The Stuttering Springboard

Meet Greg Beasley, a chiropractor for 31 years and a person who stutters. Greg attended Central Michigan University for his undergraduate studies and Palmer College of Chiropractic for his postgraduate studies. He’s owned and run four successful chiropractic clinics in Michigan and Washington. Within his practice, he makes a point to encourage people of all ages to not let social constructs limit...

Brandon, a lifelong person who stutters, is an American politician serving as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 25th district. Elected in November 2018, he assumed office on December 1, 2018, succeeding his father, Joseph Markosek. Brandon has introduced House Bill 2268, which requires insurance companies to provide speech therapy services to children ages 2- 6, a crit...

Many of us who stutter feel like speech and language pathologists (SLPs) have been poorly equipped to treat people who stutter.  In fact, many of them shy away from it because of the lack of training they received on stuttering therapy, and because of the emotional and psychological components that need to be addressed to make a difference. In this podcast Kim Sabourin shares how she is helping to...

Brian's Key takeaways from the first 38 episodes

Meet Kevin Rafferty, a wealth advisor and special needs financial planner. Kevin is dedicated to providing customized wealth management services and holistic financial planning to a diverse group of clients at GVA Wealth Management.  Kevin is also a person who stutters. In this insightful and in-depth podcast, Brian and Kevin dig deep into Kevin’s journey to become a rising young professional and...

Master Sergeant John McDermott is a lifelong stutterer, and currently serves in the United States Air Force.  John is stationed at McGuire Air Base in New Jersey. With 15 years of active duty military service, multiple deployments, and four years of experience as a maintenance training instructor, he has built a distinguished military career, demonstrating resilience and leadership at every step....

Stephen Greene has a beautiful stutter. Through avoidance reduction therapy, he has reduced the tension and struggle and given his stutter a green light. He has gone from concealment to proudly identifying as a person who stutters.  Stephen is a Social Care Worker who is passionate about disability services. He is also the Former Chair of the Irish Stammering Association and currently serves as a...

This podcast  with Mark O'Malia ventures deep into the mindset of people who stutter. According to Briqn Nolan, it shook him and moved him up the spectrum of acceptance. Some takeaways to explore: Walk the talk.  Nonone is asking me what it feels like to be a person who stutters.  What happens if it doesn't go away? Get comfortable sitting in discomfort. Engage in your thoughts vs running away fro...

In this podcast, Brian Nolan and Steff Lebsack dive deep into the two different “camps” on stuttering therapy, how SLPs are trained to treat people who stutter, disclosure, trauma and more. Like many of the Springboard podcasts…  it gets emotional. Steff Lebsack became a speech-language pathologist because she has an older brother, Jasper, who is a person who stutters. Steff owns Lebsack Speech Th...

Rob Bloom started to stutter at the age of 3.  He is currently a Creative Director for Universal Destinations & Experiences. He creates brand campaigns and content for Universal parks, as well as for iconic events like Halloween Horror Nights. In addition to his role at Universal, Rob moonlights on the independent pro wrestling scene where he portrays the character J. Barrister Goodrich, the w...

Rodney Gabel is a Professor and Founding Director of the Division of Speech and Language Pathology at Binghamton University. Dr. Gabel has 20 years of experience in academia. An expert in stuttering, Gabel owned the Gabel Center for Stuttering Therapy, LLC, a private practice for people who stutter. He has been an active clinician and member of the stuttering community. Gabel has been an active re...

Zachary Emrich-Muise is a 19 year old Communication Sciences & Disorders major at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Zach, a person who stutters, made a life changing decision to honor the rock in his shoe and go to college to become an SLP.  This young man is part of a new generation of future SLPs who are focusing on mindfulness for people who stutter.  In dissecting the moments dir...

Audrey Flood is a high school senior at Haverford High in Havertown, PA. As a young person who stutters, Audrey has been self-advocating for years and gaining self-confidence in the process.  She now is preparing for an away from home college experience. Listen as Audrey explains her choices, preferences and feelings about spring-boarding to the next level!

In 2023 John Henrickson published “Life on Delay”, a book about his journey as a person who stutters.  The book is getting National attention as a breakthrough book for all to read, to learn about what it means to be a person who stutters. John is a renowned journalist from the Atlantic, also known for his article about Joe Biden’s stutter.  In this revealing podcast, John’s mom, Ceil Hendrickson,...

In this authentic podcast about self-awareness, Daniela, a person who stutters, talks about how she went from a person who was hiding in plane site to radical self-acceptance.  Daniela shares that it’s about achieving a level of mindfulness about how she shows up in the world. Daniela Gilet is a dynamic professional with over ten years of experience in technology and human resources. She is curren...

Imagine you're a new employee at a company who has been assigned to a very important project to launch a new medical device.  As you listen to the direction of the project, you realize, from your experience, that the team is going about it wrong.  You struggle with self-talk, saying to yourself: " should I say something? Can I even get the words out"? This experience happened to Calvin and yes, he...

This is the story of Two Irishmen, one born in America with great Irish roots and one born and raised in County Cork, Ireland.  It's a podcast about connecting our two great countries and raising awareness about stuttering and the importance of early intervention. Our very own Dr. Joe Donaher from CHOP  was welcomed in Ireland by Jamie Googan, a person who stutters who is making conversations abou...

In this father and son interview, Brian asks his son Jack some tough questions and Jack  delivers authentic answers. They share their journey together. This emotional and transparent discussion is a must hear for every parent and son or daughter who stutters.  It's inspiring!

Brian recently had the opportunity to interview a dynamic young entrepreneur with an incredibly bright future and outlook.  His promise to himself is to be authentic, and to not allow stuttering to stop him from doing anything that he would do if he didn't stutter. Ryan's perspective represents exactly what the Nolan Stuttering Foundation stands for.  His grit, courage and optimism are contagious....

Mackenzie Holland is a speech pathologist who runs Holland Speech Therapy in Scarborough ME. She has a Masters from The University of Vermont and is the author of Daniel the Digger, from her very own Talking Town Books. She is also a parent of a 4 year old boy who stutters.  In this emotional episode, we dig into her experiences and the  feelings she had when she first realized her son stuttered a...

"Kristin Chmela is a speech pathologist who spends the majority of her time working with individuals of all ages with fluency disorders at the Chmela Communication Center in the suburban Chicago area.  In this episode, Brian interviews Kristin and digs deep into how she has incorporated mindfulness into her stuttering therapy practice.  This refreshing approach to therapy peels back how awareness...

Sarah Vogel is a Senior Speech Language Pathologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  She has worked at CHOP for over 20 years where she helps children and teens who stutter. In this deep podcast Sarah shares her thoughts on the past, present and hopes for the future of stuttering therapy.  Her message to college bound kids who stutter:  focus on your strengths.  Her message to recent c...

Danra Kazanski is starting a movement to normalize stuttering.  Her passion to help people who stutter, proudly openly stutter and stutter better, is infectious. Danra is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Vermont, founder of Vermont Stuttering Therapy as well as the "Normalizing Stuttering Store.  In this incredibly emotional and educational podcast, Denra shares the reasons behi...