Don't be afraid to say "Uh-lee-th-eee-uh"

What the heck is an Uh-lee-th-eee-uh? Well, it's a name... It's 'Alethea' spelled out in un-official 'phonetics' and hey, that's ME! For as long as I can remember, my name has been mangled, mis-pronounced, turned and twisted.


I remember back as far as grade school when a substitute teacher would come in the classroom and mispronounce my name upon morning roll call, the entire class would chant 'uh-lee-th-eee-uh' for me, the teacher would blush, then I would blush...

Honestly, it never really bothered me though. It's a difficult name of Greek Orgin, meaning 'truth'. (no I am not Greek) {that is always the next question LOL} Most frequently I am addressed as Althea, sometimes Aletha. When I was in customer service and sales dealing with many customers via phone I was Alicia, Olivia, Alethee and more.


I had so many people ask me 'can I call you Ally?' that I actually did that for a bit. I started spelling it 'Ale' and I was called 'Ale' like the beer. Then I tried 'Ali' and it was like the Boxer... So I then went to 'Ally'.

But it was not 'me'. If someone hollered for 'Ally', I'd not even turn as I knew my name as 'Alethea' and was not programmed to respond to Ally! (which drove people nuts sometimes resulting in a 'HEY BLONDIE'!)

Having a unique name is a bittersweet curse, as a child it can drive you insane. The other kids have trouble spelling it and saying it (as well as adults and teachers) I had all sorts of (ever so 'lovely' nick names none of which I choose to share here) When I got older, I lucked out in Spanish class in High School as everyone had to go with their 'Spanish' name, i.e. Joe was Jose, Mike was Miguel, well, I got to keep Alethea as it is also a Spanish name!


As you get older, this uniqueness tends to stand out in it's own way. For instance I worked in an office with 2 Jennifers. One was called 'Jen' the other 'Jenn'. We also had 2 Chris', one was Chris, the other Christine, both went by Chris. Often when people would call looking for one of them, and did not have a last name, we'd have to hunt down the correct person. Well, when people would call the office looking for me, even if my name was said wrong, they knew it was for me!


When I started web marketing, the uniqueness of my name was a blessing. Google 'Alethea Anderson' or search it in Yahoo and well, you find ME! There is some other Alethea who married some guy in prison, that's not me. There is also one who won some sort of boat race, not me either. And the long distance marathon runner, though I'd like to claim that achievement, not me either! But nearly everything 'Alethea Anderson' on the web is me, myself and I.

This is a very powerful tool when branding yourself across the web! But you know what, I am me, and that is what is most important. The reason I 'brand' myself is because I want people to see 'who' I am. I'm a Mom. I'm a wife. I am just like you. I kiss boo boos, am resident chauffer as well as in house chef. I scoop the cat box and gather dog turds from the back yard. I scrub the toilets and wash the floors. I love to garden and ride ATVs. I'm a sun worshipper and am SO ready for boat weather. I am an SUV Mom who goes on the dirt road on purpose so I can do doughnuts with the kiddo to make her laugh before school. I've been known to whip up breakfast for dinner and have cold pizza for breakfast. I'm wild. I'm sane. I'm insane. I'm normal. I'm human. I be.

One unique thing, other than my wonky name, Alethea, is that I have a home based business. Though I'm not at liberty to hand out names legally I am unable to give you the name 'Alethea', but, if you want a home based business, I can show you how to get started and grow one successfully...

Signing Off, I have branding to do!

Alethea Anderson