I'm Nicole, but I go by Nikki at work.
If you're someone who knows me personally, that might cause you to chuckle because you probably know how many years I spent resisting that nickname. When I went to college, I used to introduce myself as "Nicole, never Nikki." Just to make sure my preference was clear.
Nikki sounded girlish to me. Capricious. Ditzy, somehow. And that wasn't me.
Fast forward to a couple years ago when I showed up to my new office, disappointed to learn that I was a couple Nicoles too late to have the moniker all to myself. At my new job one of us went by Nic, one had claimed Nico, and the third went by Nicole III. Not Nicole the Third in a royal sense, just Nicole Three, affectionately.
Soon, to my extreme and emphatic displeasure, I found people at work calling me Nicole IV. Shock. Horror. Ugh. I'd spent too many years thwarting off attempts to be called anything other than what I wanted to be called to allow this to happen. So I did what anyone facing an on-the-job impasse would do. I made a pivot. A quick and complete pivot from Nicole IV to Nikki. Nikki@company.com is my email. @Nikki is my instant messenger handle. I'm all-the-way Nikki at work now.
I've grown to love it somehow. Even if it still sounds flighty and unserious when paired with a firm handshake, I get to decide what people think when they hear it. I get to build my reputation. And no matter how many others join the team, I will be singular.