#steemitnamechallenge - I was named my name

I was nominated for the #steemitnamechallenge by the first Steemian I found and followed, @mistermercury (thank you!) HOW DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR STEEMIT NAME?

Here goes my (ended up quite long – fair warning!) answers …. Preview: I didn’t actually choose this name, not really….

I was told: Here are the rules / Aquí están las reglas:

1. Tell us in your post how you chose the current Steemit username you have, the story behind it.

2. Tell us your real name! 

3. If you could change your current Steemit username, which name would you choose and why? If you have a possible usernames list, mention it!

4. Use the tag #steemitnamechallenge  so that I can track all the posts and check them out

5. Nominate 5 people for this challenge

HERE GOES:

ANSWER #1:  So why am I “resumeconfidence” on Steemit? 

It’s actually the name of my business (and I like the way that name came about, so I share that below)

I chose the name before I had really researched much about Steemit. I figured I do that while I waited for account approval (because my experience with joining crypto exchanges like Binance, Gemini, etc. was that it might take WEEKS to be accepted (and it did!)

So initially, I thought this account would simply be somewhere to repurpose my 100’s of blog posts to gain more exposure for my biz (hence, choosing the biz name) 

Well, then I learned through researching more about what Steemit is about what the general feelings are about reposted vs. original content. 

Hrrmph.  So I vacillated for quite a while about whether to really try it out here, or not.  But that, perhaps, is a story for another post – why I decided to jump on in anyway, but with a different intention… 

I  like the story of how and why my BUSINESS came to be named Resume Confidence, so I’ll also share that here.

I think the meaning behind it weaves into how and why I do just about everything I do, including why I ultimately am playing around here in Steemit.

My clients are the ones that named my company Resume Confidence, actually.  I’m a Resume Writer and Interview Coach.  Here's the truth we all know:  Job searching is no fun at all, is it? 

People are freaked out that they are unemployed, or about to be laid off soon…. or want a promotion, but haven’t applied for any sort of job, or interviewed in years, decades, sometimes. Or they’re new grads, or job changers, etc. etc….

Whatever their story, job seekers almost always share a few things in common:  they have job search anxieties of some sort. They are unsure if their resumes are any good, if they have the right skills, or much at all to really offer or grab attention, and/or they stumble, sweating, through every interview they’ve ever had ….

I was just starting out on my own as a resume writer in 2002, after oh so ironically, getting laid off (!) from a government funded job assistance  program run through a community college career center.  My 2nd days on that job was 9/11, and Pres. Bush decided soon after, during the year of highest unemployment in decades, that the country didn’t need funding for job assistance programs (?!) ) 

ANYway, so I took my unemployment checks and moved across country. I also decided to “hang a shingle” and venture out on my own as a resume writer… but what to call myself? I had no idea! (and I’m somewhat embarrassed to say, went by “Resumes by Shannon” for a while – eeks!)

So a business plan savvy friend of mine asked me this, 

“What do your clients tell you about working with you? The work you do for them? What do they like or thank you for? There could be a good name for your business working with that feedback, somehow.”

HMM, okay! Well….

Time and again my clients would say that our work together helped them feel such relief and just so much more relaxed and self-assured in their job search and ability to get a job, in place of the anxiety and uncertainty they had been feeling previously. 

In short, they felt their CONFIDENCE return – in their resumes, their skills, their experience, their interview readiness – and – more confidence, therefore, that a great new job WOULD in fact be coming their way soon! 

And thus the name of my business was born, “Resume Confidence” – helping job seekers resume (reclaim, regain) their confidence in themselves, and their job search!

NOW - this is how I feel like it fits into whatever I do…..

I know (and like) that there are a fair amount of “buck the system”, independent types on Steem (or at least I’m finding them because I’m looking for my people!)  It seems it is a common crypto supporting type in general.  

A lot of people, though, don’t have the energy, the courage, the determination, the freedom (the ‘whatever’) to drop out, say no, not work ‘for the man’. We all have to eat, survive, somehow. 

So many still end up in jobs working for corporations or organizations that are an integral ‘part of The System’. I don’t judge. I get it. I was/am to a degree that person, too.  I like having a roof over my head and am not a trust fund baby. 

But it’s pretty ironic that I help people find jobs, because I’m often that ‘squeaky wheel’ when I am employed in the system somehow; I’m pretty independent, I’m not a “yes woman”. I’ve quit on principle more than once. That sort of thing.

I also recognize that most people spend 8-10 hours a day working. When people are HAPPY at their jobs, I like to think they, and everyone in their sphere of influence are better off (their families, their neighbors, their friends, etc.)  (let alone the positive impact on the ‘collective vibe’ at a more esoteric, energy realm level)

Happy people give back, happy people don’t spread nearly as much fear, anger, harmful energy. Happy people volunteer, they show up for each other. They do good. They do the right thing.

If I, as a Resume Writer, can help people find work they actually enjoy, it’s a small way to contribute to a better, more peaceful world, using this weird talent I fell into by being a job hopper! 

I also have a platform now (albeit pretty small) for promoting ideas that encourage a happier, healthier, more equitable, socially just and responsible workplaces and companies. I like to think (hope) this has SOME positive impact as well – seed planting if nothing else.

I’m a former social worker/teacher type so I believe I also have that empathic, intuitive sense and supportive, understanding vibe and way naturally about me – and that attracts to me the kind of clients that really benefit from that style, and my way of being and thinking about work, and other things, too, usually (vs. some sort of very corporate-y, stiffer, all business/uber “professional” only approach.) My brand of professionalism is also very personable and ‘real’. The right clients dig that and they are a good match for me, too.

I mentioned my business mentor in my first post, "List Logic or Go with the Gut?". She has her clients identify their “super powers” – which she defines as the thread that runs through all that you do that makes you unique and that is of value to those you work with (and often, anyone you encounter).  

My “super power”  is really this ability to see and sense what makes people special, what is unique and even awesome about them, and often that includes their potential  (which is great for encouraging teen runaways that they aren’t, in fact, complete screw ups (my early career path) )  It works really well with job seekers, too.  

      >>>>What's YOUR "super power?"

I also see it in my friends, the cashier at the grocery store, and in the special projects and passions out there in the larger world, too. For example, to me, how those students at Marjorie Stone Douglas High School that survived the Valentine’s Day shooting and are now a FORCE for good in the ‘grown up’ political arena – chills! SUCH good coming from those remarkable souls!

I also have that ‘sense’ about crypto – it can (and hopefully WILL) be such a massive force for GOOD in the world. 

When I heard how it is empowering the unbanked globally, for one small example, taking power away from manipulative, unethical, power hungry corporate finance giants, I felt those chills of HOPE.

See the connection?

I’m all about helping people feel more empowered, and supporting projects at any scale that empower others.

So I guess my Steem name of “resumeconfidence” fits here too – maybe more like a gentle reminder/directive? “Carry on, Steemians, reset to power up!” (or something like that? ) Ha!

ANSWER #2: My “Real Name”? 

Okay – and real quick … I’ll just say this: both first and last names are androgynous, and, both could be either a first or a last name  - and - it took me until my 30’s to realize both of those things (what were my parents thinking?? And HOW did it take me THAT LONG to realize both those things??)

As a side note about names in general, I go by a Sanskrit name on other social media  and in most of my social circles now, but, actually want to change it again! 

What can I say, I’m a multiple personality Gemini sun sign!  We’re all pleased to meet you!

ANSWER #3: What would I change my username to be?  

Not going to add any here; this is long enough! If I go down that fun rabbit hole, I’ll be here another 4 hours…. (Non-biz: treehuggingyogi? GeminiGems? OMiswheretheheartis?) << stopping  here>>!

ANSWER #4: Tag #steemitnamechallenge

Thanks so much to @mistermercury who nominated me, and was the first Steemian I found and followed! He sent this challenge and has posted very helpful and encouraging replies to this total newbie – MUCH appreciated! Hopefully I’m tagging #steemitnamechallenge correctly!

ANSWER #5: Tag 5 people

I only have 10 followers so far so I’m not going to tag 5 people – I don’t really “know” anyone yet, or else I’d play along :)  (Can I add them later? I just don’t know how all this works yet!)