Today is my first wedding anniversary, and a perfect time to reflect on my experiences with my own personal branding over the course of the past year.
When I got married I took my husband’s last name. After a lifetime of establishing myself as Amy Ravit, I am now Amy Korin. In my case, I dropped my given middle name and moved my maiden name to the middle – Amy Beth Ravit became Amy Ravit Korin.
I am now a "K"!
What is a girl to do?
What about my childhood friends, college acquaintances, grad school classmates, colleagues from previous jobs – how will they find me? Will they know who Amy Korin is when I call?
I have often griped that men have it much easier on the personal branding front, since more often it is the woman who changes a name with marriage. But luckily, the same personal branding tips apply to businesses or to people with nicknames.
How I re-positioned my personal brand after walking down the aisle?
Be consistent! I changed all of my public profiles, email signatures and from fields to reflect my new name. With so many online profiles, I hope you are keeping track of where you are registered. I am most active on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, I updated all of them to reflect my new name.
Let people know! While I was out of the office for my wedding and honeymoon, my out of office email and voice mail messages announced that when I returned I would have a new name. I also added a “please note my new name and email address” outgoing message at the the bottom of my email signature, and I issued a “meet the new me” Email blast to my professional contacts, (of course I also included some noteworthy business news in that email as well!)
Don’t forget the to change your name with the proper government institutions – the DMV, Social Security office, passport, etc! Time saving Tip – make extra copies of your marriage certificate for the airlines! You have to submit documentation of your name change to get frequent flier miles since the ticketed passenger name has to match your government issued ID. This was the most annoying part of my identity makeover!
But then I started a business, Amy Ravit Korin is also known as interactiveAmy.
I, Amy Ravit Korin and interactiveAmy are one and the same, but they are also two distinct identities. Confused yet? Me, too!
My business card lists me as Amy Ravit Korin, even though I do not have a hyphenated name. When I introduce myself to someone I do so as Amy Korin, unless its a twitter networking event, then I lead with interactiveAmy.
What facebook vanity URL did I select?
On Friday, facebook began allowing users to select vanity URL’s for profile pages. While I am connected with many business associates on my personal facebook page, I selected Facebook.com/AmyRavitKorin as my vanity URL. Admittedly, I did have buyer’s remorse for the rest of the evening, as interactiveAmy better suited my professional needs.
The workaround?
I created an interactiveAmy facebok Fan Page, so as soon I hit 1000 fans, I will be able to register the interactiveAmy vanity URL with facebook, unless someone beats me to it! Please help me get there before someone else snags my name! (Thanks in advance for becoming a fan of interactiveAmy!)
Needless to say it has been a very exciting year for me, both personally and professionally! I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with you over the years to come!
Are you a newlywed? Are you a business is being rebranded? How did you handle the name switch-a-roo? Any tips for brides to be, or businesses in the midst of corporate name or image overhaul? What is your best advice for building a consistent identity online?
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Nile // Jun 15, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Well, I ended up hyphenating my name. The internet world was easier to get my nickname across. I still have people who call me Nile or Nicole. However, I have had the nickname for over 15 years now… so it is comfortable. I let people choose what to call me by.
Now that I am divorced, I introduce myself as Nile Flores, but on the checks, it is still Nile or Nicole Lipscomb-Flores. (the signature is pretty much similar since it is one scribble reminiscent of a doctor’s chicken scratch siggie…lol. Not my fault. I blame my father, the Physcian Assistant that inspired me to go crazy with my signature.)
Anyway, I pretty much have kept consistent on how I introduce myself. As long as I act the same as usual, those I associate with can call me whatever they like.
2 Leah // Jun 16, 2009 at 10:48 am
I’m pretty sure when I get married, I’m just going to keep my last name. I’ve had it for almost 25 years and I’m attacehd! The problem then becomes…do my kids have a hyphenated name? Or just my husband’s name…and then our last names don’t match? It’s a tough decision.
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