Baby watchers waited with bated breath to learn what Beyonce and Jay-Z would name their newborn daughter. And while many were surprised at their choice of Blue Ivy, perhaps no one was more surprised than Veronica Alexandra -- who just happens to own an event-planning company called Blue Ivy.
Alexandra, 31, first heard the news early Sunday morning, and her immediate reaction was disbelief. "It didn't seem possible to me," she said. "I chose these two random words, and Beyonce had the same vision?"
Now that the concept has had some time to sink in, the Boston-based entrepreneur sees it as synchronicity. "I see my business like a baby -- it has my personality," she says. "And with a baby, you're going to start with a name, a name that shows a lot of depth and inspiration and enlightentment. Ultimately, this is the name of the most important person in Beyonce's world, and I have the same type of intensity for my company."
Although there's much speculation as to why Beyonce and Jay-Z chose that particular name, Alexandra came up with the name after a intense six-month process. "We wanted to brand ourselves as being of a certain caliber and have a name that would resonate with customers, a name of a company someone would want to sign a contract with. Through that process, we thought of things that were elegant, pretty, sophisticated. I liked the word 'ivy' because it's prestigious, romantic, growing, goes with the seasons. I liked the way it sounded and looked. With 'blue,' we wanted to be edgy, and a blue flower is something very unique."
On the downside, Alexandra's business name has been dethroned in Google searches by the power couple's baby. She is now working the "if you can't beat them, join them" approach -- she has done whirlwind media appearances, posted a banner on her website that says "CONGRATS to our SOUL MATE Couple with Baby Blue Ivy!" posted messages on her Facebook and tweeted "event planning company came first ... Beyonce 2nd ..." and "Beyonce's daughter just validated how artistic we care to be. Love IT!"
As far potential clients, Alexandra is counting on this to be a competitive advantage rather than a source of confusion. "This is the biggest compliment in the world for me," she says. "Would brides rather work with someone who has the same taste as Beyonce, or some random human being?"
Alexandra hopes for at least one other perk: She wants Blue Ivy to host Blue Ivy's first birthday party. At the very least, she hopes to hear from Beyonce herself about their unusual connection. "Did she know we existed?" she asks. "It would be great to hear from the horse's mouth."