Shalom Goodman is the Executive Director of Collective Kindness [1], a compassionate and strategic approach to breaking the cycle of poverty for good.

Where you are from, where do you live now?

I was born in St. Louis and grew up in Chicago. I currently live in Brooklyn, NY.

What do you do?

I help others. I opened a nonprofit called Collective Kindness that assists families that are struggling and help them get back on their feet, as well as work as an SEO Advisor. Previously I served as an SEO Editor at the WSJ and Business Insider.

Tell us about you and your family?

I’m the youngest of four. I’m an uncle to 14 nieces and nephews. I’m a natural extrovert. I love being around people and meeting new people. Some might call this ironic, with me having a stutter. But it has never stopped me. I love playing basketball, I love skiing, but my favorite is playing on the floor with my dear son, Elisha.

What are your passions?

I’m passionate about helping others. I feel that life is too short and I try to focus on, as the term coined by David Brooks goes, focusing on eulogy virtues instead of resume virtues.

How have you been successful in your career?

I don’t like the term successful, since most people equate success with money. I feel that success is the constant struggle to do what is right. And I feel successful with not allowing my stutter to hinder me from achieving my dreams, whether it be interacting in meetings with the biggest editors during my time at the WSJ or just interacting with clients we are helping now at my nonprofit.

Do you remember when you first began to stutter?

I have videos of me stuttering from as far back as age two. I have recollections of being a child and not being able to flow freely with my words, but it was only when I became a teen did I fully understand what it meant to be someone who stutters.

Does it run in your family? Who else stutters?

It does run in the family. My grandfather, who passed away a few years ago, had a slight stutter, and his father, my great-grandfather, stuttered as well. But I’m the only one in my extended family who stutters.

Did you seek treatment? Did it help?

I have been through speech therapy since I was a toddler. I’ve tried all kinds of methods, programs and devices. How it usually worked was that when I was in the comforts of my speech therapist’s office, I spoke smoothly and practically fluent. Since I was lucky enough to have a pretty nice stutter, it seemed that once I left, it was terribly difficult to transfer those skills to the “real world.” The most impactful therapy happened when I was around 20 years old. I had spent most of my late teen years avoiding the topic, not allowing anyone to even breach the topic. But when I met Dr. Phil Schneider, an incredible SLP and a legend in the stuttering field, changed my view. He taught me how to shine and embrace myself, stutter and all. It can be summed up in these terms: Better to speak freely and stutter than be silent and fluent.  

I have been on a quest to be an advocate for having disfluency and not allowing it to hold me back. I give speeches. I am sometimes the loudest person in the room. I make phone calls. Do I get hung up on at times? Sure. But I’ll call back and explain that I stutter. Hang up again? I’ll call again. I have a voice. And if Joe Biden [2], James Earl Jones [3] and Alan Rabinowitz [4] all can have successful lives and careers, I will do the same!

Tell us about your experience with stuttering as a child.

I was lucky enough to be able to make sure that bullying me for how I spoke wasn't cool. I was so open about it and “owned it” to such a degree that you weren’t able to mock it. Once, during choir practice, someone kept on interrupting, so I called him out. In response, he mocked my speech. Without thinking, I smacked him across the face and took off running before he could catch me. Looking back, I don’t condone it, but in that moment, it was my way of standing up for myself. Fast forward to today—he's one of my best friends and a successful doctor.

Has your stuttering gotten worse or better since you were younger? How?

I feel that it goes in phases. There are months or even years when it’s more flowing, and other times when it’s tougher. I’ll be raw and share that it seems that the more confident and secure I am in myself, the better my speech will be. Right when I got the job offer to work at the WSJ, I remember my speech was so very smooth. I was flying on the moon.

How did/does stuttering affect you in your career?

I have found that it helps me. It makes me unique. I’ll never forget a colleague once told me, “Shalom, we preach being kind and thoughtful and the virtue of equality, but it’s not always easy to implement on the daily. Speaking to you might take an extra second, but it’s so darn worth it.” You’ll hear me talk. It’ll be bumpy, but I say exactly what I want to say, and you’ll remember it.

What do you do to control or manage it, if anything?

Sleep is super important. Confidence is big for me. Pausing is something to my advantage. And I disclose my disfluency before meeting someone new. This helps “break the ice.”

What are the biggest challenges stuttering has presented to you?

People in the broader world still don’t fully understand stuttering. Once, in a Vegas hotel, I approached the front desk and stuttered. The employee laughed and mimicked me. I knew this was pure ignorance. Instead of letting it slide, I went into strong mode—I asked to speak to the manager and explained what had happened. The manager apologized profusely, offering free shows and perks. I declined but made it clear that this employee needed to be educated—people don’t always speak fluently, and that’s just reality.

I have a rule: Anyone is allowed one initial reaction to hearing someone stutter. I get it—ignorance exists. Maybe they’ve never met someone who couldn’t just “get the words out.” But once they know it’s a stutter and they still choose to mock, there’s no kind excuse for that. At that point, they’re just a rude person—and I have no interest in speaking to them anyway.

What is your greatest accomplishment with regard to stuttering?

Not letting it hold me back. Saying what I want to say. That’s the biggest win you can aim at. Being fluent or flowing with your speech is great, but if that comes at the expense of being authentically you and saying exactly what you want to say, then I don’t call that an accomplishment. In fact, it’s the opposite of that.

Based upon your experiences, what would you like to tell children who stutter?

It’s tough.  People still don’t understand what it means. “Take your time,” “relax.”  People are so very misinformed about stuttering. My advice is to be easy on yourself and try not letting it hold you back from achieving your dreams. And use it to your advantage.

I was once part of an oral school exam where the principal came to test our class as a group. I didn’t know the content very well, so I stuttered extra on purpose so he’d give up and just give me a pass and move. Let me have one great perk!

Based upon your experiences, what would you tell parents of children who stutter?

I’d recommend speaking to SLPs that are not just obsessed with attaining fluency, but figuring out how to make sure their child is being truly himself and saying what he needs to say. And create a home atmosphere where your child can be heard. Also super important to not be too easy on your kid. They’re just like everybody else, but they need an extra moment to get the words out. Give them that space, but don’t pity your child.

What else should we know?

When I was dating my now-wife, Lilach, I asked her, “You know stuttering is genetic, right? Our kids might stutter.” She looked at me and said, “Shalom, if they do, they’ll have the best role model in the world—someone who stutters but never lets it hold him back from accomplishing his dreams.” That was super powerful and empowering.

From the Fall 2025 Magazine [5]