Naming a new business is no less challenging than naming a newborn baby. As a business owner, you realize the importance of selecting the right name. It is the first and foremost representation of your brand. In today’s digital world, your domain name will be the most publically visible aspect of your business identity. In time, you hope that your business (and domain) name rise from obscurity to become a recognized industry competitor. Through hard work, creativity, and more successes than failures, a company will carve out its unique place in the business landscape.
The importance of choosing your business name and entering it on a registration form is no different than becoming a new parent and placing your child’s name on his/her birth certificate. You might pore over books listing thousands of popular or obscure baby names. After all, your child’s name will influence their life forever. You might seek literary inspiration from the Bible, Shakespeare, great novels or even children’s stories like Peter Pan. Perhaps you turn to famous people and favorite movies—world leaders, presidents, kings, queens, actors, and actresses. Often you turn to family history—honoring past and present relatives by naming the next generation after those that have come before them.
So what influenced our decision to name our new company Bonnie Meadow Publishing? The answer— “all of the above”.
It started with an iconic TV series— The Dick Van Dyke Show. 148 Bonnie Meadow Road, New Rochelle, NY to be exact—where Rob, Laura, and Richie Petrie lived. It turns out that the creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Carl Reiner, had lived at 48 Bonnie Meadow Road. Drawing from his experiences as a TV writer, Carl Reiner set the show on the same street (albeit at a fictitious house number) when he and his family called New Rochelle their home. After 15 Emmy Awards, 150+ episodes over 5 successful seasons, The Dick Van Dyke show became part of American popular culture and earned a place in history as one of the top TV shows of all time.
So how does The Dick Van Dyke Show and the location of the Petrie household translate into naming of our publishing company? My business partner (and wife) was born at 12 Bonnie Meadow Road in New Rochelle. She lived just several doors down from Carl, Estelle, Rob and Annie Reiner. Her sister Myrna went to school with Rob Reiner, Carl’s son, now a famous TV producer, director and actor. So Bonnie Meadow Road was always part of our family’s history.
It also created quite a stir at cocktail parties and social gatherings. On many occasions, when learning that my wife grew up in New Rochelle, a new acquaintance would ask “do you know where Bonnie Meadow Road is?” And their jaws would always drop when she casually replied “I grew up on Bonnie Meadow Road”. And the story of The Dick Van Dyke Show, my wife’s parents, Belle and Milt Davids, and the Reiner family would follow.
So to honor my wife’s parents, the street on which she grew up, that creative epicenter where she first starting crafting stories and characters in her mind before she could even write, and the place where Carl Reiner’s genius gave birth to The Dick van Dyke Show, we humbly call ourselves Bonnie Meadow Publishing.
It is our hope that through hard work, creativity and more success than failures we will earn a place of respect on your bookshelves and in your eReaders in the months and years to come. Please save us a place and stay tuned…
Great story, Brad! Good luck with the new publishing company and give my love to Andi and the rest of the family (including the dog, please). 🙂