John Ontiveros resides in Ventura, CA and is a person who stutters. Like many other people who stutter, John spent most of his life hindered by low self-esteem and limiting beliefs due to his disfluency. He also struggled greatly with accepting his stutter. However, all of that began to change at the beginning of 2017. It was then that John took a major step towards self-realization by walking into his first adult chapter meeting. He found that first experience so rewarding that he began to continue to attend chapter meetings over the next few years. The realization that he wasn’t alone as a person who stutters, along with learning from and being inspired by other people who stutter, helped John to heal and overcome his negative self-image and limiting beliefs. He also slowly began to accept his stutter, which is something he previously did not think was possible. John attended his first conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 2019 and had an amazing experience. He now makes it a point to attend every year.

As a result of the profound effects the NSA had on his life, John later felt the need to give back and impact the lives of other people who stutter. He became the co-chapter leader of the San Fernando Valley adult chapter of the NSA in 2020. One of the things that John is most passionate about is helping people who stutter find workplace success. This is one of the things John also struggled with in the past. In 2021 he volunteered to co-lead the We Stutter At Work committee. He very much enjoys helping people who stutter prepare for interviews as well as increasing employer education and awareness about stuttering.

John also enjoys practicing yoga, salsa dancing, cooking, and has just recently picked up surfing.