Way back in 2015, at the age of 15, a young lady named Beau Jessup started a business naming Chinese babies.
Yup, you read that right. And no, it’s not a joke.
This is the real thing, and she’s brilliant.
You have to read this and of course, watch the video at the end.
It all started when she was on a business trip with her father, when an associate, Mrs. Wang, asked Jessup for help in naming her three-year-old daughter.
Imagine how she felt at her age.
Naturally, Jessup felt honored.
It was a huge responsibility and so she asked Mrs. Wang to share more details about her hopes for her daughter.
That information would help her pick the most ‘appropriate’ name for the child.
Mrs. Wang then explained to Jessup that even though having a Chinese name is important, an English name is also important, since it makes everyone feel more comfortable.
Especially when they interact with native English-speakers.
Jessup’s mind began to work.
She thought that if Mrs Wang needed this service, then maybe other Chinese parents would need it too.
She gave them the name “Eliza”, after Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady.
It was perfect timing, as China ended their ‘one-child policy’ in 2015.
As a result, childbirth in China rose by 7.9 %, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
Jessup then thought it might be profitable to offer English names for a small fee, so the website ‘Special Name‘ was born.
By the young age of 19, Beau has made more than $500,000 by naming more than 600,000 Chinese babies.
Not a bad gig.
What’s in a name?
It’s an important site as there are Chinese adults who end up with names like “Rolex”, “Goofy” and “Gandalf” before Jessup came around.
You shall not pass!
Back to Mrs. Wang’s daughter, since it was the mother’s description of Eliza that helped Jessup come up with the name.
She took that same concept of giving desired characteristics to find a fitting name for Chinese babies, turning it into an online service, and charging parents around $1 to come up with three suggestions.
Beau then explained that her website uses an algorithm to give parents three name options based on the five characteristics chosen from a list of 12, like intelligent, empathetic, elegant, athletic and honest.
In the end, it is the parents who decide on the name, since all Beau does is give suggestions.
Told you she’s brilliant.
Beau can read, write and speak Chinese after studying the language for seven years in school.
She just borrowed the local equivalent of R30,000 from her father then hired a freelance web developer to build the website.
At the time of her TEDx Talk, Beau had given more than 250,000 babies names thanks to her website.
Today, that number is around 1,443,590, according to the counter at the bottom of her website.
Jessup’s company is now valued in the millions, according to news.com.au.
And to think she only went with her dad on his business trip because it was the holidays.
Watch and listen to Jessup in the video below!
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