When you start a new business, you get to name it. The name will establish your brand and identity. In short, it’s a big decision.
According to Forbes, “Choosing your company’s moniker is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when you start a new business, as it sets the tone for all your future branding initiatives. For better or for worse, your business name helps create a first impression with potential customers and investors, so it’s not a decision that should be taken lightly.”
So, we asked AngeLink Founder Gerry Poirier the following questions…
What motivated you to choose AngeLink as the name of your new crowdfunding platform?
I absolutely wanted to use the word ‘angel’ in our name because I think that the world needs more uplifting. I wanted to use the word angel because it provides hope and inspiration, and a sense of kindness and well-being in every religion. And so I knew I wanted to use that word.
So, we were looking at all sorts of different names that included the word angel. We were sitting, actually with our trademark attorneys at the time, in Washington, D.C. and throwing out different types of names and looking to see what was available.
I think, it was late one evening, we were brainstorming and one of us in the group said ‘How about Angel Link?’ And everybody in the room stopped! We said, ‘We love that one!’
Angel Link seemed to work the best. It has an immediate connection because the word link is vital. You’re linking both a donor and someone in need. And so the name AngeLink seemed to really capture what we were trying to create. We checked and the trademark was available and I filed the trademark that day.
Beautiful! So, is there someone who comes to mind in your life who has been an angel to you?
Oh, yes, definitely. I’d start with my grandmother. She was an angel to pretty much everyone in her life. She was probably the most giving, compassionate person I’ve ever met.
My grandmother would start in June and July to start buying Christmas gifts for the needy families and children in the area where she lived in Maryland. She had a farm there in the country. And so I would go with her, along with my sisters and my brother, we’d start Christmas shopping on the summer sales.
Grandmother had a handwritten list on a little pad of paper. And she had the name of every child, every person, their age, their size, their shoe size, and we would buy clothes for them. We’d get boots, gloves, hats, blankets, sweaters. Every year. For years and years.
So my grandmother always taught me, I think, through those experiences. She taught that how we’re really measured is by what we give and how we live our life. There are certain things that really do matter. So I’d say that’s how it started.
Would you say that a portion of your dream in building AngeLink was to continue the legacy you learned from your Grandmother?
Absolutely. In my own way and on a global scale. The world needs more inspiration. More hope, more kindness and more unity. And I think that, that is the fundamental thing.