A husband-wife audiologist team adds another dimension to its relationship: practice co-owners.

By Jolynn Tumolo

Ross Cushing, AuD, and Jenifer Woo Cushing, AuD, have no reservations about either of their marriages—their personal marriage as husband and wife since tying the knot in Jamaica in July 2005, or their business marriage as co-owners of A&A Maryland Hearing Center, Gaithersburg and Silver Spring, MD.

The two bought the practice together almost a year ago.

"If you trust your significant other in your personal marriage, there should be no one else you trust more to give a great first impression and to represent your company," says Jenifer, the practice's bookkeeper who also keeps a full-time clinical position at the Hearing Assessment Center, Baltimore.

And just like in a personal relationship, each partner brings to the business individual strengths. In the Cushing combo, Jenifer is the detail-oriented organizer. Ross, currently the practice's director and sole clinical audiologist, is the creative visionary.

"He has several ideas that he shares with me every day," says Jenifer. "Some are great, and some are instantly vetoed."

Together, the Cushings are working to build A&A Maryland Hearing Center into the area's primary center for audiologic care. The past year has brought about some difficult lessons, but the pair says it has emerged stronger, better prepared and more confident about the future. When the going gets tough, Ross and Jenifer have learned to seek out the advice of colleagues and to take comfort in the companionship of each other.

The Pursuit

For Jenifer, it wasn't love at first site. Rather, it was acting as a guide during a simple tour of the University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, where she had just finished up her first year of AuD studies and was already involved in a relationship. But Ross, a prospective student, was interested in the graduate program as well as its guide. He followed up with several e-mails later that summer but Jenifer never responded to any of them. Undeterred, he struck up a friendship with his love interest when he began AuD classes there in the fall of 2001.

"She blew me off for a while, but then my nagging charm finally wore off on her," says Ross.

Initially put off by his fondness for flannel shirts, Jenifer admits she warmed to Ross the more she got to know him.

"His personality shined through and won me over," she says. "By the next cold weather season, he had donated 90 percent of his flannel shirts to the Salvation Army, with the exception of a few favorites that he had to keep."

For the next several years, the couple lived together in Buffalo while attending graduate school. The two shared some classes and even a clinical placement.

"We drove to and from the clinic together as well as working together all day long in the same office," says Jenifer. "Apparently it wasn't too much for us at all. It was probably how we realized that we could own a practice together one day."

Realizing Dreams

After Jenifer graduated with her AuD in 2004, the pair moved to Atlanta. While Ross continued his doctoral work, Jenifer took a job at Grady Memorial Hospital where, as the level I trauma hospital's only audiologist, she gained valuable experience in inpatient and outpatient cases. When Ross received his AuD a year later, the two moved to the Baltimore area with the goal of opening a private practice.

For Jenifer, the lure of practice ownership was its flexibility. Knowing that she and Ross wanted to have a family, she saw private practice as a way to most conveniently realize her personal and professional plans.

For Ross, practice ownership seemed an innate next step.

"When I was growing up, I lived upstairs from my dad's chiropractic private practice," he says. "I got it in my head that private practice is just what people did for a living."

While the now-newlyweds combed the region for entrepreneurial opportunities, each took jobs with local practices to gain experience and funds. In less than 2 years, the Cushings found A&A Maryland Hearing Center up for grabs. They became practice owners in February 2007 and four months later learned they were also expectant parents.

Reality Check

Ross jumped into practice ownership full-time with little doubt the move would be a success. But it wasn't long until the weight of responsibility began to wear heavily on his confidence.

"During the first 9 months, I experienced some intense fear," he says. "At the beginning, business was kind of slow and we were spending a lot of money renovating the office and buying equipment. We overworked ourselves and overwhelmed ourselves with too many responsibilities and expenses too fast. We didn't pace it out, and our cash flow suffered. I was hard on myself, unforgiving, and at times lost faith that we would pull it off."

Spending more than their cash flow allowed was a mistake, Jenifer agrees, adding that they've learned to pace spending when it doesn't go directly toward turning a profit.

Looking back, Ross considers the experience a "wonderfully challenging learning curve"—one that left him a better entrepreneur and person.

"Now that I've gone through some of that hard stuff, I have toughened up and developed a sense of faith in myself and in the success of our business," he says. "I have watched myself grow through it and continue to grow."

To maintain a professional-personal balance in their marriage, the Cushings have resolved to avoid work talk after 7 p.m. unless they've specifically set up a meeting. In those rare cases, the two hold their discussions at the nearby Barnes & Noble, Starbucks or simply at home in their pajamas.

Being married to your business partner, Jenifer points out, has its conveniences, too.

Building Blocks

A&A Maryland Hearing Center offers adult hearing testing and hearing instrument fitting. While a variety of brands are dispensed, Phonak and Unitron are the most common.

"One of the things I look for in a manufacturer is value-added services," says Ross. "For example, can they help me grow my business?"

Plans call for the practice to eventually offer more advanced diagnostic testing when finances allow. The Cushings recently invested in the MedRx AVANT REM Speech Live Speech Mapping/Real Ear System and are eager to use the technology to help counsel patients and families about hearing aid settings.

Ross sees patients at the part-time Gaithersburg and Silver Spring offices 5 days a week and hopes to one day grow the practice to 7-10 offices and move into a more managerial role. Jenifer recently gave notice to her current employer that she will be joining A&A as an audiologist after a maternity leave.

"We're a great team," she says.

For now, they are taking things one step at a time as they continue to strengthen the practice with the help of two administrative assistants—Brenda and Jennifer—and anticipate the birth of their daughter, due Feb. 21.

"We're very, very excited," says Jenifer, "to welcome her into the world."

Owner Advice

As much as they've drawn strength and confidence from each other, the two recommend that fledgling practice owners also reach out to colleagues who have walked similar paths.

"Get mentors you trust, who have done what you want to accomplish and who see the world somewhat like you do," says Ross. "It's so nice to have the option to call a professional buddy who's got more experience and ask them a business question or to just get some positive feedback when you feel overwhelmed."

Even if your spouse isn't an audiologist, don't overlook your partner when planning your practice's staff, adds Jenifer. The front desk or other administrative jobs are options that shouldn't be overlooked.

Almost a year into practice ownership, Ross says the payoff of owning a business is worth the price.

"I love it because I am giving myself the opportunity to learn, to grow and to dare to live my life the way I want to live it. I am being proactive in my profession and finding out that a career in audiology can be almost boundless. As a practice owner, I can make up my own rules for my life and make a decent living at the same time," he says. "I can think big, dream big, take risks and reap the rewards."

Jolynn Tumolo is a freelance writer in Morgantown, PA.