So many people remark: “What a cute name, how did you come up with it?”  First & foremost: THANKS!  I hope you enjoy our new Proper Noun as much as protecting your fabulous shoes!

It’s easy to forget what a process finding a great name was, but it ultimately took over a year!

The day I had my big idea – a new design of galoshes (or OVERboots) to protect women’s dress shoes from rain, slush, salt and snow – I immediately began calling them “Gorgeous Galoshes”. I loved that name! …until I spoke to an intellectual property attorney.

Not only would I not be able to trademark “Gorgeous Galoshes”, but competitors would be able to tout “these gorgeous galoshes” or “our gorgeous galoshes” and confuse the consumer.  The easiest names to successfully trademark are “invented” words.  And it was important to me that I be able to secure a URL that was simply: brandname.com.

I also learned the importance of a short, memorable, catchy name.  So, I began brainstorming.

I considered blended words, foreign words… foreign blended words.  I tried to create words that use the ‘k’ or ‘x’ sound, which are said to be the holy grail of brand names (Coke, Kodak, Spanx).

Then, it hit me… an acronym!

Inspired by a friend of my brother, who goes by “Giff” (from George Francis), I thought of creating a word from an acronym.  Finally, I hit on PYSE (initially for “Protect Your Shoes from the Elements, which quickly changed to “Protect Your Shoes Elegantly”) and I thought of the zodiac sign (Pisces), which is a water sign.

I loved that the word “Protect” would distinguish my overboots from normal rain boots and “Elegant” would convey their attractiveness.  But, as stylish as PYSIS are… “Elegant” just didn’t feel right.  I wasn’t designing a ball gown, after all.

I looked through every single word in the “E” section of the dictionary before I solicited the help of my family.  It was my brother and sister-in-law who came up with “In Style”.  PYSIS: Protect Your Shoes In Style! And so it is.

What’s in a name?  Overboots by any other name, would just be… gorgeous galoshes.  🙂

I hope you enjoyed this bit of PYSIS history!

Best,
Cassandra Droogan
Founder & President, PYSIS Inc.

SEE where PYSIS are now being sold

…and check out the Next Great Thing!

Have you witnessed Fabulous Footwear Abuse??  Stood idly by, or even (gasp!) actively participated in the premature destruction of your own stylish stilettos?  We aim to end this grave injustice.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqMpyED_WUk[/youtube]

So, where better for our first TV appearance than our nation’s capital!

Here, our founder, Cassandra Droogan, introduce Laura Evans of Fox 5 DC to PYSIS, as part of Laura’s “Next Great Thing” segment.

Be part of the solution!

We want to wish a big CONGRATS to…

Kellie Mahone

Kellie was the big winner of our raffle and will be receiving her shiny new pair of PYSIS soon!  Thanks to everyone who took part in the raffle – stay tuned for more fun to come.

Hope everyone in the Northeast is prepared for Nemo.  We’re here for your shoes, but most importantly – stay safe!