Since college, I’ve always operated under some “name”. I attended a well-known program of a well-known university, then worked at a series of recognizable companies, one your mom would recognize and some your venture capitalist would recognize.

A “name” or two get your foot in the door at many places. However, at some point, you can stop. An over-attachment to the “name”, the pull of the “prestige magnet”, gets you schlumped. You find yourself trying to justify yourself “not like other girls” on the subway post-midnight (la madrugada).

From the more rigorous perspective, optimizing for the “name” necessarily trades off other meaningful attributes. If I can put aside some of the “name”, I can make more room for dating, or hanging out with friends, or building a good coffee experience.

With comfort from my stability and faith in my capability, I was able to let go of the “name” enough to decline my most recent batch of job offers. Untethered again, I’ll try to tether myself to a job that’ll make room for what I want right now, even at the cost of the “name”.