too is that with MT25, this was the first market track survey in the age of over-the-counter hearing aids. So we were curious about whether OTC would have any corresponding impact into the view on professionals and professional services and how that helps, you know, with the end satisfaction with the device and with treatment. And what we found is that consumers who go with a prescription hearing aid through a hearing care professional are very loyal. They will stay with that category, seeing the hearing care professional and staying with the prescription hearing aid. We also found that a significant number who went with OTC devices felt that they would have benefited from professional services as part of that journey. So you see that the hearing care professional is going to continue to be very valuable regardless of purchase pathway.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

You just teed me up there because again, Bridget, going back to the interview that I was talking about with Audiology Online, I talked a little bit about theory of mind and how, as humans, if you shared an experience with me, I could say, you know what? I may not have experienced that specific situation. Like when you're in a group and you can't understand everyone's talking and how that relates to presenting with untreated hearing loss and how that really frustrates patients. But I have theory of mind, and I could say, wow, I I can feel that. I could understand how you're feeling, Bridget, going into that noisy situation and feeling isolated. Well, with the dawn of AI and even the pathway as it relates to OTC hearing aids, you're self-fitting yourself. And I will say, I released an episode on OTC hearing aids last week. I am simply here to help consumers and professionals make educated decisions. If OTC is a way in which a patient is introduced to technology and then eventually takes a step towards better hearing in partnership with a professional, wonderful. But what that self-fitting model doesn't have is theory of mind, but also the counseling as you are working with the hearing care professional, making those fine-tuning adjustments. That is so exciting to me because we have millions of individuals globally who do present with hearing loss and in the United States alone, about or a little less than 20,000 hearing care professionals. That's a very interesting ratio.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and I think you bring up two really good points within everything that you just said. And part of it is community, right? So we're finding that those who go the prescription pathway or the hearing care professional to start, they're receiving advice from their friends, family, colleagues, from their community around them. You know, they're talking to each other, they look for that experience that their friends have had or that their neighbors have had, and then going along that pathway. Another component of that is what tasks are people most or least comfortable with? And this is something that Market Track looks at. And MT2025 concurred with MT2022 in that those tasks that they're least comfortable with tend to be assessing your hearing loss, selecting a hearing aid, and then troubleshooting. And those are three areas where the hearing professional is absolutely key, right? They are primed to provide those services and that type of counseling.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

Thank you so much for bringing that up. Because again, as an industry, I think what hearing care professionals can continue to do, but even do better and fine-tune. And this is why we have these conversations, Bridget. I mean, you're on you're on the front lines, you have this data, you're sharing it with all the industries and you know, industry leaders. But as hearing care professionals, how can we continue to raise awareness of the importance of an annual hearing test and showing the patient what that's like? Like, I know when I get my blood pressure tested, I know the process. Oftentimes it's like, all right, you're gonna put me in this booth and you're gonna throw all these beeps out there. Well, what does that look like? But again, the power of social media of hearing care professionals today can take a great video on their iPhone, take one of their team members through the process of getting a hearing test at their office and get that out there to future patients that are coming into their clinic and just bring bring you through the process. Bridget, that's why Hearing Matters podcast started for our patients internally. I want you to hear my voice before you come in. I want to bring you through the process. So that's so exciting to hear. And I want to now lean into more of the awareness piece. So, with the consumer awareness campaign, the vision behind that initiative. I know that HIA has always done such a great job of arming hearing care professionals with social media assets. And you did this man on the street type campaign. Very funny, very cool. What was the why behind this and what was the vision?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, this was very different than anything that we've done before. You know, we have access to an incredible set of audiologists, some of the absolute best in the world through our member companies. And we featured so many in these different video interview type assets, you know, where we sit down and we ask the audiologists, why is this important? You know, and then we do, of course, our social media graphics tiles. We've done the Facebook quizzes. This was a very different approach. It was a man on the street. We did it almost game show style. And Dr. Dave Fabry was gracious enough to bring his incredible hosting talents to serve as our host of this kind of pseudo-game show on the streets of Washington, DC, where we just went up to people and asked them if they would answer some questions about hearing health. And so on camera, Dave asked some funny questions. Dr. Fabry asked some funny questions. He asked some serious questions. And we surveyed, you know, we had a 20-something year old, we had a mom with a newborn, we had older people, we had tourists, we had DC natives. And it was absolutely incredible to get these different perspectives on hearing health and kind of survey what people know, what they don't know, and then educate as well. You know, for each question we asked, Dave probably talked for five to 10 minutes with that person about why the answer was what it was, why hearing health is important.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

Bridget, when Dr. Fabry was asking some of these questions, and I love the fact that you said he spent time educating, were there a decent amount of individuals who were kind of surprised? You know, the fact that hearing loss, untreated hearing loss is linked to some comorbidities, even talking to the mother of the young child, understanding how hearing loss and untreated hearing loss can affect, you know, speech language development. What were some of your personal takeaways and as it relates to raising awareness of hearing healthcare from the Man on the Street initiative?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, there were two that really stood out to me. The first was the mom and her baby. And that video has actually been one of the highest performers within the creative portfolio. It's one of those, again, very relatable messages, having that type of lived experience. And she shared the story of the newborn hearing screening process and how comfortable she felt because they had that knowledge that their child, you know, didn't have hearing loss, which is a great outcome. But knowing that right from the beginning, especially when in the early childhood development years, those language and communication skills are so critically important. So for her to share that experience, you know, and she had her baby right there with her, I thought that just really stood out to me quite a bit. And the second one was a gentleman who had just gotten his hearing aids recently. And it was hearing how excited he was about them. He knew that there was Bluetooth streaming. He knew that there were these great features that really improved his experience overall. And to see that so soon after he got his hearing aids and talking about, wow, I can't believe I waited the way that I did. And I'm glad that I took that step. I think it shows those two ends of that hearing health experience spectrum, right? From birth all the way through your professional career.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

I love also that there is a comedy aspect tied to it as well. Because growing up in hearing health care, you of course wearing a bone-anchored hearing aid. We've both seen the marketing in hearing health care, even like going back 15, 20 years from now, which I can't believe I can even say that, to today. Like it's so modern, it's uplifting, it's not this doom and gloom. Like, if you don't do something about your hearing loss, you're going to get this comorbidity. I thank you in HIA for making it uplifting and light. But the core message was educating on why hearing health care is so important, both preservation and addressing untreated hearing loss.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. Hearing health is cool again.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

And it needs to be. Now, Bridget, you've been so gracious with your time. What message would you like to leave with our audience about the future of hearing health care?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I think the future is in very good hands. I've had the opportunity to speak to some of the upcoming audiology students, to student groups over the last year or so. And that's one of the parts of this job that I really enjoy. And the enthusiasm, the care. And then at the same time, looking at everyone who's already currently in this ecosystem and the passion that drives, you know, we're stronger together. And it's a time of great change, great innovation. There are really positive things happening, there are challenges, but there are so many opportunities. And so I think having these relationships, having these conversations, reach out to people that you've never talked to before. I mean, for example, the student loan issue. I didn't think that I would be diving into a student loan topic, but now I've been exposed to other organizations that we can work together to again come to a very positive outcome at the end of the day.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

Bridget, thank you so much for joining us back on the Hearing Matters podcast. We're definitely going to make this an annual interview because there's always something new going on in the industry. You are on the front lines. And on behalf of our entire industry, thank you so much for your passion and for your excitement about where we currently are today, but also where we're going together.

SPEAKER_01:

Blaze, thank you so much for having us again. We're excited to continue 2026 and the years ahead.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS :

Joining us today was Bridget Dobian. She is the executive director of HIA. To our listeners, keep hearing and listening well. And until next time, hear life's story.

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