I was asked this question the other day and realized that it comes up so often that I should blog about it.

As I mentioned in past posts, my original intent was to have a strategic alliance with the largest chocolate concern in Oaxaca Mexico. I was going to use their name with USA tacked on the end.  After months of negotiations and requests for contracts I found myself facing what turned out to be an easy choice; accept a contract that gave all the advantages to the Mexican concern or change the name and go it alone.

Every time I introduced my concept to new people I was told I was onto something so the choice seemed clear, change the name and keep going.

I began doing research in Spanish phrases that seemed romantic and cultural, then looked at Mayan and Aztec deities and words and was asking friends, family and strangers on the street for their suggestions.

I have a friend who has a mining business in South/Central America called chAImmaya. In the Quicki dialect chaim means gold; so we get roughly Mayan gold. The Mayans used cacao beans as currency and it was a way of life so that fit.

The Hebrew word for life is ChIAm. So Making it Chiammaya came out to be Mayan life. In Hebrew the "ch" has a guttural "H" sound. Americanizing that I decided that Mayan life and Mayan gold was what we were making here so Chiammaya was where I landed.

I soften the ch a bit and pronounce it Hi -ya - my - ya.

Lechiam! To life.