I Changed My Name: It’s Personal and I Hope You Listen.

I had been a small business consultant for years and was struggling to keep my business afloat after a few years of unavoidable distraction and sadness in my life. I couldn’t figure out why it was so hard to just get back into the game. I mean I did this for like 12 years now, what the hell? So, I started to think about my business, K2J Services, Inc. a small business solutions company. The name was the combined first letters of my son’s first names, it seemed fitting for a post divorce, I’ll show him kinda thing. When I got divorced I was determined to be able to make a living and stay home with my two young children at the time. It served me well for many years, I could afford my home, took vacation every year and enjoyed every minute of the early years with my sons. I led a very simple life. Business was steady, with the majority of project coming through referrals and I was forever grateful for every new contract. Then one of my brothers came out of remission from cancer for what would be his final time with us. My brother Tim was one of my biggest fans, in his mind I may as well have been on the top ten Fortune 500 list. In his final months he spent a lot of time in bed with nothing to do but talk. He would call me consistently to see how life was, talk politics, and money but his favorite topics were always what’s happening in my business and his concerns about his family when he transitions. He was a business owner too so he loved that I was entrepreneurial. There was one problem, while spending hours with him on the phone, listening to the excitement in his voice about my company’s ideas and upcoming projects, I was simply not signing up new clients. The truth is I was so distracted knowing he was leaving, and I knew he was leaving soon, that I wasn’t working at all. I didn’t have the heart to tell him nor did I feel my failing business was his burden. I knew it would devastate him if he ever knew I was literally distracted all day. So I continued to engage in these conversations and charging my credit card to go see him and allowed him to think I was the superstar he needed me to be for this time in his life. In the back of my mind, I figured I would get back to business after I saw him through this last chapter in the physical world and when he past I would be able to focus and honor him with a thriving business he thought I had one day. I couldn’t have been more wrong. A little over a month from Tim’s passing, my step mother died and few months after that my significant other was diagnosed with Lymphoma which lead to a solid 10 months of treatment. By this time my business was non-existent and I needed to get real with my life and finances. I had surrendered to being an employee for my main income and took a few side projects here to keep current. I wasn’t built for the set schedule, don’t think beyond your job mentality or the salary life but I was going to lose everything if I didn’t get my finances back in order at some level. A few years later, I felt focused with no distraction of illness or money and still couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t find any enthusiasm. My significant other is now in good health and supportive of my crazy entrepreneurial spirit and the resurrection of my company, so WTF was the problem? And then that light bulb moment we all wish for, I hate my name! There was NOTHING about the name of my company that made me smile, excited, proud or eager to serve my clients. Could it really be as simple as a name change? It could and it was. When I said K2J Services, Inc it was attached to all the hardship in my life, it started out of divorce and plummeted due to the distraction of death and illness, it reminded me of the fake version of myself I portrayed to give my brother peace I thought he needed. It was attached to everything that was painful instead of the lesson behind the pain. I am a firm believer in the lessons behind everything good and bad, so I gave that some thought. What has all this made me? Immediately I knew, I was fearless that I can handle anything and will always land on my feet. It taught me that the people I love will always come first in my life, it taught my kids that not everyone who gets cancer dies from it, it taught me that I can be on the verge of losing it all and I will always come through for my family and my family will stand by me through anything. It taught me how to manage business during personal tragedy. The reality is, I didn’t have any less time to work, I chose to keep my mind in a state that was unproductive and preoccupied, convincing myself I was somehow serving the sick around me. Perhaps I was intentionally preoccupying myself so I didn’t have to deal or find the energy required to work. I was not serving anyone by not working, by not doing my best and most days I was just waiting to be needed. In fact, my partner would have probably preferred me putting my energy into something other then watching him sit or sleep. He would have enjoyed seeing me productive rather than the tired women I had become, not to mentioned it did us no good financially. Fast forward, bottom line is within days of officially changing my name I also entered into exciting partnership (more details about that in the next post) and everything change, because I am now Dauntless Business Solutions & Coaching, Inc. When I say that, I feel empowered and ready serve. I feel true to myself. I have proven to the mirror that I am unafraid because I can handle it. So, whether it’s your personal name, brand, business or employer, make sure you attach pride and empowerment to it, make sure it fuels you and makes you look forward to a future of abundance, security and freedom.

Joanne McCormick-Nelson

CEO @ Dauntless Business Solutions & Coaching, Inc.

Co-Founder of www.Story-to-success.com

Facebook @StoryToSuccess

Instagram @story.to.success

Focus less on the typos and more on the message :)