Although I’ve known about Harris Communications for years, and ordered several of their products, I met Bob Harris for the first time last year at the Deaf Expo in Chicago.“How did you begin the company?” I asked Bob when I stopped by his booth. Harris Communications has been around for a little over 25 years, but Bob was an accidental entrepreneur. He actually holds a PhD. in Psychology and his venture into business began entirely as a fluke.
While he was working as a psychologist, Bob began to learn about real estate and investing. To communicate with a real estate partner, Bob looked into finding TTYs at a reduced cost. This lead him into the world of distributorship, and Bob started the tiny business out of his home, beginning with TTYs and expanding into other products. Harris Communications outgrew his home office and is now one of the leading companies for deaf and hard of hearing related products and services. Bob no longer practices as a psychologist and devotes his time to expanding and growing his business. Today, the company employs over 30 people and has an online store.
Bob encourages deaf and hard of hearing youth to pursue career exploration in high school and seek out deaf and hard of hearing adults in different jobs and professions. “From my experiences in growing up, it helped trememdously whenever I met such an adult with a specific occupation,” said Bob. “It planted a seed of thought in my mind and helped me figure what I wanted to do in my future work. For example, I learned from people who worked as doctors, entrepreneurs, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, engineers, attorneys, judges and teachers.”
Bob encourages parents to consider leadership and career exploration camps for deaf and hard of hearing children and to give their children books about successful deaf and hard of hearing adults in various careers.
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