ClearCast: A New Hearing Technology that Amplifies Both Sound and Relationships

[00:00:01] Welcome to the Chalk Talk Jim podcast, where we explore insights into healthcare that help uncover new opportunities for growth and success. I'm your host, Jim Jordan.

[00:00:18] Welcome back to Chalk Talk Jim. In today's episode, we dive into the evolving world of hearing technology with Dr. Shariq Shikari.

[00:00:27] He's a leading ear, nose and throat physician and entrepreneur based in Chicago.

[00:00:32] Now he's redefining hearing assistance in innovative solutions that are more accessible and affordable and stigma free than traditional hearing aids.

[00:00:41] Now he's already had a successful exit from a hearing aid company that he founded and drawing on his years of experience treating hearing loss.

[00:00:48] He shares his insights on how his new company, ClearCast Technology, allows a conversation amplifying earphone designed for ease of use,

[00:00:58] which can improve the quality of life for millions who struggle with hearing issues, but are able to do so without using traditional hearing aids.

[00:01:07] Listeners will learn the challenges and the opportunities in the hearing industry.

[00:01:10] We had a wonderful conversation on how Medicare coverage gaps historically have occurred and why they occurred and the potential FDA alternatives that are coming in this technology.

[00:01:20] If you're curious at all about the world and the work he's working on to transform patient lives, you're in the right place.

[00:01:27] So tell me and the audience a little bit more about yourself.

[00:01:31] My name is Shariq Shariqari.

[00:01:34] I'm an ear, nose and throat doctor in Chicago.

[00:01:37] And I started seeing patients in 2003.

[00:01:40] Ear, nose and throat doctors are the entryway for the medical system when patients have trouble hearing.

[00:01:45] Could be a problem with their ear.

[00:01:46] It could be hearing loss.

[00:01:47] And I started seeing more and more patients that would come to see me and they'd have trouble hearing.

[00:01:52] We'd recommend them for hearing aids or other amplification devices.

[00:01:55] And it turns out at that time, a lot of insurance companies, Medicare didn't cover any hearing aids and they were very expensive.

[00:02:01] So in my first venture, I realized that there's so many people going without hearing aids that a low cost one size fits most to device would be beneficial to people who had trouble affording the thousands of dollars needed for custom hearing aids.

[00:02:16] That business did really well.

[00:02:18] We actually sold it to a strategic partner in 2017 after selling 300,000 hearing aids online direct to consumer.

[00:02:25] We were manufacturing our own low cost hearing aids.

[00:02:28] And what I realized after that adventure was there's still so many people, despite us making the cost lower, the quality was really high and we could ship them to your home.

[00:02:37] So there's no access or geography issues.

[00:02:40] There were just so many people in the country and really worldwide that were struggling to hear, but didn't want to use a hearing aid or couldn't use a hearing aid.

[00:02:49] And that's where we are today.

[00:02:51] So we developed a whole new technology platform to address those issues.

[00:02:54] I had some numbers and you can tell me if they're accurate, but we've got roughly 346 million people in the country in the U.S.

[00:03:02] And I had that almost 30 million people have some degree of hearing loss from mild to profound.

[00:03:09] Does that sound right to you?

[00:03:10] Yeah, I've actually seen 40 million and maybe they're counting a different degree, but it's a significant number.

[00:03:16] It's almost one in 10.

[00:03:17] And it strikes me that when I was looking at some of the numbers between 45 and 50, it was almost 5% of the population have disability on hearing loss.

[00:03:27] And then when you get above sort of 65, it's a huge number and you get above 75, it's like half the people.

[00:03:35] Yeah.

[00:03:35] And above 80, 85, it's 80% of people.

[00:03:38] And why do you think the healthcare system hasn't recognized this from a reimbursement perspective?

[00:03:44] So when Medicare was formed in the mid 50s, I think, or early 60s, they decided to cover everything that was essential for life.

[00:03:53] And I'm putting air quotes around the word essential.

[00:03:56] Life expectancy was shorter back then.

[00:03:58] Medicare kicked in at 65.

[00:03:59] Life expectancy was in the into the late 60s.

[00:04:02] And so the things that were carved out or excluded was hearing, vision and dental as not essential for life, like maybe cardiac or pulmonary issues or other things.

[00:04:12] That's a great perspective.

[00:04:14] So from the beginning, hearing aids, dental and glasses, for example, are not covered by Medicare.

[00:04:20] And then all the insurance companies have followed suit.

[00:04:22] And to this day, it's still very little insurance coverage for hearing devices.

[00:04:27] So tell me about your latest venture.

[00:04:30] So as mentioned, so many people are struggling to hear.

[00:04:33] There's been so many medical studies now outlining that lower quality of life, higher risk of dementia, higher risk of falling, higher risk of depression, anxiety, and even overall lower lifespan or higher rate of mortality for people with untreated hearing loss as compared to people with normal hearing as we get older.

[00:04:51] And also, about a year and a half, actually two years ago, 2022, October, over the counter hearing aid legislation passed.

[00:04:58] So you could now buy a hearing aid at a lower cost at a retail store like a Walgreens or a Best Buy.

[00:05:03] And despite all these advances in technology, accessibility, affordability, invisibility, even rechargeability now, the number of people or the percent of people with hearing loss that use hearing aids is only 24%.

[00:05:16] And that number really has not changed over the last few decades.

[00:05:20] If you think about that, three out of four people with hearing loss are not using hearing aids.

[00:05:24] And unbeknownst to many of them, they are suffering from a lower quality of life and they do have higher health risks by not using amplification.

[00:05:33] It's interesting to me.

[00:05:34] I was looking on this topic in Reddit and Quero, which are hardly statistically significant, but there was some stories in there that I thought were very interesting that had some suggestions that people over 60 that have been married for a long time, it ends up having some relationship issues because one of the partners can't really hear that.

[00:05:52] That the communication goes down and because they're embarrassed by talking about the issue.

[00:05:58] It's right up there, I think, with erectile dysfunction as you think about someone being embarrassed, particularly a male, and their response is sometimes aggression to the other partner.

[00:06:08] And when they get them in therapy, they uncover that it's a hearing issue.

[00:06:11] Is this anything, again, this is Quero and just online chats.

[00:06:15] Is this anything statistically that you've experienced or aware of?

[00:06:18] That's definitely accurate.

[00:06:19] Hearing loss creeps on very slowly and it's usually a partner or a co-worker or a family member that would notice first because you're asking them to repeat even though they're speaking at a normal volume or the TV creeps up to be really loud.

[00:06:33] Maybe like you referenced in your own family.

[00:06:35] Yeah.

[00:06:36] And there's a lot of denial.

[00:06:38] They're like, no, you're mumbling.

[00:06:39] I'm fine.

[00:06:40] And then this concept of hearing, even people with significant hearing loss can hear, quote unquote, hear, but they can't understand any words or comprehend.

[00:06:48] So when you say, dad, you can't hear, mom, you can't hear, they can hear.

[00:06:52] They're hearing mumbled noise and it puts them on the defensive.

[00:06:56] And so actually in our practice, we don't say you're having trouble hearing.

[00:06:59] Are you having trouble understanding conversations?

[00:07:01] Are you having trouble with the TV being too loud?

[00:07:04] Things that are very yes or no.

[00:07:05] Yes.

[00:07:06] Restaurants, right?

[00:07:07] Restaurants or...

[00:07:08] Restaurants, yeah.

[00:07:09] But to answer your question, absolutely.

[00:07:10] It affects interpersonal relationships.

[00:07:12] And my own mother, she's really hard to talk to.

[00:07:15] She has a son that's an ear, nose and throat.

[00:07:16] I can't get her to wear hearing aids, even if I design them or buy them for her.

[00:07:20] She is in her 80s, but pretty adamant that she doesn't have a problem.

[00:07:24] And that's hence why I decided to design and invent something totally different.

[00:07:29] So is this a stigma issue or is it a comfort issue for hearing aids for these people when you talk to them?

[00:07:35] There's a number of issues.

[00:07:36] Stigma means hearing aids make me feel old.

[00:07:38] And that's been true since the eternity.

[00:07:40] It was always associated with older people.

[00:07:42] Whereas other disability devices like glasses is a younger, stylish, trendy thing.

[00:07:47] Hearing aids is unfortunately what we call a grudge purchase.

[00:07:50] Like someone with a mobility issue will definitely take a walker or a cane or a crutch because they want to walk around.

[00:07:55] Again, hearing, you don't actually know what you're not hearing.

[00:07:58] And whereas everything else gives you input.

[00:08:00] You're stumbling or unsteady on your feet when something's blurry and you want to fix it.

[00:08:04] But many older people are unaware of what they're missing.

[00:08:06] And so that's the stigma.

[00:08:08] Hearing aids make me look old.

[00:08:10] Vanity or denial is I don't want to wear that thing or I'm not really having a problem.

[00:08:15] It's only when you guys are mumbling or it's at a restaurant.

[00:08:17] So those are probably the big three reasons that people don't wear hearing aids.

[00:08:22] And then the other part of it truly is the industry hasn't done itself any favors.

[00:08:26] Everyone knows someone who bought hearing aids for thousands of dollars and they don't work that well.

[00:08:30] They don't really help them amplify conversations, whether it's at home or in a restaurant or a crowded setting, clearly.

[00:08:38] And so they had a lot of people, yeah, I bought those things.

[00:08:40] They don't really work for me.

[00:08:41] And if you think about that's going to be a personal testimonial, they're like, then I'm not too excited to go get on.

[00:08:47] Yeah. So we've gone over the history of financing these things and the reason why we've got the vanity, we've got the comfort.

[00:08:56] And now you've come up with what?

[00:08:58] Share with the audience what's different about what you've done.

[00:09:00] So after everything we just talked about, all the patients and even family members I know that are asking for something else.

[00:09:06] They don't like, I don't want a hearing aid.

[00:09:07] My hands don't work.

[00:09:08] I can't control them.

[00:09:10] Or now the technology is so advanced, you have to open up your smartphone, get to an app just to change the volume.

[00:09:16] The technology has outpaced a lot of the users.

[00:09:18] So we wanted to design a simple product that can address people's hearing loss that's really easy to use.

[00:09:25] And so what we developed is called ClearCast.

[00:09:28] It's a conversation amplifying earphones.

[00:09:30] It's the neckband form factor.

[00:09:32] So you wear it around your neck and we put hearing aid componentry in it.

[00:09:37] But because it's a little bit bigger and a little easier to handle, the earbuds that go in, they also dangle from a cord around your neck.

[00:09:44] And so like reading glasses, you can put them down and they're there when you need it.

[00:09:48] Someone comes into your room or wants to have a conversation, you just quickly throw them in your ears.

[00:09:53] You can adjust the volume.

[00:09:54] And so they're essentially reading glasses for your ears.

[00:09:58] And so they work for almost everybody.

[00:10:01] They're one size fits all.

[00:10:02] And what we've seen is so many people that have struggled or tried to use hearing aids or can't afford hearing aids, like we talked about,

[00:10:10] they find this product a godsend and a lifesaver because it really helps them connect.

[00:10:15] And it's much easier to use, much more affordable.

[00:10:17] One of the things I like to tell people is imagine if someone has a mobility issue, but the only option was a wheelchair.

[00:10:26] Imagine a world where there's no crutches, canes or walkers.

[00:10:29] That's what's happening in the hearing industry is everybody's getting not a wheelchair, but a hearing aid, whether you're three years old or 93.

[00:10:35] But there's a lot of people that need something else.

[00:10:38] And we now have this headphone technology, I call it ClearCast, that is another way to hear clearly without hearing aids.

[00:10:44] And so I think it's a much needed option on the marketplace because some people don't want hearing aids.

[00:10:49] You typically have to wear them all day.

[00:10:51] They're in your ear.

[00:10:52] They're pretty uncomfortable.

[00:10:53] I don't know about you, if you use any kind of earphones or earbuds for your phone, after an hour, you don't really want it in your ear all day.

[00:11:01] But hearing aids are designed and really intended to be worn from 8 in the morning to 10 at night.

[00:11:06] And you and I were talking offline earlier.

[00:11:08] So there's another audience here is young parents, right?

[00:11:11] So we were talking about when my kids were younger, they would go to bed and my wife would go to bed early and she'd be disturbed by the TV.

[00:11:18] And I had one big headset going on and it struck me that there's another audience here too, given the price point of this, that would be attractive to also.

[00:11:27] And you can walk room to room with them.

[00:11:29] So there's no ability.

[00:11:30] I don't have to catch Bluetooth on every television or anything like that.

[00:11:34] I can, wherever I am, I can hear.

[00:11:36] Yeah.

[00:11:36] Like I said, conversation amplifying earphones, whatever you want to hear, you can very quickly and easily boost.

[00:11:42] We do have a second feature.

[00:11:43] It's called the Magic Mic.

[00:11:44] So it's a wireless mic, not Bluetooth, but 2.4 gigahertz, like a cordless phone's technology.

[00:11:51] And the reason that's better is you don't have to pair it with, let's say, a TV.

[00:11:56] You can walk anywhere you want and wherever you put the microphone, it could be next to a TV.

[00:12:00] It could be even at the center of a dinner table or restaurant.

[00:12:03] And suddenly you have an external microphone picking up the sound you want to hear and you don't hear all the other distracting noise.

[00:12:09] And for families that may have somebody that likes the TV or needs the TV to be really loud, this is a great option.

[00:12:17] Because, again, you put the microphone next to the TV speaker.

[00:12:21] The TV could be at a comfortable volume for the whole family.

[00:12:23] And the person wearing the clear cast will hear the dialogue like it's routed right into their ears.

[00:12:28] And you don't have to plug any cords.

[00:12:30] You don't need any tech support.

[00:12:31] You don't have to open, go to the back of the TV and figure out all these interfaces.

[00:12:36] You simply just put the wireless microphone next to the TV.

[00:12:39] I would imagine, too, as I'm listening to you, I had a situation a few years ago.

[00:12:43] So I'm teaching at Carnegie Mellon University.

[00:12:45] I had a couple students over the years that had hearing issues.

[00:12:48] And so the complexity of the connecting that you had to do to be able for that student to hear, and you tend to move into a classroom and plug in your laptop, make a presentation and go on to the next classroom kind of thing.

[00:13:02] It was very expensive and very difficult to set up.

[00:13:04] I would imagine this is something that would be very easy for someone to have.

[00:13:08] Very easy.

[00:13:09] And we have had some students and families reach out to us because you don't have to worry about connecting it to what you're maybe describing as like a loop system.

[00:13:17] Yes.

[00:13:17] And that is very expensive for the facility to install.

[00:13:21] And then also the technology has to match up with the hearing device.

[00:13:25] But this is simply wireless microphones 60 to 90 feet away you can be, depending on the room acoustics and things like that.

[00:13:33] And it's a very easy way.

[00:13:34] I actually have an uncle who's in his 90s and has severe hearing loss.

[00:13:38] He struggled with hearing aids for the last 10, 15 years.

[00:13:41] He probably spent $10,000 or more.

[00:13:43] And he really hasn't been part of many conversations, even though he's wearing these things.

[00:13:48] Recently, we went to a prayer ceremony and I put the wireless microphone next to the priest.

[00:13:53] And you should have seen my uncle's eyes light up because he could hear everything like he was 10, 15 years younger.

[00:13:59] Wow.

[00:13:59] Because the sound of the priest, which is really important to him and meaningful, routed right into his ears.

[00:14:04] And no hearing aid can do that because...

[00:14:06] And I'll share with you a little technology here.

[00:14:08] The problem with hearing aids is you wear them on or in your ear.

[00:14:12] The microphone is there, but the person speaking is many feet or even 10, 20 feet ahead of you.

[00:14:17] And or if you're at a restaurant, it gets all the noise and it amplifies all the background noise.

[00:14:23] Because we have a dual microphone system in ClearCast, there's a built-in internal microphone for nearby conversations.

[00:14:29] There is a wireless microphone for the more challenging environments we just talked about.

[00:14:33] You amplify what you want to hear and it works way better than any hearing aid can do.

[00:14:39] So tell me how you fit in the healthcare continuum today where traditional hearing aids, insurance kind of thing.

[00:14:45] How do you fit in there?

[00:14:47] And you had to get this approved by the FDA, if I recall, too?

[00:14:50] Yeah, it's an FDA category two registered device.

[00:14:53] That's right.

[00:14:53] In terms of the hearing, what we want to educate people, again, we know that with traditional hearing aids, whether they're prescription or over-the-counter, 24% of people or less are actually using them.

[00:15:04] So if you put it another way, 75% of people with some degree of hearing loss are not getting the benefit and the health benefits that they should be getting with hearing aids.

[00:15:14] And again, it could be a device problem.

[00:15:15] It could be their own personal, I don't want that hearing aid device.

[00:15:19] So we are now slotting ClearCast as a second option, the other category.

[00:15:24] So you can go, oh, I have hearing loss or family member has hearing loss.

[00:15:27] You should think now, should I go for a hearing aid or should I go for a ClearCast?

[00:15:31] And so we now have this headphone technology that you may have heard recently.

[00:15:35] AirPods now have some entry-level hearing aid functionality and happy to talk about that.

[00:15:41] But what that's just wonderful is now, depending on your hearing loss and your situation, you now have a choice.

[00:15:47] It's not just hearing aids.

[00:15:48] You can go hearing aids or headphone technology like ClearCast or AirPods.

[00:15:52] So what struck me, I didn't want to interrupt your flow because when you were talking about the vanity and comfort, I thought to myself, I wonder the impact of where Apple is going to take this because they're very much about form and function.

[00:16:06] And so I wonder if having something in your ear might be more cool in the future, but it's still uncomfortable.

[00:16:14] I just bought the latest, whatever the latest ones were.

[00:16:17] And I think something around your neck just seems so much better.

[00:16:20] But please tell us, where do these new AirPods fit?

[00:16:24] What do they do?

[00:16:25] What are they good at?

[00:16:25] What aren't they good at?

[00:16:27] So Apple AirPods released a software update that allows them to function as an over-the-counter hearing aid.

[00:16:34] And there's certainly some advantages, and I'll share with you some potential obstacles.

[00:16:39] The advantages are everyone knows Apple.

[00:16:41] They are a really strong company when it comes to form and function, like you said.

[00:16:45] And a lot of people already own either the Apple phone or the technology.

[00:16:50] And the most important thing I want listeners to understand is over-the-counter hearing aids, whether it's Apple or something else online, Amazon or the TV, they can only help the earliest stages of hearing loss, mild and moderate.

[00:17:02] A lot of people that come to me as a doctor are already at moderately severe or worse.

[00:17:07] And so for those people, any over-the-counter hearing aid, including Apple, won't work for them.

[00:17:13] But if you have mild early-stage hearing loss and you're noticing some situations where you're having trouble and you already have either an iPhone or an AirPod, it is certainly an option.

[00:17:22] You can upload your hearing test to it.

[00:17:24] It could make some adjustments.

[00:17:26] And it can give you some situational benefit.

[00:17:29] Now, in terms of the challenges of an AirPod, I think are a few.

[00:17:33] It works for the early stages of hearing loss, like we mentioned.

[00:17:36] They charge only last four or five hours, so they're not meant to be an all-day device like other hearing aids.

[00:17:41] They don't fit everyone's ear very well.

[00:17:43] In fact, my right ear, it fits fine.

[00:17:44] The left ear, it falls out frequently, so that may be an issue.

[00:17:47] There is a perception that when someone's wearing AirPods, they actually don't want to be talked to or disturbed.

[00:17:53] They're listening to a call or music, and so that's a little counterintuitive.

[00:17:57] And then you have to have the Apple platform, either an iPhone, and then you have to be somewhat tech-savvy.

[00:18:02] My dad has an iPhone, but he wouldn't be able to turn it on and do all those things.

[00:18:05] Yeah.

[00:18:06] What's battery life on your device?

[00:18:08] The ClearCast battery lasts all day, like 18 hours, and it charges in three hours.

[00:18:13] What we have found is one other thing, is a lot of people, especially the older population,

[00:18:17] they don't need a device all day and evening.

[00:18:19] They may have it around their neck.

[00:18:21] When someone comes over, they throw the earbuds in.

[00:18:23] When they're reading a newspaper or doing some puzzles or just relaxing,

[00:18:27] they take them out and they're on their neck.

[00:18:28] You can't really lose them.

[00:18:30] And then when they want to watch TV, they can go and put them back in.

[00:18:33] But so it's really a lot of people are situational hearing.

[00:18:36] They don't need something in their ear all day and evening.

[00:18:39] And that's another advantage of the ClearCast device.

[00:18:42] So how would you handle a telephone call?

[00:18:45] So a lot of people can actually deal with the telephone.

[00:18:47] Telephone has volume. It goes right into your ear.

[00:18:50] So if you do have trouble, though, you could easily go to the speakerphone

[00:18:53] and that would amplify through our hearing aid circuitry in our ClearCast device.

[00:18:58] There's also a way to plug in directly to our wireless mic and it routes into your ear.

[00:19:03] We do have some way to connect your smartphone to our wireless mic and it would route right into your ear.

[00:19:08] That's interesting.

[00:19:09] So has anyone connected yet telemedicine with your technology?

[00:19:14] Because having worked on a disease management model in the past,

[00:19:18] one of the challenges can be that a percent of the population that you wanted to,

[00:19:22] in this case it was chronic heart disease, congestive heart failure,

[00:19:26] people on the other end had trouble taking direction because they couldn't hear so well.

[00:19:30] Has this been something you've explored yet,

[00:19:32] partnering with any of the big companies that do these things?

[00:19:35] So we provide some telemedicine in a, we have myself, an ear, nose and throat doctor.

[00:19:40] We have an audiologist and we have trained support staff that have 15 years of training

[00:19:44] on hearing aids and hearing devices.

[00:19:46] So we get people, they send us their hearing tests to see if they're a good candidate.

[00:19:50] We can make some recommendations on fit and function.

[00:19:53] And we certainly can help them in a support manner.

[00:19:56] The product we have now is version one.

[00:19:58] Version two will soon have streaming capabilities for Bluetooth.

[00:20:02] Version three will have potentially some other features such as artificial intelligence

[00:20:06] and customization options.

[00:20:09] And so we are building a platform that will involve more and more tele-audiology or telemedicine.

[00:20:15] That's fantastic.

[00:20:16] So how did you, when did you start this company?

[00:20:20] It essentially launched about a year ago, fourth quarter of last year.

[00:20:24] But we think of really getting the team together and everything going early this year,

[00:20:29] 2024, January, February, March.

[00:20:31] So with all the technology that's changing in the reimbursement models and everything,

[00:20:36] how do you keep current to be able to make, you're still practicing too at the same time,

[00:20:40] aren't you?

[00:20:41] Yes, I'm still practicing ear, nose and throat doctor.

[00:20:43] Yeah.

[00:20:43] So how do you keep current with all these things going around your business and at the same

[00:20:47] time continue your practice?

[00:20:49] So certainly in Juggling Act, I do practice part-time because this is actually also my passion

[00:20:53] is I have changed and helped more lives with my e-commerce hearing aid or hearing device business

[00:21:01] than I did in person.

[00:21:02] So it's really rewarding in that regard.

[00:21:04] And so I never wanted to give up either one.

[00:21:07] I'm still a practicing surgeon.

[00:21:08] I do surgery two days a week and help people with their hearing challenges.

[00:21:13] And I will tell you the testimonials we get, how we have changed lives.

[00:21:16] A lot of people are either living alone or on a fixed income and just they couldn't use

[00:21:20] the other devices and they've been living in silence and as mentioned, not reaping the health

[00:21:25] benefits of using hearing amplification.

[00:21:29] So this is your second company.

[00:21:33] So what's the biggest lesson that you've learned on your journey to being an entrepreneur physician?

[00:21:38] I think doctors are uniquely situated.

[00:21:41] We are on the ground floor, so to speak, or the front line of hearing the patients with their

[00:21:46] struggles.

[00:21:46] And a lot of times we can help them, but when it's when we don't have a solution for them,

[00:21:51] that's where I think there's an opportunity.

[00:21:52] And I'll tell you, my first business, one of the impetus was I see these patients.

[00:21:57] With the hearing loss, and I'd send them to the audiologist, they'd come back, some of

[00:22:01] them would say, doc, I can't afford that or that's not going to work for me.

[00:22:04] What else can I do?

[00:22:05] And it's one of the very few times I said, I don't really have an answer for you.

[00:22:09] It was hearing loss when they couldn't afford a hearing aid and terminal cancer.

[00:22:13] Those are the two scenarios where I didn't have a treatment option for them.

[00:22:16] And it felt wrong that hearing loss didn't have one.

[00:22:18] So that's where I realized we're in the unique position as doctors to help impact these

[00:22:24] lives because they're telling us the problem.

[00:22:26] So one of the challenges as an entrepreneur is identifying the problem and they're telling

[00:22:30] us the problem.

[00:22:31] I did some qualitative interviews a few years ago on neurologists and because they had people

[00:22:36] with Parkinson's disease and some of these other diseases.

[00:22:38] They're with these patients for 40 years that I'm listening to.

[00:22:41] It strikes me that some of your patients that have this hearing loss issue are probably with

[00:22:48] you for 20 to 40 years.

[00:22:50] In doctors that have that relationship with their patient, it strikes me that they tend

[00:22:55] to reach out and try to solve the problem versus if I'm doing general surgery or something

[00:23:00] like that.

[00:23:00] It's an event.

[00:23:01] I fix it.

[00:23:02] I have success.

[00:23:02] I don't have success.

[00:23:03] And you move on to help the next person.

[00:23:05] But there's a view I think that you share with neurologists by having these patients for

[00:23:10] a period of time that it's quite a motivation.

[00:23:12] Yeah, I agree.

[00:23:15] So what's the, as you look forward, the biggest opportunity and the biggest threat to growing

[00:23:20] this business and getting this to be a category that becomes widely accepted to help these

[00:23:26] people?

[00:23:26] So you said the word category.

[00:23:28] We're creating a new category, an alternate way to hear without hearing aids.

[00:23:32] And so what we learned is from a business standpoint, there's no Google terms or search

[00:23:36] terms when you don't know what you're searching for.

[00:23:38] Yes.

[00:23:38] And unlike if you're buying a cell phone or a TV headset or something, there's no one

[00:23:44] searching for alternative to hearing aids, for example.

[00:23:46] So it's been an educational process.

[00:23:48] We appreciate the opportunity to get on podcasts like this and educate your audience.

[00:23:53] I obviously being a doctor and a number of colleagues, doctors and audiologists are recommending

[00:23:57] our product when the patients are not good candidates for hearing aids.

[00:24:01] But then it's just advertising and really educating people.

[00:24:04] So were you calling this category for our audience to help you share the word?

[00:24:08] So it's technically called assisted listening devices, which is a little bit of a clunky

[00:24:11] name, but we are a conversation amplifying earphones or headphone technology for the hearing impaired.

[00:24:17] And again, I'll put Apple and us in that category together because those are the two headphones

[00:24:22] that you could wear that can help you in different stages of hearing loss.

[00:24:26] But yeah, just trying to get the word out, educate people.

[00:24:30] And hopefully we're getting great feedback from our customer base and word of mouth advertising

[00:24:36] if they tell their people.

[00:24:37] It's a very inexpensive product.

[00:24:38] It's only $300 or sorry, $299.

[00:24:41] In terms of the population, we think of two groups of buyers potentially is the person themselves

[00:24:48] with hearing loss or their spouse.

[00:24:50] In fact, like my mom likes our product quite a bit.

[00:24:53] She didn't like our hearing aids.

[00:24:54] She'll wear a clear cast.

[00:24:55] And so the senior person with the hearing loss is a customer, but really a Gen X or middle

[00:25:02] aged adult child of an older parent.

[00:25:05] Holidays are coming up.

[00:25:06] It's a time when we have extended family gatherings and a lot more people at the dinner table.

[00:25:11] And it'd be really nice if the elderly family member with hearing loss could really participate.

[00:25:16] And clear cast, it's super easy to use.

[00:25:18] It's on and you're wearing it in one minute from box to your ear.

[00:25:23] There's literally only three buttons.

[00:25:25] It couldn't be simpler.

[00:25:26] Almost like an iPhone has one button.

[00:25:27] We made it as simple as possible for people to start hearing better, enjoying their family.

[00:25:33] And so the other thing is if people that are Gen X our age, what could be a better gift

[00:25:39] than giving someone the gift of connection, hearing, enjoying the family time, bringing harmony

[00:25:44] back to the relationships like you mentioned earlier, and some quality time with the grandchildren.

[00:25:49] I think that's a great price point.

[00:25:51] You think that it's cheaper than the Apple devices.

[00:25:55] If you're going to take your family out for a meal for the holidays, it's the cost of a meal.

[00:25:59] Sounds to me.

[00:26:00] So tell people where they can find your device.

[00:26:04] Clearcasthearing.com.

[00:26:05] C-A-R-C-T?

[00:26:06] Yes.

[00:26:07] C-L-E-A-R-C-A-S-T hearing.com.

[00:26:11] And you can find, you can read all about it.

[00:26:13] You can read my story that we shared with you today.

[00:26:15] You can see customer testimonials.

[00:26:18] And we wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to get it.

[00:26:21] So you have a 45-day risk-free, 100% money-back guarantee.

[00:26:25] It shifts to your home for free.

[00:26:26] We want people to try it and see how much benefit they can get from it.

[00:26:30] We actually have a lot of hearing aid customers that may wear their hearing aids when they leave

[00:26:35] the house, but they can't wait to take those off because they're uncomfortable and they

[00:26:38] throw on a pair of Clearcast.

[00:26:39] And then whenever they want, they just throw the earbuds in and they can hear.

[00:26:43] And a lot of times our technology uses proprietary circuitry.

[00:26:47] We get so many comments saying it sounds clearer than my hearing aids, which costs many, often

[00:26:52] 10 times more or 20 times more.

[00:26:54] It strikes me by the over the neck that you have more real estate to use better technology

[00:26:59] that maybe some people are balancing the size with the quality of the technology.

[00:27:04] Extremely accurate.

[00:27:04] Good, great observation.

[00:27:06] And that's why when we get to the artificial intelligence, those really take a lot of

[00:27:10] size for the chips and they take a lot of battery power.

[00:27:13] And we will have no problem from a real estate standpoint, like you said.

[00:27:17] There's one hearing aid on the market that has artificial intelligence.

[00:27:20] It's almost double the size of other hearing aids and the battery life is half.

[00:27:23] So it's, and it's $6,000.

[00:27:25] So not a lot of people are really excited about that yet.

[00:27:28] But we, yeah, we plan to have artificial intelligence in 2025 to make conversations even clearer.

[00:27:33] So I would imagine too, I have a few friends who struggle with their children with gaming

[00:27:39] and that it's too loud or they don't want them to wear the headset because the parents

[00:27:44] want to get a sense of the sound.

[00:27:45] It sounds like that's something that could also be interesting here for the price point.

[00:27:50] It's certainly a lower cost than a lot of headsets, but I don't know specifically of

[00:27:54] a gaming audience.

[00:27:56] It's, but it does work really well for a variety of things.

[00:28:00] Well, the complaint to the parent is that they're in the family room and it's so loud

[00:28:05] and they, it's very bassy and it's coming into the kitchen or.

[00:28:09] That absolutely would work.

[00:28:10] Yeah.

[00:28:10] Again, with the remote microphone option, you can have the volume very low and hear it

[00:28:14] directly in your headset.

[00:28:15] Again, you don't have to plug any cords in.

[00:28:17] It's super easy to use.

[00:28:18] Fantastic.

[00:28:19] So anything else you'd like to share with the audience?

[00:28:21] I appreciate the time, Jim.

[00:28:23] This has been great.

[00:28:24] Yeah, this is fantastic.

[00:28:25] Thanks.

[00:28:26] Appreciate it.

[00:28:28] Thanks for tuning into the Chalk Talk Jim podcast.

[00:28:32] For resources, show notes, and ways to get in touch, visit us at chalktalkgym.com.