Our Staff

Since 1999, Melissa Blakeman has been helping thousands of patients along their journey to better hearing. Licensed by the state of Tennessee, Melissa’s journey to assist the hearing impaired was influenced by her family’s history of hearing loss. Melissa joined the Shea Hearing Aid Center in 2004, bringing her passionate commitment to quality hearing care. She finds it extremely rewarding to see the smiles she puts on her patients and the bigger smiles she puts on her patients’ families’ faces. Through surveys, Melissa has been noted to have one of the nation’s highest patient satisfactions and as such, receives many referrals from those she has served. She believes a hearing loss is much more noticeable than a hearing aid. She is committed to guiding her patients along their roads to better hearing starting with their initial evaluations and continuing throughout their personalized rehabilitation processes. From meeting the patient for the first time, to conducting a complete hearing evaluation, the patient is left with only one conclusion, that they have come to the right place. Testing, fitting, service and follow-up, are all conducted with compassion and integrity.

Eli joined the hearing industry and has been helping patients hear better since 2012. Eli’s favorite part of working in the hearing industry is getting to know his patients and utilizing the best technology in the market to improve their lives through better hearing.

Eli has an adorable wife and two year old son. He enjoys alternative rock music and spending time with family. Fun fact, he helped set a relay record in swimming while going to New Mexico State University!

John Gross has served as the Administrator for the Shea Ear Clinic since April, 2001. He is directly responsible for the day-to-day operations and financial oversight of the practice, including the ambulatory surgery center, the hearing aid business and all ancillary divisions. Mr. Gross previously served as a senior analyst in the healthcare management consulting branch of Deloitte & Touche and as Chief Financial Officer of Pointe Coupee General Hospital. Mr. Gross earned his Accounting degree from Louisiana State University in 1983 and is a Fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. He has over 25 years of healthcare finance and administrative experience. He currently serves on the Leadership Council of the Association of Otolaryngology Administrators as the Program Chairperson for their national conference. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf and the Mid-South Chapter of the American Red Cross. He has been recognized as one of Memphis’ annual “Power Players” for the last decade.

K.K. Gross is passionate about people and helping them communicate with clarity.  After years of seeing her mother suffer with hearing loss while her hearing aids were tucked away in a drawer, K.K. embarked on a mission to learn about hearing and how technology could help people like her mother.  With 25 years of experience as a small business owner coupled with a passion for service, she went back to school to learn about hearing.  While her classes focused on the scientific aspect of hearing, her experience made it clear that technology alone is not the answer.  She understands the professional’s role in the patient journey and the critical need for support throughout the aural rehabilitative process.

K.K. had the privilege of training under the watchful eye of Dr. John J. Shea at the world-renowned Shea Ear Clinic in Memphis, TN and had the privilege providing his own hearing care.  She managed the Shea Hearing Aid Center in Memphis and helped open the Shea Hearing Aid Center in Brentwood, TN in 2007.  She became nationally known as an expert in patient care and served as a consultant in ENT practices across the country.  Today, in addition to remaining on staff with Shea Hearing Aid Center, she consults with ENT and Audiology practices striving to lead the way helping patients hear and listen to live life more fully. 

K.K. served on the Board of the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf and is a proud supporter of the Starkey Hearing Foundation.  She and her husband John have sponsored two missions in Nashville as well as in Rwanda and Trinidad. 

Joyce Ivie joined Shea Hearing Aid Center in 2009. Joyce holds a B.S. in Business Administration. She enjoys helping patients with their hearing healthcare needs while creating a welcoming environment for each patient. She hopes to make a difference in someone’s life every day and believes that every single individual is important.