since i believe the person is me, I didn't say don't tell your story. I said don't put your name out there so prominently. There is a reason for anonymity. My reasoning is THIS:
google can be your friend or your enemy
ditto Yelp
anybody, who has a business, can back me up on this. Word of mouth can aid or harm your business.
As part of Due Diligence, any new customer or client to a business, TYPICALLY WILL GOOGLE YOU. DUH!!!
if what they read are a bunch of posts about "Ain't It Awful" connected to your name,
rather than
successes of your business acumen, you have already shot yourself in the foot.
Think about how you want people, who don't know you to perceive you as a first impression. First Impressions carry a lot more weight than any other meetings or recommendations.
We rent out houses and apartments. If the lawn needs mowing, the house needs cleaning, there are rats or cockroaches running around, it affects making a deal. Furthermore it affects the client's relationship with you.
It doesn't take a genius to say "I want my future clients to perceive me as a winner, who can help them."
Whether we are talking about Jonathan here or anybody, who has their own business, do you really want a new potential client to read about a lot of crap connected with a skanky cult?
or
Do you want them to read about a lot of customer wins and successes?
I would no more put the word "Scientology" in my resume than shoot myself. It's a dumb move.
first impressions make a huge difference. Positive or negative.
I know someone who counsels US representatives in Washington, D.C. He would be the last person to allow a google search finding his name and Scientology together.
One of my children's god parents is a well known psychiatrist. You won't find many, if any, googleable searches that contain his name and the word "Scientology." It is bad for business.
The word Scientology is like the boogie man. Why associate yourself with it? either personally or professionally?
Do you want people to, even for one minute, know you were a part of this insanity BEFORE they get to know you?
[video=youtube;KOZF0ugtnEc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOZF0ugtnEc[/video]
As an exercise, google your name. Do you really want someone checking you out as a potential vendor to read this shit in this thread alone?
One of our children googles her name every day, and gets rid of problems when they are minor, not waiting for them to reach a huge audience. Every day. she has a seven figure income. She doesn't need to be associated with this train wreck called Scientology.