Symbia

Situation

Jodie Rogers Ltd. (JRL) was a small human resources consultancy based in the UK, focused on improving team performance by helping each individual on that team thrive.

In mid 2020, JRL was looking to expand dramatically. They wanted to expand their service offerings from live and in-person to online and evergreen, and expand to a global footprint by hiring facilitators beyond Jodie herself.

To credibly offer thee new services, the team worked with me to find a new name that captured the essence of their company, while expanding beyond Jodie’s own personal identity. Working directly with the founder and her design team, I developed their new name and wrote their launch website.



Creative approach

I developed 500 names across three creative territories:

  • Unlocking human potential

  • “Me and We,” exploring the reciprocal connection between people and teams

  • “Human Consulting,” exploring the tension between Jodie’s friendly, empathetic approach and her deep business expertise

In our first round, I shared 34 real-word metaphors that could tell stories about one or more of these concepts. Some favorites included:

Elephant, speaking to the 'elephant in the room' that JRL addressed, as well as ideas of wisdom, memory, and longevity

Character, speaking to JRL’s storytelling expertise, as well as developing clients into well-developed people

Pepper, a metaphor for the spice of life, bringing pizzazz into the consulting process.

In our second round, we pivoted to more abstract terms, exploring another 37 options with greater flexibility and fewer existing associations.

Symbio, referencing the symbiotic, reciprocal relationship that gives workplaces a duty to help their workers develop

Hyperform, a coinage from “high performance,” but also evoking the ability to transform

Anagram, reinforcing JRL’s storytelling chops and ability to reveal hidden potential

Though all these names held interest, only one ended up on top.


Outcome

The client’s favorite was Symbia.

A coinage from “Symbiotic,” this name spoke easily to the client’s ability to work well with teams, but also the symbiotic relationship between those teams and the people that made them up. Using such a scientific term as a root lent an air of credibility, and ending in “a” rather than “o” nodded to the femininity that the client wanted to convey.

Since relaunching under this name in mid-2021, Symbia has successfully expanded from a one-woman show to a global network spanning five continents.



Want to learn more about my naming process, or talk about something you need named?

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