Individuals with hearing loss face steep economic and emotional challenges every day. Take it from Kennard Nielsen, Doppler Labs’ VP of Product Development, and KR Liu, Doppler Labs’ Director of Advocacy and Accessibility. As a young adult working as a cabinet maker, Kennard was exposed to high decibel noise that ultimately led to occupational noise-induced hearing loss later on in life. KR’s severe hearing loss began at the age of three, when her parents discovered that she was having recurring speech difficulties. Even though both Kennard and KR have variations of hearing loss, they both share a common desire: to remove the institutional barriers to hearing health care and open up more affordable, technologically innovative, and socially acceptable options for everyone, no matter where you are on the hearing loss spectrum.