What’s in a name? Learn the story behind “Ayla Health”.
If you’ve been following us from The Healthy Eating Hub days, you’ll know that Ayla Health is our new name! And I’ve been asked by a number of people, “Why ‘Ayla’?” So here’s the story.
We’re in the process of building a mobile app, so that our habit building modules and meal planning/food choice tool can be in the palm of your hand. As of November 2023 we’re 70% of the way through development.
Originally, the app was to be built under the brand ‘The Healthy Eating Hub’. And it’s been an online program since 2018.
I’ve been wanting to re-develop my online program into an app for years and am so grateful that I am now living out that dream, thanks to getting an investor in the business in 2022. My investor and I chatted numerous times leading up to their investment about the name. “The Healthy Eating Hub is a long name for an app…”
“Yeah,” I thought, “but I like that name.” However, once we started the design phase, it became very clear to me that the name had to change – I just knew it, deep down in my gut.
I then proceeded to immerse myself in a week long name-finding brainstorm (mostly an obsessed, thesaurus binge) trying to find a short, easy to say word that would encompass everything that I am trying to achieve. No pressure.
My investor suggested naming it after myself but I wasn’t sure about that… a health app named ‘Kate’…? Hmmm…
With all the good health words already taken I was thinking it needed to be a name. Towards the end of the week, with still no solid name locked down I was starting to lose hope. I couldn’t sleep, I was forgetting to eat…
Then… Kellie, the Clinic’s (my other business) receptionist at the time sent me a list of names. Ayla, was on that list with a description of: a Turkish name given to a strong woman.
That was it. I loved it. It wasn’t trademarked or registered in my industry and the URL was available. And so… Ayla Health was born, its brand designed and its app is starting to take shape – I’m currently developing it as we speak! Well, I’m not coding it specifically, a very clever off-shore team is, but it still feels like I’m building it!
So I didn’t name it ‘Kate’, but it is kinda named after me, in that it’s named after the kind of woman I want to be. Strong.
“Ayla” The name has a number of meanings, one of them is: strong oak tree.
Oaktrees are steadfast, long lasting and resilient.
Oakwood is hard, strong and resistant to fungus (woo!).
Ayla’s mission is to teach you to be a strong, confident human, free from the confusion of misinformation, happy and healthy for a lifetime.
