Star Fish or Sea Stars?

Libby and Anna woke up late this morning and very hungry.  Anna asked for a cheese omelet and Libby requested her newest favorite "Roasted Toast with Strawberries."

No I haven't reinvented a breakfast dish, I wish I could claim I was that talented. Libby likes to give life her own names and affectionately calls French Toast, "Roasted Toast".  Whole wheat bread soaked in eggs, milk, vanilla, and sugar/cinnamon and then placed on a buttered griddle till its nice and crispy. Good Ole Aunt Jemima from my childhood and fresh strawberries on the side and Libby is happy as a clam.  Plus the combination of the omelet with the roasted toast made my kitchen smell like the Maine Diner on a Sunday Fall morning.  LOVE IT!  What in the world does this have to do with Sea Stars or how can it be remotely connected to business?

Here it is...my good friend Perrin Cothran, Education Director of the Seacoast Science Center brought her little girl over for breakfast, business, and a chance to catch up on girl talk.  The kids played and Perrin and I sat and ate and laughed.  The conversation eventually made its way to Touch Tanks For Kids and the strategic marketing campaign TRG Northeast is putting together on an International Scope.  We began discussing the big vision of how it would all play out in regards to being an educational program to build awareness and help clean up the oceans.  I brought up the story of Star Fish that Mike had told me and the minute I said it I knew I had made the biological blunder of the decade. For those of you who don't know, Star Fish, are now being referred to as "Sea Stars".  I had learned this tasty morsel of a fact at Anna's spring field trip to the Seacoast Science Center.  Our educator had politely asked us to refrain from calling our familiar friends, Star Fish and to refer to them with their new accepted scientific name, Sea Star.

Later on in the day I was poised with the question should someone change their name if a life situation calls for it or should they keep their birth name? Should celebrities keep their birth names or should they adopt a stage name? Why do we as individuals have such a fascination with pet names, pseudonyms, stage names, nicknames, acronyms, and trade names.  As businesses we try to invent and reinvent names so that we may trademark them and somehow claim ownership.  Why? Our creative genius and how we position ourselves, products, and companies has become an industry and for a reason.  People like to stand out as being unique, one step ahead of the curve and when they can make a product, service, or identity their own with a different slant they own it and claim it.  People love to be trend setters and love to plant seeds by nature to see how bigh and far they will grow.  Buisnesses know this and want to cater to the individuals need of standing out and being able to share a compelling story.  By businesses I also mean the entertainment industry - celebrities drop names like Harold Smith to become Jack Black. (not a true statement but you get what I mean) Identity and Labels sell.  Roasted Toast with strawberries sounds much more glamorous to Libby than just plain old French Toast and besides she's the only one in the house currently dining on Roasted Toast.  How eloquent and ahead of her time.