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< Back Adrienne McHenry Speaker Adrienne is a person who stutters after having a seizure at the age of 3. She is a semi-retired dental hygienist and currently works as a yoga instructor and fitness influencer. As someone who used to hide her stutter, she is now discovering a new light of sharing her story and seeing the world through a new lense. Previous Next

< Back Wes Meador Keynote Speaker Wes Meador is a passionate advocate, speaker, and four-time competitor on American Ninja Warrior, proudly representing the stuttering community on and off the course. Professionally, Wes serves as the Facilities and Mailroom Operations Manager at LWCC, where he leads with a commitment to excellence, inclusion, and service. He was honored as the National Stuttering Advocate of the Year in 2023 and continues to use his voice to empower others to embrace their stories, overcome challenges, and thrive. Whether in the workplace, on stage, or on screen, Wes is driven by a single belief: our voices matter. Previous Next

Meet Carl Coffey , a valued member of the National Stuttering Association team. Learn more about their role and contributions. Carl Coffey Content Creator Carl Coffey, a dedicated advocate and active member of the National Stuttering Association (NSA), resides in Bowling Green, KY, with his wife Brittany and their lively household of four-legged companions. His journey with the NSA began in 2013, when he attended his first chapter meeting in Richmond, VA, his hometown. This pivotal moment marked the start of his commitment to fostering community and support for individuals who stutter. Professionally, Carl has built a strong career in program management and process improvement. His expertise lies in creating efficient systems and delivering impactful results, qualities that align with his ability to connect with and support others in meaningful ways. His background in improving processes has not only enhanced his professional life but also resonates in his contributions to the NSA and its mission. Outside of work, Carl is a passionate vinyl record collector, always on the hunt for unique finds to add to his collection. An avid pickleball player, he enjoys the camaraderie and competitiveness of the sport. Carl also has a deep appreciation for bourbon, spending time discovering new varieties and learning about the rich history of this iconic spirit. Whether in his professional endeavors, personal hobbies, or involvement with the NSA, Carl brings dedication, curiosity, and a warm sense of community to all he does. His story is a testament to the power of connection, both with people and passions, and his journey continues to inspire those around him.

< Back Gigi Gioscia Speaker Gigi is Miss Linda's daughter and NSA member Ethan's sister and has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She also was an assistant teacher at the family's dance studio during her teen years and currently takes an adult class there as well. She graduated from Boston University last year and is currently teaching physics at Oliver Ames High School in Easton, Massachusetts. Previous Next

Learn how Ronan Miller,a person who stutters, achieved career success. Get inspired by their journey. Postdoctoral Research Assistant Ronan Miller Briefly describe your daily job duties. The project I am currently working on is focused on developing and testing a mobile app to support people who stutter. I feel very grateful to do research into stuttering and particularly into new ways that we can support the stuttering community around the world. My day is normally spent reading research conducted in various different areas, planning and organizing our next research study, and talking to people who stutter about their day-to-day lives and experiences. As a person who stutters, share the most challenging part of your job. I have daily meetings over video calls but they aren’t too much of a problem now, I have become accustomed to them after my time as part of the hosting team at Stutter Social. I think the most challenging part of my job is thinking of ways that we can support people who stutter in the present, whilst working to breakdown barriers so that stuttering won’t hold people back in the future. What are your long-term career aspirations? For many years I taught English as a foreign language and I would love to return to teaching again, particularly to support students who stutter. My dream is to work in some kind of super lab that combines stuttering research, activism, support, and teaching! Did you self-disclose your stuttering during the job hiring process? In lots of ways, stuttering is an advantage for me at this point in my life; I work with many other people who stutter and we talk about it openly on a daily basis. Whenever I meet anyone new I am also very open about stuttering, it is never a problem. I let people know my name, my position, that I stutter and that it’s no problem. I am aware some people have had no contact before with people who stutter, or don’t know how to respond to stuttering, so I feel a responsibility to let people know that this is how I speak and that it’s ok. Describe how stuttering makes you a better, more valued contributor at work. My stuttering is a valuable aspect of my contribution at work, it allows me to offer personal, lived insight and to connect with others who also stutter. It has also taught me that communication is not always straightforward, but that patience and respect go a long way to helping others (whether they stutter or not) to feel comfortable. What’s your best advice for people who stutter just entering the workplace and for those in a career striving to achieve greater success? I would encourage people to be open about their stuttering, it can be difficult but by doing so you demonstrate leadership, integrity, and resilience, all of which are valuable characteristics in any working environment. My feeling is that people who stutter enrich workplaces and if we can be open about our stuttering we help to foster an atmosphere in which others can be open and vulnerable too.

Meet Courtney Luckman , a valued member of the National Stuttering Association team. Learn more about their role and contributions. Courtney Luckman Professional Relations Chair (NSA Board) Courtney Luckman is a person who stutters, speech-language pathologist, and doctoral student at New York University studying social cognitive influences on stuttering. She has been active in the NSA since 2011, formerly chairing the Young Adults Committee. She is the founder of the Charlottesville Chapter of the NSA and helped co-run the City of Chicago NSA Chapter for several years. She is co-author of the 3Es model for stuttering therapy and her research has recently been published in ASHA Perspectives and the Journal of Fluency Disorders. In 2020, she received the Distinguished Early Career Professional Certificate of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). She is passionate about educating speech-language pathologists about the experience of stuttering. She is a writer for Medbridge Education, has been featured on several podcasts about stuttering, and has presented on stuttering at several national and international conferences. When she is not consumed by all things stuttering, she enjoys traveling the world, spending time outside with her dog, writing, reading anything nonfiction, and baking. Fun fact: she once owned her own cookie company! Term began August 2022

Learn how Steve Ernst,a person who stutters, achieved career success. Get inspired by their journey. Conference Events Specialist Steve Ernst Briefly describe your daily job duties. I’m a Conference Events Specialist for FOCUS, a Catholic collegiate outreach organization. My primary role is working on the annual conference planning team. I plan and manage online registration, onsite check-in, volunteers, the info booth, and a few other projects during the conference each year in January which attracts 17,000 attendees. I also help out at a few other events throughout the year, such as managing hotel contracts, catering, and space use for a few FOCUS recruitment weekends. As a person who stutters, share the most challenging part of your job. Making phone calls is tough for me. If our donor relations team cannot answer a question about the conference, the phone call comes to me. Especially if the caller is upset, I sometimes have trouble speaking clearly and confidently. I disclose that I am a person who stutters though, and the person usually understands; that also helps to soften the person’s demeanor if they’re upset! Did you self-disclose your stuttering during the job hiring process? If so, how did you do it and how do you currently disclose your stuttering to unsuspecting co-workers and or customers? Yes. I brought up the challenges that I’ve faced with my stutter and how I’ve worked to overcome them or can work with the difficulty. If I’m on a phone or video call with someone new, I’ll usually mention that I’m a person who stutters and that they may hear some pauses or repetitions. Describe how stuttering makes you a better, more valued contributor at work. To be honest, I’m not sure that stuttering makes me more valued in the office. I’m very extroverted and I’m at a point where stuttering doesn’t affect my emotional state too much, so I don’t think stuttering makes me more or less valuable at work. What is your proudest moment at your current company? In 2018, one of my first projects was to design conference check-in process for our 2019 conference. FOCUS had been doing check-ins the same way for years, but I designed a completely new way of organizing the room and moving the thousands upon thousands of attendees through it. I ran my idea past many people, made back-up plans in case it didn’t work, and tried to make my managers confident. When day one of the conference started, my check-in plan worked AMAZING. My plan cut down our average check-in time from about 7 minutes to less than 30 seconds, and we never really had a line of people waiting, even though our attendance was 17,000 people. What are your long-term career aspirations? I majored in Engineering, but have found that I have a passion for event planning. I think the fields cross over a lot, especially with critical thinking and application of knowledge and theory. I currently work for a non-profit, and I eventually hope to work for a larger event planning company and also get my Certified Meeting Professional certification. What’s your best advice for people who stutter just entering the workplace and for those in a career striving to achieve greater success? Be bold! Aim to grow! Seek a challenge! You may not know exactly what you’re doing, but as you dig in and work hard to get the task done, you’ll learn and be better after it’s over.

Learn how Rivky Susskind,a person who stutters, achieved career success. Get inspired by their journey. Speech Language Pathologist Rivky Susskind Briefly describe your daily job duties. I am a speech and language pathologist. I evaluate and provide intervention for school age children in a special education environment who display challenges in the areas of speech and language. As a person who stutters, share the most challenging part of your job. My biggest challenges as a PWS are communicating with parents and faculty in more formal contexts such as an IEP (Individualized Education Program) or parent teacher meetings or collaborative group meetings. I also have difficulty communicating with parents who are resistant to their child being seen by a person who stutters. Also, phone calls can often present a challenge because the listener cannot tell what’s going on with me on the other side of the line, and those silent moments can be all the more awkward. Do you self-disclose your stuttering to unsuspecting co-workers and clients? I often self-disclose that I stutter. I usually wait until a stuttering moment occurs and then say, “… by the way, I have a mild stutter, just letting you know, and actually it’s one of the big factors that got me into this field to begin with.” I then leave an open space for questions and try to convey that I’m comfortable talking about it. Describe how stuttering makes you a better, more valued contributor at work. My stutter is part of what makes me a unique, brave, strong individual. In my more confident moments it serves as a strength and part of my “story.” Others around me also know that I am somewhat of an expert on the topic and they will come and ask me questions pertaining to a relative or friend of theirs who stutters. What is your proudest moment at your current company? I was extremely proud of myself when I overcame my fear of tackling parent teacher meetings over the course of my first few months at this school. It was one meeting after the next and quite daunting to keep facing parents and disclosing my stutter over and over in a short period of time. What’s your best advice for people who stutter just entering the workplace and for those in a career striving to achieve greater success? Own who you are and go for what you want. Do not let society’s expectations and “norms” dictate what you can and cannot do. Go for it. Fail. Fail dozens of times and go for it again. Don’t stop pushing until you can say that you are doing what you want in life. It’s okay to not feel okay all the time. We are all human and stuttering can be a crazy uphill climb and struggle. But remember that your dreams and goals are important, and you have the gift of YOU to share with the world.

Learn how Danette Fitzgerald,a person who stutters, achieved career success. Get inspired by their journey. Optical Systems Engineer Danette Fitzgerald Briefly describe your daily job duties. As an Optical Systems Engineer, I streamline the manufacturing process for optical measurement instruments, such as microscopes, telescopes, and interferometers. I do this by designing tests, documenting procedures, training teams, and troubleshooting failures. As a person who stutters, share the most challenging part of your job. I need to use a lot of technical words, for which I try not to fall back on old habits of word substitution. As a former covert stutterer, I used to substitute words or use circumlocution (rambling rather than speaking concisely to avoid a feared word). I felt self-conscious that I may have come across to my colleagues as less competent because I didn’t “know” the appropriate technical term to use. But I did! I have now come to realize that it sounds better to stutter on the right word than to fluently say the wrong word. Did you self-disclose your stuttering during the job hiring process? If so, how did you do it and how do you currently disclose your stuttering to unsuspecting co-workers? Yes, kind of. I listed the National Stuttering Association (NSA) in the “community activities” section on my resume. I only disclose verbally that I stutter if I have a moment of stuttering that seems to confuse someone, or that I feel self-conscious about. The annual NSA Conference is also a great opportunity to disclose to co-workers about stuttering, as vacation plans are always a lunchtime topic of conversation. What is your proudest moment at your current company? I gave my first presentation at a technical conference, and I feel that it went really well! After watching many of the other talks during the conference, I even felt that I communicated better than some of the other presenters. Communication is about more than fluency; it’s also about looking at your audience rather than at your slides, being engaging, and wording things clearly. My company must agree because I’ve been given another opportunity to present at another conference. What’s your best advice for people who stutter just entering the workplace and for those in a career striving to achieve greater success? Communication is much more than fluency, and you can be a good communicator even while stuttering. Disclose your stuttering when appropriate to make yourself and your listener[s] more comfortable. Say the things you want to say because you’ll come across as more intelligent and competent by speaking with a stutter than by staying silent. Never turn down opportunities because of your stutter.

Learn how Dr. Saundra Russell-Smith,a person who stutters, achieved career success. Get inspired by their journey. Elementary School Principal Dr. Saundra Russell-Smith Briefly describe your daily job duties. I recently graduated with my doctorate degree in Educational Leadership and am currently an elementary school principal in Joliet, Illinois. I talk to students, teachers, parent, and community members all day in an effort to improve student achievement and engagement at Carl Sandburg School. Did you self-disclose your stuttering during the job hiring process? I am quite good at being a covert stutterer. If I do stutter during an interview, I allow people to assume that it’s because I’m nervous even though I’m not. Describe how stuttering makes you a better, more valued contributor at work. All of us are struggling with something deeply personal. Mine just happens to make its appearance when I open my mouth. After attending my first National Stuttering Association annual conference, I made a commitment to no longer be a covert stutterer. I’ve been open with my stuttering ever since. What is your proudest moment at your current company? I earned my doctorate degree at the end of my first year as a principal, which is typically the toughest year. My staff and students surprised me with a huge celebration, secretly inviting my whole family and my professors! My students made presentations and my staff presented me with a picture of the entire staff and student body! It was amazing! What are your long-term career aspirations? I want to continue to work as an educational leader, preferably as an education professor working with new teachers, specializing in trauma informed classrooms. What’s your best advice for people who stutter just entering the workplace and for those in a career striving to achieve greater success? Be yourself. I used to think that my stutter was a curse, something to hide from everyone, including myself. I have since realized that my stutter is my greatest gift. It’s one of the things that makes me uniquely qualified to do what I do and that is to inspire children, educators, and families to do the impossible, whatever it may be for them. Some days, I feel I’ve done the impossible for myself.

< Back Adrianna Flowers Speaker Adriana has been stuttering since the age of 8 and attended her first conference in July 2018. The NSA has helped her grow and be more confident as a person who stutters. Adriana currently live in Washington State and works as a Admin Assistant for the US Navy Judge Advocate General (JAG) office Previous Next

Learn how Liz Helton,a person who stutters, achieved career success. Get inspired by their journey. Lead Teacher Liz Helton Cold Spring, KY Lead Teacher Learning Grove Briefly describe your daily job duties. Working with 2.5-6 year olds in a classroom setting. Preparing and performing lessons with the children. Talking and mentoring coworkers. Yearly conferences with parents, as well as daily check-ins. As a person who stutters, share the most challenging part of your job. When I first started teaching I had the fear that once people heard my stuttering they would think I wasn’t capable of teaching their child. What are your long-term career aspirations? Maintaining my position in the agency! Did you self-disclose your stuttering during the job hiring process? I didn’t mention it during the hiring process, and I don’t mention it to coworkers or parents. I have had to explain it to children, “I was born this way and it doesn’t hurt. Thanks for being patient with me, because my mouth has to finish the word”. That’s usually all it takes. What is your proudest moment at your current company? We received a regional award for being the top preschool for the year. Describe how stuttering makes you a better, more valued contributor at work. I am more patient with people and understand of their difficulties What’s your best advice for people who stutter just entering the workplace and for those in a career striving to achieve greater success? Prove everyone wrong! You can succeed and grow in your career.