April Royan, M.A. graduated with a Bachelor of Arts In Audiology from Illinois State University and a Master of Science in Audiology from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She began her Audiology career in Naples, Florida at a busy ENT practice before working for Sonic Innovations as a Regional Training Manager for the Southeastern United States and Puerto Rico. In 2009, she opened her private practice, Decibels Audiology, which now has 3 locations, a dozen employees and hundreds of headaches. Decibels Audiology is a 7-time winner of the Naples Daily News Southwest Florida Choice Awards for Best Hearing Aid Center, a 7-time winner of the Best of Naples Awards and winner of the AMG Outstanding Customer Service and Patient Satisfaction Award.
April Royan is a recipient of the prestigious Gulfshore Business Forty Under 40 Award and has been featured in Audiology Today. In 2017, April and her husband, Mark, launched Decibels 180, a bad ass consulting group for Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers in private practice. When she’s not working, April and Mark are traveling North America in their RV with their two adorable children and one very fluffy Portuguese Water Dog... chronicling their ridiculous adventures on their blog Ears, Cheers and New Frontiers.
Gatsby the Super Pup is an incredibly fluffy, ultra-snuggly, super-smart Portuguese Water Dog. When he’s not laying at Mark’s feet or searching for belly-rubs around the Decibels 180 headquarters, he’s chewing on shoes and dreaming up a marketing plan for his pup-owned design empire: Fixer Pupper. Gatsby has no degrees and no experience in Audiology, but he sure does get a lot of ear infections. Gatsby’s consulting courses include “How to Ruin Expensive Furniture” and “A Bladder That Just Won’t Quit.” Unfortunately, availability is limited for his courses due to the fact that he can neither read, nor write… and is not much of a communicator over the phone. Course wait list requests can be sent via paw mail.
Mark Royan, B.S.S.A., is originally from Homestead, Florida, though he has lived in Naples since 1986. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Systems Analysis from the University of Miami and, as his 6 year old will tell you, “is super smart about computers.” Mark is a proud Eagle Scout and started his first business when he was just 16 years old building computers for local businesses (drawing supplementary income from working at Dominos Pizza in the evenings). During college he would take on projects for custom database design and programming. He continued his career following graduation by progressing to a Senior Level Network and Systems Engineer with a Southwest Florida business consulting firm. His hard work paid off and in 2006 he opened his own IT Consulting Company that he later sold in 2012 after growing it to a multi-million dollar enterprise. Mark wears many hats at Decibels Audiology and Decibels 180 including Co-Owner, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Technical Officer, and Director of Keeping Everyone In Line :) . In his spare time he enjoys cooking, running, working toward a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and spending time with his wife, April, and his two little boys.
Dennis Van Vliet is an audiologist and business professional with more than 40 years of experience in the clinical field and business of Audiology. Dr. Van Vliet has a Bachelor of Science degree from University of California Irvine; a Master of Arts degree from Cal-State University, Fullerton; and a Doctor of Audiology degree from Central Michigan University. He has worked as an audiologist in medical, educational and private practice settings for more than 40 years. Professional activities have included formation of the Independent Hearing Aid Fitting Forum, a
volunteer study group that developed a comprehensive hearing aid fitting protocol for nonlinear hearing aids, and leadership positions with state and national professional organizations. He has been invited as a speaker in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Africa to present information on a variety of hearing aid technology topics and other professional issues. His opinions are expressed monthly in the “Final Word” feature of the Hearing Review.
Debra Davila-Fischenich's is Vice President for Livingston Hearing Aid Center, Inc. (LHAC). In her role, Dr. Fischenich is responsible for creating and leading organizational excellence as well as providing the strategic direction for clinical team members in sales and hearing aid fitting methodologies. Dr. Fischenich holds the company record for the most net hearing aids sold by an individual in a single practice in one month (82 net units). She has played a key role in developing LHAC’s administrative infrastructure and pioneering multi-state expansion, leading early growth in New Mexico and DFW. Most recently Dr. Fischenich was responsible for creating, maintaining and motivating successful virtual teams with the development of a web based sales program called, The Hearing Network. A graduate of the Doctor of Audiology program at the University of Texas, she is dually licensed in the State of Texas under chapters 401 and 402 as well as a licensed Doctor of Audiology in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. Dr. Fischenich is board certified as a Doctor of Audiology and board certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences. She attended the Executive Education program through the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and received a certificate in Managerial Leadership. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Audiology (FAAA) and has received her Certificate of Clinical Competencies in Audiology (CCC-A) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
Dr. G, as his patients call him, started his hearing career working for a hearing aid dispenser in Phoenix. After realizing there had to be some form of didactic education and theory behind the hearing system, he jumped into Audiology. He received his M.S. from Arizona State University, and 4 years later, his Au.D. from AT Still University, where he subsequently taught the Amplification course on site for the Au.D. students. His leadership in Audiology began when he joined a licensure committee and quickly learned the struggles of our profession. He became the chair of the Arizona political action committee for audiology, and then ran, and was elected President of the Arizona Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 2006. He joined Audiology Clinic, Inc in Vancouver, WA in 2008, and then purchased it with his wife in 2012. Within 4 years, he and his wife had almost tripled their business, and decided to move back South for more sun! They sold the practice in 2017, and moved to Los Angeles, where Dr. Gosalia joined West Valley Hearing Center. Dr. Gosalia is board certified by the American Board of Audiology (ABA), and is a member of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA). He served a 3-year term on the Board of Directors for the ABA in 2012-2015 and has served as Chair of the AAA Marketing sub-committee. He has received many awards, including the Audiology Foundation of America’s Professional Leadership Award, the Jack Vernon Crystal Award by the American Tinnitus Association (ATA), the AT Still Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award along with other local awards for working with many non-profits in Vancouver WA. He is passionate leader for audiology and is always looking to help audiologists grow!
Dr. Phallon Doss graduated Summa Cum Laude from Texas Woman’s University, and received her Doctorate in Audiology from the University of North Texas. Dr. Doss is the owner of Doss Audiology, a successful private practice in South Texas. In the past, she has participated in research with major hearing aid manufacturers on developing new hearing technology. Dr. Doss is well-versed in all areas of audiology, including electrophysiology in the surgical setting and cochlear implant mapping. She has also been featured in San Antonio Woman Magazine as a leader in senior healthcare and is the San Antonio Magazine 2016 and 2017 Face of Hearing Healthcare. In 2017, Dr. Doss received the honor of being named a Healthcare Hero by the San Antonio Business Journal. Dr. Doss runs her private practice with her husband, James, while raising two children under the age of 6.
Dr. Kingham owns a bustling audiology practice in Issaquah, Washington. For 14 years, she was the Clinical Director for Hearing & Balance Lab, where she grew the practice from $400k to $1.4 million in revenue annually. Dr. Kingham currently works with practice development groups to help implement Audiology Assistants into private practice Audiology and ENT settings. Along with her husband and business partner, Joe Furness (President of Audiology Academy), Dr. Kingham developed Audiology Academy out of a passion for her fellow female entrepreneurs . Dr. Kingham was awarded a master’s degree in Audiology at the University of Washington and obtained her clinical doctorate from A.T. Still University. She was awarded the Future Leaders in Audiology Award in 2012 and is a Past President of Washington State Audiology Academy. She is a current member of the AAA Audiology Assistant Subcommittee. Dr. Kingham has worked in private practice since 2003, where she hired the first Audiology Assistant in Washington State and has trained and promoted Audiology Assistants since 2009.
Dr. Natalie Phillips is the Senior Audiologist with Advanced Otolaryngology and Audiology in Fort Collins, Colorado. Dr. Phillips has served on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Academy of Audiology and on various convention committees for the American Academy of Audiology as well as the Support Personnel Task Force. She is a founding sister of Women Unite, a group of women whose mission is to inspire, ignite, and assist other women achieve their potential in today’s professional setting. Dr. Phillips served on the Legacy Project Steering Committee and is a Global Ambassador Emeritus for Empowering A Billion Women by 2020 (EBW2020), a global initiative and movement to provide the tools, technology, and resources to empower women as leaders and successful entrepreneurs.
Dr. Phillips has experience developing early hearing detection programs in various hospitals throughout the state of Texas. Her work then took her to Southern California, where she collaborated with a neurotologist, taking over the practice of Dr. William House. She has participated in research within the field of audiology, including cochlear implants, tinnitus devices and a fully implantable hearing system. Dr. Phillips is particularly interested in tinnitus and has been providing tinnitus and sound sensitivity therapy options to patients for the past 18 years. In addition to seeing patients and being involved in research and on clinical advisory boards, she continues to pursue opportunities to participate in humanitarian audiology as well as believes in connecting with people both inside and outside of the hearing industry to be able to make a bigger impact in the world.
Dr. Natalie Phillips is passionate about building deep relationships and authentic connections to help make a difference in the world together. She is committed to assisting individuals and businesses to become more of who they are and to live out their brand. She believes in creating environments in which people can connect on different levels to help their businesses succeed. She created and is Founder and CEO of Connect4Excellence, LLC, a company dedicated to guide individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses to connect to their own mission and culture, to connect to others at organized events, to connect to their own voice with a bigger audience on social media, and to connect to be able to give back and create social impact.