Branded

I go by many names:  Fletty, Mands, Mandolina, Mandoir, Mandaroo, ‘Chops’ (thanks Jess) and Commando (my first boss still calls me that… don’t ask!).

My real name is Amanda.  Amanda Elise in fact.  (sorry to disappoint my Amanda Jane friends).

When I got my first real job and my first ever business cards – I had them printed with ‘Amanda’.  I thought it sounded so much more mature and professional than ‘Mandy’.  Truth was, I actually felt like a fraud and when re-printed, I changed them back to Mandy.

Names are really just like brands.  They frame your perceptions of a person long before you meet them (or is that just me?). 

Okay here’s some random names.  I challenge you not to think of what the person would be like: Brittney…Deidre… Shazza… Sophia. 

Would Victoria Beckham have been so successful if she had shortened her name to Vicky?

Of course, when you become super successful, you can go by one name alone.  Think Kylie (no, not you Kylie S), Rihanna, Beyonce.

For now, I think I’ll cling to the theory that people with names near the start of the alphabet are usually more successful. 

I might change back to Amanda afterall.