Well, don’t feel bad, you’re not the first one to ask that question. I get asked all the time.
The name actually came from my grandfather, sort of by accident or default. My Grandpa Charlie and his brother Davie started a drapery cleaning business back around the mid-century and they called it ALLBRiGHT 1-800-PAINTING Drapery Cleaning, located in Van Nuys, CA. Side Note: They put the “A.” in front of Allbright so that they would be listed first in the Yellow Pages and all other listings. Now that times have changed and the Yellow Pages isn’t really the “go-to” way of finding a local business in your area, it’s not that important to have the “A.” in front of the name, but we still enjoy always being listed at the top of any trade listing.
When I first started my business, I was 21 years old, living in a small two-bedroom apartment in Granada Hills with my single-parent mom and younger sister (who shared a room). During that time, my grandfather offered me some help and suggested that I use one of his ALLBRiGHT 1-800-PAINTINGcompany phone numbers on my business cards and homemade wooden signs because he had an office staff that could answer the phone more professionally than my little sister or mom would at home.
So I took him up on his generous offer but never intended to call my new business ALLBRiGHT 1-800-PAINTINGWallpaper Hanging & Painting. Still, in my teens, I wanted to come up with a more relevant name to who I was, but I didn’t know what that name should be at the time.
When someone would call the number listed on my new business card (see picture) asking for wallpaper installation, my grandfather or his staff would page me every time I got a call (remember pagers?). Even though I wasn’t a part of his business in any way, I ended up carrying on the family business name because they would answer the phones, “Hello, this is A.Allbright, how can I help you?”
I learned a lot of lessons early on from watching my grandfather and his brother grow a successful business that they eventually sold and retired well from. One of the lessons I learned is to always call customers back right away! My grandfather would call me and give me a strong warning if he ever got a second call from one of my customers that I didn’t call back right away. At age 21, there were many lessons to be learned.
Today, I’m really grateful that I now get to carry on the name A.Allbright. It means so much to me now and it fits exactly who we are. I’m grateful that, at the time, I didn’t know what to call my new company because now ALLBRiGHT 1-800-PAINTING is the best name in the painting business. It speaks of brilliance and happiness and I couldn’t be happier with the name that I proudly stand behind.