Iselin, NJ – May 16, 2023 – After more than 35 years of military service for our country, Michael “Jake” Johansson was ready to start the next chapter in his personal and professional life. He had traveled around the world extensively, commanding squadrons in Iraq and Afghanistan, and moved up the ranks to become Operations Officer in the Naval Air Force and the Naval Aide to a Vice President. Strong leadership and interpersonal skills honed over the years set the foundation for his illustrious military career and beyond. Difficulty hearing was never an issue.
Only after undergoing treatment for throat cancer did he notice a slight ringing in his ears and difficulty focusing on conversations in large, crowded rooms. “I found myself reading lips and asking people to repeat themselves more often than I should,” he recalls.
The issue became particularly prevalent when Jake took up the role as city manager of the City of Port Orange – his hardship hearing starting to affect his ability to do his job well. “When you’re standing at a dais leading a large meeting and fielding questions from the audience, you need to be able to hear clearly to provide good answers,” he says.
His workaround – asking people to pose their concerns and questions in an email instead – only masked the problem. “My demeanor and facial expressions were coming across as being disengaged and uninterested, which are never good qualities for a city official,” he comments. Jake continued to face similar challenges when he left his role as city manager to start his own consulting firm in 2020.
The same issues were affecting his personal relationships: “During family gatherings in our spacious living room, the reverberation was so intense I often had to leave the room, and when you stop listening to your wife, well, that’s never a good thing.”
Finding the Right Fit
Despite Jake’s optimism on the potential of getting hearing help, the hearing aids initially prescribed to him failed to do the trick. After weeks of wear, the hearing aids felt uncomfortable and were unable to block out the ambient noise and reverberation that interfered with Jake's ability to hear conversations and connect with those around him.
“I knew there had to be something out there that would work for me,” he says. So did his circle of friends and colleagues, one of whom, Miller McKenzie, suggested that Jake check out hearing aids from Signia. As a sales representative for the company, Miller was confident the state-of-the-art technological and performance features of Signia’s hearing aids could bring Jake back into the conversation.
“She was right!” Jake remarks. After being fitted with Signia’s Pure Charge&Go T AX model hearing aids by his local hearing care professional, Leanne Polhill, Jake experienced tangible differences immediately with the Signia devices and knew within seconds that they were going to change his life.
“I was privileged to work with Jake to address his hearing loss with Signia Pure Charge&Go AX hearing aids. Jake had previously worn several other brands with limited success and was looking for a better fit for his active lifestyle,” says Polhill. “I am thrilled with Jake’s immediate success with his Signia hearing aids. He is now able to wear his devices full time – at home and in social situations – and is comfortable and re-engaged with his family and friends.”
Instantaneous Hearing Clarity and Increased Quality of Life
He didn’t waste time, putting them to the ultimate test a day after his fitting at a banquet of 250 people. “For the first time in a long time, I could hear every word of a conversation of the people around me without struggling to concentrate or turning my body a certain way to read their lips,” Johansson says.
Jake credits much of the improvements to Signia’s Augmented Xperience platform, along with Signia’s world’s first Augmented Focus™ split processing technology that processes speech and background noise separately to create a clear contrast between the two.
He also touts independent volume adjustments of each hearing aid, special modes for listening to live and recorded music, and Auto EchoShield which minimizes reverberations, among other favorite features. “It’s nice to have ways to fine tune the hearing aids to the environment and situation right from my smartphone.”
No matter where Jake is – a city council meeting, fundraiser, leadership presentation, concert, dinner party, or simply relaxing with friends and family, the Pure Charge&GoAX hearing aids make every occasion memorable and enjoyable.
“I was privileged to work with Jake to address his hearing loss with Signia Pure Charge&Go AX hearing aids. Jake had previously worn several other brands with limited success and was looking for a better fit for his active lifestyle,” says Polhill. “I am thrilled with Jake’s immediate success with his Signia hearing aids. He is now able to wear his devices full time – at home and in social situations – and is comfortable and re-engaged with his family and friends.”
As an elected official, Jake remains front and center, connecting with members of the community with ease. He can enjoy all his favorite pastimes and live life to the fullest. “Now that I’ve found the perfect hearing aids, I feel more confident in my professional abilities, more engaged with friends and family, more fulfilled, and less exhausted at the end of the day,” he concludes.
For a video testimonial of Jake’s experience with Signia, click here. For the press kit, click here.
About Signia
Signia is one of the world’s leading hearing aid brands. We aim to enhance human performance through iconic innovations and consumer-friendly designs that shape the hearing health market. Since its launch in 2016, Signia has regularly brought world-first hearing solutions to the market and is a pioneer in rechargeable hearing technology.
In addition to highly innovative hearing aids, Signia also delivers tools and apps to increase customer interaction and engagement at all levels of hearing aid management. Signia, and its hearing care professionals, enable hearing aid wearers not just to correct hearing loss but to gain an edge — to Be Brilliant.
