What do you think about when you hear or read the word iNNERSHiP?

iNNERSHiP
iNNERSHiP
Jul 20, 2017 · 4 min read

We often ask this question during workshops. Most people say :

  • Inner strength
  • Inner circle
  • Ownership
  • Leadership
  • Relationship
  • Spaceship
  • Internship
  • Companionship
  • Partnership
  • Entrepreneurship

And we love that there is a little bit of all those words in iNNERSHiP.

The name of our company actually evolved with time. And before being called iNNERSHiP, it was Artisan, for ‘artisan of your own life’. The problem with Artisan though, was that it is a very common word and companies thought we wanted all their employees to start a bakery… !

It has been a long process to define our name and identity. Not so long on paper as we thought about it for 3 months maybe, but it felt very long and frustrating! I remember thinking “Note for the future : this is probably how difficult it can be to name a child so I’d better start now”!. We even considered outsourcing it at some point when we thought we were running in circle but we really wanted it to come from ourselves, and to reflect what we defended and had to offer.

So early 2015, we sat down for 1 day with our designer Benoit Massé, we went through a brainstorming process that we had prepared upfront. I had drafted a questionnaire where we had to name our values, mission, the promise we wanted our company to keep and stick to, what we wanted people to think / not think about when they heard the name of our company etc… We debated, we drew, we prioritized and of course we tested with a panel of companions. Other options we considered for example were : Aim4, Happyfish, Lifequest. But eventually, we came up with “innership”.

We like that innership, like leadership, sounds like a universal word that would work in most languages including French in English which are our main working languages. It represents well the inner strength requiring just a little help and direction to burst. If iNNERSHiP was in the dictionary (and I remember when finding it thinking it would be one day!), a good definition could be :

Action of mobilizing oneself, qualities to take the lead on one’s path with the support of others.

“she demonstrated strong innership all along her onboarding in her new role with the company”

synonymes : we could not find one actually, that is why there had to be one!

plural noun : innerships

Then we came up with the logo among various options. And believe it or not, some companions — who will recognize themselves! — keep on telling me how much they loved the “submarine style logo” we considered. Probably because it refers symbolically to the power of writing. I am therefore delighted to share it with you here :

But we went for simplicity which has always been core to us, and built on the second one to agree on our final logo and colors below :

And if you look closely, you might notice that :

  • it illustrates the person owning a project at the heart to reflect our desire to center it on the individual
  • the person is surrounded by companions helping and who might as well have their own project (red dots on the outside of the logo)
  • it can be a sparkle : everyone has the talent to shine professionally
  • it can also be a snowflake as it started in Montreal during 2013’s winter…

Today, we regularly get great feedback on our name and logo, who ever since, reflected very well :

Our mission > Help individuals take the lead on their professional development

Our values > Performance, Agility, Fulfillment

So I thought I would take the time to share the story, and the process + team work it has been. Hope this will inspire anyone owning a business or being part of one to be proud of their identity as we are!

Caroline@iNNERSHiP

Version française de cet article ici

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See other related articles:

iNNERSHiP — a suite of mobilizing programs

Chief Happiness Officer — the real stakes behind this new role

Follow us and discover more about iNNERSHiP mobilizing programs each week:

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