Meet Matthew Kist of Luhn Hearing Care Associates and Northern Kentucky Audiology

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Kist.

Hi Matthew, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I always like to start this story by saying that I’m a two-time college dropout. I was a class clown my senior year in high school for the most part and I didn’t even begin to get my life together until three years after graduation. Having to move back to your midwestern hometown after being in a big city on the east coast 12 hours away has a way of humbling you. I remember serving food at the local community college cafeteria to some of my high school classmates who had, at that point, several years of education under their belt, and it was painfully obvious they were mocking my hairnet and apron. It’s okay to learn a lesson about life and be embarrassed at the same time. That’s what 2007-2012 consisted of for me: learning what works for me and how I can change a situation to my advantage and be successful.

I learned that if I tried to take too big of a step forward, I would end up three steps backward. I learned that I am very skilled at holding conversations with almost anyone at any time. I learned that when other people believe in you, you should believe in yourself most of out of anyone because they often are not wrong. I built a good foundation by taking classes for two years at the local community college and I realized I had started to create manageable growth for myself. I moved to Cincinnati in 2012 to finish up my Bachelor’s degree and ended up staying local for my doctorate degree at the University of Cincinnati.

During my time in graduate school, I was lucky enough to meet a local audiologist who ran a small private practice with her husband. We immediately clicked during my rotations, and I worked out a way to spend at least one day a week at that placement while managing other rotations, homework, and other workloads. The plan was to take over the practice two years after my graduation in 2019—a deadline that is daunting for any grad student, but I had spent the past decade preparing to be successful in this situation.

In May of 2021, I purchased Luhn Hearing Care, LLC, now Luhn Hearing Care Associates/Northern Kentucky Audiology, LLC. The past five months of ownership have been unbelievable beyond my wildest dreams. I truly enjoy every aspect of it, from seeing patients and connecting with them on a personal level, to the business meetings and conference calls, to having students rotate in and out. The previous owner has semi-retired but she now works for me a few days a week, and she is an invaluable part of my success. She has over 35 years in the hearing industry, so of course I still use her as my greatest resource. Being able to work at this practice since I was a student allowed me to become engrossed in the community, and it has been such a rewarding relationship.

For me, success is all about building small steppingstones that eventually lead to bigger ones. No need to rush the process. That being said, I do believe in taking calculated risks because what’s life without a little adrenaline rush, eh?

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Hardly, but that’s what makes it so rewarding. Working full-time hours and taking 18 credit hours a semester during my undergraduate career was exhausting and at times, defeating. I hardly had time to do the things I wanted to do. Graduate school will also make you second guess yourself quite often. None of my family is close to me geographically, so sometimes it was difficult to be reminded of the support system I had. I also grew up poor, but my mom did such a fantastic job taking care of me and my sister. She is a prime example of my motivation: tough times don’t last, tough people do.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a small private practice located in Erlanger, Kentucky and we primarily diagnose hearing loss and dispense hearing aids. The clinic is located on the first floor of a very historic Victorian house so it has such a different feel than most doctors’ offices. Our waiting room is essentially a living room with couches and it genuinely feels as though we invite each and every patient into our home. This allows us to develop a strong relationship with them and treat their lifestyle versus just treating the hearing loss. I would say our bread and butter is our counseling skills; we pride ourselves on being very personable and being able to relate to the patient is key. We offer a mix of services including diagnostic audiologic evaluations, tympanometry, hearing aid consultations, hearing aid selection and fitting, real ear measurement, custom ear protection and more!

How do you define success?
To me, success is being able to provide for my family, give back to the community, and to have fun while doing it. I genuinely enjoy what I do; I love meeting and getting to know people, and it makes it that much more rewarding when they come in for a follow up visit and they mention that they could hear their grandkids for the first time in years. Success isn’t tied to a specific dollar amount or size house, but more so leaving a lasting impact on my community long after I’m gone. I want to be able to allow the important people in my life to be successful as well, so facilitating that in any manner is a huge goal for me. I wouldn’t be where I am without help from others, so now that I’m in a position to be that helper, I couldn’t be happier.

Contact Info:

• Email: matthew@luhnhearingcare.com
• Website: luhnhearingcare.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/LuhnHearingCare