Naming A Salon That Sticks

A salon name is a first impression you cannot take back, and we felt that pressure long before we picked paint colors. We tell the full story of how we finally chose Panache & Company, including the false starts, the “almost” names, and the surprisingly emotional reason the final choice clicked. If you’re building a hair salon brand, opening a new studio, or rebranding your business, this is the kind of behind-the-scenes decision-making most people never talk about. 

We start with hard-won lessons from our past: keeping a purchased salon name, learning what it meant, and discovering how a clever name can backfire when people cannot pronounce it. Then we get practical with the naming process itself, from whiteboard brainstorming to using ChatGPT for business naming. We share the prompts we fed into AI, the names it spit out (including Periwinkle, Bluebird-style tangents, and Calico Jane), and the real filters that matter for hair salon marketing: clarity, tone, memorability, and whether the name fits an upscale but friendly experience. 

The turning point comes when we look back at the first salon where we trained and fell in love with the industry. We talk through checking whether the name still exists, researching nearby competitors, grabbing the domain, and deciding whether it feels like stealing or like paying homage. We also explain why “& Company” matters to us, because the team makes the salon, not one person’s name on the door. 

If you’re stuck naming your salon or any small business, listen for the questions that guided our choice, then share this with a friend who’s building something new. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what name you’re considering and why.

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Transcript

The Naming Problem

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You know, when we first started dreaming about opening our new salon, one of the biggest questions, it wasn't the paint colors or the design, but it was what are we going to call it? I tell you, that is a tough one because a salon's name becomes its identity. It tells a story, it attracts the right clients, and it sets the tone for everything that follows. In this podcast episode, I'm going to take you on that journey of everything we went through just to come up with the name of the salon.

Welcome And The Vibe

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Welcome to All About Hair with Denise. This is where we talk about hair, confidence, and why a good hair day can seriously change your whole mood. It's like hanging out and chatting about life, feeling good, and loving your hair. No pressure, no perfection. So grab your coffee, settle in, and let's talk about loving your hair and yourself a little more.

Contractors And Lease Questions

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Okay, let me fill you in on a couple of things that's happened this week. I did meet with a contractor, another contractor. I'm meeting with three, and then I'm also meeting with some subcontractors. Met with a contractor and he brought all his subconcontractors. So I got to ask all the questions. I was so impressed. I'm gonna be meeting them back at the salon space this week to look at the HVAC system because I believe the HVAC is like 15 years old. And if it is, I really want to say something about it in the lease negotiations, but I'll keep you posted on that.

Past Names And Hard Lessons

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Today's podcast is actually about how did we come up with Panachan Company? And I want to just kind of walk you through the process because, you know, a name is something that's going to be on everything, right? So you kind of have to like it, you kind of have to enjoy it. Let me um go back to my last salon that I had. It was called Xanadu. And I did not come up with that name. I actually bought that salon with the name Xanadu, and it was a two-station salon. It was a cute little salon. And to tell you the truth, I couldn't afford to buy a new sign. So I just kept the name. And the name was part of the, you know, I bought the name when I bought the salon. So I just kept it. And then when I looked it up, Xanadu meant something to the along the lines of it's a place that you don't know very well, but you come to love. And I absolutely loved that. Now, yes, we did rebrand it, but we kept the name. And now, unfortunately, Xanadu is no longer. When I sold it, um, I sold it to a gal who had another salon, and she, I guess, merged the two. And I think she's still using Xanadu's website to direct people to her other website. I don't really know, but you know, I sold it when I sold the salon, so kind of I can't use that name, even though a few people have said, why don't you just use Xanadu since it's no longer there? And I'm like, I can't. I sold the name with it. And plus, I want a fresh start, right? Another one of my salons was called Oz Salon. Oz. Oz Salon. And the reason why it was called that, a couple of things. I created this logo that I loved like years before. And I said, one of these days I'm going to use this logo for something because I just love the look of it. And then also, I'm originally from Kansas. So, you know, the Wizard of Oz, even though the salon had nothing to do with the Wizard of Oz, but it kind of like tied it back to, you know, Kansas, Oz salon. Cute logo. But you would not believe how many people came in to that salon and said, How do you pronounce it? OZ? Is it ounce? Is it Oz? Is it it's just like, are you kidding me? It's Oz. So keep that in mind when you're coming up with a name. People really do need to know how to pronounce it right off the bat.

Brainstorming With ChatGPT

SPEAKER_00 4:10

For this salon, I started thinking a long time ago because I had it in my mind that eventually something was going to happen. And so I started thinking to myself, uh, we're in Williamsburg, Colonial Williamsburg. What could make sense? What kind of sounds good? What kind of goes with that? Oh, and so I went into ChatGPT. And you guys, if you want to use AI, use it. Use it to come up with ideas. I went into ChatGPT and I said, hey, give me some names of historical women from Colonial Williamsburg that were important. And so they came up with a bunch of names, right? And I was going to do two women's names. And let me see if I can find where those are. Okay, I asked Chat GPT, give me a couple of names for historical women in Williamsburg. And this is what I came up with. Well, first I said, help me with some salon names. And I gave it my salon feeling, the space, the colors, the audience, beautiful, believable hair, healthy aging, upscale but not pretentious, friendly in Williamsburg, something that feels confident, fresh starts, beauty without trying too hard, natural sophistication, a place where women can be seen, all these things, right? And originally I wanted the name Periwinkle. I just love that name. But my husband thought it sounded a little too bit whimsical, you know, but the word itself, to me, it's a beautiful color, and it's my favorite color, and it just brings me joy. What chat said, instead of abandoning the periwinkle, and I know I said I was gonna do Williamsburg women, and I'll get to that in a second. Instead of abandoning periwinkle, try elevating it. Chat came up with believable, believable salon. I get it, beautiful, believable hair, but I didn't want the name of my salon to be called believable, even though that would get your attention. What the heck is that? And then it said Periwinkle House, kind of cool, like a destination boutique, comfortable. And then I told her I like bluebirds, so she said something like bluebird, you know, bluebird house, periwinkle and pine, laurel, juniper blue, haven't the color room. These are all things that chat came up with. Willow and blue. And none of those sounded great. Yeah, I I was like, no, I don't think so. Then it said, Well, what about Believable Studio? Believable company. And I just said, you know what, give rid of Believable. It could be the tagline, I don't want it to be the name. And then it started going down this rabbit hole of Bluebird House, Periwinkle House, sticking every kind of blue name, Nico Blue House. And I'm I was like, no, no, no. And you know, if you've worked with ChatGPT, you can go down a rabbit hole in no time. And then I was looking around and I just did Google searches. Uh, what's a different name for color, what's a different name for a woman? And that's when I came up with Calico Jane. I kind of liked Calico Jane. I liked it because it was kind of cute, it was fun to say. And AI, you know, chat said, yeah, it's feminine without being frilly, it has a personality. But my husband and my sister both said it immediately makes you think of cats. And the meaning of it isn't immediately obvious. And then my sister said, kind of reminds her of like a woman shoot-em-up fighter, bank robber in an old Western movie. I'm like, oh my gosh, can't have that. So, you know, so here we are with Calico Jane, Perry Winkle, and then I said, uh, going back around to give me women's names for Williamsburg historical women's names. And I can't find it, so I'm gonna just type it in. It came up with like people in Colonial Williamsburg, business owners, educators, printers, and it came up with Jane Vogue, uh Sarah Pack, Ann Wagner, Lydia Broadnacks, uh Margaret Hunter. Okay, those don't mean anything to the average person, but then it came up with Hunter and James Salon, Rind and Company, Vogue House, Wagner House, Governor's Row, Duke and Grace, Brick and Blue. I kind of like brick and blue, Nicholson House, Capitol House, Merchants Row. And then chat said, Here's another direction you might want to go down is helping women rediscover themselves. Very cool, because that's exactly what we're doing. The Turning Salon, New Leaf Studio, Bloom House, the fifth season. Since it would be my fifth salon, I guess. Grace and Gather and Jane and Blue. Jane is timeless, approachable, intelligent, feminine, and blue is my favorite, you know, periwinkle palette. Jane and Blue. We really, really couldn't decide. These are all great ideas, by the way. If you are trying to find a name for your salon, that's what I would totally do. Go into Chat GPT or Google or whatever AI program you're using now. Just ask it some questions. Say, hey, here's my favorite color. Here's some of the things I love, here's what I think of when I think about hair. This is what I'm trying to achieve. This is where I live. This is the street it's on, all these different things. And just said, can you come up with a name for my salon based on these things and see what it comes up with? You might be amazed, especially if you're stumped. A lot of people go into salon ownership and they already know what they're

What We Refused To Name

SPEAKER_00 10:30

gonna name it. A lot of people name it after themselves. See, I did not want that. I didn't want DK Studios, DK hair design, Denise's studio. No, it's not about me. I'm building a team, I'm building a space where everybody's recognized. It's not me. It's not just me. It's not I didn't want my name in there. So my husband and I, you know, we've been thinking and scratching and whiteboarding out names. And one morning on the way back from the gym, you know, he just asked me, he goes, just start naming some salons you know of. Just over the years, what are some of the names of the salons that you know of, your friends, your salon owner friends, salons you've been in? And so I just started naming. Even thought about the hair spa. The hair spa was my very first salon I owned. And I actually came up with that name from reading a brochure that Biolage was just coming out on the market, and it had a hair spa, which was this thing that had all these like hair treatments in it, and it was this display, and they had these ampules that you break open the glass and you mix together. This was like 1993, four, something like that. And I just loved that. And so that's how we came up with the hair spa. But my friend Amy still owns the hair spa. I can't own another the hair spa when the hair spa still exists, and you know, that just is wrong. But I did then go, well, what about the first salon

The Full Circle Name Choice

SPEAKER_00 12:10

I worked in? And the name of that salon was Panashion Company. That's where I got my training, that's where I assisted, that's where I learned customer service. That's how I learned how to must, you know, do a shampoo correctly, how to cut hair. That was the very start of me loving this industry. And so I looked up Panashion Company and I couldn't find it. I was like, what? I know it's here. I know it's gotta be here. And lo and behold, they closed their doors like a couple of years ago. I think it was 20, well, maybe it was 2021. I'm thinking it was before that though. Oh well. Uh doesn't matter. They don't exist anymore. I think one of the stylists moved to a uh booth rental situation, and she took that just that name with her, or the salon from getting it from Google, the salon space that it was in, because their second location was in Del Mar, right off Del Mar Heights Road in San Diego. And I remember driving by there a few times back that when we were there, because my daughter still lives there. I'm there probably three times a year, and couldn't find the salon. I was like, I know it's here, but couldn't find it. But there was a Sola Suites salon there. And I'm like, is that where it was located? You know, you know how time gets away from you. I couldn't remember. Uh, but it looks like one of the stylists that used to work at Panach and Company now works at that Sola Suites, and she just kept Panash and Company, but it's like Panach and Company in her name. That's it. It's not an LLC, it's not a corporation, it's none of that. So I was like, hmm, can I use this? And so I looked on the East Coast, and you know, there might be one Panache salon like up by DC. So I was like, I think I could do this. So I looked up the domain on GoDaddy, and Panach and Company was available. I was like, oh my gosh. Okay, now how do I feel about this? Did do I feel like I'm stealing a name since I didn't come up with it myself? And my husband said, No, you're paying homage to the very first salon you worked at. It is a full circle moment. It even makes it more impressive because it's going back to where it all started. I mean, it's like the foundation, and you're building upon it. And it says everything I've always wanted to say. You know, it's Panache is like it's got class, it's timeless, it's and company. I've always wanted to use and company. Any anybody who knows me who has worked for me, I've always wanted Xana doing company, but I didn't. Um I don't know why I want that. But I think it's because I really, really believe the team makes the salon success. And so I really want Anne Company, the team part of the name. That's how we decided on Panash and Company. It's full circle, it means a lot. I feel good about it. Then I got, you know, on the computer and came up with a logo that I really liked and some colors that I really liked. And there we have it. That's the story.

Naming Tips And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 15:35

I mean, it did take us like three months to come up with the name, you know, and decide on a name that my husband and I could really agree on. But once we came to that conclusion, it was just like, yeah, this sounds right. This is right. This is what it's gonna be. Hopefully that helps you in some shape. If you're stuck with coming up with a name or coming up with anything, I say give Chat GPT a try. Just put in there what your brainstorm every idea and say, come up with something out of these things. And you might be surprised. So thanks for still spending your time with me. Um, it's an honor that you're sitting here listening to me. I really, really appreciate it. Next week, we're going to be talking about what the empty space looks like, what it feels like to walk in there, what kind of dreams we have for it. I hope you stick around for that. I hope to see you here next week. And if you want to see this in motion, go over to my YouTube channel. You can see everything behind this conversation. This is just kind of like a diary of the YouTube videos that I put out. Appreciate you being here. Until next week, remember, when you know better, you do better.