Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brian Travers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Brian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Much of the new business that comes into my insurance business is a result of a PowerPoint presentation I give at residency training teaching hospitals. I had numerous seminars lined up when COVID hit causing all business activities to cease. Soon thereafter, schools were closed due to COVID, and virtual learning was instituted. To accommodate students and families, laptop computers would be handed out on a first come-first serve basis to those that needed one and our daughter Rylee was in need. On the scheduled day the computers would be handed out, I arrived 2.5 hours early only to find the line had already formed. By the time the door had opened at the building, the line behind me stretched down the street out of sight. Two hours later I found myself standing at the door to the school building. Inside I could see four stations set up with one person at each station siting with a computer in front of them. As was required, everyone was wearing masks. When I reached the first station, I asked the person if he could lower his mask. I told him I was deaf and needed to read his lips to communicate. I could tell by his mask moving up and down he was talking. I showed him the index card I had made which informed him I was deaf and needed to see his lips to communicate. He took a step back and looked side to side, as if not knowing what to do, how to handle the situation. Realizing there was a long line behind me I got nervous and looked at the people behind me. No one would make eye contact with me. They all looked in the other direction avoiding eye contact with me. I looked back to the person at the desk asking him a third time to lower his mask and he stood still. I’m panicking. I look back at the crowd behind and everyone continues to look away except one individual about 10 people away. He kindly walks halfway towards me, lowers his mask allowing me to read his lips. “He wants to know the name of your child”. I turn back to the administrator and provide my daughter’s name. I look back to the person in line who lowers his mask again: “What grade is your daughter in?”. I respond to the question. For the remaining 3 stations I don’t even look at the administrator at each table, I simply look at the parent 10 people behind me who is my savior. When I am done at the last station, I look back at him and give him one of the few sign language hand gestures I know. I raise my flat hand with fingers to my lips and move my hand back down gesturing in his direction with a smile on my face. He has tears in his eyes as he points at me and says the words “you got this”. I finally get the computer and walk back to the car. Humiliated, I close the door and sob. I stay here until I compose myself. I don’t want my wife and daughters to know what transpired.
When I returned home my family were out. I walked into the house and threw my mask on the dining room table. Out of frustration I said to myself: “is it that hard!” in reference to simply lowering a facial covering. As I said that I looked at the table where I threw my mask. It was laying by the sewing machine and all the materials I had been using to make traditional surgical masks. Also, on the table were some of my leather craft tools. I immediately thought of a leather wallet made with a plastic window to show one’s driver’s license. I repeated what I had just said: “is it that hard?”. This time in reference to the mask. Would it be that hard to put a window there to expose lips for lipreading. That was the genesis. To make a window mask just for my wife daughters to wear so that I could read their lips while we were out in public. Everyone was making traditional three-tiered surgical masks. I had never seen a “window mask”. I needed to make one for my benefit. I had no idea it would benefit everyone.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was born with a rare bone disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a.k.a. “Brittle Bone Disease”. Individuals with disease lack collagen in their bodies. Collagen gives tissue tensile strength and without it, bones and other tissues are fragile and break easily. I broke my first bone at 6 weeks of age. I spent much of my childhood either in a hospital emergency room or my orthopedic surgeon’s office. This is what inspired me early on in life to become a physician. I achieved that dream in 1995 but shortly after a graduating from medical school, I lost my hearing. Through surgery and the use of a hearing aid, I was afforded some hearing. However, with the hearing aids off, I could not hear at all. The hearing loss was another consequence of the bone disease. One thing that didn’t end though were my financial obligations, particularly student loans. I ultimately defaulted on my student loans and became financially insolvent. Years later I learned that were insurance products available that could have helped in my time of need, financially that is. How come we weren’t given financial advice during the years of schooling I thought. I decided that I would devote my life in educating other young physicians about the importance of proper planning ahead of time. I would use my own struggles to illustrate the importance of insurance products. I started lecturing to residency training programs about the importance of disability insurance. Not from a product perspective but the consequences of what can happen without the coverage. I would lecture to a residency training program describing what had happen to me financially and personally. Having the financial obligations of a physician and not being compensated as one is a tall order. Not only could I not keep up with my student loans, but I also couldn’t get higher paying job because of my credit report. To avoid my situation, disability insurance is the product to have in place. I would point out that coverage is provided while they were in their training but would cease once their training ended. I would be the go-to person to obtain individual disability insurance coverage. Essentially all the residents in the department I lectured at would become clients. The senior residents would go on to other hospitals for their fellowships and they would refer the residents training at other hospitals to me. It was bigger than me. Then it all stopped.
In August of 2008, I was traveling daily all-around New England, down through New York lecturing to various training hospitals. One day when I was not traveling, I had the afternoon off and planned on spending time with my wife and daughters by the pool at the development where we were renting. My wife and daughters were already at the pool by the time I arrived. Soon after my arrival I collapsed at their feet and lost consciousness. I suffered a life-threatening cerebral hemorrhage that left me in a coma on life support for about a month. Fortunately, I “woke up” unexpectedly one day and I never lost consciousness again. A few days later when my wife and mother arrived at the hospital after rounds were completed, they were informed that I was exhibiting odd behavior. I kept rubbing my fingers together and attempting to say the numbers “675”. My wife smiled. She knew what that all meant. She informed them that “675” was the type of hearing aid battery the aid used. They had put my hearing aid on my head for me, but it was not working because the battery needed to be changed. I was rubbing my fingers together and my wife knew I was worried about money. She knew I wanted to make sure my family was okay. As my wife spoke, I read her lips and my mother wrote down what my wife was saying to make sure I understood. Erin informed me that my disability insurance policy was activated and that she and the girls were fine. I was eventually transferred to the rehab wing and after a few more weeks I was finally discharged home. Outpatient rehab continued. When it was determined I developed a seizure disorder because of the cerebral hemorrhage, it was assumed the cold weather in Rhode Island may be a trigger. We went on to learn that patients with brain injuries like I suffered seem to do better in warmer climates. Once my outpatient rehab was completed, our family packed up and relocated to the warm weather of Florida. Since arriving here in 2010, I’ve never had a seizure again. My wife became inspired by the nurses who took care of me. She enrolled in nursing school and became a nurse. I settled into my favorite role of all: full-time Dad.
In 2019, eleven years later with my daughter’s now 18 and 15, they had pretty much developed their own independence. One day they pointed out that with more time on my hands, they encouraged me to return to my insurance business. My business focused primarily on lecturing to medical students and residents in training using my own real-life experiences as to the need for coverage. My daughters were right. I went out and purchased a few suits and gathered my marketing materials. I reached out to some of my old physician clients that remained affiliated to residency programs back in New England and scheduled seminars just as I did years ago. At the same time, it was becoming more difficult to continue to rent in the area of Florida where we were living. My wife Erin was a staff nurse. With me being disabled I was only able to contribute financially through my disability income. Money was always tight, but we were always a family rich with love. The development we were living in was under new management and we were being forced out because we had pets which were no longer allowed. This became stressful because we didn’t have the necessary funds needed to simply move to another location. We began looking into hotels that were “pet friendly”.
In the event my lectures would result in business, Erin obtained her insurance license so business could be acquired through her. This was promising as we were trying to stay afloat. I also went for a cochlear implant evaluation to see if I was a candidate. My hearing loss was no longer just affecting me, but my wife and children as well. I met with a surgeon who forwarded his findings to the insurance company. A few days later I was notified that I was approved for cochlear implant surgery and the surgical date was set. Things were looking up.
Then COVID was upon us.
As if it was a group email, lectures that were set up were all cancelled. Outside vendors were prohibited entry to all hospitals indefinitely. Prices at hotels we were pursuing for temporary housing were expensive. Things were no longer looking promising as we planned.
A few days later I walked into our house to find my wife sitting at the dining room table using her sewing machine, something I think I’ve seen her doing once in the 20 years we had been together. I simply asked her what she was doing, and she replied, “making masks”. She informed me that due to COVID, masks were required in the hospital, especially on the unit she worked, the Intensive Care Unit. She wanted to make masks for our family. I told her she should teach me how to sew so I could make the masks for us too, it would give me something to do during the day. She explained to me the parts of a sewing machine. Taught me how to wind a bobbin and how to thread the machine. She showed me how to initiate a stitch, stitch in a straight line and ultimately stop stitching. I spent the remainder of that day learning the basics she had taught me. I was hooked, no pun intended. I went online to Amazon and purchased a book “Sewing 101”. I read it cover-to-cover a few times trying out all the exercises they offered. Erin would come home from work each day and look at the masks I had been making. In no time she asked, “did you make this?”. She couldn’t believe the precision of the sewing that was in her hand. She stated she couldn’t sew that good. She asked me if I would make one in front of her which I did. She was amazed, she told me I was “on to something”. We had no idea. Together, we made curtains for all the windows in the house including the sliding glass doors. Our daughters encouraged me to make bags and other accessories. I’ve been making all types of women’s bags which my daughters all use. They come home to tell me they’ve received numerous compliments on the bags and want to know where they can get one.
What sets me apart from others is my story. My medical condition inspired me to help others in the financial services world. It also inspired me to learn how to sew for the benefit of others. I am honored by testimonials I’ve received in both arenas. One day I received a text from a person I’ve never met. He informed me has from Australia. On his drive to work that morning the radio broadcasters he was listening too were talking about me and my story, making masks. He was so inspired that once he got to work, he searched for me so that he could let me know how inspired he was from what I’ve overcome, and my efforts to help others.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The humiliation I suffered when people wouldn’t lower their masks allowing me to read their lips motivated me for change. I would get through this and have a functioning see-through mask as a solution.
As we eventually learned, I was not able to communicate with others after awakening from my coma due to a condition called Broca’s Aphasia. Damage to the frontal lobe of brain allowed me understand words being said to me but I was not able to speak to express myself. I rubbed my fingers together hoping someone would know what I was trying to find out. My wife knew.
I would not fail.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’ve had to pivot many times in life without much notice. Going to bed one night with a promising medical career ahead only to wake up “deaf” may have ended that career pursuit but life obligations continued. Through years of hard work and struggles, I was still able to find a woman and we brought two beautiful daughters into the world. We thought we were on a way; the hard times were behind us. We were wrong. I collapsed at their feet and remained in a coma on life support for some time. I have always been an organ donor. In a coma on life-support with no indication I would recover, my wife had every opportunity to end any suffering I may have been enduring. She had the support of family and the medical team to harvest my organs, it was justified. But my wife believed in miracles. I am here today because of her.
With my hearing impairment, I didn’t go out that often unless my wife or one of our daughters was with me. When I did have to go out by myself, I would go out first thing in the morning. If I had any medical appointments, I would schedule them as early as I could. There are not that many people out early in the morning and that suited me fine. When you meet people and let them know you’re a “lip reader”, most of the time it doesn’t connect right away. Sometimes people will speak louder and slower. When face masks became required, I initially didn’t think how it would affect me or the deaf community. My primary focus was the health of my wife whose and ICU nurse and my children. But that interaction at my daughter’s school certainly caused me to pivot!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.anchorhandmadedesigns.com / www.bluescleradi.com
- Instagram: @anchor_handmade_designs / @bluescleradi
- Facebook: Anchor Handmade Designs
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SRuhle/status/1288116589116583937?s=20&t=I6GYVfifQSAfDUmBo9SI_A
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/Rdsl_C-BHIg
- Other: https://www.today.com/health/man-makes-clear-masks-deaf-hard-hearing-goes-viral-t187196 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/16/deaf-man-creates-masks-that-allow-hearing-impaired-read-lips/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CGHTTbAAV_M/