June 24, 2025 • 30 mins
In a world where innovation often outpaces empathy, Brandon Sawalich stands out as a rare leader who blends both with purpose. As the President and CEO of Starkey, one of the world’s leading hearing technology companies, Brandon has spent over 31 years transforming not just a business—but an entire industry 1.
From his first job in hearing healthcare at age 19, Brandon discovered a calling, not just a career. His journey is one of grit, vision, and a deep belief in the power of people. Under his leadership, Starkey has championed cutting-edge hearing solutions while staying rooted in human connection. He’s a vocal advocate for purpose-driven leadership, healthcare innovation, and policy reform that puts people first. Tune in to this podcast and learn how Starkey has evolved and the impact that they have on our community.
From his first job in hearing healthcare at age 19, Brandon discovered a calling, not just a career. His journey is one of grit, vision, and a deep belief in the power of people. Under his leadership, Starkey has championed cutting-edge hearing solutions while staying rooted in human connection. He’s a vocal advocate for purpose-driven leadership, healthcare innovation, and policy reform that puts people first. Tune in to this podcast and learn how Starkey has evolved and the impact that they have on our community.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
That's CEOs you should know. I'm Adam West here with
Brandon Sawalach, CEO of Starky Starky Company. Starky Starky Sarky. Yeah,
just well known like that. Tell me what Starkey does.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
We are a hearing technology company, so we're looking forward
on what can we do to eliminate the stigma of
what people think hearing aids are. But we're using AI
DNN cutting edge technology that helps people connect with people
but also personalize hearing solutions to fill in the blanks
(00:32):
of what they're missing. AI.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Tell me a little bit about how AI works.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It's it's friendly AI because there's a lot of AI
out there, but it's always on. And what it does
is we personalize the product to the hearing loss. And
when I say product is really the technology because it
comes in many different form factors and you know from
in the air to behind the ear, and today's hearing
(00:56):
aids are sleek and basically invisible. And what we do
with AI is, you know, really we're exercising and feeding
the brain. Because your brain's processing sound and people have
hearing loss, you can't get it back. So think of
it like there's these kind of holes in the brain
where they can't you know, hear or understand, and our
(01:20):
AI is personalizing the listening situation for them and filling
in those holes.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
You just took one of yours out. I didn't realize
he had one.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Wow. That is sleek. Yes, yep, it's very and it's
also superpower. I mean really because we're the only company. Yes,
we're using AI advanced technology within the circuit, but we
have embedded sensors where the you know, the ears, the
new rest. We can do step accounting, we can do
(01:51):
blood pressure, We could do a lot of different things
on health side, especially fall detection. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I was just going to say the whole falling thing.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yes, yep.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
So Starkey's based right here in Minnesota. What how has
Starking embraced the Minnesota culture, you.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Know with pride. The chairman of the of Starkey, you know,
started selling hearing aids in nineteen sixty one, and he
started really the company in the basement of his home
in nineteen sixty seven because he was wanting to, you know,
(02:31):
provide good service to his patients so repair and at
a time where if you bought a hearing aid you
could return it, he just bought it and companies at
the time. You know, they're probably close to one hundred
different hearing companies in the in the US and more
in the world. And he was all and he was
(02:51):
nineteen and when he started in nineteen sixty one, early twenties,
and it was all about service and it still is.
It's about patient And so then he started from a
repair company in the basement of his home in Hopkins, Minnesota,
and then started evolving into manufacturing, building the first custom
(03:13):
and ear product of quality in nineteen seventy two.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Because didn't they before, like you'd hang a thing on
your neck, right, we didn't have like a thing that.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Would There were different types. Those are body aids you
would have behind the ears. Back then too, you would
have eyeglass hearing aids where you have an eyeglass and
then a tube that would come from the eyeglass down
into the hearing aids. So there were different types. And
that's kind of the stigma that still exists where you see,
you know, even today in the media, these big whether
(03:44):
it's to look like a piece of bubblegum or a
really big beij banana behind the ear, and that's just
you know, false advertising on you know, I would say
they're trying to sell something else. And for us, you know,
we we call it out because we want to we
want people to educate. We want to educate today's consumers
(04:06):
on what today's innovative technology is. Like you said, you
didn't even recognize I ad one that is today's hearing aids.
It's not what the media or the movies or the
whistling the feedback, you know, that's that's twenty thirty years ago.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, I remember my grandpa had that all the time. Yeah,
what's going on over there?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Right?
Speaker 1 (04:25):
So you partner with Minnesota companies, what makes a company
sort of ideal to partner with.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
You know, giving back? Starkey is a company privately held
still and we have around six thousand employees worldwide, fourteen
hundred here in Minnesota. And we're a company of values
and culture's big and so yes, we have the business side,
but we also give back to people that can't afford
(04:54):
hearing aids. And for us, partnering with companies here locally,
you know, sharing the same value different types of charities.
You know, I was on the board of the Minnesota
Special Olympics. We're working with currently, right, now with the
Minnesota Timberwolves on you know, of course great time, but
(05:14):
the noise inside protecting healthy hearing. Same with the Minnesota Vikings.
You know, we've worked with various different companies because we
want to be a good corporate citizen.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
You've held many different roles within the company. We're talking
a little bit about how long you've been there. How
just share your journey. I guess briefly with Starkey, how
you rose to CEO.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
I was actually eighteen, moved up here in May or
early June, excuse me, of nineteen ninety four, and I
was going to go second year of college, and I
had a summer intern job and my job was to
clean repair old hearing aids. I'll make repair kind of
(06:05):
mister Ross. And started the company and you know, okay,
let's do it, and you know, a summer job. And
then I felt a sense of I like the responsibility,
I like the people, I like the company. And so then,
of course, like many I'll do a skip here, you know,
let's you know, what what else can I do? And
(06:26):
so thirty one skip years later, you know, I my
mindset then because I had pressure of why I'm missing out?
I need to be in collected. I need to do
this because you don't know what you don't know, and
you you want to you feel like you have to
conform to expectations that's set. And I went from the
(06:48):
intern too into sales and did that for two years,
and then many different sales jobs. And then you know,
at the time, you know you have your day job
job description, but you know, really it's starky. You have
a job description, but next day you can throw it
(07:10):
out the window because you know what your main job is.
But if the company needs help, I've done the switchboard
over at the cafeteria, I've picked people up at the airport,
whatever it took. And at the time that was just
my can do attitude. Didn't know any different. But I
learned so much that I didn't know I was learning
until it. You know, it applied to me and what
(07:34):
I'm doing now or even over the last ten to
fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
I feel like that's common with successful people. You know,
don't ever just accept that what you're doing is all
you can or should do. You have said it, you
know what else can I do?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Here? Yeah? It's the one thing, is the one thing
that just I cringe is when I hear someone saying
it's rare, but well, that's not my job description because
you're limiting yourself. It's not yes attitude. But you know what, Starkey,
my mindset is. You know, over the last ten years
and working with our teams, and we've got a great team,
(08:09):
is you hire for attitude, develop the talent, because you cannot.
It's hard to develop talent or excuse me, attitude. You know,
it's hard to switch that and built in you got
to have that culture and that camaraderie. I mean even
walking around your studio here for fifteen minutes your office,
you could feel the chemistry. Oh good, so and but
(08:31):
that's everything, you know, I mean COVID. You know, when
COVID happened, it that kind of took away one of
our superpowers and we had to adapt and adjust and
we have and everybody's back on campus and you know,
you work together as a team because your team, the
team is the foundation of winning.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
What are some of the other challenges you've had in
the hearing aid industry?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Is the stigma, really the stigma because people think they
know what a hearing aid is and and respectfully, you know,
to know malice, whether it's the media. You look at movies.
I always think of the movie up right where he's
got the whistles, and our hearing aids don't whistle. They
(09:19):
have it for twenty years and it's not what you
know you think it is. But for whatever you know,
scripts or whatever reason they want to portray, we're a
hearing aid. You know. I always ask the question, what
do you what's the first thing you think of when
you think of a hearing aid. You're going to say old,
(09:39):
and it's it's anything. But I set out a vision
where I want Starkey to be the best and it's
a superpower for not just Old, but for anybody to
be the best they could be each and every day
for their job. And it's kind of like Jarvis, That's
what I wanted to do. Yeah, I wanted to help
people throughout the day, and amplifying hearing is just one thing.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, you have a lot of innovative products. I use
your the earplugs. You know, you guys have molds in
my ears. I have the Blaze orange ones. So people
always ask, like a concerts, I'll wear them. It's because
I've been to so many concerts over the years and
so I you know, tell them all about Starkey, But
what are you most excited about right now as far
as your product line or future products.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I'm excited about two things. We have our sound gear
product which you could have mentioned, the hearing protection. So
we're focused on the upfront where you know, we want
to protect healthy hearing. And that's not just the phoamies.
You know, we're working with the Department of Defense and
I've been talking with them where we have our active
(10:41):
military men and women that are out in combat. You know,
you can't put your ears or excuse me, your fingers
and your ears and not here. So our products will amplify,
give situational awareness and as soon as there's a loud
blast within milliseconds, it'll protect them. JESU. And so that's
one ASPEC because we worry with them. We're working with
(11:03):
homeland security hunters. Yes, I mean there's a broad because
it's not just the poems and are putting cotton in yours.
That was kind of the old way. Moving forward, what
am I What I am I excited about is where
a hearing aid is your personal assistant. It helps you
(11:24):
throughout the day, doesn't own you. And I said it's friendly,
a friendly, but it's you know, yes, helps those if
you have a hearing loss, or if you don't, maybe
it makes you here just a little bit. Better health
features we're coming out with more and more can detect
if somebody's depressed, you know, because with hearing loss you
(11:47):
draw inward, you know, you're isolated. Also, as I mentioned,
fault detection, other health monitoring features, and then what we're
doing with kind of a assistant where I could tap
my hearing aid and what's the weather outside and it'll
tell me. We also have you know, you know coming
(12:10):
We haven't now, but you have to start somewhere we
can translate seventy two languages and then down the road
eventually here soon it will be simultaneous where if I'm
traveling to Germany and talking to somebody, it's telling me
in real time what they're saying. Oh wow, so I'm excited.
(12:31):
I guess more than two but you know quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Would voice recognition ever be a possibility or it'll remind
you who someone is?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, yes, because we can do that. That's
perfect and you know that kind of goes along with
you know, when we do voice recognition as I mentioned
for uh, your mood kind of like, oh yeah, mood,
your mood ring. But it's based on you and how
you're talking, not just for you. But let's say you
(13:02):
have mother, father, daughter, whoever it might be that are
going through things, might have a hearing loss, might not.
They give you permission to have access to what they're
how much they're using their hearing device throughout the day,
and it can tell you if are they depressed, are
they active? Kind of what mood are they and based
(13:24):
on you know, they're talking, and you know, when you're
hearing loss, you are, Like I said, you I have
stories I could you know it's an old one. And
you know Bob Hope, well he took care of his
hearing and he was very very hard of hearing and
he lived a long time and he would just say
isolated because he kind of just refused eventually wearing them.
(13:49):
And you just stay inward. Yeah, you don't want to communicate,
you don't want to be in embarrassed and you know
it's a depressive state. It's loneliness. And that's the other
thing I talk about depression, but loneliness.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Well that could that could really be helpful for people absolutely, yes.
What do you guys take customer feedback? What role does
that play in your product development or changes that you
make everything?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
So you know, the patient is job one. So we design, engineer,
and develop technology and products for those that currently wearing
hearing aids or need them. We sell through distributors. We
don't sell direct because we sell through hearing healthcare professionals.
Because these are personalized device, fine tune them. Now you're
(14:35):
on Facebook and they say, hey, here's a ninety nine
dollar hearing aid. Don't do this. It's an amplifier and
a microphone from somewhere that's not going to help them.
Might help them in certain situations where just ample it
doesn't amplify. So what we're doing is providing technology that
(14:58):
can read the room with you knowing it. We have
an app you can adjust, but it's personalized to your
hearing loss, situation and environment.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
You talked a little bit about mental health related to hearing.
Is there a physical health component as well?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Absolutely talked about falls, but physical you know, well, yes, happiness,
but also people don't think about it. Arnold Palmer once
told me that, you know, we took care of his
hearing and when we helped him. He could hear how
his club hit the hit hit the ball, the driver,
(15:38):
and then he would know if how he hit it,
if he was hit it solid or you know whichever,
which I'm sure he did every every time. But it
was a moment where he remembered that. And then you
and I walking in this room. We take it for granted,
but our feet and hearing, our feet hit the carpet,
(15:59):
so and you go to balance. So if you have
hearing loss, you can't hear that, so that it does
have a result of balance issues, which is falls, which
can you know, for over seventy or anybody can be
a very you know, serious health issue. But it's just
hearing your feet on the carpet or walking in the
(16:23):
leaves or the grass, and we take it for granted.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
I'm talking to Brandon's the Walach CEO of Starkey. What
steps or what initiatives have you taken to make hearing
aids more accessible and affordable for everybody?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
So what we do is we have several ways. The
cost is and what we do is is it's a
third of the process. You go ahead for hearing evaluation,
you go in, here's the product that you need and
then you're fit with a product by a professional, usually
provided with three year warranty and service and no charge.
(16:58):
So when people say hearing aids are six thousand dollars, well,
I could go buy a Porsche or I could go
buy a truck at different costs that they always you know,
talk about the highest end, and we make different levels.
And it's also based off your lifestyle. Not everybody needs
(17:19):
the best. But we also work with over i say
over forty states that have state programs that provide products
for people that can't for them at a lesser cost.
And we also have our Starkey Cares program that we
provide people fill out an application, we run it through.
(17:40):
If they can't afford it, we provide them steady they
aren't hearing aids. We also partner with a Starkey Hearing Foundation,
which is a five on one C three around the
world where that's where our chairman spending his time now
in his philanthropic heres per se and giving away free
hearing aids. You know, over the last fifteen years, I
(18:03):
would estimate two to three million Africa. In Mexico. Wow,
they're going to the Philippines on Sunday. They just came
back from Africa, and I've been on these trips and
I tell you, I don't care how strong you are,
and I know you have a lot of strong people
in the studio and on the radio and sports. You
(18:23):
hear or you know, you see a mother hear their
child hear their voice for the very first time. I mean,
it doesn't because it and you know, Africa is an example,
a lot of hearing loss there because of just a
infection that penicillin whatever could have helped, but they didn't
(18:48):
have access to it. And they're not deaf. They're labeled deaf.
They're not deaf. They just have a hearing loss. And
we fixed that. I've seen it. It's it's an addiction.
You see it in their eyes because yeah, you get
that look in their eyes where well, I'm reconnected.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
How do you balance the need for technological innovation with
the importance of personalized customer service.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
That's a good question. And in this industry, you know,
I'm all about looking up and out. If your status quo,
you're not going to last long. And I always look
at I use Blockbuster as an example where I'm talking
to people. You know, we can go down the list
and innovation never sleeps at circus, So I say quite
(19:34):
a bit because you know, in our industry for years
we've already there's always been incremental improvements. But in since
twenty seventeen, I'll say I swung for the fences, hired
a CTO that was outside the industry for Intel, brought
AI through the first and wanted to redefine and reinvent
(19:58):
the area. So you have, innovation is always ongoing. We
talked a little bit about it, and then customer services
everything too, because we not only support our global customers
and our facilities, and you know, we we have since
we really were founded on customer service and that's everything.
(20:20):
When customer service wasn't even really a term in this
in the mid sixties, the customer service perhaps rightly no.
And we answer every call with a live voice, unlike
going to a bank of pharmacy bushy zero. We have
eight operators. Any call that comes to the starkey's answer
(20:40):
with the live voice. Customer service answers right now within
thirty seconds, and we take care of our customers. And
then we also now which has been growing, our patient
customer service. We're calling in because our products are our Bluetooth.
(21:01):
You got to connect them. So right now I could
be talking to you, but I'm you know, I'm listening
to Huey Lewis or whoever you want. Right now, my
phone could ring and you wouldn't know it. So we
have to make complex simple an innovation, but we have
to make it easy for the patient. So when people compare, oh,
(21:24):
harreas are too expensive, and you get eyeglasses at you know,
at Target or wherever, Sure you can, and that's the
right thing. But think about innovation. Eyeglasses haven't changed, and
you know, two hundred years there's stinking components. Yeah, styles,
everything changed. In hearing aids, we have three hundred and
(21:44):
sixty components in a very tiny package and it's water wow,
and it's always So you've got bluetooth, antenna, circuit, lithium ion,
rechargeable battery. I could go down the list. So innovation
is one thing. You have to have great customer service,
which Starkey is known for, and you have to have
(22:07):
relationships with your customers and do what's right.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Technology is going to keep improving and keep changing in
the healthcare industry. What advice would you give to aspiring
leaders in the healthcare technology industry?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Be patient, and and what I mean by that is,
you know, there's you know, one thing that I've several
things I've learned, and that kind of goes back to
my thirty years of hearing the stories over and over,
but it all comes together and by osmosis, it's like ool.
(22:44):
My advice is, you know, be decisive, collect the facts,
be decisive. Don't run a company by a committee. You're
going to get a lot of opinions. At the end
of the day, you have to make the decision. And
then once the decision is made, you go. But do
(23:05):
what's right for the patient or the customer. And I
know that's hard nowadays because you have public company and
there's you've got to please a lot. Yeah, we have
the opportunity. We're private and it's about the patient. And
as a leader, you work for the people. So in
(23:25):
my mind there's always that you know, people talk about
the pyramid and seals the top. I invert it. I
work for the people of Starky because they're my report card,
and they're going to tell me if I'm doing a
good job.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Wow, good for you, that's awesome. Where do you want
to take Starking next? What's the future in the next
you know, five, ten years, pick a time whatever.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Yeah, we over the night. I look up and out,
uh three, five and then ten. You know there's always
people calling. You know, you're for sale, you want to
go public. No, we're doing well. I want to make
hearing aids about here tech where it becomes more of
(24:11):
that personal assistant and take risks and do what's not
being not being done. You know, we're a proud of
Minnesota company, not going anywhere, and you know I want
to expand that and be smart. But it's our partnerships.
We have partnerships with Apple, partnerships with other well known
(24:35):
companies and then partnering with their technology. But at the
end of the day, I could say that it's all
about the people, the people at Start Game, and it's
the talent and the engineers and the bright minds and
the ideas. That's what gets me, gets me excited. We're
in the people business. So if you care and focus
(24:59):
on the patient, doing what's right. Revenue, but all that
stuff I can talk about, it all fallows. It all
falls if you lead with that, if you chase the money.
You know, for my instance speak for everyone, it's it's
a really long chase, and it's not sometimes successful. Focus
(25:22):
on the patient and what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Speaking to people in talent, I always ask, are you
guys hiring?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Yes, we are hiring, and we want the talent here locally,
not looking to open up a Starky two point zero
in another state. But you know, we've been I just
looked at the list, just the hiring the last two
weeks and we've added another, you know, ten people, some replacements,
(25:52):
some new, but it's the engineers. We're investing in R
and D and we're investing in RN. We have our
R and D in Minnesota. Most people don't know that.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
So one of the things most people would know Starky
from is the gallap the people who come into town
and everything. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (26:09):
They We should have talked about this first because this
is pretty exciting.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Oh there's so many stories and all good and then
always the interesting ones, you know. The Starky Hearing Foundation
is five o'h one C three separate from Starky. But
Starky is a company. Support our customers support it, and
I think we had the first one here in two
thousand and one. If I recall, and we did some
(26:34):
things as I mentioned earlier as a discussion in LA
and New York, but it wasn't kind of it. It
morphed and became the Starky Hearing Foundation gala, and we
because of COVID kind of paused it. We had one
event right before COVID. It's kind of the black tie
(26:58):
seems to be. I don't want to say gone, but
you know, but I wouldn't be surprised if you see
something soon. Because the foundation it works. It raises money
for a good cause, for what we mentioned earlier, and
the people that I've had the experience to meet for
(27:19):
all the right reasons. People think, oh, you pay all
these people to come in and you want to be
a big deal and you raise all this It's natural.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yeah, it's natural, you know because you very help some
of these people.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Very famous. You know. Well, I guess said. Garth Brooks
has been here. He's a good friend, he's been here
several times. One of his family members. We helped Elton
John who's a good friend and knows us and we
support his AIDS foundation. He's been here several times. We've
(27:54):
helped him. I could go down the list. So I mean,
I remember one of the most memory ones, you know.
I was there sitting at a table, and it's surreal
because I'm not a celebrity type, Oh my gosh, or
you know the name dropper, because I focus on their people,
what I've learned, even from when I started starting, because
(28:17):
I've been around it. I remember going to Lloyd Bridges's
house with Miss Rawson because he was helping him with
hearing it. They're people and they have their job and
that's what it is. And a lot of people think
who they are on screen or TV is who they are. No,
not at all, And they play a role. They play
(28:40):
a character. And I'm sitting going back to the story,
I'm sitting at a table and I'm sitting next to
this I think it was twenty and eleven we had
there was Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Chevy Chase and
Steve Martin. Last time they were all together. I'm sitting
(29:01):
next to Robin Williams and the nicest man he just
just you know, are you doing? Chief? You know he's
a chief and I know that's well knowne And and
I was backstage because I was going up as from
a Starkey supporter standpoint, thanking our customers. So I had
(29:22):
to go out on stage and he was right ahead
of me or the auction. He was going to go
out and action all mild manner, and within a second
I'm watching they announced Robin Williams. Boom. He became Robin
Williams right there before my eyes, and he went out
(29:45):
with energy and did everything before that. He was like us,
just just talking and the nicest. Anybody want his picture?
We want to talk to him, absolutely, yeah, no problem.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Well we'll look forward to hearing something from you from
the from Starkey. Yes, and thanks for coming in continued
success to you, Thank you, and thanks for all the
great work you do around the world as well with
the foundation.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Thank you. Thank you for what you're doing for the
game Minnesota and
That's CEOs you should know. I'm Adam West here with
Brandon Sawalach, CEO of Starky Starky Company. Starky Starky Sarky. Yeah,
just well known like that. Tell me what Starkey does.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
We are a hearing technology company, so we're looking forward
on what can we do to eliminate the stigma of
what people think hearing aids are. But we're using AI
DNN cutting edge technology that helps people connect with people
but also personalize hearing solutions to fill in the blanks
(00:32):
of what they're missing. AI.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Tell me a little bit about how AI works.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It's it's friendly AI because there's a lot of AI
out there, but it's always on. And what it does
is we personalize the product to the hearing loss. And
when I say product is really the technology because it
comes in many different form factors and you know from
in the air to behind the ear, and today's hearing
(00:56):
aids are sleek and basically invisible. And what we do
with AI is, you know, really we're exercising and feeding
the brain. Because your brain's processing sound and people have
hearing loss, you can't get it back. So think of
it like there's these kind of holes in the brain
where they can't you know, hear or understand, and our
(01:20):
AI is personalizing the listening situation for them and filling
in those holes.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
You just took one of yours out. I didn't realize
he had one.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Wow. That is sleek. Yes, yep, it's very and it's
also superpower. I mean really because we're the only company. Yes,
we're using AI advanced technology within the circuit, but we
have embedded sensors where the you know, the ears, the
new rest. We can do step accounting, we can do
(01:51):
blood pressure, We could do a lot of different things
on health side, especially fall detection. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I was just going to say the whole falling thing.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yes, yep.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
So Starkey's based right here in Minnesota. What how has
Starking embraced the Minnesota culture, you.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Know with pride. The chairman of the of Starkey, you know,
started selling hearing aids in nineteen sixty one, and he
started really the company in the basement of his home
in nineteen sixty seven because he was wanting to, you know,
(02:31):
provide good service to his patients so repair and at
a time where if you bought a hearing aid you
could return it, he just bought it and companies at
the time. You know, they're probably close to one hundred
different hearing companies in the in the US and more
in the world. And he was all and he was
(02:51):
nineteen and when he started in nineteen sixty one, early twenties,
and it was all about service and it still is.
It's about patient And so then he started from a
repair company in the basement of his home in Hopkins, Minnesota,
and then started evolving into manufacturing, building the first custom
(03:13):
and ear product of quality in nineteen seventy two.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Because didn't they before, like you'd hang a thing on
your neck, right, we didn't have like a thing that.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Would There were different types. Those are body aids you
would have behind the ears. Back then too, you would
have eyeglass hearing aids where you have an eyeglass and
then a tube that would come from the eyeglass down
into the hearing aids. So there were different types. And
that's kind of the stigma that still exists where you see,
you know, even today in the media, these big whether
(03:44):
it's to look like a piece of bubblegum or a
really big beij banana behind the ear, and that's just
you know, false advertising on you know, I would say
they're trying to sell something else. And for us, you know,
we we call it out because we want to we
want people to educate. We want to educate today's consumers
(04:06):
on what today's innovative technology is. Like you said, you
didn't even recognize I ad one that is today's hearing aids.
It's not what the media or the movies or the
whistling the feedback, you know, that's that's twenty thirty years ago.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, I remember my grandpa had that all the time. Yeah,
what's going on over there?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Right?
Speaker 1 (04:25):
So you partner with Minnesota companies, what makes a company
sort of ideal to partner with.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
You know, giving back? Starkey is a company privately held
still and we have around six thousand employees worldwide, fourteen
hundred here in Minnesota. And we're a company of values
and culture's big and so yes, we have the business side,
but we also give back to people that can't afford
(04:54):
hearing aids. And for us, partnering with companies here locally,
you know, sharing the same value different types of charities.
You know, I was on the board of the Minnesota
Special Olympics. We're working with currently, right, now with the
Minnesota Timberwolves on you know, of course great time, but
(05:14):
the noise inside protecting healthy hearing. Same with the Minnesota Vikings.
You know, we've worked with various different companies because we
want to be a good corporate citizen.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
You've held many different roles within the company. We're talking
a little bit about how long you've been there. How
just share your journey. I guess briefly with Starkey, how
you rose to CEO.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
I was actually eighteen, moved up here in May or
early June, excuse me, of nineteen ninety four, and I
was going to go second year of college, and I
had a summer intern job and my job was to
clean repair old hearing aids. I'll make repair kind of
(06:05):
mister Ross. And started the company and you know, okay,
let's do it, and you know, a summer job. And
then I felt a sense of I like the responsibility,
I like the people, I like the company. And so then,
of course, like many I'll do a skip here, you know,
let's you know, what what else can I do? And
(06:26):
so thirty one skip years later, you know, I my
mindset then because I had pressure of why I'm missing out?
I need to be in collected. I need to do
this because you don't know what you don't know, and
you you want to you feel like you have to
conform to expectations that's set. And I went from the
(06:48):
intern too into sales and did that for two years,
and then many different sales jobs. And then you know,
at the time, you know you have your day job
job description, but you know, really it's starky. You have
a job description, but next day you can throw it
(07:10):
out the window because you know what your main job is.
But if the company needs help, I've done the switchboard
over at the cafeteria, I've picked people up at the airport,
whatever it took. And at the time that was just
my can do attitude. Didn't know any different. But I
learned so much that I didn't know I was learning
until it. You know, it applied to me and what
(07:34):
I'm doing now or even over the last ten to
fifteen years.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
I feel like that's common with successful people. You know,
don't ever just accept that what you're doing is all
you can or should do. You have said it, you
know what else can I do?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Here? Yeah? It's the one thing, is the one thing
that just I cringe is when I hear someone saying
it's rare, but well, that's not my job description because
you're limiting yourself. It's not yes attitude. But you know what, Starkey,
my mindset is. You know, over the last ten years
and working with our teams, and we've got a great team,
(08:09):
is you hire for attitude, develop the talent, because you cannot.
It's hard to develop talent or excuse me, attitude. You know,
it's hard to switch that and built in you got
to have that culture and that camaraderie. I mean even
walking around your studio here for fifteen minutes your office,
you could feel the chemistry. Oh good, so and but
(08:31):
that's everything, you know, I mean COVID. You know, when
COVID happened, it that kind of took away one of
our superpowers and we had to adapt and adjust and
we have and everybody's back on campus and you know,
you work together as a team because your team, the
team is the foundation of winning.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
What are some of the other challenges you've had in
the hearing aid industry?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Is the stigma, really the stigma because people think they
know what a hearing aid is and and respectfully, you know,
to know malice, whether it's the media. You look at movies.
I always think of the movie up right where he's
got the whistles, and our hearing aids don't whistle. They
(09:19):
have it for twenty years and it's not what you
know you think it is. But for whatever you know,
scripts or whatever reason they want to portray, we're a
hearing aid. You know. I always ask the question, what
do you what's the first thing you think of when
you think of a hearing aid. You're going to say old,
(09:39):
and it's it's anything. But I set out a vision
where I want Starkey to be the best and it's
a superpower for not just Old, but for anybody to
be the best they could be each and every day
for their job. And it's kind of like Jarvis, That's
what I wanted to do. Yeah, I wanted to help
people throughout the day, and amplifying hearing is just one thing.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Yeah, you have a lot of innovative products. I use
your the earplugs. You know, you guys have molds in
my ears. I have the Blaze orange ones. So people
always ask, like a concerts, I'll wear them. It's because
I've been to so many concerts over the years and
so I you know, tell them all about Starkey, But
what are you most excited about right now as far
as your product line or future products.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I'm excited about two things. We have our sound gear
product which you could have mentioned, the hearing protection. So
we're focused on the upfront where you know, we want
to protect healthy hearing. And that's not just the phoamies.
You know, we're working with the Department of Defense and
I've been talking with them where we have our active
(10:41):
military men and women that are out in combat. You know,
you can't put your ears or excuse me, your fingers
and your ears and not here. So our products will amplify,
give situational awareness and as soon as there's a loud
blast within milliseconds, it'll protect them. JESU. And so that's
one ASPEC because we worry with them. We're working with
(11:03):
homeland security hunters. Yes, I mean there's a broad because
it's not just the poems and are putting cotton in yours.
That was kind of the old way. Moving forward, what
am I What I am I excited about is where
a hearing aid is your personal assistant. It helps you
(11:24):
throughout the day, doesn't own you. And I said it's friendly,
a friendly, but it's you know, yes, helps those if
you have a hearing loss, or if you don't, maybe
it makes you here just a little bit. Better health
features we're coming out with more and more can detect
if somebody's depressed, you know, because with hearing loss you
(11:47):
draw inward, you know, you're isolated. Also, as I mentioned,
fault detection, other health monitoring features, and then what we're
doing with kind of a assistant where I could tap
my hearing aid and what's the weather outside and it'll
tell me. We also have you know, you know coming
(12:10):
We haven't now, but you have to start somewhere we
can translate seventy two languages and then down the road
eventually here soon it will be simultaneous where if I'm
traveling to Germany and talking to somebody, it's telling me
in real time what they're saying. Oh wow, so I'm excited.
(12:31):
I guess more than two but you know quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Would voice recognition ever be a possibility or it'll remind
you who someone is?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, yes, because we can do that. That's
perfect and you know that kind of goes along with
you know, when we do voice recognition as I mentioned
for uh, your mood kind of like, oh yeah, mood,
your mood ring. But it's based on you and how
you're talking, not just for you. But let's say you
(13:02):
have mother, father, daughter, whoever it might be that are
going through things, might have a hearing loss, might not.
They give you permission to have access to what they're
how much they're using their hearing device throughout the day,
and it can tell you if are they depressed, are
they active? Kind of what mood are they and based
(13:24):
on you know, they're talking, and you know, when you're
hearing loss, you are, Like I said, you I have
stories I could you know it's an old one. And
you know Bob Hope, well he took care of his
hearing and he was very very hard of hearing and
he lived a long time and he would just say
isolated because he kind of just refused eventually wearing them.
(13:49):
And you just stay inward. Yeah, you don't want to communicate,
you don't want to be in embarrassed and you know
it's a depressive state. It's loneliness. And that's the other
thing I talk about depression, but loneliness.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Well that could that could really be helpful for people absolutely, yes.
What do you guys take customer feedback? What role does
that play in your product development or changes that you
make everything?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
So you know, the patient is job one. So we design, engineer,
and develop technology and products for those that currently wearing
hearing aids or need them. We sell through distributors. We
don't sell direct because we sell through hearing healthcare professionals.
Because these are personalized device, fine tune them. Now you're
(14:35):
on Facebook and they say, hey, here's a ninety nine
dollar hearing aid. Don't do this. It's an amplifier and
a microphone from somewhere that's not going to help them.
Might help them in certain situations where just ample it
doesn't amplify. So what we're doing is providing technology that
(14:58):
can read the room with you knowing it. We have
an app you can adjust, but it's personalized to your
hearing loss, situation and environment.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
You talked a little bit about mental health related to hearing.
Is there a physical health component as well?
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Absolutely talked about falls, but physical you know, well, yes, happiness,
but also people don't think about it. Arnold Palmer once
told me that, you know, we took care of his
hearing and when we helped him. He could hear how
his club hit the hit hit the ball, the driver,
(15:38):
and then he would know if how he hit it,
if he was hit it solid or you know whichever,
which I'm sure he did every every time. But it
was a moment where he remembered that. And then you
and I walking in this room. We take it for granted,
but our feet and hearing, our feet hit the carpet,
(15:59):
so and you go to balance. So if you have
hearing loss, you can't hear that, so that it does
have a result of balance issues, which is falls, which
can you know, for over seventy or anybody can be
a very you know, serious health issue. But it's just
hearing your feet on the carpet or walking in the
(16:23):
leaves or the grass, and we take it for granted.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
I'm talking to Brandon's the Walach CEO of Starkey. What
steps or what initiatives have you taken to make hearing
aids more accessible and affordable for everybody?
Speaker 2 (16:37):
So what we do is we have several ways. The
cost is and what we do is is it's a
third of the process. You go ahead for hearing evaluation,
you go in, here's the product that you need and
then you're fit with a product by a professional, usually
provided with three year warranty and service and no charge.
(16:58):
So when people say hearing aids are six thousand dollars, well,
I could go buy a Porsche or I could go
buy a truck at different costs that they always you know,
talk about the highest end, and we make different levels.
And it's also based off your lifestyle. Not everybody needs
(17:19):
the best. But we also work with over i say
over forty states that have state programs that provide products
for people that can't for them at a lesser cost.
And we also have our Starkey Cares program that we
provide people fill out an application, we run it through.
(17:40):
If they can't afford it, we provide them steady they
aren't hearing aids. We also partner with a Starkey Hearing Foundation,
which is a five on one C three around the
world where that's where our chairman spending his time now
in his philanthropic heres per se and giving away free
hearing aids. You know, over the last fifteen years, I
(18:03):
would estimate two to three million Africa. In Mexico. Wow,
they're going to the Philippines on Sunday. They just came
back from Africa, and I've been on these trips and
I tell you, I don't care how strong you are,
and I know you have a lot of strong people
in the studio and on the radio and sports. You
(18:23):
hear or you know, you see a mother hear their
child hear their voice for the very first time. I mean,
it doesn't because it and you know, Africa is an example,
a lot of hearing loss there because of just a
infection that penicillin whatever could have helped, but they didn't
(18:48):
have access to it. And they're not deaf. They're labeled deaf.
They're not deaf. They just have a hearing loss. And
we fixed that. I've seen it. It's it's an addiction.
You see it in their eyes because yeah, you get
that look in their eyes where well, I'm reconnected.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
How do you balance the need for technological innovation with
the importance of personalized customer service.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
That's a good question. And in this industry, you know,
I'm all about looking up and out. If your status quo,
you're not going to last long. And I always look
at I use Blockbuster as an example where I'm talking
to people. You know, we can go down the list
and innovation never sleeps at circus, So I say quite
(19:34):
a bit because you know, in our industry for years
we've already there's always been incremental improvements. But in since
twenty seventeen, I'll say I swung for the fences, hired
a CTO that was outside the industry for Intel, brought
AI through the first and wanted to redefine and reinvent
(19:58):
the area. So you have, innovation is always ongoing. We
talked a little bit about it, and then customer services
everything too, because we not only support our global customers
and our facilities, and you know, we we have since
we really were founded on customer service and that's everything.
(20:20):
When customer service wasn't even really a term in this
in the mid sixties, the customer service perhaps rightly no.
And we answer every call with a live voice, unlike
going to a bank of pharmacy bushy zero. We have
eight operators. Any call that comes to the starkey's answer
(20:40):
with the live voice. Customer service answers right now within
thirty seconds, and we take care of our customers. And
then we also now which has been growing, our patient
customer service. We're calling in because our products are our Bluetooth.
(21:01):
You got to connect them. So right now I could
be talking to you, but I'm you know, I'm listening
to Huey Lewis or whoever you want. Right now, my
phone could ring and you wouldn't know it. So we
have to make complex simple an innovation, but we have
to make it easy for the patient. So when people compare, oh,
(21:24):
harreas are too expensive, and you get eyeglasses at you know,
at Target or wherever, Sure you can, and that's the
right thing. But think about innovation. Eyeglasses haven't changed, and
you know, two hundred years there's stinking components. Yeah, styles,
everything changed. In hearing aids, we have three hundred and
(21:44):
sixty components in a very tiny package and it's water wow,
and it's always So you've got bluetooth, antenna, circuit, lithium ion,
rechargeable battery. I could go down the list. So innovation
is one thing. You have to have great customer service,
which Starkey is known for, and you have to have
(22:07):
relationships with your customers and do what's right.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Technology is going to keep improving and keep changing in
the healthcare industry. What advice would you give to aspiring
leaders in the healthcare technology industry?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Be patient, and and what I mean by that is,
you know, there's you know, one thing that I've several
things I've learned, and that kind of goes back to
my thirty years of hearing the stories over and over,
but it all comes together and by osmosis, it's like ool.
(22:44):
My advice is, you know, be decisive, collect the facts,
be decisive. Don't run a company by a committee. You're
going to get a lot of opinions. At the end
of the day, you have to make the decision. And
then once the decision is made, you go. But do
(23:05):
what's right for the patient or the customer. And I
know that's hard nowadays because you have public company and
there's you've got to please a lot. Yeah, we have
the opportunity. We're private and it's about the patient. And
as a leader, you work for the people. So in
(23:25):
my mind there's always that you know, people talk about
the pyramid and seals the top. I invert it. I
work for the people of Starky because they're my report card,
and they're going to tell me if I'm doing a
good job.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Wow, good for you, that's awesome. Where do you want
to take Starking next? What's the future in the next
you know, five, ten years, pick a time whatever.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Yeah, we over the night. I look up and out,
uh three, five and then ten. You know there's always
people calling. You know, you're for sale, you want to
go public. No, we're doing well. I want to make
hearing aids about here tech where it becomes more of
(24:11):
that personal assistant and take risks and do what's not
being not being done. You know, we're a proud of
Minnesota company, not going anywhere, and you know I want
to expand that and be smart. But it's our partnerships.
We have partnerships with Apple, partnerships with other well known
(24:35):
companies and then partnering with their technology. But at the
end of the day, I could say that it's all
about the people, the people at Start Game, and it's
the talent and the engineers and the bright minds and
the ideas. That's what gets me, gets me excited. We're
in the people business. So if you care and focus
(24:59):
on the patient, doing what's right. Revenue, but all that
stuff I can talk about, it all fallows. It all
falls if you lead with that, if you chase the money.
You know, for my instance speak for everyone, it's it's
a really long chase, and it's not sometimes successful. Focus
(25:22):
on the patient and what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Speaking to people in talent, I always ask, are you
guys hiring?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Yes, we are hiring, and we want the talent here locally,
not looking to open up a Starky two point zero
in another state. But you know, we've been I just
looked at the list, just the hiring the last two
weeks and we've added another, you know, ten people, some replacements,
(25:52):
some new, but it's the engineers. We're investing in R
and D and we're investing in RN. We have our
R and D in Minnesota. Most people don't know that.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
So one of the things most people would know Starky
from is the gallap the people who come into town
and everything. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (26:09):
They We should have talked about this first because this
is pretty exciting.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Oh there's so many stories and all good and then
always the interesting ones, you know. The Starky Hearing Foundation
is five o'h one C three separate from Starky. But
Starky is a company. Support our customers support it, and
I think we had the first one here in two
thousand and one. If I recall, and we did some
(26:34):
things as I mentioned earlier as a discussion in LA
and New York, but it wasn't kind of it. It
morphed and became the Starky Hearing Foundation gala, and we
because of COVID kind of paused it. We had one
event right before COVID. It's kind of the black tie
(26:58):
seems to be. I don't want to say gone, but
you know, but I wouldn't be surprised if you see
something soon. Because the foundation it works. It raises money
for a good cause, for what we mentioned earlier, and
the people that I've had the experience to meet for
(27:19):
all the right reasons. People think, oh, you pay all
these people to come in and you want to be
a big deal and you raise all this It's natural.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Yeah, it's natural, you know because you very help some
of these people.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Very famous. You know. Well, I guess said. Garth Brooks
has been here. He's a good friend, he's been here
several times. One of his family members. We helped Elton
John who's a good friend and knows us and we
support his AIDS foundation. He's been here several times. We've
(27:54):
helped him. I could go down the list. So I mean,
I remember one of the most memory ones, you know.
I was there sitting at a table, and it's surreal
because I'm not a celebrity type, Oh my gosh, or
you know the name dropper, because I focus on their people,
what I've learned, even from when I started starting, because
(28:17):
I've been around it. I remember going to Lloyd Bridges's
house with Miss Rawson because he was helping him with
hearing it. They're people and they have their job and
that's what it is. And a lot of people think
who they are on screen or TV is who they are. No,
not at all, And they play a role. They play
(28:40):
a character. And I'm sitting going back to the story,
I'm sitting at a table and I'm sitting next to
this I think it was twenty and eleven we had
there was Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Chevy Chase and
Steve Martin. Last time they were all together. I'm sitting
(29:01):
next to Robin Williams and the nicest man he just
just you know, are you doing? Chief? You know he's
a chief and I know that's well knowne And and
I was backstage because I was going up as from
a Starkey supporter standpoint, thanking our customers. So I had
(29:22):
to go out on stage and he was right ahead
of me or the auction. He was going to go
out and action all mild manner, and within a second
I'm watching they announced Robin Williams. Boom. He became Robin
Williams right there before my eyes, and he went out
(29:45):
with energy and did everything before that. He was like us,
just just talking and the nicest. Anybody want his picture?
We want to talk to him, absolutely, yeah, no problem.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Well we'll look forward to hearing something from you from
the from Starkey. Yes, and thanks for coming in continued
success to you, Thank you, and thanks for all the
great work you do around the world as well with
the foundation.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Thank you. Thank you for what you're doing for the
game Minnesota and
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