Music festivals gave me hearing loss. My best friend and I started making earplugs, and it's now a multimillion-dollar business.

Bob Verlaat experienced severe hearing loss and tinnitus after frequent attendance at music festivals, which led him to cofound Hears, an innovative company that designs fashionable earplugs to protect festival-goers' hearing. The company has since blossomed into a multimillion-dollar business, demonstrating the growing demand for effective hearing protection solutions in the music festival industry. This shift not only highlights a personal journey but also underscores the broader issue of hearing health among music festival attendees.