A career built around one enduring question:
What do words make possible?
For more than three decades, Todd has studied how language shapes learning, leadership, and change. He helps people and organizations prepare the language, protect the space, and make better decisions—so what's possible becomes real.
The work has changed.
The question has not.
From my early days as a clinician to my years in university teaching, from organizational leadership to coaching, writing, and research, the settings have changed but the core question has remained the same:
​
How can we use language to help people participate more fully in the lives, relationships, and communities that matter to them?
​
That question continues to guide everything I do.
FOUR CHAPTERS
Four chapters, one evolving body of work.
01
02
03
Clinician &
Professor
Leader &
Builder
04
Coach, Author & Speaker
Researcher &
The Language Project
For more than 30 years, I've worked as a speech-language pathologist, clinical supervisor, and professor, with a focus on hearing loss, early intervention, listening and spoken language, and meaningful communication across the lifespan.
I served as Executive Director & CEO of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing and later co-founded the 3C Digital Media Network, experiences that deepened my understanding of leadership, systems, and the opportunities and challenges of creating sustainable change.
Through Sunburst Coaching & Consulting, I work with individuals, businesses, and organizations to build practical, research-informed tools like Micro-Scripts and the SOS Model so people can navigate real moments with greater clarity and confidence.
I'm developing The Language Project to explore how language, context, and response shape human participation in families, schools, organizations, and society — and how we can use evidence to design more human and sustainable ways of working together.
WHY CHOOSE US
Why Sunburst
After a cancer diagnosis, a period of loss and transition, and the end of a business I helped build, I found myself at a crossroads. What followed was a season of reflection, rebuilding, and a deeper sense of purpose.
​
Sunburst Coaching & Consulting, LLC. brings together all of my experience — clinical, academic, leadership, research, and life — into a single mission: to help people and organizations use language to create healthier, more human, and more hopeful futures.
When we change the language, we change what we notice. When we change what we notice, we change what is possible.
— K. Todd Houston, Ph.D.
WHAT I BELIEVE
Words shapes what happens next.
Intentional language creates better outcomes.
People thrive when they feel seen & heard.
Connection is a performance multiplier.
Leaders set the language. Culture follows.
Small shifts in words create big shifts in results.
Change is human.
Compassion and clarity move us forward.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Intentional Language & Micro-Scripts
Practical language tools for difficult moments and meaningful change.
Burnout Prevention
& Well-Being
Sustainable strategies that support resilience and performance.
Leadership
Development
Building leaders who communicate clearly and lead with confidence.
Speaking
& Training
Engaging, research informed keynotes, and workshops that stick.
Teams & Cultural
Alignment
Creating shared language systems that strengthen teams and organizations.
Research &
The Language Project
Advancing the science and practice of language and human performance.
IMPACT IN ACTION
30+
years serving individuals,
families, & organizations
Professor
University of Akron — Educating
& mentoring future professionals
Global
Workshops & collaborations
across the U.S. & around the world
