Meet our Founder

Hello.  I’m Duane Smelser, founder of Hearing Health.  I’d like to share with you a bit about myself and how I came to start Hearing Health.

My entire personal and professional life has been about making a difference in the quality of people’s lives.

After 15 years as a Team Building and Communication Consultant to organizations,  my wife Donna introduced me to the idea of being a Hearing Instrument Specialist.  The more I explored this profession, the more I saw an opportunity to make a profound difference with people and families.  I saw that hearing is critical to all relationships, and that hearing loss dramatically reduces the quality of life as we grow older.  Recent science has shown an undeniable connection between untreated hearing loss and the onset of dementia, including Alzheimer’s.  It’s also revealed that by the time we reach age 85, half of us will be suffering from it.  Nothing is more fulfilling to me than empowering people to reconnect to the sounds, conversations, and people they’ve been missing out on, allowing them to experience the richest life possible.

The idea for Hearing Health began in 2009 after working for two of the largest hearing aid providers in Portland for the past 6 years.  At those jobs, I saw a gap between what we were doing and what was known and available for people that could enhance their hearing and quality of life.   I saw a need for a new approach based on putting the success and satisfaction of the client before profit, and providing the most advanced testing, fitting, rehabilitation, follow-up and client care available.

Hearing Health opened in August of 2011, next to Raleigh Hills Fred Meyer and has since become the top-rated hearing provider in Portland, according to Yelp.

On a more personal level, I am a 3^rd generation Portland, Oregonian. I’m married to Donna J. Domila, who you’ll see around Hearing Health from time to time. She’s an artist, calligrapher and works as a Human Resource Recruiter for PeaceHealth Medical Center. I have a daughter, Lee Marie, who lives and works in London, England. Donna and I enjoy riding our tandem bicycle, cross country skiing, and gourmet cooking.