September 17, 2025 • 39 mins
Dr Mary Lou Luebbe-Gearhart, Au.D is an experienced Board Certified Doctor of Audiology, Hearing Aid & Tinnitus Specialist & CEO of Luebbe Hearing Services with offices in Columbus, Circleville & Canal Winchester, a family business established by her father that she has led for 52 years with integrity & innovation. Graduated with 2 degrees from Ohio State & a Doctorate from U of Florida. ”You’ll Hear What You’ve Been Missing!”
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Columbus in central Ohio have a rich history of companies
being headquartered here, everything from technology, manufacturing, retail, insurance, and more.
But what about the leaders behind these companies? What makes
them tick? How do they get their start? This is
where you get to meet the captain of the ship.
Welcome to CEOs You Should Know and iHeartMedia Columbus Podcast.
Welcome back to another episode of CEOs You Should Know.
(00:23):
This is an iHeartMedia Columbus podcast. I'm your host, Boxer
and this week's guest is I mean. Some might call her,
I would call her legendary. I also would call her
someone who I clearly cannot outsmart outside of my wife.
She's I met my match. I want to welcome doctor
Mary Lou Luby Gara Hart. She's an Experience Board certified
(00:44):
doctor of Audiology and of course the CEO of Louby
Hearing Services with offices in Columbus, Circleville and Canel Winchester.
We're going to find out more about the family business
to established by her father, but one that she has led.
Now this right, Mary Lou for fifty two years?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Can you believe it? Wow? Half a century? Congratulation and
I just feel like I'm getting started. Well, good friend,
isn't that amazing? And I've known my purpose and mission
in life all of my life, at least since age three.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
So let's start there so you you can you recall
back to being three and remembering shower moment, tell us
about it.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
When I was born, my father down on Broad Street.
He had helped World War two veterans returning with hearing loss,
you know, and I was in his office. Actually I
was riding his shoulders. Horsey, Horsey, giddy up. Maybe you
do that with your sweet daughter too. Anyway, his patients
didn't mind. They remembered when I was born. My dad
(01:49):
had given them pink roses for the women and a
cigar with a pink band. It's a girl for the men. Right.
So now I'm three, and we we cantered down the
hall and my father opened the door to one of
the exam rooms. And I should tell you my father's brother, Jim,
my uncle, was one who lost his hearing in the
(02:10):
navy during World War Two. The destroyer's a lot of nooys, see,
so my father was very motivated to help his brother,
and that is how Loubi hearing started. Then pretty soon
people started telling others, and here we are eighty years
of service to the community, later generations of wonderful families
(02:34):
we've taken care of. So here I am at three,
and I saw this man crying in my father's office.
I said, Daddy, why is that big man crying? And
the lady, why is she crying? The two were hugging,
tears were streaming down their face, and my father said,
(02:55):
it's okay. Mary Louis said, he was a brave soldier
and when he came in this morning, he could here.
And now with the hearing aids I've designed and fitted,
he can hear again. And that's what joy looks like.
And you'll do this and bring comfort and joy to people.
(03:15):
That's your mission in life. So, at age three, on
my father's shoulders, I was signed, sealed, delivered. I knew
exactly my calling and my mission and purpose in life.
And so here, fifty two years later, after I took over,
my father had passed. He had a stroke in seventy three,
(03:36):
and I was still a student. I was a senior
at Ohio State University, and all of a sudden, the
next day I had the family business to take care of,
and that really made a difference. But you know, God
gives you challenges and you succeed against all odds, and
so you just kind of change what you're doing daily
(03:57):
in your schedule and you determine, okay, this is what
I need to do and all and here we are
later three offices and we are actually looking for another
doctor of audiology with three on staff, and they're very amazing.
So we go on and if I'm not in the
(04:20):
sound booth testing someone and finding out what's causing their
hearing loss, it's never just age.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
It's never quote.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Selective hearing en quote, it's a medical situation. And doctors
of audiology. I spent thirteen years in college. University of
Florida's where I got my degree because Ohio State didn't
have it. Oh wow, there were PhDs done, but not
an au D. Well there are now, and we mentor
(04:51):
and supervise and teach and help doctoral students in audiology
in my offices. I don't know if people really knew
that about us.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
It's incredible.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
We're not just hearing aids, we're everything hearing. People come
to me and they say, here's what I'm missing. I
can't hear worth a darn in a restaurant. I take
my family there or I want to propose to this
gorgeous part. Yeah, and I can't hear because of the
background noise. And you know, restaurants have to have background
noise to quote turn the tables. They can't have you
(05:23):
sit there for a couple hours, right of course, just
like airlines, the more often you can take off from
Spawler airports, the better it is for you. And I
understand that. In fact, we almost we had a Looby
Dinner Bell Award kind of a program where I would
(05:43):
give an award to a restaurant that had a quiet
place kind of like the Louby Corner acoustically no music
and good food of course, and service and let people
know about them. But anyway, hearing in a restaurant is
still a big chain. But we have found a way.
And hearing instruments to me are neuro neuro like your brain.
(06:08):
Neurotechnology and the person we who fit them and know
how to get the best out of them and how
to get the best out of you and your brain.
That's when you get the results. That's when we change lives.
I was I made a home call yesterday on the
west Side do a patient. She's ninety years old. She's
(06:30):
in our model A club. My husband and I had
our blind date fifty five years ago at Ohio State
a blind date, a blind date, and he took me
to the Air Force Rotzi Ball. And you'll know, you
always wonder what kind of a car is the guy
going to show up with, right, Is it a Corvette
or a Corvet. Well, this was something in the middle.
(06:53):
It was a nineteen thirty one model a Ford Wow.
And I got in it and was wearing a long,
a flowing blue chiffon gown and I remember I had
to get it all together and he said, hop up
on the running board. When I got in the car,
I could look and see there were holes in the floor.
(07:14):
I thought, oh my goodness. And the starter wouldn't start it.
He had to go out and crank it. Oh yeah,
oh physically, and you know he hurt his thumb, but
he didn't cuss and swear. I thought, well, this is
a good guy.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
He's a good guy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
And we went to the ball and I think the
next date we had was water skiing. He said, you know,
you had a long gown on. I couldn't see your
pretty legs, oh dear. Anyway, so we eat water skied.
I used to be first made on my father's boat.
One time on Lake Erie. We were sinking and we'd
(07:47):
been out water skiing, and I was twelve at the time,
and I thought, oh my goodness, and there was a
storm coming, and I ran forward, flipped up the bow
and looked and all the curtains and the cushions were
floating in water. And I saw it was an aluminum hall.
I saw one of the rivets had popped and water
(08:08):
was coming into the boat through this tiny little hole,
well not tiny, but and I was chewing Bazooka Joe
pink bubblegum, warm and soft. I took that out of
my mouth and I plugged the hole.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Now you did it, Yes, I did.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
And I ran back and I flipped up the back
bench where the three orange gas tanks were. You know
that you always changed real fast so the person's skiing
doesn't have to stop. And there was a little bunghole
down there. I opened that. I said to my father Dad,
shoot the sherbet. That was code for throttle forward, and
(08:41):
it lived. Shoot go fast, yes, And he lifted up. Yeah,
he lifted up the bow, you know, and pretty soon
we started skipping across the water. All the water ran
out of the boat, closed that hole and we got
to shore safely before the storm. And that's when he
made me first mate, Doctor Mary lou Luby. I was
(09:02):
changing lives, saving lives. Yeah, you were had to think fast.
And I love a mystery. I love a challenge. So
anybody who comes to Louby that's l u e bb e.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I'm glad you spelled that out, Doctor Mary lul Luby.
Gara Hard is the CEO of Luby Hearing Services. Can
we go back to when your your father, who's a
World War two VET? What year did he start?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So he was not a VET?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Oh wait forgive me, Oh that's okay.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
He had three children, my older siblings. Okay, and at
that time, if you were a dad, you were better
serving at home taking care of the family of multiple children.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
My apologies.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Why my uncle Jim Luby was the VET.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Oh okay, what year did did your father start?
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Nineteen forty six, the year after World War two started?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Did he, Mary Loud? Did he have an inclination that
there were going to be men and women coming back
from the war that were going to have hearing issues.
Did he did?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
You know? So now these days, now that we have
the VA and tunnel to towers and all kinds of
helpful things, that was not like that. In those days.
He would go to a hospital and someone would say,
you know, this person is having trouble or a children
when they would look at the teacher, all was fine,
but when they turned their back, they couldn't hear because
(10:20):
they had a hearing loss. And you know sometimes these
children you have these syndromes Treacher Collins syndromes, low set ears.
And my father was brilliant man, not only an electronics pioneer.
I mean you think of things from World War two
and that you had radar and various things. I remember
seeing the acilloscope and the frequencies when I was little,
(10:43):
and I'd play with them low frequencies, high frequencies, and
he really encouraged that. But that's when we started. And anyway,
so he would say to a veteran, I'm al Louby
from Louby Hearing, and I'm here to get you a
job because your wife still loves you and your kids
(11:05):
need new shoes, so let's get you a job. He
didn't tell anybody he did this, but he gave to
me that feeling of that you do things for others,
and when you have to hold yourself to a higher standard,
or be a leader or an exemplar, or ask anything
from other people, you must do that knowing that you
would do anything. You never ask anybody to do anything
(11:28):
you wouldn't do, you know. And so that's how I
was raised.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Mary Luke, can I ask you with the technology you
talked about your father earlier designing what in nineteen forty six,
what did the technology look like for helping someone?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Where's my smartphone? That's what it looked like, that box
and it was hanging right there in the middle of
your chest, really, yes, and that held the microphone to
pick up sound. And then you had wires going up
to your ear. You know when I watch people and
maybe they've got earbuds on, yeah, and they've got that
(12:06):
vat and that we call it a y cord. I
remember how that was back then when I was little.
You know, when I was twelve years old, I said
to my father Dad, I'd love a horse, And my
father said, Mary Lou, that's a great idea. I didn't
think he'd go for it. My girlfriend said, there's no
way you're going to get a horse. But my father said,
(12:28):
you know, you'll learn a lot of things about dependability, responsibility,
You'll be courageous, you'll overcome fears. You can learn a
lot from a horse. And all you need to do,
Mary Lou at age twelve is come in and help
me in my office every Saturday. People used to work
(12:49):
on Saturday. I imagine six days a week. Anyway, so
I did and that worked out great. And then I
was sixteen and I said, Dad, I would love a car.
The horse has been great, but now we need four wheels,
not four legs, you know, four hoofs. And I got
(13:09):
a car, and I said, so what do you want
me to do to earn this car? I feel it's
always good to earn everything in life great, and you
raise your children that way too, absolutely, And so he said,
now you summertime vacation, and you come in every day
with me during summer. Okay, it did. And so then
(13:34):
when I went to Ohio State, I had a car,
you know, and my underdegree is in business administration and marketing.
Marketing is communication, audiology is communication, and if people can't
understand you don't have peace. You know, you have to
start with peace in your heart and inside of you,
and then peace in your house and your neighborhood and
(13:57):
your country and the world. I was asked to serve
and did for thirty years on the board of People
to People International, a group that was started by President
Eisenhower signed right there in the Oval Office in the
White House in nineteen fifty six. And he also signed
(14:18):
in the Sister City program at the same time.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
And the idea was that we would have homestays and
student exchanges with his People to People for immersion and
so forth. And my husband was in agriculture, that's his degree.
And my husband flew a jet and air force, you know,
to all this Ratzi. He paid to back Uncle Sam
for four years and was over you know, in Thailand
(14:45):
and all of that. Anyway, so the People to People
idea is a wonderful thing, kind of like pen pals.
And then it grew. Yeah, and so as part of
a delegation, I would go to embassies and meet our
ambassadors and People to People was led at that time
(15:05):
by Ike's granddaughter Mary Jean Eisenhower. I've been friends for
many years. In fact, one year a couple of years ago,
I asked her to speak remember that as the ideala
at the Champagne Aviation Museum where I'm on that board
because my husband is one of about one hundred volunteers
(15:26):
who is rebuilding to flight status a eighty year old
World War two be seventeen. They call it a flying fortress.
Ultimately to give rides so that all generations can understand
how it was and get the feel for things. Over
(15:46):
there in Urbana, Ohio we have and yes, I drive
a Corsair. You remember World War.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Two Coursair that was f for you.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
My husband was in a later model put it that
way in the seventies. But anyway, so it's been fabulous.
But we would I traveled around the world, and I
remember one time we were in South Korea and we
went through the DMZ, very tense, and there was a
(16:19):
lady that came up to me a banquet. She said, hello, Mattelu,
you help my husband here? Yes, so, no matter what
country during loss, And then I thought, here's the United Nations.
So many times they can't hear a noise, big hallway,
marble echo, you know, terrible acoustics right, and many times
(16:43):
we would help them come in and I say, you
know what, if you can come in to the office
and we make it easy, we'll evaluate your hearing because
doctors of audiology, like we have on our Luby staff
are the people who you want to go to first
to find find out. Is it a real hearing loss.
(17:03):
Is it a simple ear wax removal serumin ectomy like
take it out serumin ectomy. Oh, I can hear so
much better, get the wax out. Or is it a
brain tumor? We find those and if somebody listening has
a hearing loss in one ear, come in because sometimes
(17:24):
it could be something simple, but another time it could
be difficult. And no matter if if the specialist the
ear nosen throats specialist, we need audiologists to tell you
where to dig.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Mary Lou you you talked early on about well the
original technology that your father had and he helped to
sign Oh wow. Fast forward to twenty twenty five. What
kind of things do you have now?
Speaker 2 (17:48):
So we've been using a I wow official intelligence and
machine learning for years.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Okay, so AI.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
We've been developing a database people who are having issues
and what we do to fix them so now some
of us really have the edge if you will on
helping a person with their problems and what needs to
be done. We have technology now that is intentional, meaning
(18:19):
it has gyros and sensors in it so that where
you look it will change the microphones and know that
you want to look.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
At you amazing, isn't that amazing?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Or you turn your head or just move your eyes.
In the future, I think that hearing instruments in your
ear canal. Your ear canal is like your wrist. You
know how you take your pulse. You get an idea
ear canals are like that too. And if we quote
paint sensors on our hearing instruments, put them in your ear.
(18:57):
Now we can have technology that can tell you how
many steps you're taking, is at four thousand a day
or ten thousand a day? Get you healthy? Can tell
how many minutes or hours a day are you having
intellectual stimulation because when you use the auditory nerve and
(19:18):
stimulate your brain, you do a couple things. You can
actually put off the advancement and the risk of getting dementia.
Use it or lose it, you know, and as you
age your brain shrinks. Well, if you don't use what
you've got. Your brain will shrink even more so people
(19:39):
who have memory issues. It's not their age. I say,
come in and let us check your hearing. Let's see
we can tell you what risk you are for dementia, Alzheimer's,
all of that.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
People amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, people for example, who have diabetes, one in four
of them needs my help with hearing technology. And you
know people who are depressed, a lot of people have
this depression. You don't do it with pills. You come
into Lubi's and we see if your hearing is normal.
I have an audio gram like a telegram. An audiogram
(20:17):
is a picture of your hearing, and we can see
what vowels and consonants are audible. So when you look
at your curve, you know the low tones a little
beet beet bet bet bet beep. Yeah, but our tests
are a lot more involved in that, I assure you.
And you can't test your hearing your cell phone, no phone, no,
(20:39):
how can you calibrate? We have calibration and equipment is
just the quote cats me out. Yeah, the best that
you can have.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Mary Louis, can we back up for sec when you're
talking to let's take for example, someone who is depressed.
How does that look with an exam from you? How
can you what happened your hearing?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Right? So usually they'll tell us a big deal is isolation. Well,
a hearing loss can isolate you too. And I saw
lady yesterday. She says, I've been in my house thirty years.
Everybody told me there's no way that I could hear.
I had a dead ear and all that kind of stuff.
In here. We brought life back. Isn't that great? So
(21:23):
your life is dependent upon who you know, who you've consulted,
how much they care, and do they treat you the
way you'd like to be treated.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Yeah, of course, of course.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
And so by seeing and many times people are in denial.
They say, oh, I'm too young to have a hearing loss.
I don't have a hearing loss. People mumble or oh
the noise is terrible in this sports bar whatever. But
I say, get the facts, get the truth. It sets
you free, remember that one. Yeah. Yeah. And so when
(21:54):
we can see if a person is hearing all of
the parts of speech, the vowels and con s's and
f's or t's and d's, then okay, if their hearing
is fine, check that then go on and get your
medical follow up or whatever. But as long as you
have a hearing loss that is untreated and undiagnosed, you're
(22:16):
gonna have a problem and it just gets worse, and
then your health starts failing. And this is where your
attitude can go down the drain, and this is where
wonderful relationships. You know, who did you marry and why
all of a sudden you're tiffing and arguing I didn't
say that, or you didn't tell me that. Or turn
(22:38):
the TV down it's too loud, you know, dad, I said,
Or forget it. We don't want you watching your grandchildren
because one went out the door. You didn't hear the
door slam.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, a little girl got.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Lost or something crazy. You can't imagine what brings people
into my office and the reasons that they come for help.
Sometimes it's tenetous, you know, that's the Greek word for ringing,
and they have issues like that. That's just a way
of saying I have other problems. And we never dismiss
(23:12):
anyone and say go home and live with it, or
turn on a fan or turn up the radio if
you're trying to sleep. Yeah, there are real reasons for
that and going to a conference in October in Chicago
on real in depth reversal of tenatus and the parts
of the brain. It's neuroscience and you got to love it, you.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Know, Mary Lou. What's the most common problem you see
with patients that come in with a hearing loss or
what happened? What's the issue?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah, hearing and noise is a big one, right, And
you know, oh, I must say this important heads up.
If you or someone you know has a sudden hearing loss,
you have a twenty four hour like golden hour to
fix that. It could be a virus.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, And if we get you to the right person,
maybe you get a little shot or whatever to fight
that you save your hearing. I remember one time a
woman called me. She said, and this is the day
before we had rechargeable hearing aids like we do now,
but we use batteries. Some people still do, and that's fine.
(24:26):
But she said, all the batteries in my fresh battery
pack are dead. I said, would you please come into
the office and we'll make room for you. We do
we work people in came up on the bus, I
looked and everything and just checked her hearing and she
had lost hearing in one ear. And I called an
e NT in town and I said, have you had
(24:48):
lunch yet? No. While I'm bringing a patient, I'm driving
her over myself. We've got the golden hour. And he
was able to save her hearing because she got into
medical care. Ever be quote put off. And so that's
a big warning we can say. You know, I think
(25:08):
of words like find a hearing problem, fix a hearing problem,
and fight for the person who has a hearing plum.
Fight to defend. I would say, protect, protect hearing with
hearing protection, you know, conserve hearing, fight, fix.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Find it right, fight, fix fine, say that fast.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
And like I think of the six d's for who
needs to come in. We mention people who have diabetes.
I call it d FIB, meaning people who have heart issues,
high blood pressure, cardiovascular that kind of a thing. We
talked about depression. How about the D for demographics like
(25:55):
your age? Okay, that's one thing. Probably three quarters of
people the age of seventy or above have a need
for hearing help. But also if you've worked in noise
and maybe you haven't worn hearing protection. We do hearing testing,
industrial testing for companies, And I would also give a
(26:17):
word to the whys and the other CEOs call us,
because when you hire somebody, you never know what kind
of a hearing loss they're bringing to you, right, and
how they will misunderstand, or they will waste resources and
you have to do the job again, or maybe they
can't participate in a board meeting. And many times when
(26:40):
we help people hear better, they get promotions. I think
that statistically, I read maybe somebody with a hearing loss,
even a mild one, is foregoing thirty five thousand dollars
income because their potential is not where it could and
should be.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Isn't that it's such a great point with regards to technology.
Let's say someone comes in and they either have to
get assistance with a hearing aid or some of your
other fascinating technology that can you do everything the day
of Is it surgery to take us behind the curtain?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Many times we can, and it's amazing. So I invite people.
They come from out of state, whatever, okay, and maybe
they're visiting relative. Let's say an adult daughter and she
is up to hear Dad, I said, I said, dad,
And so she brings him in and says he you're fixing,
(27:37):
and many times that day, by golly, he goes home
with her smile on his face. They're hug and holding
hands and they've been estranged for years. And you know,
I love people with hearing loss because a maybe they've
been a veteran, they've been working hard, and noise. You know,
we have policemen and firefighters and all of that, or
(27:59):
some times people have had a high fever. And I
remember nineteen sixty four, that was the year for rubella,
you know, German measles, right babies carriage, first trimester, so
many children were born with hearing loss in sixty four. Anyway,
So with regards to.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
What about insurance, I know a lot of people would ask,
does my health insurance cover any of this? How does
that work?
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Well, usually when people call in here, you know, our
hearing tests are covered by insurance. They don't usually cover
hearing aids. And I'm glad you brought that out up
about insurance. There are insurance companies that do things by
I'm going to say, the letter of the law, but
not the spirit of it. They offer hearing aid benefits,
but the hearing aids that they offer are not good
(28:51):
or they're not appropriate or what you really need. Yeah. See,
and we might not be the most expensive, but we're
certainly not the cheapest. But then again, value is the
big thing. It has to be more of a help
than the dollars that you have in your hand. You
would trade your currency, whatever it is for another go
(29:16):
at life, A saved relationship, being able to understand and
enjoy your grandkids, being able to go to church and hear.
We have wonderful little accessories for our hearing instrument and
microphones that you can put on somebody a companion and
(29:41):
hear them very well in restaurant or eighty feet away
when they're in the garden and you're in the kitchen,
and you know, it's amazing room to room upstairs, downstairs.
That's why people say, oh, doctor Marylou, you've saved our marriage.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
That I believe that, Mary Lou. You know you think
about the dentist, you go there a couple of times
a year. You think about the eye doctor. Should get
in your hearing checked be way more mainstream than what
it is a lot like going to get your eyes checked.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
All right, I want you to remember this ear and
rear O. Yeah, when you're fifty and you've got the
colon os could be going on, okay'm gonna do this.
Then I know that it's time to come to somebody
really good qualified that really is into what you need
right find out and we explain everything. We make you
(30:39):
an expert on your ears and your brain, and we
give you good advice. Sometime we say you know what
it was, wax. Imagine that. Yeah, And we work with
family doctors. They're the quarterbacks. They refer to people to us,
and then we can let them know what's the matter.
(31:00):
Family doctors keep their patients. You know, we're not competitors.
We're helpful, right, And so I think also these days medicare,
when you're sixty five, they require a hearing screening, okay,
and we do hearing screenings. We can get complementary hearing screening. Well,
(31:23):
have you listen, And when we test hearing, we test
you in noise. Also imagine that, because that's where people
really have problems in background noise. And so we'll make
sentences get louder and louder, and we're looking for maybe
five words in the sentence that you have to be
able to understand and repeat. And there comes a time
(31:46):
with the level of noise that you say, oh, I
can't hear. Then that gives us an idea of what
I call the cognitive the thinking cognitive load load. How
much effort you're putting to pay attention, read their lips,
predict what they're gonna say. You know, that's many times
(32:07):
how people try to compensate for a hearing loss that's
not diagnosed and not treated well.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Can I paint you a quick picture? And I don't
know if this is just a typical family and this happens,
but I might be that person because picture three kids hollering, screaming,
running around the house. Lexi, my wife is trying to
tell me something and I can't quite always understand make
(32:35):
it out. Is that an issue or is that just life?
Speaker 2 (32:38):
You know what an issue is? What you need? Now?
What I say by that is people come in and
they have clinically normal hearing, okay, but they have these
issues and these dreams, these wants, And I say, you
tell me your wishes like fairy godmother, I will grant
your wish. And so right now I'm thinking of a
(33:03):
very simple thing for you, little thing here in your ear,
and and Lexi's wearing another little cute, little simple thing
right on her little collar, and she talks and her
voice goes in there and she can be in another
room and you hear her, and it's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
And stop'd stop a lot of arguments. I'll say, yeah,
it would.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah. And I'm you know, my if I was to
describe myself in one word, it would be peace.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Peace. I would agree with that with you.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yeah, yeah, And so bring peace to the world, peace
through understanding. So we are really at the bottom the
wind beneath your wings, right, yeah, the wind beneath your
be seventeen wings well, and.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
I'm also probably due for that very soon ear and rear,
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
I'll never forget that.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Doctor Mary Lulubi Gearhart, really appreciate your time, CEO of
Louby Hearing Services. Before you go, would you give out
contact info, website, socials, phone.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Number right website, go to hear Ohio dot com, h
e A R Ohio dot com. And here's a simple
phone number. I say, pick up a pen call six
one four four three one ten ten. That's four three
(34:30):
one ten ten, So that your hearing is ten on
a scale, you know, optimal hearing, optimal joy in your life,
optimal connection with your children, your spouse, your parents. Just
when you look around and you see somebody who's having difficulty,
(34:51):
don't judge them. Think of Louby hearing first. Let's get
you to Louby. I remember there was a fellow who
dropped his wife off in front of my MI office out
of the cargo in that door. I'll be back in
an hour. Oh and she didn't have enough.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Point.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
My staff is fabulous, you know, Laura Rene been with
me eighteen years front office patient care coordinators and you
know audiology texts anyway, so they said, come on in.
We'll work it in. Whenever God has something unusual, you
(35:28):
just know this is a divine referral, right, and I
have so many stories of how in an hour came back.
This is what we need to do. Glad you know
you you brought her here. In fact, a couple of
years ago, I fell and broke both of my legs
(35:48):
at the same time.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Oh what I tell you, No, I did not know that.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
The first thing I did is I thank God for
this opportunity to learn something and my ninety mile our
life just stopped. And I mean the visiting angels, you know,
came to my house. I had almost a mid morning
home invasion. I could see the guy with the gun
(36:14):
at my front door. It was really something. And I
wrote my first book, which became I was a co author,
became a best seller on Amazon, succeeding against all odds.
I wouldn't have had that chance if I had been
doing my thing, to be staying, you know, sitting a wheelchair.
(36:34):
And it was really something. But that's when I scaled.
As we say, we add more people to do what
I could not do, and you grow, you know. But
that was really something. And there have been other books,
four of them now they're best sellers and contributing my
(36:55):
philosophy how I help people and you know yourself even
better through people, and it's just wonderful life, you know,
just like the Frank Kapra movie.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Yep, yeah, yeah, oh my favorite, by the way, my fav.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
So it all depends on who you go to, doesn't it. See,
you're a quality guy. Everybody can't do what you do, essay,
and so this is payback time. And this goes back
to when I knew what my vocation vocal, I was
called for this and so in some way, shape or form,
(37:33):
I will continue to do these. And you know, a
couple of years ago, when I had my fiftieth anniversary
as owner, president CEO of Loubie Hearing, people came to
this little party we had at the office at the
one in Columbus office on High Street. We're just north
of Morse Road, across from Graceland Shopping Center, parking all
(37:53):
over the place. It's wonderful. And the Nationwide Children's Hospital
in the neighborhood, you know, is right next door. And
we've been at that location for since nineteen ninety, right, yeah,
And anyway, they came and they said to people, I
remember the first day we met, and how you listened
or you knew or oh my, and we just reminisced,
(38:17):
and I remembered those stories and I remember those patients
even when I was a student at Ohio State. Was
a fellow sitting next to me, and I said, are
you hearing what they're saying? I can tell you're struggling. Oh,
he said, I am, And I've never talked to anybody
about it, So I kind of go in there. It's
like a magnet. Or if I go to a restaurant
(38:41):
and maybe you know, we're sitting watching the game. Somebody
next to me, what And I say, you're not hearing
well in one ear. What caused that? I don't know.
I said, well, let's figure out. Here's my card and
come in and let's find out we need to know.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
And I'm so passionate, doctor Mary Lubi, Girahart, thank you
so much for your time. Thanks for being a guest
this week on CEOs you Should Know.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
It's my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
CEOs You Should Know is hosted and produced by Brandon Boxer,
a production of iHeartMedia Columbus
Columbus in central Ohio have a rich history of companies
being headquartered here, everything from technology, manufacturing, retail, insurance, and more.
But what about the leaders behind these companies? What makes
them tick? How do they get their start? This is
where you get to meet the captain of the ship.
Welcome to CEOs You Should Know and iHeartMedia Columbus Podcast.
Welcome back to another episode of CEOs You Should Know.
(00:23):
This is an iHeartMedia Columbus podcast. I'm your host, Boxer
and this week's guest is I mean. Some might call her,
I would call her legendary. I also would call her
someone who I clearly cannot outsmart outside of my wife.
She's I met my match. I want to welcome doctor
Mary Lou Luby Gara Hart. She's an Experience Board certified
(00:44):
doctor of Audiology and of course the CEO of Louby
Hearing Services with offices in Columbus, Circleville and Canel Winchester.
We're going to find out more about the family business
to established by her father, but one that she has led.
Now this right, Mary Lou for fifty two years?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Can you believe it? Wow? Half a century? Congratulation and
I just feel like I'm getting started. Well, good friend,
isn't that amazing? And I've known my purpose and mission
in life all of my life, at least since age three.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
So let's start there so you you can you recall
back to being three and remembering shower moment, tell us
about it.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
When I was born, my father down on Broad Street.
He had helped World War two veterans returning with hearing loss,
you know, and I was in his office. Actually I
was riding his shoulders. Horsey, Horsey, giddy up. Maybe you
do that with your sweet daughter too. Anyway, his patients
didn't mind. They remembered when I was born. My dad
(01:49):
had given them pink roses for the women and a
cigar with a pink band. It's a girl for the men. Right.
So now I'm three, and we we cantered down the
hall and my father opened the door to one of
the exam rooms. And I should tell you my father's brother, Jim,
my uncle, was one who lost his hearing in the
(02:10):
navy during World War Two. The destroyer's a lot of nooys, see,
so my father was very motivated to help his brother,
and that is how Loubi hearing started. Then pretty soon
people started telling others, and here we are eighty years
of service to the community, later generations of wonderful families
(02:34):
we've taken care of. So here I am at three,
and I saw this man crying in my father's office.
I said, Daddy, why is that big man crying? And
the lady, why is she crying? The two were hugging,
tears were streaming down their face, and my father said,
(02:55):
it's okay. Mary Louis said, he was a brave soldier
and when he came in this morning, he could here.
And now with the hearing aids I've designed and fitted,
he can hear again. And that's what joy looks like.
And you'll do this and bring comfort and joy to people.
(03:15):
That's your mission in life. So, at age three, on
my father's shoulders, I was signed, sealed, delivered. I knew
exactly my calling and my mission and purpose in life.
And so here, fifty two years later, after I took over,
my father had passed. He had a stroke in seventy three,
(03:36):
and I was still a student. I was a senior
at Ohio State University, and all of a sudden, the
next day I had the family business to take care of,
and that really made a difference. But you know, God
gives you challenges and you succeed against all odds, and
so you just kind of change what you're doing daily
(03:57):
in your schedule and you determine, okay, this is what
I need to do and all and here we are
later three offices and we are actually looking for another
doctor of audiology with three on staff, and they're very amazing.
So we go on and if I'm not in the
(04:20):
sound booth testing someone and finding out what's causing their
hearing loss, it's never just age.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
It's never quote.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Selective hearing en quote, it's a medical situation. And doctors
of audiology. I spent thirteen years in college. University of
Florida's where I got my degree because Ohio State didn't
have it. Oh wow, there were PhDs done, but not
an au D. Well there are now, and we mentor
(04:51):
and supervise and teach and help doctoral students in audiology
in my offices. I don't know if people really knew
that about us.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
It's incredible.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
We're not just hearing aids, we're everything hearing. People come
to me and they say, here's what I'm missing. I
can't hear worth a darn in a restaurant. I take
my family there or I want to propose to this
gorgeous part. Yeah, and I can't hear because of the
background noise. And you know, restaurants have to have background
noise to quote turn the tables. They can't have you
(05:23):
sit there for a couple hours, right of course, just
like airlines, the more often you can take off from
Spawler airports, the better it is for you. And I
understand that. In fact, we almost we had a Looby
Dinner Bell Award kind of a program where I would
(05:43):
give an award to a restaurant that had a quiet
place kind of like the Louby Corner acoustically no music
and good food of course, and service and let people
know about them. But anyway, hearing in a restaurant is
still a big chain. But we have found a way.
And hearing instruments to me are neuro neuro like your brain.
(06:08):
Neurotechnology and the person we who fit them and know
how to get the best out of them and how
to get the best out of you and your brain.
That's when you get the results. That's when we change lives.
I was I made a home call yesterday on the
west Side do a patient. She's ninety years old. She's
(06:30):
in our model A club. My husband and I had
our blind date fifty five years ago at Ohio State
a blind date, a blind date, and he took me
to the Air Force Rotzi Ball. And you'll know, you
always wonder what kind of a car is the guy
going to show up with, right, Is it a Corvette
or a Corvet. Well, this was something in the middle.
(06:53):
It was a nineteen thirty one model a Ford Wow.
And I got in it and was wearing a long,
a flowing blue chiffon gown and I remember I had
to get it all together and he said, hop up
on the running board. When I got in the car,
I could look and see there were holes in the floor.
(07:14):
I thought, oh my goodness. And the starter wouldn't start it.
He had to go out and crank it. Oh yeah,
oh physically, and you know he hurt his thumb, but
he didn't cuss and swear. I thought, well, this is
a good guy.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
He's a good guy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
And we went to the ball and I think the
next date we had was water skiing. He said, you know,
you had a long gown on. I couldn't see your
pretty legs, oh dear. Anyway, so we eat water skied.
I used to be first made on my father's boat.
One time on Lake Erie. We were sinking and we'd
(07:47):
been out water skiing, and I was twelve at the time,
and I thought, oh my goodness, and there was a
storm coming, and I ran forward, flipped up the bow
and looked and all the curtains and the cushions were
floating in water. And I saw it was an aluminum hall.
I saw one of the rivets had popped and water
(08:08):
was coming into the boat through this tiny little hole,
well not tiny, but and I was chewing Bazooka Joe
pink bubblegum, warm and soft. I took that out of
my mouth and I plugged the hole.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Now you did it, Yes, I did.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
And I ran back and I flipped up the back
bench where the three orange gas tanks were. You know
that you always changed real fast so the person's skiing
doesn't have to stop. And there was a little bunghole
down there. I opened that. I said to my father Dad,
shoot the sherbet. That was code for throttle forward, and
(08:41):
it lived. Shoot go fast, yes, And he lifted up. Yeah,
he lifted up the bow, you know, and pretty soon
we started skipping across the water. All the water ran
out of the boat, closed that hole and we got
to shore safely before the storm. And that's when he
made me first mate, Doctor Mary lou Luby. I was
(09:02):
changing lives, saving lives. Yeah, you were had to think fast.
And I love a mystery. I love a challenge. So
anybody who comes to Louby that's l u e bb e.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I'm glad you spelled that out, Doctor Mary lul Luby.
Gara Hard is the CEO of Luby Hearing Services. Can
we go back to when your your father, who's a
World War two VET? What year did he start?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So he was not a VET?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Oh wait forgive me, Oh that's okay.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
He had three children, my older siblings. Okay, and at
that time, if you were a dad, you were better
serving at home taking care of the family of multiple children.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
My apologies.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Why my uncle Jim Luby was the VET.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Oh okay, what year did did your father start?
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Nineteen forty six, the year after World War two started?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Did he, Mary Loud? Did he have an inclination that
there were going to be men and women coming back
from the war that were going to have hearing issues.
Did he did?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
You know? So now these days, now that we have
the VA and tunnel to towers and all kinds of
helpful things, that was not like that. In those days.
He would go to a hospital and someone would say,
you know, this person is having trouble or a children
when they would look at the teacher, all was fine,
but when they turned their back, they couldn't hear because
(10:20):
they had a hearing loss. And you know sometimes these
children you have these syndromes Treacher Collins syndromes, low set ears.
And my father was brilliant man, not only an electronics pioneer.
I mean you think of things from World War two
and that you had radar and various things. I remember
seeing the acilloscope and the frequencies when I was little,
(10:43):
and I'd play with them low frequencies, high frequencies, and
he really encouraged that. But that's when we started. And anyway,
so he would say to a veteran, I'm al Louby
from Louby Hearing, and I'm here to get you a
job because your wife still loves you and your kids
(11:05):
need new shoes, so let's get you a job. He
didn't tell anybody he did this, but he gave to
me that feeling of that you do things for others,
and when you have to hold yourself to a higher standard,
or be a leader or an exemplar, or ask anything
from other people, you must do that knowing that you
would do anything. You never ask anybody to do anything
(11:28):
you wouldn't do, you know. And so that's how I
was raised.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Mary Luke, can I ask you with the technology you
talked about your father earlier designing what in nineteen forty six,
what did the technology look like for helping someone?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Where's my smartphone? That's what it looked like, that box
and it was hanging right there in the middle of
your chest, really, yes, and that held the microphone to
pick up sound. And then you had wires going up
to your ear. You know when I watch people and
maybe they've got earbuds on, yeah, and they've got that
(12:06):
vat and that we call it a y cord. I
remember how that was back then when I was little.
You know, when I was twelve years old, I said
to my father Dad, I'd love a horse, And my
father said, Mary Lou, that's a great idea. I didn't
think he'd go for it. My girlfriend said, there's no
way you're going to get a horse. But my father said,
(12:28):
you know, you'll learn a lot of things about dependability, responsibility,
You'll be courageous, you'll overcome fears. You can learn a
lot from a horse. And all you need to do,
Mary Lou at age twelve is come in and help
me in my office every Saturday. People used to work
(12:49):
on Saturday. I imagine six days a week. Anyway, so
I did and that worked out great. And then I
was sixteen and I said, Dad, I would love a car.
The horse has been great, but now we need four wheels,
not four legs, you know, four hoofs. And I got
(13:09):
a car, and I said, so what do you want
me to do to earn this car? I feel it's
always good to earn everything in life great, and you
raise your children that way too, absolutely, And so he said,
now you summertime vacation, and you come in every day
with me during summer. Okay, it did. And so then
(13:34):
when I went to Ohio State, I had a car,
you know, and my underdegree is in business administration and marketing.
Marketing is communication, audiology is communication, and if people can't
understand you don't have peace. You know, you have to
start with peace in your heart and inside of you,
and then peace in your house and your neighborhood and
(13:57):
your country and the world. I was asked to serve
and did for thirty years on the board of People
to People International, a group that was started by President
Eisenhower signed right there in the Oval Office in the
White House in nineteen fifty six. And he also signed
(14:18):
in the Sister City program at the same time.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
And the idea was that we would have homestays and
student exchanges with his People to People for immersion and
so forth. And my husband was in agriculture, that's his degree.
And my husband flew a jet and air force, you know,
to all this Ratzi. He paid to back Uncle Sam
for four years and was over you know, in Thailand
(14:45):
and all of that. Anyway, so the People to People
idea is a wonderful thing, kind of like pen pals.
And then it grew. Yeah, and so as part of
a delegation, I would go to embassies and meet our
ambassadors and People to People was led at that time
(15:05):
by Ike's granddaughter Mary Jean Eisenhower. I've been friends for
many years. In fact, one year a couple of years ago,
I asked her to speak remember that as the ideala
at the Champagne Aviation Museum where I'm on that board
because my husband is one of about one hundred volunteers
(15:26):
who is rebuilding to flight status a eighty year old
World War two be seventeen. They call it a flying fortress.
Ultimately to give rides so that all generations can understand
how it was and get the feel for things. Over
(15:46):
there in Urbana, Ohio we have and yes, I drive
a Corsair. You remember World War.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Two Coursair that was f for you.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
My husband was in a later model put it that
way in the seventies. But anyway, so it's been fabulous.
But we would I traveled around the world, and I
remember one time we were in South Korea and we
went through the DMZ, very tense, and there was a
(16:19):
lady that came up to me a banquet. She said, hello, Mattelu,
you help my husband here? Yes, so, no matter what
country during loss, And then I thought, here's the United Nations.
So many times they can't hear a noise, big hallway,
marble echo, you know, terrible acoustics right, and many times
(16:43):
we would help them come in and I say, you
know what, if you can come in to the office
and we make it easy, we'll evaluate your hearing because
doctors of audiology, like we have on our Luby staff
are the people who you want to go to first
to find find out. Is it a real hearing loss.
(17:03):
Is it a simple ear wax removal serumin ectomy like
take it out serumin ectomy. Oh, I can hear so
much better, get the wax out. Or is it a
brain tumor? We find those and if somebody listening has
a hearing loss in one ear, come in because sometimes
(17:24):
it could be something simple, but another time it could
be difficult. And no matter if if the specialist the
ear nosen throats specialist, we need audiologists to tell you
where to dig.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Mary Lou you you talked early on about well the
original technology that your father had and he helped to
sign Oh wow. Fast forward to twenty twenty five. What
kind of things do you have now?
Speaker 2 (17:48):
So we've been using a I wow official intelligence and
machine learning for years.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Okay, so AI.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
We've been developing a database people who are having issues
and what we do to fix them so now some
of us really have the edge if you will on
helping a person with their problems and what needs to
be done. We have technology now that is intentional, meaning
(18:19):
it has gyros and sensors in it so that where
you look it will change the microphones and know that
you want to look.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
At you amazing, isn't that amazing?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Or you turn your head or just move your eyes.
In the future, I think that hearing instruments in your
ear canal. Your ear canal is like your wrist. You
know how you take your pulse. You get an idea
ear canals are like that too. And if we quote
paint sensors on our hearing instruments, put them in your ear.
(18:57):
Now we can have technology that can tell you how
many steps you're taking, is at four thousand a day
or ten thousand a day? Get you healthy? Can tell
how many minutes or hours a day are you having
intellectual stimulation because when you use the auditory nerve and
(19:18):
stimulate your brain, you do a couple things. You can
actually put off the advancement and the risk of getting dementia.
Use it or lose it, you know, and as you
age your brain shrinks. Well, if you don't use what
you've got. Your brain will shrink even more so people
(19:39):
who have memory issues. It's not their age. I say,
come in and let us check your hearing. Let's see
we can tell you what risk you are for dementia, Alzheimer's,
all of that.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
People amazing.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, people for example, who have diabetes, one in four
of them needs my help with hearing technology. And you
know people who are depressed, a lot of people have
this depression. You don't do it with pills. You come
into Lubi's and we see if your hearing is normal.
I have an audio gram like a telegram. An audiogram
(20:17):
is a picture of your hearing, and we can see
what vowels and consonants are audible. So when you look
at your curve, you know the low tones a little
beet beet bet bet bet beep. Yeah, but our tests
are a lot more involved in that, I assure you.
And you can't test your hearing your cell phone, no phone, no,
(20:39):
how can you calibrate? We have calibration and equipment is
just the quote cats me out. Yeah, the best that
you can have.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Mary Louis, can we back up for sec when you're
talking to let's take for example, someone who is depressed.
How does that look with an exam from you? How
can you what happened your hearing?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Right? So usually they'll tell us a big deal is isolation. Well,
a hearing loss can isolate you too. And I saw
lady yesterday. She says, I've been in my house thirty years.
Everybody told me there's no way that I could hear.
I had a dead ear and all that kind of stuff.
In here. We brought life back. Isn't that great? So
(21:23):
your life is dependent upon who you know, who you've consulted,
how much they care, and do they treat you the
way you'd like to be treated.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Yeah, of course, of course.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
And so by seeing and many times people are in denial.
They say, oh, I'm too young to have a hearing loss.
I don't have a hearing loss. People mumble or oh
the noise is terrible in this sports bar whatever. But
I say, get the facts, get the truth. It sets
you free, remember that one. Yeah. Yeah. And so when
(21:54):
we can see if a person is hearing all of
the parts of speech, the vowels and con s's and
f's or t's and d's, then okay, if their hearing
is fine, check that then go on and get your
medical follow up or whatever. But as long as you
have a hearing loss that is untreated and undiagnosed, you're
(22:16):
gonna have a problem and it just gets worse, and
then your health starts failing. And this is where your
attitude can go down the drain, and this is where
wonderful relationships. You know, who did you marry and why
all of a sudden you're tiffing and arguing I didn't
say that, or you didn't tell me that. Or turn
(22:38):
the TV down it's too loud, you know, dad, I said,
Or forget it. We don't want you watching your grandchildren
because one went out the door. You didn't hear the
door slam.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, a little girl got.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Lost or something crazy. You can't imagine what brings people
into my office and the reasons that they come for help.
Sometimes it's tenetous, you know, that's the Greek word for ringing,
and they have issues like that. That's just a way
of saying I have other problems. And we never dismiss
(23:12):
anyone and say go home and live with it, or
turn on a fan or turn up the radio if
you're trying to sleep. Yeah, there are real reasons for
that and going to a conference in October in Chicago
on real in depth reversal of tenatus and the parts
of the brain. It's neuroscience and you got to love it, you.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Know, Mary Lou. What's the most common problem you see
with patients that come in with a hearing loss or
what happened? What's the issue?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah, hearing and noise is a big one, right, And
you know, oh, I must say this important heads up.
If you or someone you know has a sudden hearing loss,
you have a twenty four hour like golden hour to
fix that. It could be a virus.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, And if we get you to the right person,
maybe you get a little shot or whatever to fight
that you save your hearing. I remember one time a
woman called me. She said, and this is the day
before we had rechargeable hearing aids like we do now,
but we use batteries. Some people still do, and that's fine.
(24:26):
But she said, all the batteries in my fresh battery
pack are dead. I said, would you please come into
the office and we'll make room for you. We do
we work people in came up on the bus, I
looked and everything and just checked her hearing and she
had lost hearing in one ear. And I called an
e NT in town and I said, have you had
(24:48):
lunch yet? No. While I'm bringing a patient, I'm driving
her over myself. We've got the golden hour. And he
was able to save her hearing because she got into
medical care. Ever be quote put off. And so that's
a big warning we can say. You know, I think
(25:08):
of words like find a hearing problem, fix a hearing problem,
and fight for the person who has a hearing plum.
Fight to defend. I would say, protect, protect hearing with
hearing protection, you know, conserve hearing, fight, fix.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Find it right, fight, fix fine, say that fast.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
And like I think of the six d's for who
needs to come in. We mention people who have diabetes.
I call it d FIB, meaning people who have heart issues,
high blood pressure, cardiovascular that kind of a thing. We
talked about depression. How about the D for demographics like
(25:55):
your age? Okay, that's one thing. Probably three quarters of
people the age of seventy or above have a need
for hearing help. But also if you've worked in noise
and maybe you haven't worn hearing protection. We do hearing testing,
industrial testing for companies, And I would also give a
(26:17):
word to the whys and the other CEOs call us,
because when you hire somebody, you never know what kind
of a hearing loss they're bringing to you, right, and
how they will misunderstand, or they will waste resources and
you have to do the job again, or maybe they
can't participate in a board meeting. And many times when
(26:40):
we help people hear better, they get promotions. I think
that statistically, I read maybe somebody with a hearing loss,
even a mild one, is foregoing thirty five thousand dollars
income because their potential is not where it could and
should be.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Isn't that it's such a great point with regards to technology.
Let's say someone comes in and they either have to
get assistance with a hearing aid or some of your
other fascinating technology that can you do everything the day
of Is it surgery to take us behind the curtain?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Many times we can, and it's amazing. So I invite people.
They come from out of state, whatever, okay, and maybe
they're visiting relative. Let's say an adult daughter and she
is up to hear Dad, I said, I said, dad,
And so she brings him in and says he you're fixing,
(27:37):
and many times that day, by golly, he goes home
with her smile on his face. They're hug and holding
hands and they've been estranged for years. And you know,
I love people with hearing loss because a maybe they've
been a veteran, they've been working hard, and noise. You know,
we have policemen and firefighters and all of that, or
(27:59):
some times people have had a high fever. And I
remember nineteen sixty four, that was the year for rubella,
you know, German measles, right babies carriage, first trimester, so
many children were born with hearing loss in sixty four. Anyway,
So with regards to.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
What about insurance, I know a lot of people would ask,
does my health insurance cover any of this? How does
that work?
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Well, usually when people call in here, you know, our
hearing tests are covered by insurance. They don't usually cover
hearing aids. And I'm glad you brought that out up
about insurance. There are insurance companies that do things by
I'm going to say, the letter of the law, but
not the spirit of it. They offer hearing aid benefits,
but the hearing aids that they offer are not good
(28:51):
or they're not appropriate or what you really need. Yeah. See,
and we might not be the most expensive, but we're
certainly not the cheapest. But then again, value is the
big thing. It has to be more of a help
than the dollars that you have in your hand. You
would trade your currency, whatever it is for another go
(29:16):
at life, A saved relationship, being able to understand and
enjoy your grandkids, being able to go to church and hear.
We have wonderful little accessories for our hearing instrument and
microphones that you can put on somebody a companion and
(29:41):
hear them very well in restaurant or eighty feet away
when they're in the garden and you're in the kitchen,
and you know, it's amazing room to room upstairs, downstairs.
That's why people say, oh, doctor Marylou, you've saved our marriage.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
That I believe that, Mary Lou. You know you think
about the dentist, you go there a couple of times
a year. You think about the eye doctor. Should get
in your hearing checked be way more mainstream than what
it is a lot like going to get your eyes checked.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
All right, I want you to remember this ear and
rear O. Yeah, when you're fifty and you've got the
colon os could be going on, okay'm gonna do this.
Then I know that it's time to come to somebody
really good qualified that really is into what you need
right find out and we explain everything. We make you
(30:39):
an expert on your ears and your brain, and we
give you good advice. Sometime we say you know what
it was, wax. Imagine that. Yeah, And we work with
family doctors. They're the quarterbacks. They refer to people to us,
and then we can let them know what's the matter.
(31:00):
Family doctors keep their patients. You know, we're not competitors.
We're helpful, right, And so I think also these days medicare,
when you're sixty five, they require a hearing screening, okay,
and we do hearing screenings. We can get complementary hearing screening. Well,
(31:23):
have you listen, And when we test hearing, we test
you in noise. Also imagine that, because that's where people
really have problems in background noise. And so we'll make
sentences get louder and louder, and we're looking for maybe
five words in the sentence that you have to be
able to understand and repeat. And there comes a time
(31:46):
with the level of noise that you say, oh, I
can't hear. Then that gives us an idea of what
I call the cognitive the thinking cognitive load load. How
much effort you're putting to pay attention, read their lips,
predict what they're gonna say. You know, that's many times
(32:07):
how people try to compensate for a hearing loss that's
not diagnosed and not treated well.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Can I paint you a quick picture? And I don't
know if this is just a typical family and this happens,
but I might be that person because picture three kids hollering, screaming,
running around the house. Lexi, my wife is trying to
tell me something and I can't quite always understand make
(32:35):
it out. Is that an issue or is that just life?
Speaker 2 (32:38):
You know what an issue is? What you need? Now?
What I say by that is people come in and
they have clinically normal hearing, okay, but they have these
issues and these dreams, these wants, And I say, you
tell me your wishes like fairy godmother, I will grant
your wish. And so right now I'm thinking of a
(33:03):
very simple thing for you, little thing here in your ear,
and and Lexi's wearing another little cute, little simple thing
right on her little collar, and she talks and her
voice goes in there and she can be in another
room and you hear her, and it's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
And stop'd stop a lot of arguments. I'll say, yeah,
it would.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah. And I'm you know, my if I was to
describe myself in one word, it would be peace.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Peace. I would agree with that with you.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yeah, yeah, And so bring peace to the world, peace
through understanding. So we are really at the bottom the
wind beneath your wings, right, yeah, the wind beneath your
be seventeen wings well, and.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
I'm also probably due for that very soon ear and rear,
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
I'll never forget that.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Doctor Mary Lulubi Gearhart, really appreciate your time, CEO of
Louby Hearing Services. Before you go, would you give out
contact info, website, socials, phone.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Number right website, go to hear Ohio dot com, h
e A R Ohio dot com. And here's a simple
phone number. I say, pick up a pen call six
one four four three one ten ten. That's four three
(34:30):
one ten ten, So that your hearing is ten on
a scale, you know, optimal hearing, optimal joy in your life,
optimal connection with your children, your spouse, your parents. Just
when you look around and you see somebody who's having difficulty,
(34:51):
don't judge them. Think of Louby hearing first. Let's get
you to Louby. I remember there was a fellow who
dropped his wife off in front of my MI office out
of the cargo in that door. I'll be back in
an hour. Oh and she didn't have enough.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Point.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
My staff is fabulous, you know, Laura Rene been with
me eighteen years front office patient care coordinators and you
know audiology texts anyway, so they said, come on in.
We'll work it in. Whenever God has something unusual, you
(35:28):
just know this is a divine referral, right, and I
have so many stories of how in an hour came back.
This is what we need to do. Glad you know
you you brought her here. In fact, a couple of
years ago, I fell and broke both of my legs
(35:48):
at the same time.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Oh what I tell you, No, I did not know that.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
The first thing I did is I thank God for
this opportunity to learn something and my ninety mile our
life just stopped. And I mean the visiting angels, you know,
came to my house. I had almost a mid morning
home invasion. I could see the guy with the gun
(36:14):
at my front door. It was really something. And I
wrote my first book, which became I was a co author,
became a best seller on Amazon, succeeding against all odds.
I wouldn't have had that chance if I had been
doing my thing, to be staying, you know, sitting a wheelchair.
(36:34):
And it was really something. But that's when I scaled.
As we say, we add more people to do what
I could not do, and you grow, you know. But
that was really something. And there have been other books,
four of them now they're best sellers and contributing my
(36:55):
philosophy how I help people and you know yourself even
better through people, and it's just wonderful life, you know,
just like the Frank Kapra movie.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Yep, yeah, yeah, oh my favorite, by the way, my fav.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
So it all depends on who you go to, doesn't it. See,
you're a quality guy. Everybody can't do what you do, essay,
and so this is payback time. And this goes back
to when I knew what my vocation vocal, I was
called for this and so in some way, shape or form,
(37:33):
I will continue to do these. And you know, a
couple of years ago, when I had my fiftieth anniversary
as owner, president CEO of Loubie Hearing, people came to
this little party we had at the office at the
one in Columbus office on High Street. We're just north
of Morse Road, across from Graceland Shopping Center, parking all
(37:53):
over the place. It's wonderful. And the Nationwide Children's Hospital
in the neighborhood, you know, is right next door. And
we've been at that location for since nineteen ninety, right, yeah,
And anyway, they came and they said to people, I
remember the first day we met, and how you listened
or you knew or oh my, and we just reminisced,
(38:17):
and I remembered those stories and I remember those patients
even when I was a student at Ohio State. Was
a fellow sitting next to me, and I said, are
you hearing what they're saying? I can tell you're struggling. Oh,
he said, I am, And I've never talked to anybody
about it, So I kind of go in there. It's
like a magnet. Or if I go to a restaurant
(38:41):
and maybe you know, we're sitting watching the game. Somebody
next to me, what And I say, you're not hearing
well in one ear. What caused that? I don't know.
I said, well, let's figure out. Here's my card and
come in and let's find out we need to know.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
And I'm so passionate, doctor Mary Lubi, Girahart, thank you
so much for your time. Thanks for being a guest
this week on CEOs you Should Know.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
It's my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
CEOs You Should Know is hosted and produced by Brandon Boxer,
a production of iHeartMedia Columbus
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