Does a rose by any other name really smell as sweet? Absolutely!

“Richárde is the feminized form of Richard, my fake name I used on the side whenever I met substitute teachers, ordered carryout or did anything where I could jokingly shock people that this little girl in front of them had such a masculine name. I started using it as a mononymic stage name, pen name and chef name during 2011 shortly before my second cookbook’s release.”

“Originally, I used the pen name ‘Krystle Russin’ for my teenage journalism work, school and people who didn’t know me well. Imagine it as sort of what you say when ordering a pizza or making a doctor’s appointment! I always preferred ‘Nicole,’ and whenever I asked people to call me by ‘Krystle Nicole,’ they always dropped off the end, so I pretty much gave up. I had one identity for school and one outside school. It certainly made it easier to screen my phone calls. ‘Hi, is Krystle there?’ ‘No.’ CLICK! Just kidding.”