Who Is Maria Brown? — A Letter from Maria
Maria Brown started her clinic, the Maria Brown Hearing Clinic, 14 years ago in Hobart, Tasmania with the help of her family. She is a qualified Audiometrist with 20+ years of industry experience passionate about helping Tasmanians reconnect with their families.
“No, this business is not a franchise. Maria Brown IS a real person.
Maria Brown 14 years ago had a dream
My dream was to change my industry to help people the way I had always believed I would. Instead, when I qualified I was expected to sell hearing aids. I would sit in business meetings while my husband was fighting cancer and we would discuss how much more we would charge children and how much more can we get out of pensioners.
There were days I felt like my head was spinning on my shoulders. In the fight of our lives at home and at work greed was controlling my work hours. To say I was stressed was really an understatement. I just could not understand why selling hearing aids were what it was all about.
But that is what it is all about. That’s what business in any industry is all about. We have a product that we have to buy in, we have to make a profit, and we have to keep the doors open so we can look after all our clients.
But what if I could be fair about it? What if I didn’t do it the same way as everyone else?
The start of something better
I put an idea to my wonderful family, who even though we were going through so much personally, all of them said: “let’s do it”. They understood that for me unless I did it the right way, I wouldn’t be able to work in this profession. It made me feel sick.
I was in a position of being the only worker in the family so I had to have a job no ifs, buts and ors about it. I did not have the luxury of not earning any money.
So with everything we had saved in our whole marriage, we took the biggest risk of our lives right as my husband was told the cancer was going to take his life (they were wrong—he is still here!) because our whole family believed we could make a difference.
And then... disaster
Two years later it was the worst decision we had made. I was slandered, attacked, vilified, and basically tried to be run out of town. I was devastated. Everything I believed was in tatters on the floor. The people in my industry obviously did not want me to succeed and tried everything to stop that from happening.
The only thing that kept me going is that we would just help one person at a time who trusted us. Sooner or later, people came to see that we had an alternative way of looking after people and that we do care and we deliver on everything we promise.
Providing real hearing care
My clients were shocked at the care—they had never been cared for so well and could not believe the results. It took years but eventually, people have started to talk. Now my clients ask their friends, "Why doesn’t your hearing care look after you like this?"
We have been so lucky. The support we have received from our clients and the community... I feel completely blessed. I say thank you to Hobart for embracing our hearing clinic.
I say thank you every day that we have not failed in what we set out to do.
My goals:
- To care for people the way I always dreamed I would
- Make their hearing care affordable
- Stop people feeling that they were being sold hearing aids
- Show people that in life some people do take what they promise them seriously
- Conduct me and our business with extreme ethic.
It's my pride and joy
One of my proudest moments in life was when my son, who gave everything up for me at 16 to come work with his parents, said to me 6 months down the track of starting our business:
‘Mum I finally get it. It isn’t about selling hearing aids, is it? The look on your face and the reaction that people have when you help them hear is amazing. There is no money in the world that can make you smile like that when you help someone.’
That was my proudest moment when my son could actually see why I did this and why I risked our whole family to help people, who need someone like me to care for them like no one ever has…”
Are you ready to do something about your hearing?
A hearing test takes 15 minutes and is free. Call 1300 797 519 to book today