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Learn how Ariel Sonn,a person who stutters, achieved career success. Get inspired by their journey. Marketing Coordinator Ariel Sonn Briefly describe your daily job duties. I’m a marketing coordinator for a cybersecurity company, RackTop Systems. Since we’re still relatively small, my job duties range from event planning to digital ad creation to market research. I love that I can dabble in a little bit of everything. It’s a great place to learn what you enjoy best and focus on improving certain skills. It’s also a collaborative environment, which means there’s lots of opportunities to engage with others! As a person who stutters, share the most challenging part of your job. The most challenging part of my job is making a good first impression. I put a lot of pressure on myself to sound perfect when talking to individuals because I know how important first impressions are in an industry that’s exploding with business. Everyday I’m working on incorporating my stutter into the idea of a great first impression. It’s definitely a work in progress! 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, clients and or customers? I did self-disclose during the interview process. We discussed flex time, so I mentioned that on Wednesdays I attend speech therapy because I’m a person who stutters and would need to fit my schedule around that. It went super well, and my boss was very understanding and supportive. I currently self-disclose to my colleagues by mentioning that I’m going on vacation to attend the National Stuttering Association Conference in July, or by mentioning that I have to leave work a few minutes early to make it to speech therapy. I like to incorporate advertising into the existing conversation because it feels much more natural! It also invites follow up questions from the audience, which is nice. Describe how stuttering makes you a better, more valued contributor at work. Stuttering makes me value good communication SO much. And good communication doesn’t just mean fluent speech. Saying what you want to say, when you want to say it, is critical when working in a fast-paced startup environment. Listening to what others are saying is also very important because it allows you to understand what the common goal is and how you can contribute to it. Because of my stutter, I have excellent communication and listening skills that allow me to provide and reciprocate valuable ideas. What is your proudest moment at your current company? Since starting this new job, I’ve looked at this as an opportunity to “start fresh” and show people that I’m a confident communicator despite having a stutter. With this attitude, I’m able to actually show my stutter and feel less embarrassed and ashamed. I have a bunch of little moments that I’m really proud of, such as moments where I showed stuttering without feeling embarrassed, and moments where I had a more personal conversation about what it’s like having a stutter. It’s the little, daily victories that mean the most to me right now! What are your long-term career aspirations? I love working in marketing because the landscape is always changing. There are endless learning opportunities. One day in the future, I’ll be in an executive position where I’m responsible for creating a highly successful and impactful brand strategies for a company. If I can look at my work and say that I helped grow a company from a startup to an industry leader, then I will have reached my career goals! 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 confident in your abilities. Your stutter, your age, your background, etc. doesn’t affect your abilities as long as you are confident in yourself. We’re living in a society where speaking up is more valued than ever, so don’t be afraid to assert yourself into something if you know you can provide value.

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.

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 Catherine Moroney,a person who stutters, achieved career success. Get inspired by their journey. Scientific Software Engineer Catherine Moroney Briefly describe your daily job duties. I study clouds and their impact on the climate system by analyzing satellite data. I also assist in the development of the algorithms that take in the raw satellite data and generate scientific products, analyze their performance, and write the official production code. As a person who stutters, share the most challenging part of your job. Participating in conference calls is challenging for me. I find it difficult getting my speech started when the people on the conference call are not aware that I’m trying to speak. Did you self-disclose your stuttering with co-workers, clients and or customers? I’ve been working with the same group of people for years so everyone knows that I stutter. I can’t hide it, nor do I try to. What is your proudest moment at your current company? Working on the same satellite for 25 years and making a substantial impact on its data products brings me a tremendous amount of joy. What’s your best advice for people who stutter striving to achieve career success? Don’t be afraid of stuttering in public and don’t change what you’re going to say based on fear of stuttering.

Learn how Anna Boyd,a person who stutters, achieved career success. Get inspired by their journey. English Language Arts Teacher Anna Boyd Briefly describe your daily job duties. I teach 7th Grade English Language Arts. As a person who stutters, share the most challenging part of your job. As a teacher who has to read aloud to her class, I find that to be the most challenging. I also find gaining respect in the workplace to be challenging. I often feel that adult coworkers are more likely to see my stutter has a hindrance to my teaching ability than my students. 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, clients and or customers? Yes, I did. I said I had a stutter, but it didn’t have me. I was often told that I was never going to be a teacher due to my stutter. Today, with each day one of school, I tell my students that I stutter. (But we all know each of us has something. It’s just my something is more noticeable.) Describe how stuttering makes you a better, more valued contributor at work. I listen more. I take time to hear people out. Co-workers come to me when they have a student who stutters, and that makes me feel that I am contributing in ways that others cannot. What is your proudest moment at your current company? I have a student who stutters this year. And, he told me that I was the only teacher he had who has believed in him and told him that he could be and do anything in life he wanted. What are your long-term career aspirations? I plan to teach middle school for the rest of my career! What’s your best advice for people who stutter just entering the workplace and for those in a career striving to achieve greater success? Do not let stuttering control you. You have a stutter, but it doesn’t have you. You are going to write the narrative for your workplace experience so be positive, but open with people. Realize that your stutter makes you who you are, and that you have just as much, and more to offer than someone who does not stutter.

Learn how Jaymie Horak,a person who stutters, achieved career success. Get inspired by their journey. Human Resources Analyst Jaymie Horak Briefly describe your daily job duties. My primary responsibility is to assist with administering our health and wellness benefits to our 1,300 employees. This looks like phone calls, checking emails, building and running reports, leading new hire orientations, meetings with health and wellness carriers, and training co-workers. I am also assigned our largest recruitment for an operations position, so I review those applications and onboard new employees. As a person who stutters, share the most challenging part of your job. The moments of misunderstanding. I answer the phone, stutter on my name, and the other person awkwardly laughs or asks me if I forgot my name. They’re minor infractions compared to the way my stutter used to limit me but staying positive in those moments is certainly a challenge. It is also difficult when I am learning something new, or doing something I haven’t done before, because I get nervous that my stuttering will make it seem like I lack confidence or knowledge. How supported at work do you feel by your co-workers, supervisor(s) and the company itself? I feel very supported. I was very lucky to have an incredible first supervisor when I was in Payroll, and when I mentioned my stuttering to her, she told me that she supported me and that if I ever needed her help, she’d take care of anyone who was rude to me. She enabled me to sit at the front desk, and answer telephone calls regularly. Before this experience, I was too terrified to answer the phone. I no longer experience fear picking up the ringing phone at work. (A true miracle.) My supervisors since have also made it clear that they are impressed with my work ethic and intelligence, and that they would stand behind me if anyone used my stuttering to try to tease me. Describe how stuttering makes you a better, more valued contributor at work. I think stuttering helps people actually feel more comfortable around me. Perhaps not in the initial moment, but once they realize what is going on. There is a vulnerability that exists that makes the other person realize they don’t need to be perfect when they communicate with me. Working in HR has the ability to seem very intimidating, especially when I am recruiting new hires for their first job. But my stutter seems to give them (a potentially false) sense of comfortability and security, which I think is helpful. What’s your best advice for people who stutter just entering the workplace and for those in a career striving to achieve greater success? Disclose, disclose, disclose. When you are able to disclose your stutter with confidence, the other person has no choice (unless they’re a huge jerk) to accept your stutter and realize it has nothing to do with your intelligence, proficiency, or confidence. The more we are comfortable with our own stuttering, the more others will be. People can catch onto our emotions and internal stress. They can also catch onto our confidence and peace of mind.

Meet Mandy Finstad, a valued member of the National Stuttering Association team. Learn more about their role and contributions. Mandy Finstad Communications Coordinator Mandy has been an active part of the NSA since 2009, and currently resides in the mountains of Northern Virginia with her husband, PWS Jean Finstad, and their Irish Wolfhound, Granger. She graduated from George Mason University in 2000 with a B.A. in Psychology and continued on to graduate studies at The Catholic University of America and University of Ulster. Mandy has been invited to speak to several groups and has given many interviews on being the spouse of a person who stutters, and has also written an e-book chapter on the topic. In her spare time she enjoys running, hiking, yoga, reading, knitting, true crime podcasts, craft beer, and spending time with Jean and Granger.