What’s in a name? Why “Allied” Bookkeeping?
As many of you know from personal experience, naming a business isn’t always “a walk in the park.”
I wanted the name of this business to reflect our company brand, business goals and values that matter.
It took me a while to settle on a name. In fact there were two names I dabbled with prior to Allied, but neither really felt right. At last Allied came to me, and I knew that this was “it.” I’ve been asked several times what the significance of the name is, so I thought I’d share here.
First, and most straightforwardly, “Allied” is a play on my name. Some people call me Allie. “Allie” + “D” (my last initial) = “Allied.”
Secondly, I started the business with the intention that the company would be in alignment with and serve as an ally to small business owners. So I liked the intentionality of 'naming' the goals of the company within the name.
Last, but not least…the Allied Forces fought against Nazism, fascism, and “otherism” during World War II. From the perspective of my own family history, both of my parents were born in the United Kingdom within a few years of the end of WWII. My maternal grandfather was not drafted due to physical disabilities he sustained from childhood polio. Otherwise he likely would have been. My paternal grandparents were younger and had just become adults in 1945. They actually met at a V-E day celebration in England - one waving an American flag and the other waving a Russian flag (or so the story goes). I was always drawn to literature about WWII and the holocaust when I was young. Until very recently, I took it for granted that the horrors of Nazism were a settled matter in this country and in most of the world. Unfortunately, I see now that this was naïve. But I like that the name Allied represents the movement that in the 1940s held back Nazism (and the bigotry and "otherism" it exploited). That’s why I also incorporated Allied Forces symbolism a 1940s aesthetic in the Allied logo.
For another reason the 1940s feel close to home for me. I love to dance, and the swing dancing and music of that era has long been a passion of mine - as has the fashion. I’ve attended many 1940s “hangar dances.” Dressing the part is half the fun, and the intergenerational attendance is somewhat unique. The generally magnificent sunsets over the airfield tend to cap the evenings with a bit of splendor. If you’ve never been before, it’s an experience I recommend trying.
But back to the serious matters of democracy, equality, equity, and justice that the Allied Forces fought to advance. Martin Luther King Jr. famously quoted Theodore Parker about the struggle: “…the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Well, it shouldn’t be so long. That’s on on us. “Justice delayed is justice denied.” We should all be allied in the commitment to equity and justice that is long overdue. Black lives matter. Of course they do. We can make that clear every day in the conversations we have (or won’t have), the actions we take, the businesses we support, the activities we chose, the causes we support, the voices we listen to, and the humility we practice.
On that note, United Way of Wisconsin offers a 21-week Equity Challenge that you can read more about below. You can join any time, and the current session runs August 30, 2021 through January 17, 2022:
“United Way fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community. That work calls us to confront challenges and disparities in our communities and state. As demonstrated in the ALICE data and other research, there is evidence that Wisconsin residents face disparities along racial and ethnic lines in each pillar of our work – Health, Education, and Financial Stability, which we recognize as the building blocks for a good quality of life and strong community. We want to understand these disparities and the experience of all our neighbors better so that we can create lasting change that leads to quality lives for all. This Challenge is meant to learn from new and different perspectives, deepen understanding, share ways to take action, and help launch what we hope will be a lifelong commitment to improving equity and inclusion in our state and communities.”