The Meaning Behind My Business Name

Amy & Jordan Demos talk about having a "why" behind every decision you make in your business. They say that anyone should be able to ask you about anything on the site or in your business model and you should have an answer.

I'm trying to keep that mind set and it's particularly true with my name.

When I first started, my business name was Image Bearers. I loved that name because it perfectly reflected my heart for this business. I want my photography to build people up and work toward restoring value to humanity. Our value is being stripped away. When God created Adam, He said, "let us make man in our image". We are broken, imperfect reflections of God, but reflections nonetheless.

Then I got Amy & Jordan's business course and they said that your business name needed to have your name in it. The exception would be if you were well established and killing it with a unique name, but otherwise, you have to have your name. I was sad and didn't want to change, but I paid to learn from them and it was a waste if I didn't actually do what they said. So a name change it was. But what to do?

My dilemma comes from the fact that I have a super, super common name. No, it's not Smith or Jones, but it's close. I've never searched my name on Facebook, but I'm guessing there'd be thousands. So I didn't want to use my legal name. Another factor in that decision was that, since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to change my name when I got married. It's all psychological, but there is just something I didn't like in the idea of having my married name in my whole life, EXCEPT in my business. No last name.

I could have used my first and middle names, but it didn't sound good when I would say it out loud. I was thinking of every possibility. Then it hit me - Sarah Jane. My granddad used to call me that on occasion because we have an ancestor with that name. It was perfect; using my name, but not my last name, sounding good together, and it had a personal story (my Granddad died in 2015).

The funny thing? There were more Sarah Jane Photography companies when I Googled that than there were when I Googled my legal name Photography :) Not that it mattered, it was just amusing.

A lot more thought and effort went into my name than you might have guessed. I thought it might be fun for people to read about the process I went through in picking my name and getting to know the "why" behind that aspect of my business.

Would this be something you'd like to see more of? A series of posts on the reason behind different aspects of my business? Let me know in the comments.

Blessings,
Sarah