{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"What Works","title":"SPECIAL: Changing Your Name After 10 Years of Building A Personal Brand With What Works Host Tara McMullin","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":313,"description":"\nWhen I got married 11 years ago, I was depressed, ashamed, and feeling like I had no opportunities left — in the way only a 25-year-old can feel.\nI had always planned to keep my maiden name, which was Seefeldt, but I also planned to be a successful academic with a published work or two under my belt by the time I got married. Instead, I was a grad school drop out working as a retail manager earning less than $30,000 per year.\nWhen I met my husband, I was so depressed that I hadn’t been able to eat solid food in about a week. My weight had plummeted and, instead of a solid size 8 and 145 pounds as I’d been most of my life, I was struggling to keep my size 0 pants on my boney frame. I was a complete mess.\nMarrying my husband — in my tortured mind — seemed like the only solid opportunity I had left.\nOf course, when you’re that depressed and unwell, making the decision to get married is never a good one. You could be marrying the best person on earth, even the best possible match for you, and you’d be in trouble.\nBut marry I did.\nI was pregnant — by choice and plan but, again, after a life-to-that-point of not wanting children — within 3 months.\nWhile pregnant with my daughter, I was put on Zoloft in an attempt to quell the early symptoms of prenatal depression. It worked beautifully. The medication took the edge off and helped me to see new possibilities. I started to feel more in control, more confident, and more capable again.\nThis state of mind helped me make room for starting a small business — the business that has grown into CoCommercial. I started doing things that made me feel like me again — writing, reading, and thinking.\nAt the same time, it became clear that my marriage was just not going to work. It was a rough time and I didn’t handle it very maturely — but eventually, we made the mutual decision to split up.\nThis was a really positive step in the right direction, even if it caused some logistical difficulties initially.\nOne such difficulty was...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/AmfGeDL96-fhMaeOcqmX7TK_eWrvTLco6OJj2QpZtZI/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80NGUx/OWY5ZDg1M2E5MmU3/ZjEwOWVmNDM3MWVh/ZjZlOS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}