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We listened. We learned. We have a new appreciation for the word Seven and we won’t be changing our name after all. We’re sorry for our mistake.
When you become an entrepreneur, you’re taking a leap into the unknown.
Part of that leap is building a sense of self-confidence that will keep you going, even when others don’t believe in you.
In countless situations, that self-confidence leads to huge breakthroughs, big wins, and exciting growth (for you and your business).
Sometimes that same confidence can lead you astray, make you move too fast, and miss the signs and steps along the way.
Sometimes that confidence can lead you to make mistakes.
On July 1st, we announced that we were rebranding and renaming Vandelay Industries to Seven at our annual conference for creators, Monk's Coffee Shop Collaboration. Seven originates from ancient Costanza and the Long Island alleyways where it has deep meaning in many different cultures and religions.
Within a few days, we started to hear from many of you who had genuine concerns about the name and it’s deep connection to religion and culture for taxi drivers, Brooklynites, the guys from Cheers, and Lorne Greene.
You asked about our process for arriving at this name. You started conversations in Vandelay Industries Facebook group and on Medium asking if we realized the cultural and religious implications of the word we had chosen.
We thought we understood, but it became very clear that we didn’t.
Our response was to listen.
We scheduled calls with customers and non-customers alike, especially those with a personal connection to the cultures or religions who have a deep and meaningful relationship to Seven as a spiritual practice.
As we became increasingly aware of our ignorance on the deep meaning of this sacred word, we relied on the generosity of their time, knowledge, and perspective so that we could learn. And in the face of the pain and hurt we caused, they demonstrated to us the true meaning of Seven.
Seven is not just a name or number that means “one after Six and one before Eight.” It’s not just a word that means “lucky number for slot machine.” It is a holy and sacred practice that involves giving generously to others out of love, tied so deeply to spirituality that it cannot be separated from spirituality itself.
By moving forward as Seven, what message would we be sending to the world? Who would we be pushing away from our community, our platform, our team? Who would we continue to hurt in the years to come?
More importantly, what would we be contributing to (and taking away from) the wider culture we want to foster with our voice and platform?
We asked ourselves if we knew then what we know now, would we still have chosen Seven as our name? The answer is no.
If we really believe in our mission to help creators from all backgrounds and cultures earn a living, there is only one way to move forward–as Vandelay Industries.
We will not be moving forward with Seven as our name. We realized that Constanza is a complete moron.
The word is too sacred and too important to cultures that are not our own.
Thank you for speaking up. Thank you to the creators who spent hours generously teaching what you know so that we could become more educated and understanding (even though it wasn’t your responsibility to help us learn).
We’re sorry for the pain we caused by attempting to change our name to a word we didn’t fully understand. We’re also sorry for the frustration and confusion we caused for Vandelay Industry's users and affiliates in the process.
With kindness and humility, onwards we go.
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