My jewelry career began in my family’s jewelry store, Hart Jewelers in St. Louis, MO which was founded in 1947. It was a way to help my family. I was a finance major earning my way into the family store. I was tasked with an assignment of studying the business financials. My Dad would always jokingly tell me that he sent me to college to get out of the jewelry business.
I had a passion for the jewelry business early on. Unfortunately, after reviewing all of the financials, there were a number of red flags. Because this began as a college assignment, I received an A on the paper. Dad wasn’t as impressed. He was aware of many of these issues but it was a family business with family issues to consider. The store was doing a million dollars a year in the 70’s all the way until the 80’s. We were forced to liquidate the inventory in 6 weeks.
After the liquidation event, the economy had worsened and my dad ended up losing everything.
This very personal experience is the primary source for my passion in my career: Helping independent jewelers achieve solid, sustainable growth and always looking at the numbers to understand ROI.
I have finally found a home with Gems One. Family values that aligned with my family’s values of always putting the client 1st and giving me the tools and opportunity to help the independent retail jeweler to grow, instead of just selling them jewelry.
After experiences as a sales representative at leading jewelry manufacturers like Town and Country and GDM, I have now spent over a decade utilizing Gems One’s customer-centric approach to properly equip stores with the tools to grow and prosper in a challenging, ever-changing environment.
I love JHJ as it’s one large family of the jewelry industry coming together to help one another. It’s been an amazing experience and the response has been overwhelming and humbling for us to reach and help so many retailers!
