I have been thinking about this post for awhile now, but have not been sure how to approach it without sounding kind of snobby and that’s not how I want to be – in fact quite the opposite.  I have come to realize that names are important. They are a part of who we are. They are a part of our identity.

Growing up I was Nikki to my family. I was called Nikki by people who were close to me. When people use that name it feels like they care about me.

As a child my family moved … a lot… pretty much every school year. My mother would register me in school as Nicole (since that was my legal name). You have to remember that back then Nicole was a very unusual name and no one was really sure even how to pronounce it. The teachers would struggle with it and kids would tease me about it being a boy’s name (too much like Nicholas). This would happen at every new school so I began to associate the name Nicole with people that didn’t know me very well, that didn’t care about me.

I have grown to really love the name Nicole – hence the name of my business, my Twitter name, my Facebook page, etc. It has the sound of being more professional, more adult, than Nikki. Unfortunately, with that decision, I have come to realize people are calling me Nicole again. Not only people I have just met, but even friends I have known for a long time. Deep down I still get that same feeling of when I was a child and someone called me Nicole – you don’t really know who I am.

All this to say, if you send an email, comment on my blog, tweet me, message me on Facebook, whatever… please feel free to call me Nikki.