Personal Branding & the Advent of Maren Kate

The other day my Dad asked me why I didn’t use my last name anymore, he said that I used to hate my middle name and now it’s if I adopted it to replace my last name. Is it because I harbor a resentment towards the fam? Is it because I’m trying to be a rebel… no and nope.

If that doesn't scare you away I don't know what will

My fam is rad, my mom is the best she cooks, takes care of my whole family and runs her awesome wine and food blog at the same time. My dad is great, he has taught me a lot of my business ‘savvy’ and is open minded enough to start a blog on his passion which is commercial real estate (yes those were both shameless plugs for my parent’s blog but darn it, they rock).

The reason I use Maren Kate in all my social media accounts and business dealings is because it is way more ‘brandable’. When I started out in business for myself I realized fast that I needed to create a ‘persona’ to survive. Granted my persona is pretty much just who I am in real life except that behind my blog I’m quieter and shy in front of new people, but every time I do business or blog, or interact online I assume my ‘Maren Kate’ persona vs. Maren Kate Donovan for a variety of reasons.

Shedding the Past & Personal Branding

Maren Kate Donovan was a MAJOR nerd, now this is not supposed to be a sob story (whimper) but I was seriously a uber dork up until I was 18 (and even beyond). I was teased in school but fortunately was so nerdy and always had my head in the clouds that I barely noticed. In retrospect I cringe when I realize how painfully awkward I was. So Maren Donovan grew up an nerdy child and then became an awkward young woman who experienced her first AWFUL kiss at 18 and had a prom date who wouldn’t dance with her.

Then I went to college and things got slightly better, but instead of the great fun experiences I should have had I stayed locked in a 2 year relationship with someone who couldn’t have been wrong(Er?) for me and totally devastated my self worth, instead leaving me with a variety of trust issues (i know, i know, i’m being emo). It wasn’t until I started bartending at 22 that I began to grow a little more bold and find my footing in the world. It seems strange since I bartended at a Dive in Reno, Nevada but serving Buds to scum bags really helped me grow.

After school was done for good I worked at a few more bars while passionately eating up every book on business I could find … I finally had the guts and ability to start working for myself full time and started an eBay business which did me good for a bit, but soon I wanted bigger and better and that is when Oracle Launch began. The day I formed my LLC and started this blog Maren Kate was born… at the time I didn’t think of it as ‘personal branding’ but in reality it was the best personal branding I could have.

Escaping the 9 to 5: Become Who You Want to Be!

The reason I am so happy with the adaptation of my “new” name which is just my first + my middle name is because I feel like a different person when I am not saddled with the name I have so long associated with nerdiness, awkwardness and more or less a ‘loser’ I know this isn’t PC but it is how I’ve felt before.

So I want you to think, if you really are going to escape the 9 to 5, what are you escaping it for?? Who do you want to become and who do you want to leave behind? Have you been John Doe for 40 years and so far you haven’t done even a few things you’ve wanted to in life? If this sounds like you then it is time to get the heck out of dodge, escape the rat race and begin your journey into entrepreneurship and personal branding. You can do it, anyone can. All you need to develop a personal brand is, well, a person Luckily if you are reading this you probably are one!

Maren Kate is Still an Inner Nerd

But luckily now I’ve grown enough that I have accepted most of my inner nerdiness and even let some of it show from time to time But my ‘persona’ by personal brand developed to pursue my entrepreneurial desires and life goals can still be whatever I want to be. It is amazing, liberating and awesome to feel as if you are truly free. And from the moment I said “World, I am not going to run in your rat race EVER again nor can you make me” I’ve lived on the high of personal freedom. Even when times have been tough and I’ve laid in bed crying because I worried my biz was going under and I’d have zero dollars I could think “this is 100x better than the best day at a traditional job” and that is what it is all about. So sorry if this rambled, hopefully I didn’t lose like 100 readers on this one… (see there I go again, I am letting my old, un-confident side sneak back in). Nevermind, I am glad I rambled, even if this means anything to one of you its worth it

Cheers & please keep pursuing your best self because it is just around that next corner!