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Welcome to Inclusion Bites, your sanctuary for bold conversations that spark change. I'm Joanne Lockwood, your guide on this journey of exploration into the heart of inclusion, belonging and societal transformation. Ever wondered what it truly takes to create a world? Remember, everyone not only belongs, but thrives. You're not alone. Join me as we uncover the unseen, challenge the status quo and share stories that resonate deep within. Ready to dive in? Whether you're sipping your morning coffee or winding down after a long day, let's connect, reflect and inspire action together. Don't forget, you can be part of the conversation too. Reach out to jo.lockwood@seechangehappen.co.uk to share your insights or to join me on the show.

So adjust your earbuds and settle in. It's time to ignite the spark of inclusion with Inclusion Bites. And today is episode 179 with the title Stuttering Without Apology. And I have the absolute honour and privilege to welcome James Burden. James is a speech language pathologist and the founder of Stuttering Blueprint, empowering professionals who stutter to lead with confidence and connect without compromise. And when I asked James to describe his superpower, he said it is creating safe spaces where stuttering becomes strength, not silence. Hello, James, welcome to the show.

Hi, Joanne, thank you so much for having me.

I understand from where we were chatting just now it's early o' clock for you because you're based Pacific time on the US continent, aren't you?

Yes, that's right. So I'm from Vancouver BC originally and I still live there. That's my home base. But right now I am living in Mexico for the last couple months, on my way to Peru soon. So I love doing what I do and I also love doing it while travelling and seeing the world because it really brings some depth to my, my service and I like to go to places that have a lot of sort of spiritual, interesting things to do. So I. I got to go and do different ceremonies with different indigenous peoples all over the world, which is not something to do with my stuttering programme, but is very much to do with what I find valuable.

Wow, that sounds fascinating. I can't wait to get to that. One of my claim to fames is I've been to Mexico by mistake and you might wonder how one could go to Mexico by mistake. Well, it's quite easy when you're driving down the aisle in California and you're not paying attention and then suddenly there's a sign that says last US Exit and it disappears behind you. The next Sign you see is welcome to Mexico. It's like that wasn't the plan. So it took like 30 seconds to get into Mexico and it took about three hours to get back out again through border control. So that's my claim to fame Mexico by mistake.

Luckily we happened to have the passports in the car.

So you were there for all three hours?

Yeah, you just end up queuing up out of Tijuana to try and come back in. It's like, yeah, I guess it was the spring breakers or the college students were all out in force trying to queue back because it was a whole roll of us plated cars trying to get back in. So, yeah, we were, yeah, we were kind of okay. But yeah, we're a bit worried for a bit because we were lucky to have our passports. Just happened to have them in the glove compartment, the car. So we were lucky. But yeah, could have been fun. Yeah.

So that's my claim to fame Mexico by mistake. James, we were chatting again in the green room before we went live. Around stuttering and your masterclass in your programme, what triggered you to focus on stuttering and speech in the way you have?