For Goldman, the key to tapping the 1.5 billion people who experience hearing loss issues is to destigmatize hearing aids by promoting the health benefits. “I call this the construct of the ‘Great Un-Mumbling’,” he said, pointing to research such as a landmark Johns Hopkins study that found even mild hearing loss. double the risk of dementia. “Getting people into these products early is really important.”

While Audien is one of the cheapest and most popular providers of hearing solutions, sold at stores such as Walgreens and Walmartit is in an increasingly crowded space. The US Food & Drug Administration established a new category of OTC hearing aids in October of 2022, marking the importance of making such devices accessible to the 30 million US adults with some form of hearing loss. Since consumers can now buy such devices without seeing an audiologist, there is a wider choice and quality of products available for sale. Even Apple AirPods can now work as an FDA-authorized OTC hearing aid.

So how to compete? With proprietary technology, testing and an innovative hearing-specialist support program created by founders Ishan Patel, Dylan Garber and Zack Hubbard, Audien is competitive on price: its hearing aids cost $98. Goldman wants to remove the stigma of wearing it.

Goldman joined the founders—Ishan Patel, Dylan Garber, and Zack Hubbard—three entrepreneurs inspired by their own grandparents’ hearing struggles. Together, the team built a breakthrough approach: proprietary engineering, real-world testing, and the industry’s first trained hearing-specialist support program. Goldman talked about seeing a high school friend who confessed with embarrassment that he now wears hearing aids. “He’s a doctor, he’s attractive, he doesn’t have to think about his hearing health,” Goldman said.

For that, he pulled from the playbook he and Spanx founder Sarah Blakely used to build a market for their sharewear products. “There are so many similarities to my Spanx era that when someone says, I’ll never wear a thong it’s like a deep, dark secret,” Goldman said. “But we ended up getting people on the red carpet, pulling their clothes off to show off their Spanx. We, can do great things to break down barriers by marketing positive energy and creativity here too.”

And does her experience serving industries skewed toward female consumers inspire her to see the opportunities here through a gender lens, too? Absolutely not. It’s more like the Eric Schmidt moment of Googlewhen young co-founders realize they need someone with experience and a wide network to take their company to the next level. “The founders are all men, and they like that I’m a woman because it kind of balances things out,” she said. “Maybe I bring a different leadership style.”