"What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." This romantic quote springs to my mind anytime someone asks me why I named my business Chickadee Events. And while that might be true for flowers, for business names, I think picking the right name is incredibly important. 

I actually went back and forth for months about my business name - and considered using my first name and maiden middle name (even though I've changed it since we got married), and then considered using my name as my business name. I actually even started a blog and was working on a logo for those around this time last year when I was still honing in on what my brand was going to look like. 

But I kept coming back to the idea of incorporating birds in my brand. I've always loved birds, every since I was a little girl, and some of my mom's favorite stories to tell of me where of my parents taking me to the zoo and watching how enamored I was with the ducks and the geese... all the animals that we could see in our own backyard. As a teenager, I fell in love with butterflies - and then had a ton of fun when birds and butterflies started to trend in decor! It's probably a good thing that was when I was in college and had no money to spend on anything, otherwise I'd have massive debt to pay off!

Chickadee Events - Name Meaning

I actually graduated college with a B.S. in Biology and minors in Chemistry and Leadership Studies. I studied abroad in the Galapagos Islands, bird watching with my own hand-made bird guide for the islands. One of my proudest moments was when my ornithology professor asked me what owls were found on the islands, because he honestly wanted to know, and didn't know the answer himself! My love of birds has grown, and I became very close to going back to school to study them. Ultimately, I decided that it wasn't what I was called to do, and I started praying for what the right thing was. From that, Chickadee was born. 

So, once I knew birds had to be a part of my brand, we started with the obvious... blue footed boobies! These are seriously my favorite birds, probably because they make me smile when I see them! They show off their bright blue feet to attract mates, and their dances are so funny! As much as I love these waterbirds, I decided to go with something a little bit more recognized and maybe not so exotic. 

A Blue-footed Booby in the Galapagos

A Blue-footed Booby in the Galapagos

Chickadee stuck because it was cute... friendly, recognizable, and unique. I ultimately decided that I wanted to do something different from my name so I had more options with the business depending on how it grows. And the more I told it to my friends and family, the more it grew on me! It represented me, since everyone who knows me knows my love of birds, and it was quite catchy. 

I did do a little bit of digging to see what I could find about the symbolism of chickadees, since I wanted to know if they had any special meaning I should know about. One site led me to mythology from around the world, citing chickadees as representing truth and knowledge, and being associated with success. I love this because I also am not one to shy away from the truth or to sugar coat things. I say things as I see it, and I always try to tackle the hard questions even when it hurts. 

Chickadees are common around here - I see them all the time. But they never fail to make me smile, and the way they hop around is so adorable. Besides, they even sing their name! Seriously, their song is "chickade-e-e-e." Just listen, you'll never not hear it now. 

All of this combined is the story of Chickadee Events... it didn't have a special start, necessarily - but the name came to me one day and stuck, as if it always should have been Chickadee. It's a piece of my heart and a piece of my world, and it's a way to wrap so many things that I love into one place and into one name. 

So, there it is! That's the story behind the name of Chickadee Events!!