That Time We Almost Changed Our Name

A couple of years ago, Robert and I came surprisingly close to changing our company name.

It wasn't because people couldn't pronounce it, although plenty of them couldn't. It wasn't because they couldn't spell it either, even though there are probably more vowels packed into "Enablers" than necessary.

The real reason was more personal.

I had convinced myself our name communicated the wrong thing.

In my mind, an enabler was someone who helped bring other people's ideas to life. It sounded like we were the executors, not the thinkers. The support act instead of the strategy. As our business matured, that started to bother me. I wanted a name that sounded more authoritative, more corporate, more like the kinds of agencies people expected to see.

So Robert and I did what every business owner eventually does. We started brainstorming replacements.

On paper, the new names looked great. They sounded polished and professional. They also sounded remarkably similar to dozens of other agencies we'd come across over the years. Nothing about them felt wrong, but nothing about them felt memorable either.

At some point in the conversation, Robert challenged the assumption we had built the entire exercise around.

"What if we're defining the word wrong?"

That question stopped us in our tracks.

The more we talked about it, the more obvious it became that an idea enabler isn't someone who stands on the sidelines. An idea enabler is the person who takes a rough thought and helps turn it into reality. They bring clarity when everything feels tangled. They create a strategy when there's only potential. They remove obstacles, build momentum, and help transform an idea into something tangible.

We just looked at each other.

That's exactly what we do.

People don't come to us because they need someone to make things look prettier. They come to us because they're too close to what they've built. They know they're good at what they do, but they struggle to communicate why someone should choose them. Our job is to uncover what's already there, shape it into something people immediately understand, and help bring it to life.

The name hadn't been holding us back.

Our interpretation of it had.

Looking back, I don't think I really wanted a different name. What I wanted was the confidence to fully own what our existing name actually meant.

I see this happen with business owners all the time.

You assume the thing making you uncomfortable is the thing you need to change. Maybe it's your business name. Maybe it's your niche, your pricing, your personality, or the way you describe what you do. You start looking for a replacement before you've taken the time to understand what you've already built.

Sometimes that's the right move. Brands evolve, and there are good reasons to change direction.

But sometimes you're trying to fix something that isn't broken.

Sometimes you've simply outgrown the insecurity that made you question it in the first place.

We almost became another agency with a safe, polished, forgettable name.

Instead, we stayed Enablers.

Not because it was perfect from day one, but because we finally understood that it described us better than anything else could. We don't just generate ideas. We help people turn ideas into reality, communicate their value with confidence and clarity, and build brands that people remember.

Funny enough, the thing I once worried made us sound smaller turned out to describe our biggest strength.

If you've been questioning part of your brand lately, don't assume it needs replacing. It might just need a new perspective. Sometimes the thing you've been trying to hide is the very thing worth keeping.

If you're not sure which is true for your business, book a Big Think. Together, we'll uncover whether you're looking at a branding problem—or an ownership problem.