Jeff is a native Dallasite who now lives a few miles from where he grew up. He went to college in Austin (Hook ’em Horns!), and enjoyed it so much the first time around that he went back for more, getting an MBA from UT in 2000.  Currently, Jeff does financial consulting, helping generally small businesses get their financial house in order and the owners to better understand their numbers. In addition, a few years ago, Jeff got involved in a different small business; along with some family and friends, he now co-owns a small local company that makes sunscreen, lip balm and bug spray. In his free time, Jeff tries to stay active – the big interests these days are running and tennis.  He also loves college football – nothing is better than a fall Saturday with games all day long, and he volunteers with some organizations around town.  Sitting poolside with a good book or trying new restaurants, or breweries, with friends is also high on his list.

Jeff is a long-time member of the Dallas Chapter, having gone to his first meeting in about 2001.  Actually, that’s probably not right; in going thru some boxes a few years ago, he found some information from a meeting he probably attended around 1989, when he was home from college for the summer.  But talking about stuttering didn’t quite click with him back then, and so it took about a decade more for him to come back and realize that after all of the physical speech therapy he had (in school, at overnight programs, even hypnosis for a short while), the piece he was missing was the psychological piece – perhaps you’ve heard the phrase that “it’s OK to stutter”.

Jeff has always enjoyed meeting and talking to people, but stuttering has at times certainly been a challenge. If there were a pill that could cure stuttering, Jeff would probably be first in line to get it, but the NSA has helped him realize that being disfluent, while often frustrating and sometimes uncomfortable, is not the end of the world.  And getting that reminder is why he keeps coming back, not to mention catching up with all the wonderful people, and even lifelong friends – including some Aggies and Sooners, that he’s met thru the NSA.

Next time you see Jeff, ask him for a sample of his lip balm!
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