Meet Mister Stu
Hey there, I'm Mister Stu.
(Also known as Stuart Perry in slightly more professional settings.)
Most of my work centers around one belief: bad kids don't exist.
"Bad kids" are a myth created when adults run out of understanding, support, or tools. Kids are constantly trying to communicate something — sometimes through words, sometimes through behavior — and when we learn to understand the message underneath the behavior, everything changes.
I'm a children's therapist, keynote speaker, and author. And every single week, I still sit with kids and families in therapy offices, schools, camps, and communities. Some days that means getting sand thrown in my face. Other days it means laughing until I cry with a child who finally feels safe enough to be themselves.
That's why I speak. Not because I stepped away from the work — but because I'm still in it.
I want audiences to laugh, think differently, and walk away with tools they can actually use when they go back home, back to school, or back to the kids in their lives. Over the years that's taken me to organizations like YMCA, Head Start, United Way, Georgetown College, Indiana University, and conferences around the country. I was also featured in the Netflix docuseries Wrestlers, which followed part of my life as a speaker, therapist, and professional wrestler.
But the work matters more to me than the list. Because every single week, kids keep reminding me of the same thing: behavior makes sense when we understand what's underneath it.
Here's what I believe
HOPE
People are not stuck forever. Not kids, not parents, not schools, not teams. Growth is possible when people feel safe, seen, and understood — and sometimes what someone needs most isn't someone to fix them, but someone who refuses to give up on them.
EMPATHY
No one does something for no reason. Behavior makes a lot more sense when we stop asking "what's wrong with them?" and start asking "what's going on here?" Empathy doesn't mean lowering expectations — it means understanding the need underneath the behavior before we react to it.
PLAY
Play is not extra. It's how kids learn, connect, heal, and explore the world around them. Curiosity changes people, humor opens doors, and the best environments don't just manage behavior — they make people feel alive enough to engage.
CONNECTION
Trust changes everything. Kids grow best inside safe, connected relationships — and honestly, adults do too. Trust is built in small moments: feeling heard, feeling safe, feeling like someone is with you instead of against you.
“He has a great sense of humor and the ability to break down complex topics — such as brain science — into practical, easy-to-understand concepts that caregivers can use to help understand and regulate children's behavior. I have never met anyone more passionate about children's mental health advocacy.”
— Cindy Raymond
Program Director
Scotty County, VA Head Start
When I’m not speaking or working with kids…
There’s a good chance I’m:
hanging out with Stark, my German Shepherd
reading
playing board games
training as a professional wrestler or helping newer wrestlers develop their skills
sitting at a piano or playing guitar
wandering around Costco for absolutely no reason
I also genuinely love building things that help people — workshops, books, resources, videos, activities, trainings, whatever form it needs to take.
At the end of the day, I care a lot about helping people feel a little less alone in the incredibly hard and incredibly meaningful work of raising, teaching, and supporting kids.
And I’ll probably keep spending the rest of my life trying to help people understand one simple thing:
Bad kids don’t exist.
Read enough?
Stu would love to hear about your event.