New Chapter, New Name
I named my company ‘Breaking Even Communications’ back in 2008 because my personal finance blog, which I started in 2007, was called Breaking Even. Because of this, I could use one domain for both the ongoing blog and the potential new company that got its first client in January 2008.
Breaking Even was a handy name for a few reasons:
- My last name is impossible to spell. (I had to email someone just last week because I’m speaking at a conference and they spelled my last name wrong in the marketing email. It happens ALL the time.)
- B is among the first letters of the alphabet, meaning Breaking Even was at the top in almost every directory (most are listed alphabetically).
- The social media handles and domain names I wanted were available.
When Ben and Jessica joined the team, we talked about rebranding and had fun exploring new name possibilities. We spent hours in the conference room working with concepts about our tech skills, being in the Northeast, hiking themes, and more.
(I still really like Trail Mix, but alas, Trail Mix Marketing is in Pennsylvania.)
In this process, I learned that just about every word you can think of has a marketing company (or even just a well-known company) associated with it. In a now hilarious moment during this period, while going through different vocabulary lists, I got excited about ‘delta’ from a geology list. Deltas branch out, and I love that they elude to a source and expansion. I even started picturing the logo, only to remember about five minutes into my mental excitement that it was familiar and succinct because it’s an international airline.
Plus, there is a Delta Marketing Group in Vermont.
We all loved ‘Cloudberry’, but after further investigation, we found about four tech companies (one specifically in content marketing in New York State) in the space.
(Aside: if you’ve never had cloudberry jam, order some from Ikea or your favorite Scandinavian business right now – and when it arrives, make yourself a cloudberry milkshake. You won’t regret it. If you live in Sweden, have one in my honor!)
Life had other plans, though. Ben and Jessica have moved on to new opportunities, and while Jane continues in her part-time role (for which I am so grateful), it’s mostly just me now. And that got me thinking.
At the beginning of this story, I didn’t tell you that I bought another domain name in 2008: technicole.net. I always told people I almost named my company TechNicole, but I thought it would be weird as I grew a team.
As it turns out, I still own technicole.net, but when I told my friend about it, she loved Technicole but the .net part of it made the company sound ‘ancient’. As soon as she said it, I realized I agreed. I was looking at cute add-ons for social media handle possibilities like ‘itstechnicole’ and ‘sotechnicole’ when my friend said, ‘What about TechNicole Support?’ And miraculously, the .com and social media handles were available (minus Reddit but you can’t win them all!).
This change feels right. After 17 years, my work has grown beyond marketing into virtual event production, project management, business consulting, and other areas that don’t fit neatly under a communications banner. The new name reflects precisely what clients get when they work with this company: me, my accumulated expertise, and a skilled team I bring in as projects require.
I’ve also accepted an exciting full-time position, which means TechNicole Support will be more selective about the projects we take on. This isn’t a step back – it’s a chance to focus on work I genuinely love with clients who value technical marketing expertise combined with hands-on support.
Plus, I love puns. (I mean, who doesn’t?)
So onward and upward, thanks for your continued support!