Kimballi Andreozzi-Startz elected as president of Audibel Network Leadership Council

I (Steve Richards, Managing Director of Audibel) am very pleased to announce the "re-forming" and "re-committing" of our Audibel Network Leadership Council (NLC). The NLC concept has been around since Audibel's inception. Its initial reason for existence was to give the network members a voice in the direction of the company in its early years. The idea came from some past Beltone relationships and their use of the President’s Council. For several reasons, our NLC became inactive in 2008.

I believe the NLC can be a strong conduit for brainstorming and implementing standards and programs that will have a real and lasting positive effect on the entire network. Audibel will communicate regularly with the NLC, and I encourage you to do so as well. Your council members have been selected to represent a broad range of Audibel partners. Male, female, audiologist, dispenser, large retail, small retail, new partner and veteran partners are all represented on the NLC. The council consists of one member from each Audibel regional territory and three "wild card" members. All were selected for their unique talents and abilities, along with their willingness to pitch in and help the network reach its full potential. Representing the Audibel Company on the NLC will be Bob Madvig, Mary Leisses, Mike Dalton and myself. The current NLC had our first meeting on July 22, 2011. During this meeting Mary led us in activities and discussion that defined our vision and reason for existence.

The Vision for the Audibel Network Leadership Council is:
To represent and guide our Partners, while enriching the spirit of our network.
The council will formally meet again in November. I encourage all of you to feel free to contact any of us with any concerns or ideas you may have.

During the July meeting, each council member was asked to nominate a president. The group elected Kimballi Startz as president of the NLC.


Kimballi Andreozzi-Startz: President

Kimballi Andreozzi-Startz has spent 33 years as a licensed hearing care practitioner and professional trainer in New England and is Nationally Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences. She comes from a well-known and respected hearing aid family in the Northeast and spent many years as a very successful practitioner that worked her way up to the position of the Director of Professional Development. Her responsibilities included training new practitioners from basic through advanced audiology, product knowledge, programming, etc. Andreozzi-Startz also performed ongoing new product training and programming to seasoned dispensers as necessary, while also serving as a valued member of the Senior Management Team.


Scott Austin

Scott Austin began his career selling hearing aids for Willoughby Hearing Aid Centers, in Eugene, Oregon, in 1984. Five years later, he relocated to the company headquarters in Portland, as Director of Marketing/Training. He worked for Starkey in outside sales and served as President of the International Hearing Society from 2000-2002. In 2002, he returned to run Willoughby Hearing as General Manager. Austin became a partner with Paul Willoughby, Jr. and took over executive responsibilities for the business. His involvement in the hearing aid industry includes service on many committees and boards: President, Oregon Hearing Society; Director, NBC-HIS; two terms on Oregon’s licensing council; Director, Tri-State Hearing Convention; Marketing Instructor, American Conference of Audioprosthology; guest speaker in Canada and Japan for Hearing Aid Specialists; Lead Proctor, Oregon state licensing.

Austin holds dispensing licenses in Oregon and Washington, is Board Certified by NBC-HIS, and is a Certified Professional Life Coach with a focus on small business marketing and public relations.

Austin and his wife Karla share their lives with son Spenser, daughter Hannah, and dog Rosie. Most recently, Austin’s company was awarded “Oregon’s 2011 Business of the Year” by the Better Business Bureau, a very proud moment of seeing a six-year goal come to fruition.


Tom Guillot

Tom Guillot has been assisting the hearing impaired since 1999. In 2004, he opened his first office and became the youngest member of the Audibel network. Over the past several years Guillot has grown his business by putting an emphasis on quality patient care and making sure his staff is focused on excellence. Guillot is proud to be a partner with Audibel and is excited about the opportunity to contribute in defining the direction of the network.


Lane Hait


Lane Hait started in the hearing aid business as an outside specialist with the “B” team in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1967. In 1972, the Commonwealth of Kentucky licensed him as a hearing aid dealer. In 1987, Hait became “Board Certified” as a Hearing Instrument Specialist by the National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences.
Hait has been a member of the International Hearing Society since 1983. He has served three four-year terms on the Kentucky Board for Licensing Hearing Instrument Specialists; one term as Governor-appointed chairman. Hait has been a member of the Hearing Aid Association of Kentucky since its beginning in 1972, and has served as President for one term and on the board for 10 consecutive years.
Hait has been with Audibel since the very beginning, after attending the first meeting in Atlanta.

 

Larry Hixson

Larry Hixson is a Board Certified Hearing Aid Specialist and Audioprosthologist. He is a 25-plus-year veteran in the hearing aid business. He is also one of the first original members of the Audibel network and is a member of the Atlanta Club. In 2004, he was inducted into the Audibel Hall of Fame. Hixson has been awarded the Platinum Club award every year with Audibel. He also served as the first chairman of the Audibel President's Council. Hixson has worked with the Georgia State board by serving as examiner for new Hearing Instrument Specialist applicants. He also has held office with the Georgia Society of hearing professionals.
When Hixson is not working, he enjoys singing in his church choir, traveling and spending time with his eight grandchildren.


Doug McMillin

Doug McMillin BC-HIS, has been dispensing hearing instruments in Indiana since 1986. McMillin joined Audibel in December of 1989, and continues to maintain his dispenser’s license in Illinois.
Travis Ortega

Dr. Travis Ortega graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science in 1993 and his master's in 1995. He then graduated from the Arizona School of Health Sciences in 2009 with his Au.D.
Ortega has been in practice since 1995 and has been in private practice since 2002. He became an Audibel partner in March of 2008.


Stuart Spencer

Stuart Spencer has been serving South Orange County, California, residents as Advanced Ear Care for nearly three decades. He is a BC-HIS: Board Certified Hearing Instrument Specialist since 1984 and Owner and President of Advanced Ear Care. He has helped thousands of people improve their quality of life by effectively fitting them with appropriate, quality hearing instruments, and recommending a personalized follow-up plan that he believes is critical for individual best results.

Since 2003, Spencer has been repeatedly elected as the Secretary for the Hearing HealthCare Providers (HHP) of California. As Secretary, Spencer has often lobbied before the state legislature in a continuing effort to provide the best possible hearing healthcare environment and service for those who have hearing loss.
He is dedicated and committed to the hearing impaired, having gone on charitable missions to fit underprivileged children with hearing aids through the Starkey Hearing Foundation’s Mission team, “So The World May Hear.” He has been recognized as “Citizen of the Week” and has a fine reputation among his clientele, local Laguna Woods residents, his colleagues and peers, and in his church and community.


Whitney Swander

Dr. Whitney Swander has served as Director of Audiology for Hearing HealthCare Centers since she joined the company in 2000. She became owner of the Longmont and Boulder offices in July 2008. That summer, she earned her doctorate in Audiology – it was a very busy year. Swander and her staff strive to provide the best service and customer care that has earned the company multiple community awards. Swander maintains a full schedule of patient care in both the Longmont and Boulder offices five days a week. She also creates the advertising and marketing plans for the company.


Calvin Trepp

Calvin Trepp has spent his entire professional career dedicated to the hearing aid industry. He spent 24 years working at the hearing aid manufacturing level including various supervisory roles on the production side of the industry. Trepp eventually moved into sales, traveling around the U.S. for eight years and moving into a management role within Audibel.


Trepp purchased three retail offices in August 2007, which he is currently operating. His post-high school education involved a two-year program in electronics and a two-year program in management.

Please join me in saying "Thank You" to this group for the work they will be doing on our behalf.