BROADCASTS.com

b'When I got married 11 years ago, I was depressed, ashamed, and feeling like I had no opportunities left \\u2014 in the way only a 25-year-old can\\xa0feel.\\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\\u2019t 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\\u2019d 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 \\u2014 in my tortured mind \\u2014 seemed like the only solid opportunity I had left.\\nOf course, when you\\u2019re 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\\u2019d be in trouble.\\nBut marry I did.\\nI was pregnant \\u2014 by choice and plan but, again, after a life-to-that-point of not wanting children \\u2014 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 \\u2014 the business that has grown into\\xa0CoCommercial. I started doing things that made me feel like me again \\u2014 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\\u2019t handle it very maturely \\u2014 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 realizing that I had started to build a brand and a reputation with a name that didn\\u2019t feel like my own \\u2014 Gentile. I considered changing it as we finalized our divorce but going back to Seefeldt seemed like a domain name nightmare and I wasn\\u2019t creative enough come up with something on my own!\\nThat was then. This is\\xa0now.\\nWhen I created my 2018 goal list, I put changing my last name on it \\u2014 along with climbing a V5-graded boulder problem (done), doing 10 unassisted pull-ups (I\\u2019m at 6), running a sub-30-minute 5k (I did 28:18 last month), and hiking the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park (on the schedule).\\nEven if my long-time partner and I weren\\u2019t going to get married, I was going to change my name to\\xa0something\\xa0else.\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nWell, we\\xa0are\\xa0getting married in 2 weeks and, luckily, marriage makes the paperwork a little\\xa0easier.\\nWe toyed with the idea of both of use changing our names but, in the end, I decided on simplicity and doing \\u2014 for the second \\u2014 the decidedly un-modern thing of taking his last name.\\nStarting June 28, I\\u2019ll begin the transition to calling myself Tara McMullin.\\nPersonally, this was an easy decision. Professionally, it causes me\\xa0anxiety.\\nI\\u2019ve spent the last decade building name recognition, credibility, and a reputation as Tara Gentile. I\\u2019ve done podcast interviews, spoken at events, been a featured expert, written books, and been a'