In August 2021, Maile Keone, already president of wireless listening solutions
provider Listen Technologies, added CEO to her title. We recently caught up with Maile and asked about her dual roles as president and CEO.
AV Technology: Six months have passed since you were appointed president and CEO at Listen Technologies. How are you settling into this new role?
Maile Keone: It’s taken a bit of time as it was a big change, sort of like going from college football to the NFL. I’m settled in, but still always learning.
AVT: Any key learnings from this experience? Has anything surprised you?
Keone: What surprised me is the difference between being the president of the company, responsible for the day-to-day operations and revenue goals, to adding duties of the CEO, which entail much more strategic thinking. I also continue to feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people working at Listen Technologies and their families and ensuring we’re successful.
[ Listen Technologies Announces Leadership Transition ]
AVT: How has Listen Technologies changed since you became CEO? What is new or different?
Keone: We continue to do what we’ve always done, which is to develop and launch exceptional products that our customers love and that enable people to have better listening experiences. Since we’ve always strived to learn, grow and improve in degrees, that principle remains, we keep trying to get better one day at a time. One difference that I think has surprised people is that I make decisions pretty quickly. As you can imagine, the last 18 months have been challenging and I’ve made some hard decisions that have helped us remain competitive and profitable.
[ Listen Technologies Product Roadmap – Re: Pandemic ]
AVT: What are you excited about for 2022 and beyond at Listen Technologies? In the AV industry?
Keone: We have a terrific team, and my greatest joy is seeing them grow and succeed. We have quite a few stories of folks who started at the entry level or as interns and are now running departments. I’m excited to be a small part of their journey toward meeting their personal goals. Also, there are so many new technologies and customer experiences that are going to elevate AV over the next few years. It will be exciting to be part of making and seeing that happen.
[ Listen Technologies Launches ListenTALK 2.0 ]
AVT: Is there anything we haven’t asked that you’d like to tell us about your role?
Keone: Just that I love being able to work with so many talented and dedicated people who share the same commitment to designing and producing solutions that can change others’ experiences for the better.
