Why are you semi-anonymous (don’t show your face and only give your first name)?
There are several reasons!
1) I work in media so if you knew my last name and connected the dots, my company could appear to be associated with my blog and my viewpoints, which it is not.
2) This blog isn’t about me! My whole goal is that it points you to Christ, His Love and His Church. I’d rather you know His name than mine.
I’m just the vessel for His message, which I feel uniquely called to share through the lens of personal finance.
3) I’m sort of a private person, but I also want to protect the privacy of my family, which I sometimes write about. I feel more comfortable writing and being vulnerable by being semi-anonymous. Maybe that’ll change someday, but for now I like my quasi internet invisibility.
Why aren’t you on social media?
I don’t want the focus to be on my life. I think we can all say comparing ourselves to others on social media usually makes us less happy (not more) and yet, I don’t think people make it easier for each other because they continue to post their “highlight reel”.
I don’t want to promote getting validation externally from followers, fans, or “likes”.
I want to promote feeling validated by your identity as a daughter or son of God.
Sadly, I think social media creates a social hierarchy that doesn’t even exist in God’s eyes. Who cares if you’re verified?!
I can verify right now that you’re infinitely valuable just for existing.
How’d you pick up your blog name?
As I was brainstorming names for the blog, I knew I wanted some alliteration. So I literally googled “money words that start with C.” I found a very long list and just played around with a few. I originally was going to go with “The Catholic Consumer,” but the domain was already taken. Turns out, I’m even happier with Consumer Catholic!