What's In a Name

You’re probably wondering where my business name Clark-Kim came from and what it means.  By this point, you would have recognized the Kim part is my name.  The really funny part of this story is that my real name is Kimberlyn, but through unknown circumstances, my birth certificate doesn’t reflect that fact and my family chose to adopt their own version.   Actually, no one can really tell me how this all came to be, so I elected at 18 to adopt my birth certificate spelling: Kimblyn. 

Asterisk

Since I was 18, people meeting me for the first time would ask me how to pronounce my name, or invent some new way to verbalize their version of Kimblyn.  On more than one occasion, people have actually said “Kimberlyn”, which normally elicits an unexpected giggle from me.  More times than I can count, I have added an asterisk to the pronunciation by recounting the history of my name.  I’ve now come to understand that I was devaluing my name, by volunteering to recount its complicated history. 

Choosing

My previous business Kimmyco, fit the needs at that time, but I didn’t see that name following me into my current project and business vision.  Does anyone else struggle to align your vision to a whole name?  It’s one of the biggest struggles for new business owners and proves to be discouraging or energizing.  

Let’s end where we began; where did Clark-Kim come from?  My niece was making a joke.  That’s all it was, a joke and sort of a dig, as I’m a known serial solopreneur. I refinish furniture,  run a crafting business, am a furniture personal shopper, interior decorator, inventor,  Salesforce pro, and overall tech junkie, plus a few more interests to make it slightly more eclectic.  My niece said, “Aunt Kimmy, I’m going to call you Clark Kimmy because you’re like Clark-Kent”.  We laughed, then finished a painting project, and the next morning I woke up with a new business name. I took a few days to ponder it but registered it that same week.  I just knew.   

What’s your business name origin story?  Share on my IG Post "Whats In A Name"