For Ellen Miele, Audiology is not just a job - it's a passion built on personal experience. After a surgical procedure, her father suffered a profound hearing loss, which led Ellen into a field where she could make a difference. Shortly after graduating with a Master's degree in Audiology from Syracuse University, she fit one of her first patients with a hearing aid - her Dad. "Being able to enhance someone's quality of life by improving their hearing makes this job truly rewarding," Ellen comments. "And there is an added benefit of working with so many warm people who appreciate what I do."

Ellen, who is married and has three children, moved to the Upstate eight years ago. She holds state licensure and national certification as an Audiologist. She has had experience working in nursing homes, medical practices, and the school system before opening her own business last year.

She shares an office with Dr. Kenneth Easley, an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist who urged her to open Piedmont Hearing Center to provide much-needed audiology services and hearing aid fittings. Every time she helps a patient, she feels the same sense of accomplishment she felt when she helped her father more than 20 years ago.

Article Reference: Greenville Journal Behind the Counter, 3/2006.