1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,360 Welcome to the Gilt Trips podcast. I'm your host, Kendra Lockhart. As a goldsmith and 2 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:17,560 gemologist, I'll be speaking 24 carat on all things jewelry, metals, and gems. Join 3 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:24,080 me plus a few friends to demystify both materials and designs as your private jeweler. Let's 4 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:35,680 tune in on these topics and get golden. Welcome back and in today's episode we're 5 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:44,440 going to discuss the importance and pricelessness of a mentor. If you've 6 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:51,280 listened to some of the earlier episodes then you're aware that it was fate that 7 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,880 led me to my first mentor who did open quite the door for me. Would I have walked 8 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:04,120 through that on my own? Probably. But it was worth everything to have somebody 9 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:15,280 help with that first step. 10 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:24,080 The five areas that I received mentoring in were networking, clientelling, 11 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:32,640 strategy, education, and troubleshooting. None of these was more important than 12 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:39,880 another and they all did come through a variety of people in the industry. The 13 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:45,880 first area I'd like to discuss is networking. It was the tipping point from 14 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:52,840 when I stopped being just a private jeweler and became a house designer or 15 00:01:52,840 --> 00:02:00,760 a featured artist in various boutiques, galleries, and retail establishments. The 16 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:06,040 way that this happened wasn't me necessarily being the jeweler to the 17 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:13,680 person who referred me. It was that I was on their mind as far as a fit and that's 18 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:20,760 the core of networking, matchmaking in a way. I had been working part-time for 19 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:25,840 somebody in the advertising business who had to reach out to a bunch of stores 20 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:31,680 and see if they wanted to place an ad in her magazine accounts. In the last 21 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:36,760 episode I mentioned Ancient Echoes. It was a gallery in the Lincoln Park 22 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:42,720 neighborhood that was female-owned and while she was carrying fine designs 23 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:48,960 there was nobody local who could custom make. I remember being very nervous to 24 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:55,880 go and show my wares as they used to say. I brought a portfolio as far as 25 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:02,960 pictures. I had a small box where I where I somewhat badly organized my pieces. 26 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,360 They were samples of a bunch of different techniques so there was no rhyme or 27 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:13,720 reason. After a few moments of her looking through my images and studying 28 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:19,680 my work she said, where have you been? My nerves got the better of me and I 29 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:26,440 immediately started to explain I had gone to school, downstate, my undergrad is in 30 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:31,360 this, I've done an apprenticeship. She laughed a little and stopped me and said 31 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:39,000 no not like that. Where have you been? You'll be an excellent fit for us. As far 32 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,960 as being the house designer for the silver room originally in Wicker Park 33 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:49,400 and then had moved down to Hyde Park in Chicago it was a friend who was 34 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:53,840 purchasing a lot of pieces from there and said you really got to go check it 35 00:03:53,840 --> 00:04:02,000 out and make an introduction and so I did and mentioned who had sent me. We began 36 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,480 discussing some of the designs that he was carrying. I asked him are you ever 37 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:13,000 interested in modifying some of this or having your own designs and the owner 38 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:19,680 Eric had said that's the next step for me to grow to which I said let's make 39 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:26,120 that happen together and there were some great collaborations and most importantly 40 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:32,320 they had somebody who had a great relationship with an urban magazine so I 41 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:38,920 got some media coverage. With the estate collection we were both working with the 42 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:46,400 same spiritual counselor and at some point Deborah said you know you're a 43 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:52,000 jeweler. My other client is a jewelry store owner. How about I make a call for 44 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:59,000 you and you go stop in and that was an excellent run. I went from being an 45 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:06,200 appraiser to a gold buyer to her repair person and eventually a trainer for her 46 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:11,840 staff so that she could optimize time away from the shop. 47 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:26,040 The next mentor developed me as far as clientelling. It's one thing when you're 48 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,920 minding your own business and you get asked what do you do and a conversation 49 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:37,720 ensues and there's an organic agreement to meet up go over some designs talk 50 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:43,800 out a project. While that can be ideal and maybe even preferred it doesn't 51 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:50,720 always happen that way. It takes having the right conversation and when to 52 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:56,240 present yourself as your profession and I was lucky enough to have the 53 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:02,560 mentorship of a very quiet and introverted engraver. He said there were a 54 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:08,240 couple ways to approach this. Where you're putting yourself, how you're 55 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:15,800 presenting yourself and what you actually do besides the jewelry making. It was at 56 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:20,800 that point that I realized my ideal clients were going to be off the beaten 57 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:29,080 path. I was going to help them voice their love story in their personal rings. 58 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:35,360 That had a lot of appeal to the alternative crowd in Chicago, other 59 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:40,960 professional creatives and people who wanted something besides a cookie cutter 60 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:47,520 engagement ring or wedding band. As fate would have it the people who collaborated 61 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:54,320 the deepest with me on this idea are the ones that are still most happily married 62 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,320 year after year. 63 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:11,400 The next form of mentoring that I received was from a former employer and 64 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:17,880 it was a beautiful relationship as far as growth because I came in as a young 65 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:25,080 20-something with an ability to draw and had made a few projects and he spotted 66 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:33,720 my potential. We covered strategy as far as plotting my career. It was his 67 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:42,120 suggestion to go through a diamonds course. From there getting a certification 68 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:46,840 in diamonds and no it wasn't through the GIA or the Gemological Institute of 69 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:53,640 America yet. It was local, it was a weekend course and it was in person 70 00:07:53,640 --> 00:08:00,800 that was coming through Chicago. If the highest commission was paid on diamond 71 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:07,800 sales then it would make sense that the first tool that I should have in my kit 72 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:16,160 as far as a designer is how to speak diamonds and sell diamonds. The next step 73 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:24,400 was continuing education and refining my drawing abilities into the style of the 74 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:30,760 jewelry industry. So I took a countersketching course and he paid for these. 75 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:35,560 They weren't expensive but he was investing in me and getting me more 76 00:08:35,560 --> 00:08:43,880 robust as an asset for his business and his team. And ever since then that's 77 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:50,200 exactly how I approach the opportunity of learning something new and converting 78 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:56,960 the return on in that investment. He was instrumental in helping me understand how 79 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:06,400 to create educational goals, career goals, sales goals, and design goals. Working 80 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:11,120 there my strategy became incredibly well-rounded which was a mirror 81 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:18,200 reflection of how well-rounded I was becoming as an asset to myself and my 82 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,200 industry. 83 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:37,240 Another mentor came to me in the form of a contractor. While I was working for 84 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:44,360 somebody else this was the one in charge of their repairs so it was a house 85 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:52,880 account and I would go down drop things off pick things up. At some point I had 86 00:09:52,880 --> 00:10:00,400 grown into being able to be the person communicating what to do not just pickups 87 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:08,680 and drop-offs as a courier. Now I was the repair manager. I had the eye I had the 88 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:14,520 vocabulary and I had the experience after a certain point and being able to 89 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:21,040 have conversations with John played into my future. Once I went out on my own I 90 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:28,720 approached him to be my house account. There was a fondness between the two of 91 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:33,680 us both being goldsmiths him in the middle of his career and me at the 92 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:40,600 beginning of mine so that we could sit and quote-unquote talk shop. Sometimes he 93 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:45,040 would show me someone else's project sometimes it would be the discussing of 94 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:55,240 my own design and over time he developed my ability to see what could be done 95 00:10:55,240 --> 00:11:02,600 easily could be done economically and could be done incorrectly. These were 96 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:10,080 important ways to be able to assess a client's request or your own speculative 97 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:17,540 design before you start spending the dollars on the gold and the gems. We 98 00:11:17,540 --> 00:11:25,080 would have conversations at the idea point at the model point at the casting 99 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:30,840 point at the setting point and at the finishing point of several projects and 100 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:38,280 within a couple years I felt like a library of blueprints on what not to do 101 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:46,560 that I didn't have to learn painfully or expensively or the hard way. Some of the 102 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:51,160 things that I learned to do that they didn't teach you in school was the right 103 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:58,600 way to block off heat when you're repairing something with a torch or when 104 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,800 you're trying to set a fancy cut that may chip more easily than a round diamond 105 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:12,320 or the best ways to fuse mixed metals and some of the more interesting tricks 106 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:18,520 like when a drill bit breaks off inside a pearl or what to use when you need to 107 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:32,520 unglue a stone or the best way to blacken or oxidize grooves in a piece. 108 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:40,680 Lastly you need a mentor to help you with troubleshooting. I'm not talking what 109 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:46,600 happens on the bench but those real uh-oh's whether they came from hubris 110 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:53,560 or they came from naivete once you're in the ditch it's hard to get yourself out. 111 00:12:53,560 --> 00:13:00,480 The beauty of the mentor who can help you with troubleshooting is probably going 112 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:08,040 to save you both time and money. Some of the situations that Kirk was most helpful 113 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:14,440 with was the difficult client that you gave an inch to and is now asking for a 114 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:20,640 mile and you just don't have the right script or you're not sure that the next 115 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:27,160 thing you say is going to soothe or exacerbate the tension in the relationship. 116 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:36,440 A mentor who could troubleshoot when I got robbed by my own client it's the 117 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:41,200 mentor who can help you make sure that you've covered your ass or it's the 118 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:48,240 person who can help you get through the red tape the bureaucracy and the legal 119 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:55,320 aspects of doing business filing your taxes properly having the licenses that 120 00:13:55,320 --> 00:14:04,560 you need or don't need depending whether your wholesale or retail. I've been 121 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:13,600 helped with when to leave a relationship with a vendor when to correct a 122 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:21,240 relationship with a vendor and when it's time to have a backup or explore a new 123 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:28,400 person as far as contracting out some of the labor for the projects that fuel my 124 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:34,080 business and my client relationships. I like to think of this type of mentor and 125 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:42,280 as the auditor one who's going to do the pressure test look for the cracks in how 126 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:50,760 I'm conducting business. Help me do that stitch in time to save me nine actual 127 00:14:50,760 --> 00:15:04,040 ones. I hope you find one or many that are just as valuable as the fine master 128 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:08,600 that I've mentioned in today's episode. 129 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:15,720 Thank you for listening and learning with me. I would love you to share this 130 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:19,400 project with people finding rare beauty in today's world and throughout our 131 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:34,720 times. Until the next episode keep your own story sparkling.