GRATITUDE

Sincerest thanks to everyone who bought, reviewed, recommended, and gave me feedback on the first edition of this book. The second edition wouldn’t exist without you.

I owe my deepest gratitude to my awesome mother, Joan Casale. Mom, I hit the genetic jackpot of creativity because of you. Thank you for supporting every risk I have ever taken and for being my best role model, biggest cheerleader, unwavering supporter, and loyal friend. You have been a tremendous part of this book, now through two editions! I appreciate your insightful ideas, creative contributions, and eagle-eyed proofreading. I loved that I could hand you the manuscript in person this time. As Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.” I am lucky to have you as my mom, and I am proud to be your daughter. Last, thanks for giving me the awesome name of Alexandra, 40 years before it became popular.

Dad, I am blessed to have your good genes too. I inherited your business acumen and wish you could be here to share in my successes. Thank you for inspiring me to be a fearless traveler and for accompanying me in spirit on so many journeys around the world. You are forever in my heart and everywhere in the world I travel.

Endless love to Glenn Millar. Without you I wouldn’t wake up every day with a smile on my face and a surfboard fence and tiki bar in my backyard. I cherish the life we are building together. Thank you for your endless patience while I toiled over the second edition of this book, making it a priority over everything else. You are a mensch. I promise not to put you through this again for at least five years.

I’m grateful to everyone who contributed stories, anecdotes, and examples to Awesome 2.0. Special thanks to Adam Grant. You are the epitome of a giver. Thank you for letting me inspire readers with your Make-A-Wish study. Sue Lerch, you will always be the Fairy Godmother of Wishes. Hugs across the miles to you. Nir Eyal, I wish Indistractable had been published before I started writing this book—I would have finished it much sooner. John Bator, every time you send me a domain name, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Thank you for the many you have sent me. Tim Ash, you are hilarious. Your Baby Is Ugly is the best keynote title ever. I wish our worlds had collided sooner. Patrick Schwerdtfeger, I may forget how to spell your last name, but I will always remember BookPatrick.com. Thanks for leading by example.

My editor, Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, thank you for pushing me to write a book and leaving me alone when I was writing the second one except that one time when you said, “What kind of editor would I be if I didn’t terrorize my authors once in a while?” I appreciate that you let me extend my deadline to take caternity leave.

I am thrilled with my super-sharp copyeditor, Mike “Hawkeye” Mollett, and David Peattie from BookMatters. You made my manuscript sparkle.

I could not have written a book and simultaneously kept Eat My Words running without a talented team. I am eternally grateful to my longtime creative director and second banana, Gina Sorrell, who deftly juggled most of our projects while I focused on the book. Gina Colada, you have made my life a piece of cake since 2006. I am so lucky to have you at the helm. I cherish our friendship as much as your talent and tenacity. I always have your back.

Major props to my superstar name pros: Ryan “Darth Namer” Parks, Caroline Leavitt, Jesse Pyeatte, Stevie (the most awesome name ever for a girl) Belchak, Jen Passios, Laura Casimiro, Alan Dillingham, Nick Cammarata, Emily Smith, and Kaiti Millard, your creative contributions are sincerely appreciated.

Janice Pappas, I never imagined that a groovy Greek goddess and whip-smart SAT math tutor would be not only an ace namer and book editor but also someone who could bring even more fun and fireworks to the party at Eat My Words. (And that you would want to make a pilgrimage with me to Kansas see the world’s largest hairball!) It’s like I clicked my heels together and you appeared with a flying squirrel monkey.

Zack Jordan, you are a tremendous asset to Eat My Words and I love your energy, enthusiasm and endless ideas.

Judy McElroy and Carrie Ybarra, thank you for taking so much off my plate and being such a joy to work with.

Mark Levy, my brother from another mother, your masterful advice on how to dial up my writing is priceless. (Well, not really priceless since I pay you a small fortune to spill all of your secrets, but you know what I’m saying. Just sayin’.) Thank you for teaching me how to make every sentence shine. I value your friendship as much as your expertise.

Steve Piersanti, Kristen Franz, Katie Sheehan, Neal Maillet, David Marshall, Anna Leinberger, Edward Wade, and everyone I’ve had the pleasure of working with at Berrett-Koehler Publishers, thank you for caring about my book. I am proud to be a BK author and part of the author community you’ve created.

Grace Ellen Miller, thank you for finding me and suggesting to Jeevan that I might be a good author for Berrett-Koehler. Without you there would be no book. You will forever be my Amazing Grace.

Book marketing pro Becky Robinson and your team at Weaving Influence, thanks for being such strong supporters and promoters of this book from the day we met at the Berrett-Koehler Marketing Workshop.

Dan and Chip Heath, thank you for inspiring the SMILE & SCRATCH test and being supportive of Eat My Words since the beginning.

High-fives to my fellow naming professionals who have freely shared their knowledge with me: Anthony Shore, Steve Manning, Mark Gunnion, Nancy Friedman, Phil Davis, Steve Cecil, Deborah Schatten, Amy Sherman, and Fred Schwartz.

Leila Banijamali, Lara Pearson, Steve Price, and Angela Wilcox, thank for your expert trademark advice.

Stan Slap, you raise the bar to the moon. In the best way possible. I am grateful for your advice, friendship, music recommendations, and the candy in your conference room. Miss you madly.

Gretchen Sunderland, thanks for lighting the spark for the second edition and igniting my business for more than a decade. You are my guiding light.

My fellow Berrett-Koehler authors, I am honored to be among you. So many of you have graciously helped me, including Mark Levy (worth mentioning twice), Jennifer Kahnweiler, John Kador, Maren Showkieir, Dick and Emily Axelrod, Bev Kaye, Crystal Kadakia, Sharon Rowe, Jesse Lyn Stoner, Ed Frauenheim, Susan Fowler, Pete Neuwirth, and Marcia Reynolds. Jamie and Mila, you will forever inspire me. Seth Adam “Marriage Isn’t for You” Smith, I am so tickled that years before our worlds collided, you took Kim to Spoon Me, moved her out of the “friend zone,” and married her.

A+ to all of the university professors who have had me speak to your MBA students. Special thanks to Christian Wheeler of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. I love returning year after year.

I am grateful to the strong women who inspire me: Victoria Watkins, Carol Garcia, Veronica “Aunt Vee” Casale, Cindy “Cici” Lee, Kris Bleything, Kari “Badass Barbie” Garber, Kelly Hensley, Marcia Kadanoff, SC Moatii, Nell Merlino, and Robin Wolaner.

Of course, I wouldn’t have a book or a business without the hundreds of clients who have supported Eat My Words and entrusted us to “name your babies” since 2005.

Finally, thank you to everyone who reads this book. You are awesome.