We were lucky to catch up with JJ Whicker recently and have shared our conversation below.

JJ, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

I am a pediatric audiologist who specializes in central auditory processing disorders – a niche practice that only three other audiologists assess and treat in Utah (that I know of). I was originally working at a children’s hospital, where doing this kind of niche practice was hard because of all the red tape. Yet, the need was there, and I saw an opportunity to take my skill set into my own hands by opening a private practice that specializes in the assessment and treatment for both central auditory processing disorder and sound sensitivity disorders in children.

The first step to opening my own practice was really finding the space. The start-up costs for an audiology practice are high, given the need for some fancy equipment, including a sound-treated booth. Luckily, with my business partner, I found a space that just so happened to already have been used as an audiology clinic, and the former owners of that clinic left their soundbooth behind! Then, with our networking, we were able to get a bunch of audiology equipment that was older, but still functioning. By a miracle, the only piece of equipment we had to buy new was our diagnostic tool for completing hearing assessments in infants.

The key challenges for us was to get paneled with insurance companies so that we could bill claims as in-network providers. This was a much bigger feat than I anticipated, even with everyone’s warning that it would be hard. It took months, and many insurance companies claim to be out of space to panel audiologists. We also had to get smart about wanting to be affordable (because we love children and want them to get the services they need), but keep our doors open and pay ourselves a liveable wage.

The key with setting up pricing for us was to go against the normal paradigm for revenue in audiology. Unfortunately, a lot of audiologists have done a serious dishonor to the field by becoming salespeople who only make money off of hearing aid sales. It only costs a couple thousand dollars to get hearing aids from our contracted manufacturers, but audiologists will turn that around and sell hearing aids from anywhere between $5000 and $10,000, which is simply ridiculous. It’s already hard enough for patients to commit to hearing aid uptake, but by making it financial unfeasible, many people go without appropriate audiologic care. Therefore, our clinic has committed to selling hearing aids at cost, and our revenue is based purely off of clinical services rendered, which we can bill to insurances . . . much like any other doctor’s office.

My advice for anyone thinking of starting a practice is to know marketing. These are things that aren’t taught – unless you’re a marketing major, I suppose. Yet, getting patients to your clinic takes money, and that money needs to be spent the right way. We were making mistakes left and right, putting money into paper ads that weren’t getting to the right eyes. For us, our primary marketing target is mothers, who are more often than not on their phone or using the internet to find services near them for their child. Google Ads was our saving grace.

One key piece of advice, though, is to be okay with starting small. You don’t need to have a grand clinic to be successful. You can have a small space with used equipment and still get quality services rendered. Then, as you make money, you can invest in newer equipment and bigger spaces with nicer furniture. But in the end, patients are coming to see you, not your space. So, starting small will go a long way in being successful faster.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I specialize in the assessment of and treatment for central auditory processing disorders. Central auditory processing disorder is simply when the brain is not effectively making meaning of what it’s hearing, despite having typical hearing acuity, or having hearing acuity restored with technology, such as hearing aids or cochlear implants. I got into this area of practice, because many audiologists prefer to stick with thinking only of peripheral hearing – that is, how sounds are getting to the brain. Yet, the brain is what does all the real listening. So, even if a child or adult can hear sounds, if they are not processing what they hear correctly or have delayed responses in processing what they hear, they will continue to struggle with understanding speech, no matter how much you increase volume (which can actually do more harm).

Because so few audiologists work with central auditory processing, I saw a serious need to help those struggling with making meaning with sounds. Experts in the field predict that nearly 5% of school-aged children struggle with auditory processing, which can seriously impact both their academic and social lives. Schools tend to be hard places to get services for children with central auditory processing difficulties. And many children with Autism or ADHD struggle with discriminating the sounds of speech and attentive listening, which can further compound their emotional and social struggles. Having always been one to support the underdogs, I chose to focus my clinical efforts in this area of audiologic practice to provide a space for children to come and improve their listening abilities and find greater success at home and at school.

I am most proud of the fact that many parents come to our clinic desperate for answers. They know their child is struggling, but schools turn them away, and other audiologists turn them away saying that their hearing is “fine”. What sets us apart is our willingness to look beyond patient’s audiogram (how we plot hearing sensitivity), and create goals and treatment programs to target listening deficits. Parents cry often in our clinic when they are finally given some answers as to why their child may not be listening and understanding speech as well as their peers. Hearing and cognition go hand-in-hand, and we’ve known this for many years. With our model of service delivery, we are able to help children not only become more efficient with listening, but learn communication strategies to ask for help and regulate their emotions when they are having difficulty understanding what is said.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my business partner – Dr. Lindsey Tubaugh – back in 2017 when I was still in audiology school. I did a clinical rotation at a children’s hospital where she was both a clinician and interim manager of the audiology team. She immediately struck me as a powerful leader and clinician and became first a fabulous mentor and then a very dear friend. She and I share the same passion for pushing against systems in place that aren’t working for patient care and shifting audiologic care to be more reflective of our doctoral level training, instead of being hearing aid salespeople. Once I finished school, Dr. Lindsey hired me to work for her. She was my boss, and she was the best boss in the entire world. Because of the political mess that comes with working for a large corporation, Dr. Lindsey decided she was ready to step down. Just before she made this big decision, as a joke, I proposed that she and I quit and start our own practice to show ’em how it’s done. We laughed and laughed . . . and then she stepped down. And there was no way I wasn’t going to follow her to the end of the earth. So, I quit too, and soon my joke because a reality. And I couldn’t be happier with how things have turned out.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

By simply being willing to target clinical populations that other audiologists want to avoid, we have easily been able to build our reputation. We love neurodivergent children and are ready to take on any patient, no matter their developmental, social, or academic abilities. For that reason, parents seek us out and love us the way we love them. Children are such a vulnerable population. Under all of their struggles, at heart children just want to play. Our mission is to help children do just that. We laugh together and cry together, and with us families and children feel safe and ready to target new skills.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://littleheroeshearingclinic.com/
• Instagram: @littleheroeshearing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068260419925
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/heroeshearing
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZEWmHleAgbh9p2aujrkAmA

Image Credits
Rachel Lindsey Photography Little Heroes Pediatric Hearing Clinic