Stop hiding from who you are.

I want to share something deeply personal with all of you today. It's something I've carried with me for a long time, hidden away out of shame and fear. But now, I feel ready to open up and let you into a part of my life that has shaped who I am today.

I remember the exact moment it happened, as if it were yesterday. It was 1993, and I was just a 16-year-old student at Siena College in Adelaide. I was passionate about drama and was even a member of the student executive team. That day, I was given the honour of being the emcee at our school assembly.

As I stood on that stage, ready to deliver my lines, something unexpected and terrifying happened. I froze. The words simply wouldn't come out. I could feel the weight of the stutter building within me, and the heat from the stage lights only made it worse. My mind was racing, filled with a million thoughts, but time seemed to stand still. I didn't know what to do.

Someone came to my rescue, stepping in and effortlessly speaking into the microphone, smoothly saying the words that had betrayed me. I couldn't even look up. I felt sick with embarrassment and shame. The moment was etched into my memory, and the trauma of that experience stayed with me for years to come.

In the following years, I worked tirelessly to understand my stutter and find ways to navigate around it. I discovered that certain words, particularly those starting with "f" and "s," triggered my stutter. So, I developed "work arounds" or substitutes for those words. I would practice scripts repeatedly until every word felt comfortable on my tongue.

But my stutter didn't just affect my performances or presentations; it began to seep into my everyday conversations. I constantly had to anticipate my sentences, carefully tailoring them to ensure I wouldn't stumble. It was an exhausting way to live. I wasn't truly present in conversations because I was too preoccupied with my own struggle for perfection.

When I became emotional or tired, my stutter would intensify. I started avoiding eye contact, looking past people or down at the ground during conversations. Somehow, doing so lessened the overwhelming shame I felt for having this problem.

Then, in 2022, I finally mustered the courage to seek help from a speech therapist. She asked me to read a passage from a book, and miraculously, I read it perfectly. She told me I didn't need further therapy. Looking back, that was a monumental mistake.

Now, here I am, 30 years later, standing before you with a newfound resolve. I refuse to hide any longer. My passion, determination, and unwavering focus on my purpose leave me no choice but to embrace every part of who I am, including my stutter.

Today, I'm publicly acknowledging my stutter for the first time on a social platform. There are two reasons why I'm sharing this with you all:

Firstly, you cannot fix something that you refuse to acknowledge and own. For three decades, I've hidden behind my stutter out of shame, allowing it to fuel feelings of unworthiness and imposter syndrome. It's time to put an end to that. By naming and owning my stutter, I can begin the journey toward acceptance and growth.

Secondly, I want to inspire all of you to embrace and love every part of yourselves. When you wholeheartedly accept who you are, something incredible happens. Your heart bursts with an indescribable energy that radiates out into the universe. This newfound freedom is truly awe-inspiring.

So, I stand before you today, vulnerable, and unafraid. My stutter did not stop me from realising my goals but my experience in this life could have been different had my need to look and be perfect was replaced with the generous love I should have showered upon myself.

I am Michelle Mennillo. I am 46. I am the Chief Executive Officer of the OTFC GROUP, an 8 figure occupational therapy business that turns therapy into life changing fun. I am a coach, an entrepreneur. I am a wife, a mama bear, a daughter, sister, friend, and aunty. And, I also have a stutter.

I want to help you be kind, be humble and be a beast in your life just like I have been able to do in mine.

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