1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,360 Welcome to the GuiltTrips 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 --> 00:00:35,000 tune in on these topics and get golden. One of my favorite questions to get is, what was 5 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:43,360 your first real job in jewelry? And I have two answers for that. Depends on what your 6 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:51,800 definition of real is. Back in the 90s, fresh out of college, I worked part time at a franchise 7 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:59,720 jewelry chain called Illusions. Illusions find jewelry to be specific. The basis of that 8 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:08,360 company was doing replica jewels that were recognizable in high caliber synthetics and 9 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:15,720 a proprietary alloy that could be sized and polished like real gold, but didn't have a 10 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:22,800 carriage to it. It was just illusion metal or whatever they decided to call what that material 11 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:31,320 was. While it did get me in front of rings and repairs and necklaces and pendants, greeting 12 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:37,560 customers and wrapping gifts at holiday time, that's not what I consider the big, fat, 13 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:46,400 real gig for my career. It felt serious when I got myself a newspaper and turned to the 14 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:54,400 classified ads for jobs and who was hiring and found Seeking Jewelry Salesperson Slash 15 00:01:54,400 --> 00:02:02,720 Designer. Then you would send a copy of your resume in the mail to the designated mailbox 16 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:10,760 or PO box if they had shared their actual one. It was here that I learned the art of 17 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:17,240 most pillars that we all have in common as beginners and veterans in this beautiful career 18 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:25,320 and industry. My interview consisted of going over my resume, which pretty much was mostly 19 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:33,160 college achievements plus Illusions Find Jewelry, which was part time because the other days 20 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:41,000 of the week were spent working in a dental office where I had access to the lab to work 21 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:49,040 on my own pieces, which were far from professional and high end, but still were helping me build 22 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:56,160 traction. After we had our conversation in the office, he brought me to the counter, 23 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:05,680 pulled out one of his rings and said, draw this. With a fair number of illustration, 24 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:14,480 life drawing, sketching, painting, or studio art classes under my belt from my degree, 25 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:21,680 it wasn't that challenging. But for the owner, he realized that he had somebody who could 26 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:28,680 be his hands while he was busy explaining and elaborating upon his ideas for any sort 27 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:39,000 of custom work. And so I got hired. In this episode, I'll be covering selling, being a 28 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:52,000 courier, designing, repairs, colored gems, appraisals, and my best and worst moments 29 00:03:52,000 --> 00:04:01,920 at this jumping off opportunity. The beauty of being a beginner in jewelry is that you 30 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:09,000 really don't have context or comparison. And selling doesn't quite seem to present itself 31 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:15,960 as an art form when you're first getting started. You would think the obvious. Someone comes 32 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:26,680 in, you say hello, they either reveal what they're looking for, or you ask a few questions, 33 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:34,000 have a conversation, show some items, they buy or they leave. It was here at this job, 34 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:41,560 I learned the difference between selling versus clerking. There's so much more to greeting 35 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:48,680 a client when they come in and reading the room, leaning into what their energy is, where 36 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:55,760 their eyes are focusing. If they're alone or have brought somebody, how present or distracted 37 00:04:55,760 --> 00:05:03,680 they seem, and other factors, there's a beauty in the ability to find out the relevant information 38 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:11,080 and to avoid it turning into a bedtime story or a personal tell all. It's important to 39 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:19,080 be respectful of both parties times. The dance of guiding the process so that there is a 40 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:25,880 trust built in your expertise. This is probably the first ring of great importance they're 41 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:32,880 buying. But you've been around important rings nine hours a day times how long you've 42 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:41,820 been in your career. And lastly, the moment of obtaining a satisfied client who, depending 43 00:05:41,820 --> 00:05:50,640 on their nature, will refer you, return and be a repeat, write an excellent review, possibly 44 00:05:50,640 --> 00:06:02,400 bring in a future generation. As a courier, it's a game of great responsibility while 45 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:12,780 trying to be unassuming. The protocol and process of carrying high value, retrieving 46 00:06:12,780 --> 00:06:21,420 necessary goods and gems, and returning anything unsold to the parties that have loaned it 47 00:06:21,420 --> 00:06:29,600 to you. Playing the part of the messenger or courier can be one of the most nerve wracking 48 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:38,320 and then most enjoyable duties in the ecosystem of creating for our clients. When my favorite 49 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:45,120 stories to share and to illustrate how green I was when I first got started is that I was 50 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:52,220 asked at some point, tomorrow, you're going to be a courier, you're going to take $40,000 51 00:06:52,220 --> 00:06:59,500 worth of diamonds downtown, back to the diamond houses. I need you to pick up these rings 52 00:06:59,500 --> 00:07:06,940 from the engraver and also bring back a couple chain samples for Mrs. So-and-So. He told 53 00:07:06,940 --> 00:07:17,260 me, I need you to look discreet. The next day I showed up in my painter's smock, complete 54 00:07:17,260 --> 00:07:23,100 with splashes of color from everything I was currently using on a canvas, and my flannel 55 00:07:23,100 --> 00:07:29,280 pajama bottoms. He was normally an unflappable kind of person, but he took one look at me 56 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:37,200 and said, I said, look discreet, not homeless. We had a good laugh about that for years to 57 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:48,500 come. One of the reasons I was hired was so that he could build out his custom work service. 58 00:07:48,500 --> 00:07:54,500 And there is something to be said because it doesn't just develop you as an asset in 59 00:07:54,500 --> 00:08:02,100 the jewelry world, but it refines who you are as a listener and a communicator. There's 60 00:08:02,100 --> 00:08:10,260 something potent about deeply hearing somebody's half-baked, fully formed, off the wall, or 61 00:08:10,260 --> 00:08:17,100 crystal clear ideas to enter into a creative collaboration with a client that maybe you've 62 00:08:17,100 --> 00:08:29,040 only known for an hour, and the art of taking absolutely nothing and turning it into something 63 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:38,100 to pull together parts into a whole that is a one-of-a-kind, not only resulting in the 64 00:08:38,100 --> 00:08:50,780 piece that they're going to wear, but an experience that they can share as many times 65 00:08:50,780 --> 00:08:51,780 as they desire. 66 00:08:51,780 --> 00:08:54,380 Repairs is not something that you're going to learn overnight. Whether you're on the 67 00:08:54,380 --> 00:09:01,740 bench as a goldsmith or behind the counter as a salesperson, it is going to take more 68 00:09:01,740 --> 00:09:09,840 cases than you could possibly imagine to get confident in assessing and addressing how to 69 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:16,340 fix broken jewelry. And even after a decade, there's always the one that might make you 70 00:09:16,340 --> 00:09:23,380 scratch your head and need to get second or third opinions from your colleagues or your 71 00:09:23,380 --> 00:09:30,260 contractors. Sometimes it's very simple to know when it can and can't be fixed. Many 72 00:09:30,260 --> 00:09:38,540 opportunities are straightforward. A busted chain, the broken prong, the ring that is 73 00:09:38,540 --> 00:09:46,180 bent out of round, a missing stone, but others are less oblique and need to be approached 74 00:09:46,180 --> 00:09:53,820 with more of a restorative thinking. Sometimes it can be fixed by a single jeweler. Other 75 00:09:53,820 --> 00:10:03,780 times it requires layers and a team. As much as I find sizing a ring very therapeutic, 76 00:10:03,780 --> 00:10:11,740 where I really get sparked is going through the talent in my mind when it comes time to 77 00:10:11,740 --> 00:10:19,740 rebuild a vintage ring. Will I need the engraver? Do we cut out a half shank and put fresh metal 78 00:10:19,740 --> 00:10:27,780 in there? Are there any techniques that could be compromised under the heat of the torch? 79 00:10:27,780 --> 00:10:35,220 Is this replacement stone truly a match for its era and period? Or are we changing the 80 00:10:35,220 --> 00:10:42,420 integrity and modernizing it in a way that doesn't really suit its original design? If 81 00:10:42,420 --> 00:10:51,980 nothing else repairs as frustrating as they can be, they're never boring. 82 00:10:51,980 --> 00:10:58,580 The next thing that I learned at my first job was the world of colored gems. Sure, you 83 00:10:58,580 --> 00:11:03,660 grew up knowing what your birthstone was, or maybe you took a few trips to the crystal 84 00:11:03,660 --> 00:11:11,300 shop and had a dozen or so that were familiar to you. But to really begin to immerse yourself 85 00:11:11,300 --> 00:11:20,700 in the craft of other wholesalers and see through their eyes into niches and nuances 86 00:11:20,700 --> 00:11:27,700 is like being in a dream. We had one particular gentleman who was a very unassuming midwestern 87 00:11:27,700 --> 00:11:36,700 man named Dennis, and he was one of the country's most sought after Australian opal importers. 88 00:11:36,700 --> 00:11:42,180 We threw a beautiful trunk show for him from his last trip, which he only took twice a 89 00:11:42,180 --> 00:11:51,580 year. The party was incredibly well attended. It was paired with Australian wines. And these 90 00:11:51,580 --> 00:11:58,180 were gems that were rarely allowed to leave the country unless you were willing to visit 91 00:11:58,180 --> 00:12:06,420 Australia. I had never seen such play of colors or varieties of opal in my life. And to this 92 00:12:06,420 --> 00:12:13,340 day, 30 years after that moment, I haven't seen anything that compares to what he brought 93 00:12:13,340 --> 00:12:22,100 back from his travels. Other vendors who would come through town would introduce me to jewels 94 00:12:22,100 --> 00:12:28,340 that I would not have come across in commercial designs. I was pretty young when I learned 95 00:12:28,340 --> 00:12:39,620 things as unusual as savorite garnet, chrome dioxide, tansnite, appetite, and other beauties. 96 00:12:39,620 --> 00:12:49,140 It only enhanced the mind of myself and the owner as designers. 97 00:12:49,140 --> 00:12:54,540 Using a completely different part of my brain would be necessary for conducting appraisal 98 00:12:54,540 --> 00:13:02,340 work. I had yet to go to the GIA and become a true gemologist, but I did have a diamond's 99 00:13:02,340 --> 00:13:08,060 certification under my belt. And since the majority of what we were working with was 100 00:13:08,060 --> 00:13:16,300 bridal when it wasn't being designed from scratch, meant getting good at the instruments, 101 00:13:16,300 --> 00:13:27,140 tools, and vocabulary for insurance purposes. Having to hone in on correct millimeters, 102 00:13:27,140 --> 00:13:33,700 proper weight estimations, and being able to write accurate descriptions of an object 103 00:13:33,700 --> 00:13:42,340 in my hand so that a benefits examiner could recreate it in their mind and compensate the 104 00:13:42,340 --> 00:13:50,220 loss or damage within the parameters of a policy was very useful for the future of my 105 00:13:50,220 --> 00:13:57,980 career once I got on the workbench. Knowledge is power and it's amazing how many different 106 00:13:57,980 --> 00:14:09,900 aspects of the industry you can find yourself in when working in a single jewelry store. 107 00:14:09,900 --> 00:14:17,860 And now it's time for my best and worst moments. Surprisingly, they were both facilitated by 108 00:14:17,860 --> 00:14:26,900 the same manager. Now it comes as no shock that not everyone on a team enjoys working 109 00:14:26,900 --> 00:14:31,860 with each other or gets along perfectly. I happen to be the personality type that can 110 00:14:31,860 --> 00:14:38,460 acknowledge it, shrug, and move on into a professional zone. That it's not so much about 111 00:14:38,460 --> 00:14:46,980 do I like you or dislike you, but can we be a lock and key as far as partnering to get 112 00:14:46,980 --> 00:14:56,060 professional tasks and business needs accomplished? It was a particularly hot day in July and 113 00:14:56,060 --> 00:15:03,200 there was a young man who had been running up and down the street. He had a sweat stain 114 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:09,980 from his neck to his armpits down to his navel on his t shirt. And he kept stopping by the 115 00:15:09,980 --> 00:15:16,060 window and looking in every time he did a lap around the block. It almost seemed as 116 00:15:16,060 --> 00:15:22,540 he was getting more tired that he might want to stop in. The manager took one look at me 117 00:15:22,540 --> 00:15:30,820 and said, if stinky comes in, he's yours. I was fresh out of college and she was twice 118 00:15:30,820 --> 00:15:40,060 my age. So naturally, the authority went to her as far as cherry picking. He came in and 119 00:15:40,060 --> 00:15:46,620 as we got talking, he found out that I was the custom designer. And by then I had won 120 00:15:46,620 --> 00:15:54,660 an award. I found out he was a medical student and he happened to be the largest sale of 121 00:15:54,660 --> 00:16:03,500 the year. And yes, I was on commission. He had a one of a kind three stone ring in platinum 122 00:16:03,500 --> 00:16:16,740 that totaled out just under $60,000 back in 1995. As for the worst, that same manager 123 00:16:16,740 --> 00:16:24,940 was realizing that my accomplishments were contrasting her mistakes. Even though she'd 124 00:16:24,940 --> 00:16:33,860 been there for four years, her learning curve wasn't very steep. Maybe she just didn't care. 125 00:16:33,860 --> 00:16:40,860 Perhaps it was the inability to take ownership of errors and try and do better. But the day 126 00:16:40,860 --> 00:16:48,500 that she called out of spite to tell my clients that their ring was ready for pickup on my 127 00:16:48,500 --> 00:16:56,020 day off when it was 48 hours earlier than a promise delivery, I didn't appreciate her 128 00:16:56,020 --> 00:17:06,620 sabotaging the relationship or playing around with my reputation on my time and our bosses 129 00:17:06,620 --> 00:17:18,740 dollars. I took it as a sign to find greener pastures. Never underestimate the power of 130 00:17:18,740 --> 00:17:27,660 someone above you who overtly or subtly shows you it's time to go. It's time to grow. And 131 00:17:27,660 --> 00:17:35,140 in this case, it was both. 132 00:17:35,140 --> 00:17:38,980 Thank you for listening and learning with me. I would love you to share this project 133 00:17:38,980 --> 00:17:43,420 with people finding rare beauty in today's world and throughout our times. Until the 134 00:17:43,420 --> 00:18:07,420 next episode, keep your own stories sparkling.