Leslie and Brent Steele are celebrating 10 years of their locally owned family business, The Hearing Guy. Leslie is the chief financial officer and marketing director for the business, and Dr. Brent is the hearing specialist at its two locations, one in Asheville and one in Hendersonville.

“It’s neat to see patients who only first knew Brent, and then met me after we got married, and were around to see our two children be born,” Leslie says. The Steeles’s daughter, Abbie, is 8 and son Jack is 6. “Our patients can’t believe how much our children have grown,” Leslie says. “We try to keep updated photo albums on the table and on the TV in the waiting area.”

The Hearing Guy offers a comprehensive array of hearing health services including hearing evaluations, tinnitus solutions, hearing aid fitting, cleaning and repair, and earwax removal. “Working with all six hearing aid manufacturers gives patients the best choice for their needs,” Leslie explains.

Running a family business that puts relationships first, the Steeles enjoy getting to know the people and families in Western North Carolina and catching up on what’s going on in their lives when they come in for appointments.

The Hearing Guy creates an exceptional patient experience by building relationships and offering one-on-one customized hearing care. “What differentiates us from our competitors is we are a local, small-town family business,” Leslie says. “We don’t have multiple providers where you are going to see someone different each time. Accessibility is also a huge factor. Brent gives each patient his personal cell phone number.”

Many people who experience hearing loss wait 7 to 10 years — after they first think there’s a problem — to have their hearing checked. Some of the initial signs include having to ask others to repeat themselves often, struggling to hear over the phone or accusing others of mumbling.

Leslie explains that hearing loss affects the whole family and can make family members feel isolated because they don’t want to continually ask people to repeat what they just said. This isolation could lead to an increased risk of anxiety, depression and dementia.

Dr. Steele explains to his patients when they first come in that hearing aids aren’t about making conversation louder or clearer. The number one reason is to preserve your understanding ability. “Many people put off getting these devices, but protecting your brain’s ability to process the sounds it hears has a lot of positive overall health outcomes,” Leslie says.

Dr. Steele spends 90 minutes with each patient during their initial evaluation to ensure each patient understands hearing loss and all the available solutions.

“There is great technology out there today that is doing wonders to reduce background noise in restaurants,” Leslie says. “We have custom rechargeable hearing aids, and all hearing aids have Bluetooth capability that will connect to your phone so you can hear phone conversations more clearly.”

Dr. Steele grew up around health care. His father was a family physician and his mother a pharmacist in a small town outside of Atlanta. While attending the University of Georgia, he gravitated toward economics because he enjoys the business side of things. His initial plan was to run his father’s locally-owned practice, yet his father also encouraged him to pursue a medical degree.

After graduating from medical school in 2010, Dr. Steele chose a different path. He wanted to stay in medicine and spend more time with his patients, so he opened a franchise of Zounds Hearing Aids in Asheville and became a licensed hearing instrument specialist.

A few years in, he wanted the ability to offer multiple brands from different manufacturers. His wife, Leslie, a CPA he met in Atlanta, was ready to leave the long hours of public accounting. By merging their backgrounds, they created The Hearing Guy, an independent practice. The Steeles moved to Biltmore Park on White Ash Drive in 2020.

Dr. Steele gives educational talks about hearing loss around the community. The Hearing Guy also participates in local health fairs at independent-living facilities.

When the Steeles aren’t building relationships with people in the community, they enjoy traveling, watching college football and spending time at home with family.

(828) 274-6913 (for either location)

Skyland Plaza

1863 Hendersonville Rd., Ste. 121

Asheville, NC 28803

 

132 S. Main St.

Hendersonville, NC 28792