“Tycoon”.
What does that word mean to you? Yesterday I was chatting with someone about our company name and the story behind it, and then realized that I haven’t shared how it our name ever came to be. I won’t go into how we launched the company. That’s a story for another time. But I will tell you what the heck ‘tycoon’ means and why it was a natural fit for our branding.
Before I get to the name itself, I feel like I need to preface that story with a bit of context. In late October of 2014, I was driving down Highway 2 on my way to a family commitment in Calgary. I, like most entrepreneurial spirits I imagine, woke up that morning the same way I woke up most mornings. Feeling like something was missing and like I wasn’t meeting my full potential. I wanted to do more, be more, see more, create more, express more, accomplish more, and inspire more.
Each day I found myself starring at two quotes written on sticky notes, taped to my bathroom mirror (not to be too much of a cliche!).
Sticky Note #1. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs
Sticky Note #2. “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” – Farrah Gray
Back to the highway.
En route to Calgary, I kept thinking about the start of my day and how that same feeling I had fallen asleep to the night before and woken up to that morning seemed to be the way I started and ended my days for as long as I could remember. And it might have been more top of mind that particular day in October because of the circumstances that had me travelling to Calgary, but it just so happened to be a critical tipping point.
At one point on the drive, my significant other and I started discussing the idea of new business endeavors. A common topic of discussion for me. A natural transition, we found ourselves talking about company names. Naming exercises, rhyming, acronyms, definitions, name associations – all seemed like a great way to brainstorm. At one point, randomly, my partner yelled out ‘typhoon’, to which I responded in a corrective manner, “I think you mean ‘tycoon’!” I thought it sounded too bold, too assertive, too boisterous. And so we went back to playing our name games.
In Calgary, standing in front of my parents, I asked, “What do you think of when you think of me, my work ethic, and how I tackle projects?”. Their response was quick. “You’re a force to be reckoned with.”
Fast forward. A week went by following my trip and I found myself looking for my horoscope (I’m a leo just in case you were curious!). I’d say I’m not someone who frequently reads horoscopes, nor am I someone who finds much truth in them. But that day my horoscope stated ” … you’ll be a force to be reckoned with leo … “. If that wasn’t a ‘meant to be’ moment or kismet, I don’t know what is!
Remembering back to the drive to Calgary and ‘tycoon’ sticking in my mind, along with the horoscope, and my parent’s response, I looked up the definition of ‘tycoon’.
ty·coon
/tīˈko͞on/
noun
1. a powerful person in business or industry.
synonyms: magnate, mogul, industrialist, businessman, financier, entrepreneur
Who is Eryne Sarabin? Who, or how, would I be in business? How would my business be positioned in the industry and among my peers? Who would we be for our clients? How did we want to be seen? Thinking back to my two sticky notes, I wanted to build my own dreams and live a life I could create. So the answer was simple. I wanted to be a force to be reckoned with, a mogul, an entrepreneur, a leader in the industry, industrious, innovative. I wanted to be a tycoon.
I am ‘Tycoon Event Planning & Promotions’.