Nick and Richard frequently ask the Innovator International community to always remember that they are also entrepreneurs on a journey - it provides that connection and understanding that we are all trying to build something.
Innovator International is a trading name under Geminus Innovation, which started as Geminus Training – but did you ever wonder where that name came from?
Here, Richard explains all.
March 2016 provided me with every single emotion available to any human. I’d just watched the birth of my beautiful twin babies, following an uncomfortable exit from a previous venture, which brought my employment position (and my world) crashing down.
It took me a little time to get over the initial shock, but I knew I needed to get back on my feet and fast. Two beautiful but demanding newborn babies were giving me no room for rest, and I had to see this as a blessing in disguise - a chance to take the business where I thought it should have been going for a long time. But, every stone I turned, the more I found that meant the old company could not continue.
I was sat in front of my computer for 3 hours thinking of names of the new company. I wanted a brand which contributed to the value of the company, so nothing like “Richard Harrison Associates” - that didn’t fit with my vision. I’d combined so many words to capture the essence of Innovation and Training, we’d gone from the cringeworthy to the obscure - Mentorprise, Stratnav, you name it, we went there.
Then my wife made the breaking statement “rather than focusing on what you do, why don't you make it something personal to you”?
My reason for setting up a business is to help my future family have what they need and want in life. So I simply googled “What is latin for twins” - and the word Geminus appeared. I spoke the name out loud to myself - Geminus. Geminus. Geminus Training. It sounded good, I liked it. So I then double checked and googled “What does Geminus mean” and the answer sealed it for me - Twins, Pairing, Partnering, Matching. This captured both something meaningful to me, and what the business was all about - people working together. We were moving forward.
Fate went a lot further too. I received an email out of the blue from a local designer offering work. I looked at her portfolio and I liked it. It was fresh, crisp and modern. We met, and before we knew it we’d developed a close working partnership with Kayleigh and Kiwi Design. It started with our logo which I loved - the flame sits above the letter i like a candle or matchstick and ties in with our streamline - “ignite your imagination”. But Kayleigh went that step further, rotated our icon 90 degrees for use on other material, and it looked fantastic! The corporate colour scheme Kayleigh selected was also superb, and always got mentioned.
We then went on to think about our vision, mission, and values. I knew exactly what I wanted (and didn’t want) from the business so this was relatively easy. Our vision statement was inspired by Nike’s, which I’ve always liked...
I was really impressed with our values - Kayleigh brought them to life by designing a bespoke icon for each, whilst I developed a key statement and explanation for each. The most inspiring to me was Aspiration:
This was the foundation for the birth of Geminus Training - but it was also just the start. Just after setting up, I met Nick – we had worked together in similar circles but never formally. We decided to combine forces, Geminus Training became Geminus Innovation and three years later Innovator International was born.
The rest is history – but the history is only a fraction of what we have planned for the future.
Every cloud has a silver lining - when you develop your business, make sure that it means something to you. Pick a name, logo and values that matter. Live your vision and mission. Enjoy every day.
