The Profound Meaning Behind The 37 Oaks' Name
- Terrand Smith
- Jul 6, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 27, 2023
“Every noble achievement is a dream before it is a reality, just as the oak is an acorn before it is a tree.”
In January of 2016, Terrand Smith, launched her second start-up business, which will eventually be known as 37 Oaks Consulting. But, at that time, in the infancy of this new entrepreneurial venture, she needed a name to get the business going. So, she launched with “T.S. Consulting,” which was taken after her initials.
As the business grew, she knew it was time to think different about the name and the brand. Her inner marketing voice scowled at the idea of branding “T.S. Consulting”, as she needed something more approachable, brand-able, engaging and representative of what she was building.
In spending too much time on this design process, she woke up one day and said “Today is the day that we will pick a name and go with it. I will not go to bed until I have a name”.
On that day, Smith was browsing the internet and found an interesting video of the oldest Oak Tree in the United States. The Angel Oak Tree, located on South Carolina’s largest Island, John’s Island, was the most beautiful tree she’s ever seen.
As she gazed in awe, out of curiosity, she looked up the meaning of an oak tree and found that it symbolizes confidence, strength, resilience and power. She loves nature, trees and the powerful meaning behind it all, so she could envision her company’s name having the name “Oak” in it. But again, her inner marketing voice scowled at only having the word “Oak” as the name. So, she needed to do something to soften the tone and add more definition and meaning.
There is no other way to give more meaning and definition than to make it personal. Terrand was born on March 7th, and therefore the numbers, 3 and 7 have always been special to her. 37 was a way to symbolize
that this entrepreneurial endeavor was 100% her. 100% based on her passion, purpose and responsibility. She has planted this acorn of a business idea; nurtured it; sacrificed for it; cultivated it and weathered storms and changing climates as she has committed to growing it into a confident, resilient and strong oak tree. Not only is she doing this for her business, but she is designing 37 Oaks to support fellow minority, women-owned, small businesses and entrepreneurs to do the same.
37 Oaks’ responsibility is to revitalize & strengthen communities through local commerce. We know the power of local. We know that as soon as minority & women owned, product based businesses get the education and preparation they need to grow strong, the impact on their communities will be colossal. Just as an acorn needs water, soil and light to grow, our neighborhood businesses need our support to help them do the same.
37 Oaks = Local Commerce + Innovation + Economic Development