What's in a Name
I spent my whole life despising my name so I still find it hilarious that I ended up naming my business “Hafsa and Co.”
The story behind the name started with a bit of life advice I received from a woman very near and dear to my heart, Lou. I fondly refer to as “Mama B” as she happens to be my best friends mum. Mama B is an incredibly talented graphic designer and has been honing (and mastering) her craft for years. She’s has helped me with so many iterations of logos over the past several years, I’ve lost track. She’s also responsible for the gorgeous Hafsa and Co. logo you see on all of our branding today.
Naming your own business is really freaking hard. I brainstormed for MONTHS and let me tell you, some of the things I came up with are downright laughable. I kept the notebook I wrote my ideas in so I could always look back and read what I wrote. It serves as a reminder that I had the answer all along, I just couldn’t see it at the time. I played with every combination imaginable - a flower and a name, my name and an emotion, an emotion and a flower, a flower and color…the list goes on (literally).
One day I was texting Mama B about how the “name-storming” was going (or not going, should I say) and how I’d yet to come up with something that really stuck. Her reply struck a chord inside of me and to this day I will never forget what she said.
She said, “Look. You make the brand. You pick a name. Then you make it a brand. You aren’t picking a brand first. Call it whatever and show whatever icon you want... then make it a brand. Look at some of the logos out there... look at Apple... who would connect an apple with computers?? Look at Lacoste... an alligator?? Ebay... just funky text. Meaningless. Citi cards... text with a red curve over it... meaningless. The point is... you create something that sounds good to you, is colors you like, is appealing to YOU... then you market the shit out of it so eventually, a long ways down the road, it BECOMES meaningful. Like Facebook... what doest that really mean? We LEARNED what it was. They hammered it home to us. They trained us. Now the can just use the ‘f’ and we know what that means. But you have to MAKE that happen. Not the other way around.”
Drop mic.
I must have read this text 100 times. I am my brand, my brand is me. Simple right? The texts that ensued went something like this:
Mama B - “You could just call is HAFSA”
Me- “Hafsa, hmmm maybe AND something?”
Mama B- “Hafsa and Co. There ya go.”
That, my friends is how we got our name. I share this with you because I remember my struggle SO vividly. I was so worried that because “florals” was no where in our name no one would know what we do but today we’re known for exactly what we do, “Hafsa and Co. uses flowers to help businesses stand out”.
Like so many things in life but I’ve found, especially in business, you just have to START somewhere. If you’re starting a business and facing a similar challenge, take Lou’s advice, I did and I’m thankful for it everyday. Create something that feels good to YOU. There were so many barriers for me starting my business; finances, logistics, confidence… you name it (no pun intended) but in the end it turned out that all that I needed was a name, my name and today I’m SO proud of the BRAND it has become.
xo
Hafsa
P.S. If you’re looking for design/ logo work of any kind, give Lou a shout!