My inability to write "self-conscious" ;)

Sorry, sorry.

Realistically it's mostly my voice. My parents were told I needed surgery and speech therapy when I was five because I always sounded congested and they were convinced I'd get bullied for my voice. That never actually happened in school (kids have a funny way of not realizing something is abnormal when they've been around it since they were in kindergarten) but the damage was done, and it got worse when I got the acting bug in fourth grade and a casting director told me that I could be voice actor "like Chuckie in the Rugrats." He meant it as a compliment, because weird kiddie voices are fungible currency in Hollywood if you also actually know how to do voice acting, but I was crushed.

It's gotten better with age but I still sound unusual and have a slight lisp on top of it because my canine teeth are oversized. (Another thing "helpful" doctors wanted to "fix" because "she'll be bullied" that nobody but me ever bullied me about, in the end.)

I'm an "eat your fear" person, so I got into public speaking and I love it more than anything else now. I still hate my voice, but I love, love, love speaking. And I've even dated guys who tell me I have a sexy voice, SO THERE KINDERGARTEN PEDIATRICIAN. (They're lying, but it's nice of them to try.)