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Transcript

Big Names in Naming: The Andrea Carla Michaels Episode

"I just want everything to have a nice name."

I talk with Andrea about:

  • Her confidence that dating Italian men made her qualified to tackle her first naming project: an Italian men’s clothing line

  • How a story about her on NPR’s All Things Considered led to the foundation of her making a solid career out of naming

  • Why it’s so important to like your own name

  • Neil deGrasse Tyson telling her how electricity works when she was naming a lighting product (his wisdom, however infinite, didn’t lead to any big naming insights…)

  • Developing a name that was both a palindrome and an ambigram* for the world’s fastest backward talker

  • Why she hates the name Honda Fit

Plus, we play “Guess What We Do Here?” and Andrea has to wonder aloud what they do at Rent the Chicken, Pipedream, Phoode, and HiBnB.

*Neither of us could remember what these were called during the show, but rest assured, the name came to me immediately after the show ended, and now I can look smart by telling you here.

About Andrea Carla Michaels

Andrea Carla Michaels is a Harvard University-educated namer of companies and products at ACME Naming, a NY Times crossword puzzle constructor, and tournament Scrabble player. A stand-up comic, back in the day, she contents herself with a little story-telling now and then. Highlight of her life was winning a motorhome on "Wheel of Fortune."

Big Names in Naming is a Naming for Everyone podcast.

For more naming resources, live and self-guided classes, and a weekly newsletter, visit namingforeveryone.com. And if you're a major brand in need of naming help, you can work directly with Caitlin's studio, Wild Geese Studio. wildgeesestudio.com.

Naming for Everyone
Big Names in Naming: A Naming for Everyone podcast
You name it, they named it. Big Names in Naming is the show where expert namer Caitlin Barrett interviews other namers to go beyond the “What’s in a name?” headlines, and unearth what it really takes to make a living making names. Plus, we play a little game at the end.