What led me to change my name…
From a young age I had not quite connected with my given name, Penelope, a lovely name indeed. I am certainly not ungrateful for the thought of being a Penelope, I simply didn’t necessarily feel that was for me. I would only use Penelope for professional or identification purposes, with my preferred name being it’s shortened version Penny. And for those who know me, have only ever really known me as Penny.
After closing my Sydney-based agency three years back, a lot has changed in the world that I once knew. I have moved countries, now living permanently in Christchurch New Zealand, which has enabled me to be closer to family for the first time in decades. Along with now working as a specialist consultant, which is a very different position to leading the agency team. These last few years have been both the most challenging, and also some of the best times I’ve had.
As a branding specialist, that’s what I do - create brands for other people and businesses. So how about having to create my own brand? Boldly exploring this new and unfamiliar landscape as a consultant (well, not since starting out in my career as a lone freelancer) has brought up many questions: Who am I? Where can I add value? And quite frankly who cares? The answers are in finding that sweet spot where I can add value to those who care and together we can actually make a difference!
My realisation was that I do actually have my own secret sauce, and that niche is naming. A niche interest which sparked inside my agency almost 10 years ago, when clients would ask for our help in naming - saying - it’s just so bloody hard! We need your help! And you know what I learnt ~ it is bloody hard! Which is what makes it so completely rewarding when we can nail the right name. Fast forward some years later, has seen me digging deep into the process of naming, which for me is both an art and science, which together is where the magic happens.
Ok, so that’s a bit about my journey over the last few years - what about Blake?
There is nothing like a massive change or shift in your life to open up all sorts of questions - and a big one was from my partner who asked… ok so, have you ever thought about what you would want your name to be, if not Penny? And didn’t that shut me up….. lol, as a naming person, I hadn’t even ever thought, well what if, if not….
We often simply move through our lives, or situations accepting that this is how it, or how it has to be. But what if we didn’t simply accept, what if we asked ourselves those questions what else, what if, to possibly change those situations to better ourselves - how empowering!
Like any good naming project, I started with a brief…. What do and don’t I want my name to be? Who am I? What name resonates with me? And how does it make me feel? What impression does that name give to the world about who this person might be?
And the answer to those questions for me is Blake. The name I’ve chosen to give myself, along with my grandmother’s maiden name of Young. And for me it signifies the embodiment of this next stage of my life.
Thanks for sharing your time to read my story, with hopes it may inspire, or at least spark some creative fires for you.
In love and freedom, Blake x