Meet Dusty Jessen | Audiologist & Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dusty Jessen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dusty, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
There are several equally relevant answers to this question.

First, I love setting goals and learning new skills to accomplish those goals. As an employee, I felt slightly restricted in this process – my goals and skills had to be related to someone else’s business model. With my own business, I get to set goals and learn skills that are most important to me and that ultimately bring me joy. For example, I wanted to give back to my community, so as a private practice owner, I had the freedom to start a non-profit project with some of my amazing colleagues. I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I were working for someone else.

Second, I have very high standards for patient care – I want every one of my patients to feel that their concerns have been thoroughly heard and understood and I want to spend the time and resources to ensure that I’m addressing every one of those concerns. This means longer than normal appointment blocks, more frequent appointments, top-of-the line testing equipment, and premium treatment options. I’ve gained so much valuable experience in the 25 years that I’ve been practicing audiology and I want to use that experience to provide the best care possible. As the owner, I have the freedom to do this.

Third, I love all things business. Yes, I love being an audiologist. But I also love the creative aspects of marketing, the leadership aspects of building and motivating a great team, and I even love the numbers. I’ve learned so much about bookkeeping and accounting and I find it very satisfying to create and monitor budgets, clear transactions, and reconcile accounts.

Fourth, being a business owner gives me more flexibility with my schedule. While my husband would say that I never stop working, to me it doesn’t feel like work. I enjoy popping into Quickbooks or Canva after dinner to categorize transactions or create a new marketing flier. As my practice grows and I bring on more providers, I have even more flexibility to take vacations or participate in hearing humanitarian trips through Hearing the Call.

Finally, I feel like I’m truly building a legacy with my business. All of my hard work and the systems that I’ve created will continue to serve people with hearing loss long after I’m gone, and that is an awesome feeling!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I own and operate 2 businesses. In 2013 I started Cut to the Chase Communication under which I created an education program for people with hearing loss called 5 Keys Communication. It includes a patient handbook, handouts, an online email-based program, and a mobile app. With more than 100,000 copies in circulation, the handbooks are being used by hearing care providers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, and the United Kingdom to educate their patients about coping with hearing loss. The e-mail program and mobile app have also been used by hundreds of hearing care providers to support their patients through the journey of treating hearing loss. I marketed my products by speaking at national and state Audiology conventions and writing articles for our trade journals. It was a lot of work, because I was also working part-time in an ENT clinic and homeschooling my 2 young sons during this time. My support came from family – my husband and my parents were my biggest cheerleaders and helped with the boys. Homeschooling was definitely a team effort!

In 2017 the ENT I worked for decided to close her businesses so I made the easy decision to purchase the audiology side of her practice. I say it was an easy decision because I had been slowly building that part of the business during the 15 years that I worked there, so it felt very natural that I would be the new owner. It was wonderful because the patients I’d been seeing for so many years were able to continue their care with me at my new location, Columbine Hearing Care. It was also relatively easy because I didn’t have to start from scratch! I had a patient database, equipment, and systems that I’d been creating over the past several years (including my 5 Keys Communication program). Of course, it was much more work to run the business side of things and I had a LOT to learn – I don’t think I received any business training in my audiology doctoral program. Luckily, my boys were older and more independent by this time, with one of them being in public high school, so I had more time to devote to being a dual business owner. I believe the early success of my private practice was due to the fact that I kept it small. I did everything in the beginning – patient care, answering phones, bookkeeping, etc. – I didn’t have the stress of paying for employees so my biggest expense was rent, which wasn’t all that big because i started in an office-share space for just $650/month. I also made the decision in the beginning to be a self-pay clinic. I experienced the nightmare of taking insurance (and not being paid) at the ENT clinic and I swore I would not deal with that in my own business. I’m proud to say that, 8 years later, we are still an all self-pay clinic. This allows us to keep our prices lower than most – we aren’t spending precious time and resources playing the insurance games. We have payment plans and our non-profit, so we are able to serve people with varying budgets.

Columbine Hearing Care has grown a lot in the last 8 years and in June I purchased a second clinic in Arvada, New Leaf Hearing Clinic. Between the 2 practices, we have 5 employees and 3000 square feet of beautiful office space, state-of-the-art equipment, and thousands of satisfied patients.

In 2020, while the world was shut down due to COVID, I joined with 5 of my amazing colleagues to start Hearing the Call-Colorado – a non-profit project that provides premium hearing care to qualified people residing in Colorado. Since then, we’ve fit more than 400 people with new or donated hearing aids. It has been an amazing collaboration! I’ve also been involved with the national Hearing the Call non-profit and have been blessed to go on 4 international hearing humanitarian trips since 2019 – in Guatemala, Brazil, Jamaica, and Turks & Caicos. These have been life-changing experiences and I look forward to participating in many more!

I feel very passionate about giving back to my community and I do this in several ways. I volunteer for an incredible non-profit called Friends of Man, reviewing their hearing aid requests. I also do all of the graphic design work for another fabulous non-profit called Cycling Without Age Littleton. I’m the professional liaison for the Hearing Loss Association of America’s Denver Chapter. Finally, my family has been fostering dogs for Paws on the Ground Colorado for more than a decade – we’ve had well over 100 dogs come through our home during this time and it has been a very special part of our life.

None of this was easy, and there have been many times when I’ve felt overwhelmed by it all. I overcome this feeling by talking with my husband, snuggling with or walking one of our dogs, walking with a friend, doing yoga or lifting weights at the gym (I didn’t mention that I also competed in figure competitions in 2017/2018 – that’s a whole other story!!;). I also cope by connecting with my other audiology colleagues because I know that they’ve likely been through similar challenges and it helps to vent with someone who understands what you’re going through. Not all of my coping strategies have been healthy. There was a time when I tried to drown my stress in boxed red wine – like a LOT of red wine! Not surprisingly, that only made things worse. But I think it is a common way for women to try to decompress and it should be talked about more. I was able to pull myself out of the alcohol slump by focusing on my fitness goals, listening to motivational business and spiritual books and podcasts, and seeing counselors. My husband and I also went through a rough patch during that time and counseling was very important to our healing. I also learned that I don’t have to do it all! I learned to say “no” more often, and that has been huge for me. There’s also something beautiful about getting older that I’ve noticed in my late 40’s – what truly matters starts to become more obvious. It’s less about appearance and more about authenticity. I wish I’d learned this earlier, but I think it is something we all have to gain through experience, and sometimes pain. Yes, there are some things I wish I could go back and change, but I don’t think I would because those things are part of what shaped who I am today. At 48, I don’t claim to have it all figured out, but I do feel much more comfortable in my skin than I did at 38! I have successful businesses, a wonderful family, an incredible professional community, and a sense of balance that seems to be the goal of it all, right? I’m not looking to make millions as a business owner. My mantra is “How many people can I help today?” Interestingly, the financial piece seems to come together when your heart is in the right place.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Red Rocks for some cardio or yoga on the rocks
Bike ride up Waterton Canyon to see the dam and hopefully some Big Horn Sheep
Hike at Roxborough State park
Bike ride or walk along the Highline Canal Trail – especially near Cherry Hills
Walk around Wash Park
Rent eBikes and bike from Littleton to Confluence Park on Platte River Trail
Denver Zoo, Museum of Nature and Science
Concert at Boettcher Concert Hall

(sorry, I’m not a foodie so can’t recommend restaurants:)

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The Entheos Audiology Cooperative is a group of private practice audiologists, led by an incredible CEO, Nora Stuart, that has supported me and given me a community of like-minded professionals to learn from and grow with.

My husband, Ben, is my rock. Without his support and encouragement, I would not be where I am today.

Website: https://www.ColumbineCares.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/columbinehearingcare/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustyjessen/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/columbinehearingcare

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@columbinehearingcare