Hear, here! Entrepreneur amplifies lives with hearing aid venture

By Valorie Brecht Justin Schenck is looking forward to helping community members hear clearly through his new business, Sonal Hearing, at 106 Depot St., Greenwood.

The Clark County Economic Development Corporation and Tourism Bureau (CCEDC) hosted a ribbon cutting for the new business on Monday, May 20.

“From a city standpoint, we’re always happy when new businesses come to town, because it strengthens our business community and brings more people to our city. We’re just tickled that we have this starting up in town; it’s another business that we’ve never had to be close to. There’s hearing places in Neillsville and in Marshfield, but we’re very proud to have that here,” said Greenwood Mayor Dave Hansen.

The name “Sonal” comes from combining the word roots Son- meaning sound and -al meaning all, a fitting name as Schenck is passionate about “hearing for all,” with that “all” including rural, potentially underserved areas such as Greenwood.

“I aim to improve quality of life through better hear-ing,” said Schenck.

Although the desire to enhance people’s hearing has become a resounding call for Schenck, just a handful of years ago that call was not even a faint whisper. The story of how he got into hearing aids is an unusual one.

“A few years ago I was in a completely different line of work. I worked at a car dealership and I liked working with people, although I never really cared much for working with cars. The cars meant nothing to me. Then the pandemic hit and everything changed,” said Schenck. “I was essentially paying myself out of my savings account just so I could come in to work six days a week for 10 hours a day and not see a single customer. One day it hit me that we had more salespeople working at the dealership than there were cars to sell. I thought, ‘I need to start looking for something else.”

Schenck posted his résumé on the job search website Indeed and told himself he would take the first opportunity to come his way, because he was in a tough spot and needed the money.

“A couple days later, a hearing aid company reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in an interview and I said, ‘No, thank you.’ The guy who would soon become my boss said to me, ‘Can I ask why?’ and I told him, ‘It just sounds kinda gross.’ I didn’t think I wanted to do anything medical like that. “Well, he laughed and asked me, ‘Do you know anyone who wears hearing aids?’ and I said, ‘Yes, my dad does.’ He said, ‘Remember what it was like before he could hear stuff?’ I said, Yes, I most certainly do.’ I remember how frustrating it was when Dad didn’t have hearing aids and we constantly had to repeat ourselves. And I will never forget the day after my dad got hearing aids, because he came home from work and said, ‘I didn’t know the copy machine made sounds.’ My old boss and I talked about if for a while and then he asked me, ‘You think it would be cool to help people hear stuff again?’ I said, ‘OK, you got me.’” The rest is history. Although Schenck and his boss didn’t see eye to eye on everything, he was grateful to be given a chance because he had a chance to discover something he loved to do.

“I can tell you that the first time someone comes into your office and cries because they can finally hear their kids or grandkids, or even the more simple things in life like the crackling of a fire or crickets again, it’s a pretty powerful day,” Schenck said.

Schenck eventually decided to go on his own for a business in order to have control over how he ran things, as there were aspects of the business he wanted to approach differently, including ethical concerns. He felt that hearing aids were overpriced at his previous place of employment. He wanted to keep them affordable for people, especially for clients on a fixed income.

He was going to open a shop in Eau Claire where he lives, but was unable to do so due to a non-compete agreement with his previous employer. He looked into starting a business in Menomonie, but that did not work out either. However, he found an opportunity in an unexpected

Please see Hear, here! page 20

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO Hear, here!,

from p. 6 place. His friend Wayne Dallman, who owns Dallman Insurance, explained that the Greenwood branch of the business was going to be moving to Main Street, opening up the office space on Depot Street. Schenck ended up moved into that space.

Although he did not necessarily plan to work in Greenwood, Schenck is looking forward to filling a need in the community and making quality hearing aids “accessible to everyone.”

“It is my mission to change the way people think about hearing aids. I believe in a patient-first approach and I believe in clarity, not volume. I believe that patients come to me not because they can’t hear, but because they stopped being able to understand what their family, friends and loved ones are saying to them. I believe that I can help, and I seek to provide ethical and honest treatment to all,” said Schenck.

He also emphasized that he wants to offer a no-pressure approach to hearing health. People are welcome to come in for a free hearing assessment and receive a results analysis, with no obligation to purchase. If a person does decide to purchase hearing aids, the hearing aids will be customized and fitted to the individual to get the clearest possible sound.

Schenck also offers hearing protection and customized earmolds for swimmers, musicians, hunters and people who work around loud machinery. The earmolds can be designed to pick up speech, but not the sound of machines.

“I’m excited to open my first office and I look forward to helping the community,” said Schenck.

Sonal Hearing is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Schenck can be reached at 715-267-4444 or Greenwood@SonalHearing.com.

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO

Justin Schenck shares with ribbon cutting ceremony attendees how he got into the hearing aid business. He also received plants as welcome gifts from the Clark County Economic Development Corporation and Tourism Bureau and the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce.

Justin Schenck cuts the ribbon to officially open Sonal Hearing in Greenwood. Also present to welcome Schenck to the business community were (l-r) Lynsey Volovsek and Dawna Fehlman of the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, Nancy Amacher of the Clark County Economic Development Committee, Greenwood Mayor Dave Hansen and Pat Lindner of the Clark County Economic Development Corporation and Tourism Bureau.