EPISODE 170
The Truth About Your Personal Brand & Changing Your Last Name
Microsode
Changing your last name, whether due to marriage or divorce, is an incredibly personal decision that deeply affects how you’re perceived both online and in your career. Your name isn’t just a label—it’s intricately tied to your personal brand and professional image.
When contemplating a change, it’s important to think about where you are in your career, the body of work you’ve built under your current name, and how the different names you’re considering might be perceived.
There are various ways to maintain continuity in your professional identity, such as retaining your maiden name, hyphenating, or integrating your spouse’s last name (or your maiden name) as a middle name. Conversely, if divorce prompts a return to your maiden name, strategies like securing multiple domain names for both your maiden and married names, and updating content to maintain search engine visibility, can facilitate this transition.
Ultimately, the name you select should feel authentically aligned with your personal brand and resonate positively with your professional aspirations.
Quotes
“Your name is such a part of your identity, and certainly is your personal brand.”
“I kept my last name legally. I was 33 when I got married, and just had a lot under my maiden name, right, Rachel Gogos. So I didn’t want to take on a new last name and sort of have to build up that body of work again.”
“There’s a number of ways so you can keep your your last name intact and sort of associated with your first name. And one of them is to take your current, in fact, I have a friend getting married next month, who’s 40 and she’s taking her husband’s last name as her last name and making her current last name, her middle name. So that way if people Google her, you know, that still will come up.”
“Whatever you do, it’s a personal choice. But just think about where you are in your profession, where you are in your stage of life.”
“If you got married at a young age, took on your spouse’s last name, and then find yourself getting divorced, say 20 years later, it’s gonna take time to build up some results and some data and information under your new last name. So, something to consider from the get go.”
“Having gotten married a little bit later in life, I just felt very deeply connected to my last name.”
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