I hesitated to tell me story, but here goes.

I hesitated to tell me story, but here goes. I'm new to the group with a few recent posts. I have debated telling my story because I was concerned about coming across as self-righteous or preachy. Forgive me if I come across that way. I have stuttered since I was four years old. I am now 62. I have an older brother who also stutters. My mother and grandmother believed I was "parroting" my older brother for attention and regularly punished me for stuttering. They eventually stopped the punishment when it became clear to them that I really stuttered. I went through grade school and high school bullied for my stuttering and buried myself in academics as a way to 1) Avoid the bullying, and 2) Prove that I wasn't stupid as stutterers were often viewed as somehow mentally deficient. I graduated high school and college with honors and went onto a career as a software developer and eventually earned a Masters's Degree in Computer Science. I hid in a cube at work doing my job for about 10 years but noticed that I had a knack for technology strategy and explaining complex technical topics to non-technical people. A more senior colleague took notice of me and we became friends. I had few friends, and those I had, I hung onto tightly. The guy eventually took me aside and told me that he thought I could have a career in technology leadership, but I would have to overcome my fear of ridicule over my stuttering. His words stuck with me for a few years as I moved onto another role as a senior software developer at a commercial software company. My new company was developing software interfaces and SaaS offerings to augment their main product (accounting software) and they needed someone to go on the road with one of the salespeople to "evangelize" the new technology-centric products. The words of my prior colleague yelled loudly in my head telling me that this frightful opportunity might help me face my fear and come to terms with my stuttering. After much contemplation and cold sweats, I raised my hand and volunteered to work with the salesperson. As I had done in the past, I would "hyper-prepare" for each meeting trying to control as much of the engagement as I could. I figured that if I knew the material and the client profile cold, at least my fear over not knowing the subject would be less. To make a long story short, our year-long road trip won the salesperson and me an award for having the tops sales numbers for the year and we got to go to Hawaii as a reward. As an added bonus, I got over my fear of public speaking and actually enjoyed it. I still fear meeting new people, but I can now "fake it until I make it" and get on with things. A year or two later, the CTO of the company moved on to bigger and better things. I raised my hand and applied for the role. The CEO told me, "We were hoping you'd ask for it." and I got the role. I spent the next 20 years in various executive leadership roles in a few companies until I took early retirement in 2018. I now volunteer as a mentor to small business owners and have a consulting business "hobby" to make a few bucks. I guess the morals of the story are: * I wasn't stupid as stutterer in spite of being made to feel that way sometimes * I was my own worst enemy, crippling myself with fear and hiding out. * I should have listened sooner to people who encouraged me rather than let the bullies win. * For me, it took "diving into the deep end" to learn how to come to grips with my stuttering. I still stutter, but it doesn't stop me much anymore. Thanks for listening and I hope it can help someone.