1-Year Anniversary Highlights, Evolving Proud Stutter, & More!

Transcript

Maya Chupkov:

Hi I'm Maya Chupkov and I'm a woman who stutters Welcome to proud stutter, a show about stuttering and embracing verbal diversity in an effort to change how we talk about it. one conversation at a time Welcome to Proud Stutter. 

Today I have another special bonus episode. But before we get into it, I wanted to give everyone a heads up that season two episode three will be releasing on Friday, September 9. I'm skipping next week because I'll be traveling to Dallas and then England for two conferences. I'm so excited because I'm going to be speaking about stuttering at Podcast Movement, a huge conference for podcasters and the industry and stammer fest organized by the UK based stammer and it's going to be in Liverpool so very excited to be speaking at those two conferences to follow along on my travels. Find proud stutter on Twitter at proud stutter and Instagram at proud stutter. I'll be covering the expenses of going to the conferences on top of producing proud stutter For free help me out by buying me a meal by donating at proud stutter.com the donate button is right on the top corner. The best way to support the show is by becoming a monthly donor which comes with a ton of perks. Thank you to our proud stutter monthly supporters, Madeline Carr, Dustin wells and Lucy Reed and all the other ones I mentioned in previous episodes, you are all contributing to making the show possible and helping me get to these conferences. All your contributions are incredibly appreciated as proud stutter is 100% listener funded. 

Okay, now let's get to the episode. I've got a ton of updates to share and highlights from our almost one year of proud stutter since our launch in October of last year 2021 What to look forward to the rest of this year and next year. And two stories one from the National Stuttering Association Conference and the other one was a voice memo left for us on our voicemail line. 

The one year anniversary of proud stutter is right around the corner. I cannot believe it I feel like this year has flown by. So I wanted to begin the celebrations by reflecting on some of the highlights and wins the proud Senator community has had all the things mentioned in this episode will be in our show notes and on our website. Let's start with policy advocacy. Proud Senator headed up the city and county of San Francisco declaring National Stuttering Awareness Week One of the first cities to do so in the world. We had a ton of advocacy around this issue. And we also had a community rally where people who stuttered the community got to share some of whom shared for the first time on A Public podium right in front of City Hall. Since then, I've worked with the stuttering community in Colorado to get commitments from both Boulder and Denver to do a declaration for international Stuttering Awareness Day. We are working with several other cities to do similar advocacy efforts. This is one of the top focus areas for proud stutter. In addition to the podcast of course, check out our local resolutions toolkit for steps on how to pass one in your city. This can be found on proud stutter.com. 

So the next highlight is around media advocacy proud stutter appeared on NPR and was featured in the Guardians top podcast picks of the week, I am still in shock that both of these things happen. And I'm just so excited because that just means more people in the world are going to know about stuttering. And that just makes me so happy. Proud. Stutter also got over 50 mentions in the media since its launch, that is a wild number I never thought in a million years would happen included in those mentions our two opinion pieces I wrote for youth today, which is a news publication for those working in the youth service fields. And the San Diego Union Tribune one of California's largest reaching newspapers, very exciting stuff. And in that as well. We got a ton of coverage in local media outlets in San Francisco which is really important for me because I live in San Francisco. If any of you out there want to share You're starting story in your local newspaper, please let me know I would be more than happy to work with you on that as well. 

So the next highlight is all around events. A lot of the events were around National Stuttering Awareness Week. And I got invited to speak at a few other events, which was super fun. And it's just nice to be able to talk about stuttering because it definitely takes the pressure off, especially when I'm speaking publicly about it. So that was really fun. One of the coolest opportunities I got was doing proud setters first live podcast at the National Stuttering associations conference in Newport Beach. It was also a huge honor to get invited to speak at the International Woman's podcast festival. So there's going to be a ton more events that I'll be planning throughout the next year or so. So please look out for that. It was such a fun and uplifting year and I am so looking forward to the many years to come for proud stutter. Alright, so we've talked about the past. So what's in store for the future. In addition to the conferences I'll be speaking at in August, I am partnering with stuttering advocates and artists for several campaigns leading up to international Stuttering Awareness Day on October 22 of this year, so please stay tuned for more information by keeping up with us on social media and our newsletter. Our campaign launches on October 1, 

One of the most amazing experiences I've had so far, which I lightly mentioned in our most recent newsletter was working with art students at Art Center. It's an art school in Los Angeles, I was able to work with several illustration students at the Art Center under the design Matters program. And we just talked about stuttering for seven weeks. And they came up with these amazing illustrations and art projects around stuttering advocacy. And it was just the most amazing experience because I was able to teach them and they were able to come up with these creative projects that I'm just so excited to get them out in the world. And I'm going to be partnering with art center again on more art projects. So very excited about about that. 

And last but not least, we have set the second the rest of the season to a proud standard to look forward to. We have two episodes already out and I can't wait to share more interviews with all of you. While I would love to keep crowd starter going and I am more than committed to making that happen. I really can't go beyond the season two without your support. I can't I really can't do the show without my listeners support. So I hope you can consider making a donation or becoming a monthly donor. 

Alright, so we've shared proud stellar highlights and what is ahead, it wouldn't be a bonus episode without a story from someone in the stuttering community. So to end this episode, I will be sharing a very special interview I had at the National Stuttering Association Conference. The person I interviewed their lives and works in San Francisco. I've met him several times here in the city. He's a lovely human. And I also beat participant he will also be participating in a panel event that proud starter is putting on with booksmith One of my favorite bookstores in San Francisco during transit month in San Francisco. The event is called stuttering stories across San Francisco. So here is the interview with the one and only Sebastian Scala. I'm here with Sebastian Scala. He's also from San Francisco at the National Stuttering Association in Newport Beach. Sebastian, what is the most surprising thing that's happened since you've been at the conference? It's day two.

Sebastian:

So I don't know if surprising because this is like my 18th convention. But what I can tell you is it's just been a continuation of one of the greatest things I've ever witnessed and been a part of in my entire life just seeing you know we igniting the friendships span people all over the country all over the world. And see the new people come in with their eyes wide open. Some people have never seen their adults they've never seen another person stutter. And they walk into a house full of people who stutter. And it's so amazing to watch them feel at home. And this is exactly what this is. This is a this is a home for us. Because so often we feel alone And in this environment in this arena, we, we speak, our voices are heard. And it's always such a renewal. And it's such a, it's such a wonderful experience to have everyone and everything together and adding to it with the new faces, and the kids and the teens and everything else. We showing them that, you know, stuttering isn't a death knell. It isn't a curse. It's something that I can honestly say that I'm grateful for. Because it's given me this compassionate, I could cry in the middle of an interview. It's given me a challenge to overcome. And it's given me this so surprising. I'm not sure but in brawling, and invigorating and inspiring, absolutely.

Jim Fuller:

This is Jim Fuller, I have had a stutter my entire life, I'm 34 years old. And, ya know, for as long as I can remember, I've had a stutter. And obviously, there's good days and bad days, and, and then those good situations and bad situations, that that, you know, it is better. And I had, I had a really hard time in, like, high school stuff, because like, you know, kids are, are, are kind of ruthless. And at one point, I got so self conscious, I couldn't even I couldn't even say my last name. It says an F. So hard letters, is always DS, B's and are like blocks, but like, apps are kind of, like, extended. So it was always begging, I would end up selling my last name. And if somebody ever asked me like, what my name was, it was, you know, looking back, I was so self conscious about it. And like it really, like it, like consumed my life as like, like, a teenager and even into like my late teens. And then when I went to college, I kinda like I, I kind of had, I just got out there and I just, like, set it like, like, and that was the first day with those dreaded icebreaker activities that you do with like, you're like, with, like, 20 strangers, and I was like, oh my god, this is this is the worst thing that could ever possibly happen. And, and I was like, hey, you know, my name is German, I have a stutter. And that was like, the end of it. And, and, and then it was out there. And no one had to like, talk about it or like whisper. And like if Oh, good. And then like, and then I just kind of embraced it. Because I realized that wasn't going away. Like I have, of course about ways to hide it or not hide it, you know, just, you know, make things a little bit easier have little filler words or sounds or avoid certain words, I don't shy away from certain situations. I'm a very social person. Nowadays, I worked in the hospitality industry for the last 15 years. And then I've been waiting tables and bartending to management and now I work for a school and, you know, it's given me a lot, or I, it's given me the confidence that I need to talk to people but it's not easy all the time. And when you talk to us and like working with them, like you talk to a stranger and you get like that snicker like, or just like, stare at you if you're having a bad day or like a bad minute. Because like, stare at you. I've had servers like like yum. Or like, you know, food service servers and all went out to eat and they started to laugh, like, come on, like, Don't do this. Because like that, and that's it. It's like I'm fine with it. It's like other people that aren't and as it makes it uncomfortable is when like when you know someone else is uncomfortable talking to you. And then like it just it just feeds from there. Again, my name is Jim fuller. And I'll talk to you soon hopefully, have a great day. I love what you do. Where you guys awesome. Thanks so much.

Maya:

And that's it for this episode of proud stutter. This episode of proud stutter was produced and edited by me, Maya Chupkov. Our music was composed by a gusto, Denise and our artwork by Mara, Ezekiel and Noah to come. If you have an idea or want to be part of a future episode, visit us at www dot proud stutter dot Calm. And if you liked the show, you can leave us a review wherever you're listening to this podcast. Want to leave us a voicemail? Check out our show notes for that the number to call in. More importantly, tell your friends to listen to until we meet again. Thanks for listening. Be proud and be you

Maya:

And that's it for this episode of proud stutter. This episode of proud stutter was produced and edited by me, Maya Chupkov. Our music was composed by a gusto, Denise and our artwork by Mara zekiel and Noah to calm. If you have an idea or want to be part of a future episode, visit us at www dot proud stutter.com And if you liked the show, you can leave us a review wherever you're listening to this podcast want to leave us a voicemail, check out our show notes for that the number number to call in more importantly, tell your friends to listen to until we meet again. Thanks for listening. Be proud and be you