Speak Confidently: Living with Stuttering
Dom's story of growing up with a stutter: the classroom, the speech therapy, and the people who helped. Told plainly, from the inside.
Find it on AmazonAuthor • Speaker • Trade Advocate
Speak anyway. Lead anyway.
Dom Kemp is a Maricopa, Arizona author and CDL driver who stutters. He talks with schools, libraries and communities about communicating with confidence and about building a good life in the trades.
About Dom
A voice that keeps showing up
Dom grew up in the San Diego area, where a teacher noticed his stutter in first grade and referred him to a speech therapist. He kept up speech therapy through school for twelve years and credits that support with changing his life.
He moved from banking jobs into trucking, earned his CDL, and went on to lead a team of drivers as a route planner and manager. He still drives today. Along the way he wrote two books, one about growing up with a stutter and one about leaving dead-end jobs for a life on the road.
Dom also owns a small business, Reuben's Hauling LLC, which he built through phone calls and face-to-face conversations while keeping his day job. He recently became a first-time homeowner.
Earlier this year he stood outside his old San Diego school, where he first received speech support, and thought about how far he had come. He speaks openly about what helped, what didn't, and what he wishes classmates and teachers had known.
“Speak anyway. Lead anyway. Your voice matters exactly as it is.”
Author
Two books, two roads
Both books are written from Dom's own life, in his own words.
Full Throttle: From Dead-End Jobs to a CDL and a Life on the Road
How Dom left jobs that were going nowhere, earned his commercial driver's license, and found purpose and a paycheck in the trades. For anyone thinking about a new start.
Get the book
Shop & play
More from Dom
Books, road-inspired apparel and a game that shows young people what a career in the trades can look like.
Traveler's Oasis
T-shirts & apparel · Threadless
Trucking and road-life designs on shirts and more, printed and shipped by Threadless.
Visit the storeRoad Rep
Browser game · free to play
Pick a job, pick your terrain, and drive the route. Earn reputation, level up and unlock new trucks along the way.
Coming soonSpeak Confidently: Living with Stuttering
Book · Amazon
Find it on AmazonFull Throttle
Book · Draft2Digital
Get the bookSpeaking
Talks for classrooms and communities
Each talk runs 20–30 minutes with time for questions. Dom is flexible on format, from one classroom to an assembly, a library program, or a recorded version for schools that prefer one.
1
What stuttering is and isn't
Middle school & general audiences
Myths versus facts, how to be a good listener, and what to do (and not do) when someone stutters.
2
Talking for a living
High school, career & CTE classes
How a person who stutters runs a business, takes customer calls, and handles interviews and job situations.
3
The people who helped
Any grade · speech-language pathologists
The teachers, therapists and friends who made a difference, and how students can be that person for someone else.
International Stuttering Awareness Day — October 22
Dom is offering a free talk for schools and community groups around this day. Teachers and counselors: the talk is non-commercial, and students are pointed to a teacher or counselor for follow-up questions.
Trade advocacy
Good work doesn't need a desk
Dom talks with students, career changers and community groups about the trades as a real path, and about what it takes to start.
Career reinvention
Leaving jobs with no future and starting over with a skill that pays.
Dead-end jobs to a CDL
What the licensing path looks like from the inside, told by someone who took it.
Confidence on the job
Building the confidence to interview, lead a team and talk to customers when your voice feels like an obstacle.
How it works
Bringing Dom to your school or event
- Reach out. Email Dom your group, grade level and preferred date.
- Plan together. He is glad to speak with your speech-language pathologist or teacher beforehand and share a one-page speaker sheet.
- Pick the format. Live in person, a Q&A-style session, or a recorded version with a teacher guide.
- Follow up. Dom would love to hear how it landed with your students.
Contact
Invite Dom to speak
For schools, libraries, fellow trade advocates and anything about the books.
Email Dom
Please include your school or group, the grade level or audience, and the date you have in mind. Dom will reply as soon as he can.
Send an email