“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
The sentiment has been popular for decades because everyone wants to find work they’re passionate about. Still, it’s rare to find a job that matches your exact experiences and interests.
Maria is one of the lucky few. She works as a Candidate Support Lead at Cochlear, helping people who potentially qualify for Cochlear Implants figure out what technology is right for them and how to find a nearby clinic.
Maria 
is uniquely equipped to help answer questions and walk people through the process because it’s a road she’s walking herself. Her 13-year-old daughter, Ariana, has bilateral Cochlear Implants.
Maria said that her positive experiences with Cochlear as a mother inspired her to seek a position helping others.
“When I decided to go back to work, Cochlear was always on the top of my list. I wanted to feel like I was giving back to a company that gave us so much,” she said.
Now she is able to advise others going through the Cochlear journey, often using her personal experience to offer firsthand advice on the process.
“I think everything I do, I do because I’ve put myself in their shoes,” Maria said. “I give them as much information as I can, educating them on the device and what it can do for them.”
Maria’s daughter Ariana was born 10 weeks premature and profoundly deaf. She was implanted on one side when she was two years old, and the other when she was eight years old. She started with the body-worn processor before working her way up to the Nucleus® 5 and Nucleus® 6 processors.
Last fall, she received two Kanso® processors, and Ariana said it has taken some adjustment but the sound quality is better than ever.
“To me, it was newer, clearer, it sounds better, and it’s not as heavy as the N6, because it doesn’t go on your ear,” Ariana said. “It used to be on my ear, and now I have to remember it’s only on your head. I like that you don’t have to put it on your ear, and it sounds better.”
Maria said she noticed an immediate change when Ariana began wearing the Kanso processors. Maria said when she asked Ariana if she liked the Kanso, Ariana responded, “No, I love it.”
Maria said the difference was tangible with Ariana’s new processors.
“That week went by and one of her interpreters at school sent me a text that said, ‘Whoa Maria, who is this kid you’ve sent to school?’” Maria recalled. “’This is a whole different person. She is now talking to kids in the hallway she’s never talked to, raising her hand in class, she’s just one of the other kids. Her self-esteem was through the roof, she’s like a whole different kid now.’”
Maria called the Kanso “the best invention that Cochlear has made since the Cochlear Implant.”
“I never thought (Ariana’s) self-esteem would go up like it has,” Maria said. “Her teacher said she’s just like any other kid. Not the kid with the Cochlear Implant anymore, just Ariana.”
Maria said she is grateful for the ability to bring sound into her daughter’s life.
“I think that as mothers, we always want the best for our kids,” Maria said. “I don’t think Ariana would be where she is if it wasn’t for her having access to sound.”
For more information on the Kanso and all its new features, click here.
