I am Rachel Dorman, Co-Director and Owner of Shire Hearing.
So, why did I set up my practice? Why are my team here to help you?
I’ll share with you my story. So, I have a passion for life – living, breathing, experiencing and everything in between.
Knowing that not all people can enjoy those in-between moments because of hearing impairments directed my passion to improve the quality of other people’s lives through better hearing.
In 2002, I was extremely fortunate to start working and studying in the hearing industry as I pursued my Diploma and attended Macquarie University as a part-time student.
After only a few years in the industry, I dreamt of starting my own practice – a practice that would help support my family and, at the same time, support other families in helping them communicate effectively.
Hearing plays such a big role in people’s lives and is often something we take for granted.
I started out with an ambition for everyone to be able to have the quality of life they deserve and, every day, I’m still dedicated to helping the hearing-impaired and improving the way people communicate.
My partner, Glenn, and I established Shire Hearing Centres in 2008, when I had my 9-month-old daughter, Lily, and was pregnant with my second daughter, Ella. I initially started practising only a couple of days a week within a clinic called Individual Eyewear, an Optometrist on the Kingsway in Cronulla, where I rented a practice room. It was a hard slog – trying to market the business, run the business and do all the admin work as well as look after my family. I remember when hearing aid manufacturers used to hear my children giggle and gurgle through the phone when I was trying to order hearing aids for my clients. It was multi-tasking at its best!
Even though I was only working a few days a week, I was fortunate enough to be in high demand and my services were completely booked out. In 2010, a great opportunity came up where a new council building in Cronulla was being built, so I jumped on it and opened my first independent office of Shire Hearing Centres. At that stage, my husband was also studying as we could see the demand for another Clinician in the future.
Lo and behold, there was demand! We soon became very busy at Cronulla and set up satellite visiting centres around The Shire so we could get a feel for the market and determine the best place for our next expansion. We are, and always have been, a family-friendly centre – so it was really important that every location we chose was easily accessible for all.
One satellite clinic in a medical centre in Engadine grew remarkably busy, with no signs of slowing down. So, it wasn’t long before we set up another one of our own clinics in that area – a small practice opposite Engadine train station.
After that, the landlord in Waratah Arcade continuously rang me and said, “we could really do with a family-friendly hearing centre in my complex” and so we jumped at the opportunity to move in there.
As we cater to more people, our range of services have also expanded.
We are now testing a variety of children and are working in conjunction with Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist, Sean Flanagan. We are also performing rehabilitation for implantable hearing devices like cochlear implants.
With two full-time clinics, we have now employed two more Audiologists who have both adopted our family-friendly attitude. We all share the same passion for improving people’s quality of life and continue to thrive and be the best we can be for our clients.
Time flies fast – it feels like only yesterday when I would take my children to home visits as babies and now, our firstborn, Lily who is 13, helps us out in reception during the school holidays.
Our children have grown with the business and over the years, our clients have watched them grow as well. My clients still remember the funny things they would say as children – this just shows how engaged and involved our clients are as part of the Shire Hearing Family and we are more than grateful for that.
Without our lovely clients, The Shire Hearing Story wouldn’t even exist. And we’d love to keep this story going for as long as we can.
So, always know that you are more than welcome to join us in our journey of improving people’s quality of life through better hearing.
Rachel Dorman- Co-Director and Owner of Shire Hearing.
