Finding Confidence Through Community: How the ASC Mentoring Programme Helped Me Reimagine My Career

I have been stammering for as long as I can remember. For much of my life, it was something that shaped how I saw myself and how I thought others saw me.

Growing up, I felt like my stammer was something I had to hide. Speaking situations that others might not think twice about, answering questions in class, introducing myself, or speaking in front of a group, filled me with anxiety. This affected my confidence and my sense of identity. I started to believe that certain things simply weren’t for me.

One of those things was a career that involved speaking.

At university I studied law and really enjoyed it. But as graduation approached in 2024, I found myself doubting whether I could pursue a career in the legal profession. Law is often perceived as a field built around advocacy, persuasion and confident communication. I worried that my stammer meant I wouldn’t be able to succeed in interviews, networking events, or client-facing environments. Instead of pursuing legal roles after graduating, I stepped away. I felt that I simply didn’t have the confidence to put myself forward and be my authentic self.

Looking back now, I realise how much my mindset at the time was shaped by years of trying to hide my stammer.

Things began to change when I started a journey of rethinking what my stammer meant to me. Rather than seeing it purely as something negative, I slowly began to explore the idea that it could be a meaningful part of who I am.

A turning point came when I appeared on the podcast Stammer Stories. Speaking openly about my experiences as a stammerer was something I had never done before. The podcast is hosted by Stambassador William Laven and that conversation ended up opening a door into a community I hadn’t known existed.

Through that experience, I discovered a community of people who viewed their stammers not simply as obstacles but as positive parts of their identity. I started attending a local STAMMA support group which was an incredibly powerful experience. Being in a room with other people who stammer and who understood the daily realities of it was something I had never experienced before. I also discovered the work of artist Conor Foran, whose art explores stammering and communication in a creative and thought-provoking way. Seeing stammering represented in art made me realise it could be celebrated. Through these experiences, I met an incredible range of people who made me feel proud to be part of the stammering community.

However, while my confidence in myself was growing, I still felt uncertain about my career. I had taken a year away from law and was beginning to think seriously about returning to the legal profession but I wasn’t sure how to navigate that path. Questions about interviews, workplace communication and confidence still felt daunting. That’s when I discovered Action for Stammering Children’s mentoring programme.

When I first read about it, it immediately felt like something that could help me bridge the gap between personal confidence and professional development. Being paired with a mentor who understood stammering and who was already working in the type of career I hoped to pursue felt very reassuring.

The mentoring programme turned out to be exactly what I needed.

Having someone who understood both the professional world and the experience of stammering made an enormous difference. My mentor helped me think through practical aspects of returning to the legal job market, from approaching applications and interviews to thinking about how I wanted to present myself professionally.

But just as importantly, the mentoring relationship gave me something I hadn’t realised I needed: a space where conversations about stammering and work felt completely normal. My mentor showed me, through their own experience, that a stammer doesn’t have to hold you back from pursuing the career you want.

Today, as I settle into a new role and continue building my career, I’m so grateful for the support that the ASC mentoring programme provided. It helped me regain confidence not only in my professional abilities but also in my identity as someone who stammers.

Most importantly, it reminded me that no one has to navigate this journey alone.

There is a whole community out there and programmes like ASC’s mentoring scheme play an important role in helping people who stammer realise their potential.

By C – Mentee, ASC Mentoring Scheme