People podcast for reasons as numerous as false sightings of Critical Race Theory in elementary schools. It could be for the love of communicating with others. It could be to make the world a better place. It could be to fulfill a dream.
For San Franciscan Maya Chupkov, creating and releasing her podcast Proud Stutter is all about communicating with others about stuttering and tearing down myths about the condition. It's also about making the world a better place for people who do stutter and still suffer from abuse and ostracism from those who do not.
Maya stuttered as a child and suffered from the common misperceptions people have about the condition. As a young adult, Maya is a writer and storyteller whose work is rooted in social justice and narrative shift. As a woman who stutters, she is a stuttering advocate working to shift societal norms around stuttering and the disability community. Maya lives in San Francisco with her sister, fiancé, and doggie.
In October 2021, Maya began the Proud Stutter podcast with her first episode called "Our Coming Out Story." Maya began and finished the first season with her friend Cynthia Chin. Cynthia is an educator who is passionate about social change. Although she does not have a stutter, she is an ally to the verbally diverse. Cynthia was born and raised in San Francisco and lives with her bunny, Bao.
Cynthia has moved on to other projects, so Maya is producing the season one bonus episodes by herself, with plans to incorporate guest hosts in season two.
I've listened to the entire first season of Proud Stutter (13 episodes) and found the show enlightening, informative, and immersive. My favorite episodes are Dating with a Stutter episode two, Real Talk with Mom: Stuttering Acceptance vs. Fluency, episode three, Stuttering with Confidence: A Conversation with a Speech Therapist Who Stutters, episode six, and Uncovering The Causes of Stuttering, An Interview With A Neuroscientist, episode eleven.
In addition, one of the more fascinating episodes was a two-parter, Stuttering, Blackness, and Music with JJJJJerome Ellis.
We sat down with Proud Stutter creator and host Maya Chupkov for an interview. Here's what she said. Enjoy.
Q. Can you tell me a little about your personal struggle with stuttering?
A. I started to stutter since I can remember talking. I’ve always felt extremely misunderstood by my peers and my teachers growing up. From an early age, I loved expressing myself. There are so many home videos of me singing and dancing. However, stuttering prevented me from doing this in many situations. I believe the biggest disability around stuttering isn’t speaking disfluently, but the opportunities and experiences I missed out on because of the pain struggling caused me. For example, I really wanted to join the debate team in high school, but didn’t want my team to lose because of me and my stutter.
Q. What do you think are the most prevalent and persistent myths about stuttering?
A.
- People who stutter are not smart.
- Nervousness causes stuttering.
- Stuttering can be cured by speech therapy.
- It helps to tell a person to “take a deep breath before talking,” or “think about what you want to say first,” or “slow down.”
- Stress causes stuttering.
Q. How did you come up with the podcast title?
A. The idea for my title came from me wanting to create a space for people to think positively about their stutter. The title reflects my own journey of my stutter. Even though I am more accepting and have developed a sense of pride in my stutter, I still get frustrated by my stutter, and that is okay. It offers a sense of community for people on different levels in their journey to start to think differently about their stutter.
Q. How did you design your first season? Did you map out the episodes of the first season before the first episode?
A. I was awarded a fellowship from the Center for Story-based Strategy. My coach and my cohort helped me think about my first season and ways I could include storytelling elements throughout. I did have a map of my first season with particular episodes and left room for flexibility because I met a new person in the stuttering community almost every day. It follows a story arc starting with my coming out story and eventually ending with our season finale with Nina G, who totally embraces her stutter and has come along way in her journey.
Q. Can you talk a little about your services as part of your podcast business model? Career coaching? Etc?
A. After the end of Season one, I announced a paid membership program to help keep the podcast going to Season two. Each membership tier comes with perks. I also did a soft launch of coaching services. I have expertise in transitioning careers, helping others get their dream job, and public relations and media advocacy. I also used to facilitate confidence building workshops for teens, so I created a service where people who stutter can apply tools and strategies specific to accomplishing their goals.
Q. What was the most challenging interview of season one?
A. The most challenging interview to prepare for was my interview with Neuroscientist Frank Guenther. This was an episode that was very different from other ones, and I wanted to make sure it was accessible and did not get too wonky for people. Frank did an excellent job of explaining his research in simple terms.
Q. What have you learned about podcasting after completing your first season?
A. I have learned there are so many incredible indie podcasters out there in the podcasting community. I recently attended Podcast Movement Evolutions and bonded with a lot of people who are also doing their own shows. Producing a podcast can be a very lonely experience, and it was great to be able to meet other people that have the same drive as I do to tell audio stories.
Q. What would you have done differently?
A. I wish I would have known about being able to submit event proposals for podcast conferences earlier.
Q. Looking back, what was the best decision you made with your podcast this season?
A. The best decision I made was bringing Cynthia on as my co-host. Without her, Proud Stutter would not be as successful. Having someone to start this journey with helped me grow my confidence as a podcaster, and she was so supportive the entire way.
Q. How did you choose your topics for the episodes?
A. I wanted there to be a story arc from the beginning, middle, and end of the Season. I chose topics that meant a lot to me and also took in ideas from my listeners. I wanted a mix of people of stuttering doing different things with their lives like art, music, journalism, and comedy. Furthermore, I also wanted a diverse cast, and people came from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.
Q. What are your plans to build your brand? Live broadcast? Merchandise?
A. I want my listeners to help lead me. I just did a listener survey, and they want to see Proud Stutter do live broadcasting, video interviews, and become a nonprofit. I have merch that people can buy at my store, proudstutter.com/store.
Q. What’s your plan for season two?
A. I am still working on what the focus will be. One idea I have is to ask one question for each guest I have on the show and to pilot having rotating hosts that do not stutter, so we still can get an outside perspective, similar to Cynthia’s role. This will be a chance for more people to learn about the stuttering community.
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Here are just two of hundreds of comments about the Proud Stutter podcast.
“I absolutely love this idea. As someone who stutters, it means so much to me that y’all are doing this.” Grace, listener
“I have just listened to your podcast and loved it! I'm from the UK and have had a severe stammer all my life. It is really refreshing to hear people talking about stuttering (or stammering as it is called here).” Chris
In the first episode of Proud Stutter, Stuttering, The Coming Out Story, Maya talks with Cynthia about starting a podcast. She explains that she has been a lifelong avid reader, always reading something. Reading was the first topic she considered when beginning a podcast.
Ultimately, of course, Maya chose stuttering. That's a courageous choice. A podcast about what you're reading creates some distance between you and the listening audience. A podcast about stuttering and your personal challenges and journey tears away that curtain of separation.
Suddenly, you reveal yourself to your listeners. That takes courage. An attribute Maya Chupkov possesses in abundance.
You do not have to stutter to listen to the Proud Stutter podcast. You can listen to the podcast and marvel at the courage of people who overcome a condition that is afflicted by misinformation, misunderstanding, and malice.
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