My life turned around once I decided to major in communication sciences and disorders in college (aka speech therapy). This put me in a field of people who are sensitive and empathetic to those with disabilities, and my professor in my fluency disorders class was really awesome and convinced me to speak on a panel with other people who stutter. This was the first time talking openly about my stuttering and it was an incredible release. People wanted to hear my story and had lots of questions. From there on I decided to just tell people I meet about my stuttering and took on a whole new mentality that stuttering does not define or me but is just a quality of my speech. People in my adult life are generally understanding and don't care that I stutter once I've shown them I'm comfortable with it. People only feel awkward around you when they think you feel awkward. Confidence and attitude is everything. You have to be willing to be open about your speech and even laugh about it when things are tough. I no longer let fear of stuttering stop me from trying anything in life, from what I order at a restaurant to seeking employment where I'll have to talk a lot. You'll be amazed how much more fluent you get when you stop trying NOT to stutter. Just work on stuttering as smoothly as possible rather than avoiding it and making it worse. That's my best advice for anyone who is a covert stutterer.