Some of you may already know this but for those of you new around here, I thought I'd share the story of how I came up with my business name.
Red Parka is named after my favourite piece of clothing I ever owned.
People usually assume this is a childhood thing but as you can see from my red parka collage above it's not. I found my red parka by accident, in Myer, a place I hardly ever shop. In actual fact, I was simply walking through this department store because it was a shortcut to where I was headed (cannot remember where that was now!).... I was with a close friend (Lara, if you ever read this I'm so glad you were there to witness my parka moment!) and I spied my red parka hanging on the rack on the other side of the store. It jumped out at me and I thought, I have to have that! I bought it on the spot, despite the fact it was out of my budget and I never impulse buy clothes or even spend very much time or money shopping for clothes.
Red Parka is named after my favourite piece of clothing I ever owned.
People usually assume this is a childhood thing but as you can see from my red parka collage above it's not. I found my red parka by accident, in Myer, a place I hardly ever shop. In actual fact, I was simply walking through this department store because it was a shortcut to where I was headed (cannot remember where that was now!).... I was with a close friend (Lara, if you ever read this I'm so glad you were there to witness my parka moment!) and I spied my red parka hanging on the rack on the other side of the store. It jumped out at me and I thought, I have to have that! I bought it on the spot, despite the fact it was out of my budget and I never impulse buy clothes or even spend very much time or money shopping for clothes.
I still have it, although after years of wearing to death it has faded to more an orange colour now. It also is a pretty tight fit (I've put on weight) and has a few patches, predominantly right on the front when I left it on the back step of a nightclub during my misspent youth and someone butted out a cigarette on it! Can you believe that? The next day I took it to a clever tailor who cut some of the lining out to patch it up.
My red parka has travelled the world with me, been trekking in Asia, worn out to dinner in Paris and gone to the rodeo in America. It's been left in truck stops in the desert, kept me warm during festivals and seen in many a new year over my shoulders. It became my trademark long before I even knew I needed a trademark!
My business went through several name reinventions before I decided on Red Parka. First it was Small Elephant Books (when I was bookbinding), then Loud Music (music event management). Then I became a freelance editor and called my business Redit Editing. Eventually, I knew I needed something new, something uniquely me and something versatile as I kept trying different business ideas. When I came up with Red Parka I knew instantly this was the brand name I'd been subconsciously looking for my whole life!
Red Parka fits me like a glove. It's bold, colourful, playful, cute, simple, memorable and just a little bit retro. It feels right the way none of the other names did. It's me. I am Red Parka.
How did you come up with your business and/or blog name?
Jen x
brilliant Jen!
ReplyDeletetractorgirl came about after we moved out to the farm 20-odd years ago (my formative years were spent in urban and suburban surrounds). I learnt to drive a tractor, & look after it (at a fundamental level, to be sure). I wrote a little sign for myself - "tractorgirl says check the oil & water"; it became my email address while at uni, and it just kinda stuck.
I don't drive the tractor much these days as I usually have kids with me, but I still keep it as a reminder of my steep learning curve about farms. (And it's catchy.)
What a great story! I hadn't heard it before now and your business seems even more unique!
ReplyDeleteLove that collage - your and your red parka have certainly had some fun adventures!
ReplyDeleteI had gotten back from a womans rally in Phoenix and was at work when the chef said he was so glad to see me! He was afraid that he was going to see a headline about a militant baker getting arrested.
ReplyDeleteAnd thus it was born.
I am THE militant baker.
I love that! great story! x
DeleteHey that's a cool story. And an even cooler parka ;)
ReplyDeleteWe've talked about our names, but never why. So awesome! You know my favourite colour is red, but James and I did Red Coat Studio because he's English and I'm from the East Coast in America. Back when our countries were at war... the English would land in America to fight, so a messenger would ride through the first American cities and shout "the Red Coats are coming!" as you can see we have a warped sense of humour haha. x Tamara
ReplyDelete