What’s in a name?
“Let’s do good, be smart and find the funny in all things.”
The business name I chose works for a few reasons. The brainstorm at the beginning of this consulting business journey looked something like this:
GOOD:
We can’t all become a B Corp, or LEED certified, but we can do our best to be good for the people who come to work for us and to the environment that allows our business to thrive.
We choose not to lose sight of the things that make us good (our ideals, our values, how we treat people) and turn that good into a vehicle that actually lifts people up and allows them to grow and succeed.
SMART:
Data Driven
Experience Based
Will do the research for you
Thinks creatively and quick on feet to offer solutions
FUNNY:
The importance of finding the joy and humor in all situations. Is it worth all of this work if we’re not having fun?
I’ve had this company name tucked away in the pocket of my brain for quite some time. The entrepreneurial itch has been with me for ages, and each time I imagined a side hustle, this is what it would be called. Good Smart Funny. So when things went pear-shaped this year and the reality of starting my own LLC took shape, the name was not something I had to stew on. I knew what I would call my business. It’s based on the most successful marketing campaign I have ever launched: My chemistry.com dating profile.
I’ll start over. In my late 20s (2009-ish), single in San Francisco, I built a profile on chemistry.com. Essentially, you make a profile page, answer a somewhat detailed personality quiz and then chemistry matches you with presumably compatible individuals. This page leads with a headline…the grab. It then has sections for your photos and little blurbs you write about yourself that can act as a basic intro and conversation starter. So, my headline: Good girl. Smart girl. Funny girl. I based it off of some obscure lyrics I always liked from a Bare Naked Ladies track circa 1992. I uploaded a couple of photos and professed my love of things like writing letters, dining in restaurants and goat cheese. (my version of “long walks on the beach”) One day I was matched with a blue-eyed accountant. His headline: Professional Bean Counter. We exchanged a couple of notes within the site and he ended his with, “by the way…is your headline from that Bare Naked Ladies song? If so, that’s cool.” He knew the song?!? And he thought my obscure reference to it was cool?!? We’ve been together for 10 years. Married for 6.