On an early spring day in the desert of Tucson, Arizona, a teenage girl, accompanied by her mother, went to have her hearing evaluated for the last time before getting her first set of hearing aids. Her whole life she had wondered why people utilized whispers since they seemed very ineffective. Now, in those days, digital hearing aids had just recently come out, and it was thought that no one would ever have to wear a hearing aid BEHIND their ear again because of how great the hearing aid designers had become at fitting hearing aid components inside the shape of someone’s ear. (Silly thinking because that would soon change in a major way!)

No matter that her “little” hearing aids looked like bulging cashews hanging out in her ears, that teenage girl was amazed at how she could hear a plate set on the counter and the tap of the family dog’s toenails on the sidewalk going to get the mail. And although she certainly did not consider herself a singer (yet anyway, thank you hearing aids), the way she could hear her own voice like she was a rockstar with custom monitors was crazy exciting! For better or for worse, that effect faded and her voice just sounded normal after a while, but the girl’s love for hearing loss care only continued to grow!

That first year with hearing aids she studied and passed a state licensing exam to become a hearing aid dispenser. She did this all the way through University and later attended the doctorate program for Audiology. After all was said and done, she landed in South Carolina since a short visit to Hartsville was all it took to fall in love with the town. Then she fell in love again a few years later and got married and dug some more Hartsville roots.

In 2020, recognizing the limited options available to her beloved town, but having just become a mother, she decided to trust the Lord with the doors of opportunity opening for her and started something new for Hartsville and neighboring areas. Empire Audiology was born.