COM Outlook Spring 2020

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 45 Switching Course “By the time I graduated from NSU, my dream of working with my sister had ended,” said Sawalich of the unexpected development. “She married a cardi- ologist, had three beautiful children, and stopped working to focus on her growing family.” A memorable KPCOM senior year experience also altered her postgraduate plans when Sawalich went to Africa for two weeks to work with the Starkey Hearing Foundation to help fit hearing aids for the disadvantaged. “It was the experience of a lifetime— somehow, it just clicked,” said Sawalich, who bypassed her residency training to accept a position with the foundation. Next thing she knew, she was back in California to run the foundation’s office and assist with overseas missions. “I became a licensed hearing aid dispenser and was able to go back to my hometown in California, where I was a concierge doctor for high-profile clientele and celebrities,” she said. “I focused on hearing health and wellness, cerumen management, and custom in-ear products.” During her long career with the Starkey Hearing Foundation, Sawalich added the skill of expert fund- raiser to her burgeoning list of talents. In 2013, Sawalich was named senior associate director. “I attended star-studded events and traveled with a team throughout the world to fit underprivileged people with our hearing products,” Sawalich said. “It was an incredible opportunity to see the world and learn about different cultures while being able to work with the sponsors/donors, as well as with the recipients of the gift of hearing Starkey provided.” Hollywood Hobnobbing Due to her participation in the foundation’s annual gala fundraiser, Sawalich worked with a celebrity who’s who that included several former U.S. presidents, Garth Brooks, Bradley Cooper, Billy Crystal, and Trisha Yearwood. During one outreach trip to Guatemala, country music star Yearwood accompanied the Starkey team and learned how to fit the children with hearing aids as she sang to them. In other instances, Dancing with the Stars cast members traveled to Mexico to partici- pate in hearing-aid fittings, as did National Football League players in Uganda. An unexpected offshoot of Sawalich’s celebrity interactions was having the chance to serve as an extra in various hit TV shows, including Frasier , Friends , and Scrubs , as well as in the 2008 film Changeling , directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie. Although she enjoyed her occasional work as a Hollywood extra, Sawalich received her greatest satisfaction from helping others. Like Father, Like Daughter Having mastered medicine and fundraising, Sawalich turned to her dad for inspiration about what else she could do to add to her vocational arsenal. “My father had a real estate license, and he encouraged me to do the same,” she said. Professional: CEO and president of TreviConsulting, real estate agent at Compass, former senior associate director of the Starkey Hearing Foundation, former hearing-aid specialist I LOVE THAT I CAN SAY I AM A DOCTOR ; A PILOT ; A REAL ESTATE AGENT ; A CONSULTANT ; AND A MOTHER OF TWO BEAUTIFUL, INCREDIBLE CHILDREN. TREVI SAWALICH + (continued on page 46)