One Identity Crisis After Another
Since getting out of the food business in January of 2008, I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out what I wanted to do for the next phase of my career. I applied half-heartedly for a few positions, but I never really embarked on a focused job search since I didn’t have a clear picture of what I wanted. In the course of figuring this out, I had plenty of time to think about how deeply our personal identities are tied to what we do for a living.
Whenever we meet someone for the first time, one of the very first questions we ask is what do you do? It may be shallow to form our impressions on the basis of a job title, but it’s something we can digest more easily than what really matters about a person. When was the last time someone you just met asked about the sum of your experiences and beliefs that make you the person that you are?
At various times, I had been able to tell people that I was a student, a soldier, a sales executive, a corporate VP, or a small business owner. This information didn’t necessarily tell people anything meaningful about who I was, but it allowed them to form a critical first impression. For the first time in my life, I found myself unable to answer the most basic question about myself. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up isn’t a very good answer when you’re 47 years old.
I began blogging during this period of uncertainty to keep myself occupied, and to put in writing a number of thoughts and ideas that had been bouncing around in my head for years. I found the writing process therapeutic, but I also became fascinated with the underlying mechanics of the website. As I became more proficient at customizing WordPress themes, people began to approach me for advice, and eventually with freelance projects. I discovered quite by accident what I wanted to do for the next phase of my career.
I’ve always had an interest in design & architecture, but the fact that I can’t draw a straight line prevented me from pursuing either of these fields in my youth. I did study graphic design and typography as part of my graduate degree in Printing Technology, but that was in the pre-Mac days when drawing was still an essential skill. For the first time in my life I’ve got tools at my disposal that allow me to turn my visions into reality.
I’ve kept myself fairly busy with freelance assignments lately, and now I’m facing a new identity crisis. As I attempt to turn a part-time business into a full-time career, I’m struggling with how to create a new professional identity that will allow me to promote my work more effectively. While this site is an interesting demonstration of my ability to customize WordPress themes, it’s not necessarily the first thing I want prospective clients to see. It might be the only place on the internet where you can discuss religion, national health care policy and barbequed ribs, but it’s probably not a great idea to throw business into the mix.
Back in the old days, creating an identity for a small business was a relatively simple matter. You came up with a catchy name, created a logo, and printed up some business cards and letterheads. If someone in another part of the country or the world operated a business with the same name, it usually wasn’t a big deal. The internet has changed that, and creating an identity today is a much more difficult process. This is particularly true for businesses that promote themselves on the web.
Coming up with a catchy name is the easy part. I’ve come up with hundreds of them over the past few months. The problem lies in finding a name that is also available as a domain. It doesn’t do you any good to come up with a great name if someone else has already registered yourgreatname.com. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve gotten out of bed in the middle of the night lately to check the availability of a domain name. No matter how great or original my idea may seem at the time, someone else has already thought of it.
For the time being, I’m like the cobbler whose children have no shoes. Until I can come up with a great idea for a name that someone else hasn’t already registered, I can’t turn that name into a concept, or turn that concept into a website. Without those things, my business won’t seem quite real to me, no matter how busy I stay. At least I don’t have to tell people I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up anymore.
I’m on my fourth career, so I sympathize entirely! Very true that people often “sort” us by our occupation. Wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of asking, ‘What do you do?” we asked, “What’s really important to you?”
Janeson,
At this point I’ve lost track, but I’m on at least my 5th. I’m still the same person, but I like to think that the variety makes me more interesting.
So true about asking people what you “do”. I know I am guilty of my career defining me but I do love what I do — Janeson is right, define what you love – then determine if it can be a career.
The only place I’ve ever visited where the first question was NOT ‘what do you do’ is Savannah GA. There the first thing people ask is ‘what are you drinking?’ ;-) Cheers!
Sue,
I think in Savannah, “what do you do” and and “what are drinking” are pretty much the same thing.
I totally understand your pov here, Chris.
Regarding a domain name, you have way more experience than I do, but I thought I would share my story on how I have started to build my personal brand.
My process was to take a bunch of words that fit what I do and find a contraction that looks like it could be real word if you looked it up. (Customer Experience) Experience + Ideate = Experiate. Voila. Did it just come to me? No. It was more like doodling, throwing words and parts of words on paper until I had about seven or eight of them I liked. Then I told myself I was going to go down the list and the first one available would be it.
The irony thing was that I thought of it in a meeting dicussing the customer experience at retail, and wasn’t paying any attention to the meeting.
I may have gotten a little lucky with the name, but by no means did I want it to dictate exactly who I am and what I do. I didn’t want a domain name that cornered me. (I could easily take the tag line off my site and still relate to shopper marketing insights instead of on a screen.)
When people ask me what I do, I tell them I speak to 100 million people a month. That gets their attention, and it gives me leeway to customize my elevator speech to them, instead of saying, “I work at Best Buy.” Is it who I am? Not really, but it’s certainly catchy and breaks the ice.
I felt strongly that the domain was only a medium for communication, but would not the communication itself. Brands are built by the customers, not the owners.
Hello Chris!
It isn’t often that I read posts where I’ve walked much in the same shoes as the writer. In fact, I believe most would probably do anything but admit they’ve been there….and some are still there. It doesn’t take much to look in the mirror and ask who the person starring back at you is, but It takes great strength to put those vulnerable questions we ask ourselves and put them into writing. High five!
I truly believe that life is a step-by-step process. When we realize this and ACCEPT it, that’s when true growth begin. I’m only one very small step ahead of you, but sometimes I still take a step backwards and question daily if I’m really putting forth my true potential when I bundle together up all my life experiences and knowledge from my past. Shoot, I may never truly define who I am, but I can answer one question if asked, “Are you happy with who you are right now?” The answer is, “Yes.” If I continue to put that question first, then all the other questions that I can’t answer “yes” to don’t bother me as much. So perhahps that’s another question we should consider asking others. Do I have the best business name? Well, I have a hyphen in it when I don’t want one…..but it’s as close as I could get….for now. Will I get the name I want without the hyphen? I sure as heck am going to try! One more stop to that final goal (that could possibly change next year….).
You see, both of us suffer from the same thing – we have many talents. Like Paul, I didn’t want to find a domain name that would “corner me” or prohibit me from being creative and branching out with anything new or different. I too have gotten up in the wee hours of the morning with a great name idea only to find .com was taken, then slide back into bed hoping to wake up the next night at 2:30 in the morning again with another one. Not! But that seems to be the best time my brain slows down enough to actually think. (I inherited this from my dad.)
I had a little different strategy that I put into motion. You desire a name –> concept –> website. I had a concept –> needed a name –> then a website. I’m curious whether altering the order may help you complete your goal? I’ll bet you have a concept of what you want to do–it appears that a path has been laid out for you and you are following it (trust in the fact that you ARE being directed). It sounds like Paul did something similar to what I did too. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down all the words of things I knew I can successfully do–and enjoy doing. From that list I spent many weeks figuring out how to combine those words, skills and talents together (God knows we have to be diversified in today’s economy!) so I could be diversified but have a specific goal (concept). That was the most difficult step. Goal? How do I set one goal when I enjoy doing a hundred diferent things?
From that list of skills, I grabbed the words that defined them (name)…..thus came the name Final Touch Designs. Not a real “catchy” name; it doesn’t define exactly what I do (and want to do), but offers the flexibility and freedom to take my talents and skills into a different direction if a different path is laid out for me. The end result, less frustrations, less rushing to find answers that just aren’t there…yet, and more time to relax and enjoy the here and now.
So my question for the Cobbler is this, “Are your children happy”? If so, let them run around barefoot for awhile longer. As long as we are intact mentally and emotionally (yes, that means we can even be very warped), then everything else WILL fall into place. As long as we also continue to re-evaluate ourselves and our goals, we will continue to keep moving forward and not let ourselves, our lives, or our businesses become stagnent and boring.
That’s my answer and I’m stickin’ with it…..
Cathy