ONLINE EXTRA: Q&A with Meredith Lusk

How important is curb appeal to your business?

It’s everything. I think it’s especially important in a small town that is a pedestrian friendly town. People are walking by and this is a town where golf carts are street legal. Curb appeal is really the best attraction for people who are here.

You studied anthropology and Spanish in college in New Orleans. How did that experience influence your life or business?

I went to Tulane, I love it down there. It’s such a cool place and different from where I am. I have these faux flickering lanterns with LED bulbs that remind me of the gas lanterns in New Orleans. We’re a pedestrian town so people stroll around even in the evening and that flickering catches your eye.

Spanish was something I had already been studying in high school and I was working as a translator with a migrant Head Start program on the shore. We have a migrant population that used to be more transitory in this agricultural area. Now it’s year-round. I was working with children of farm workers. And anthropology, I was just fascinated by. Obviously those two things don’t have anything directly to do with jewelry. I got into this because it was a hobby. I never set out to start a jewelry business. I was making jewelry as a hobby in my early 20s. I was working as a reporter and teaching Spanish to adult learners at the community college. Jewelry was just a hobby. I was self-taught and making things on my kitchen table. People started asking to buy things. I signed up for a craft fair and it was successful from the start. I’ve always had the entrepreneurial bent. I grew up in an entrepreneurial family.

But I do think my studies and my time in New Orleans and a semester abroad in Chile, that those experiences and influences have shaped my design aesthetic when it comes to jewelry and the store design, honestly. There is a connection.

When Stanley Major called you a THIRD time to see if you needed any fish leather, why did you change your mind and say yes? And how did he get your number to begin with?

In the beginning years of my business, 2005, 2006, 2007, I was really focused on sourcing fair trade semi-precious stones, looking for suppliers that were more progressive at a time when that wasn’t something that was talked about as widely. Somehow online I got listed as an eco-friendly business. Stanley is in Toronto and when he called, I said, “WHAT? And I turned him down twice. I didn’t set out to be a fish leather jewelry designer. I had never heard of it either. It kind of came looking for me. Sometimes an idea will cross your path and a seed is planted. Sometimes when you’re kind of in a different place those seeds start to blossom. That’s what happened to me. I was desperate to save my business. I thought, how am I going to keep this going? I needed to find something unique, or I was going to have to get a day job. That’s the most interesting part of the whole thing. I didn’t go looking for fish leather. It came and knocked on my door. When life hands you lemons, you might have to make lemonade, and you may have to get pretty creative.

This IS a lemons to lemonade story. I wouldn’t have this store if something that I thought was really horrible hadn’t happened four years ago.

I was renting a space from gallery owner for three and a half years. I had invested a lot in making this space a beautiful store and I thought we had a good relationship. And on New Year’s Eve 2019 I got a certified letter from him saying he was not going to renew my lease because he was going to expand his gallery. I had a month to get out. I was so upset. This is a small town. There aren’t that many buildings, especially ones that are in a good enough space to be a storefront. This is my livelihood. This is how I support my daughter and myself. I called my mentor and he said, `Meredith, I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but this is going to be the best kick in the nuts you ever got. It will give you an opportunity to have your own space, to create a space you can sell fine jewelry.’

I happened to remember that one of my clients who owned a business was going to retire and close her consultant firm and wanted to renovate it for retail. We started the project late January 2020, and it involved a lot of demo. It was in horrible shape. Then COVID hit and everything went to hell in a handbasket. What I thought would be a four-month project turned into two years of renovation. I found a temporary location on a side street and in retrospect it worked out fine and allowed me to put all the energy into creating this store we have today.

I probably would’ve stayed right where I was and even expanded my business, but having to move was the best thing that ever happened. The pain of a building renovation was not any fun, but in the end having extra time was better because it allowed us to be better, to tap into some grant funds and PPP funds.

Where did the name moonrise come from?

We have some spectacular moonrises on the eastern shore. I’ve always loved watching that, but when I started this business I really wanted to create an enterprise that would support me and other women in our rural community and beyond. It really is a team effort. The moon was symbolic of rising feminine energy and power and the increased participation of women in the business world.

What do you look for when you’re hiring?

I’m looking for someone I would enjoy working with and spending a lot of time around. Someone who has a positive and upbeat attitude about them. They would fit in best with the rest of the team with those qualities. I do find that personality traits are important to keeping team culture and morale high.

What’s your idea of a perfect day off, and how do you achieve a comfortable work/life balance, if you do?

Definitely spending time at the beach. I have a teenage daughter who is 15 who loves to surf. A day off at the beach watching my daughter surf would be the perfect day off. I do believe I have a comfortable work/life balance. It’s always a work in progress but yes I have prioritized that more in recent years and I’m happy that I have. Having a teenage daughter forces you to because you realize this is kind of fleeting, this time of life.

Now that your hobby became your career, do you have any new hobbies?

I’m taking up running. Being a full-time single mom business owner I feel like I don’t have much time for hobbies. But it’s definitely on my list. I would like to try pottery. The functional nature of it really appeals to me. Things you need to use appeals to me. But I feel like my temptation might be to turn anything I do into a business.

The post Eastern Shore Jewelry Store Taps Into Natural Assets appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

When entrepreneur Emily Williams bought the Winter Park, FL, jewelry store Be On Park two years ago, it was her first foray into the jewelry business, although she had extensive experience in other retail sectors, owning an apparel, home goods, and gift store called The Grove, and a wedding registry, tableware, and home accessories store called  Clementine, all in Winter Park. After she bought Be On Park, she realized she had to change nearly everything about it to make it her own, from stocking it with one of a kind pieces that spoke to her, to reimagining interior details, naturally enough, since she is also an interior designer for Z Properties, a design-build firm she owns with her husband, Zane.

Q. What do you look for in jewelry designers?

A. When I’m looking for new, I don’t look by category. It’s by design and by what is captivating, but it needs to be different, it needs to be new. It’s strange to me to climb into a market and want to do the same thing that 20 other people are doing. New, different, different use of material. Different designs, interesting shapes. For us to bring it in, it has to stand out from everything else that’s in our case. It has to have its own niche.

Q. What is Winter Park like?

A. Wiinter Park is beautiful, treed, somewhat eclectic. There’s a great sense of history and community. It’s good for us and good for our business. It’s not a small town but if you’ve been there for any period of time you can find someone that you know pretty easily. That familiarity helps me and guides me in understanding what we’re buying.

And the number of new customers that we have who had never been to our store, who have traveled to see us, that is incredibly inspiring to me. I want them to have a great memory and experience. I want them to leave and remember us and think about how fabulous it was and call on us in the future.

Q. Do you have events?

A. We have a fair amount of trunk shows, a multi-vendor holiday party that we love, and then we try and do other, smaller events. We’ve hosted a good client of ours who has a book club, we’ve hosted her book club after hours and another ladies group; sometimes, there are after hours events on Park Avenue where we are sometimes organized by the chamber or by other stores. A sip and stroll, or something like that where people can wander from business to business. I love to do things to bring people into the store in a different way.

Q. What changes did you make when you bought the store?

A. It’s changed in a lot of ways. I think that it’s the same scenario like when you buy a house; you see it, love it, buy it, it meets all your needs. Then you move in, take a look around and think you have to rip all of it out. And so the store was kind of like that for me. I thought it was great. I’d been in the store a million times and thought I loved everything about it. But then I thought now that it’s mine everything has to change!

Showroom, colors, décor, is completely different from when I bought it and same with the jewelry. We still have the classics, the fundamentals, but we’ve brought in quite a lot of new, a lot of color, variety, in terms of who our customer might be.

As for the showroom, every surface was painted, all of the cases were painted. It was dark wood cases and gray carpet and now we have a new seating area done in bright colors. All different art. Lighter, brighter, fun rugs, in addition to new carpet. Lots of color. Everything’s different, head to toe, I think.

Q. How do you shop for jewelry?

A. Not coming from the jewelry industry is a good thing. I didn’t approach it as a jewelry buyer might and I don’t have an analytical mind for all of that. I don’t want to miss those things that have been selling, but I don’t want to buy those to the exclusion of things that are new, interesting and super exciting to me. I go more with what I feel and what I love.

I would rather buy one big fantastic thing that I love and want to get behind, rather than five or six things that I feel less excited about. And I want someone else to come in and feel the same way. We have had good reaction to those kinds of things.

I want to love everything. I don’t want to love what’s in this case and not what’s in that case. There is not a thing in the store that I don’t love.

Q. Who are your customers?

A. It’s a mix. We have a lot of self purchasers. A lot of women who just wander in, some of them on a very regular basis, every Thursday or every other Thursday when they lunch with a girlfriend. And then of course we still have traditional anniversary, birthday shoppers, men who come in sometimes knowing what they want and sometimes not knowing. But it has shifted a lot to a self purchaser of a woman buyer.

Q. Describe an ideal day off.

A. It’s very lazy. I will usually go to a barre class and sit by my pool or sit by the lake. I went paddleboarding this weekend. I don’t like to leave my house if I don’t have to. I like to enjoy the quiet and home.

The post Florida Interior Designer Turns Sights to Retail Jewelry appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I get to use all of the things I feel I’m good at. Every day, I use every tool in my toolbox. A lot of people who are creative feel they didn’t get to use what they went to school for. The fundamental skills I use that I’m naturally good at — psychology, writing, jewelry design and illustration — I can use to help customers understand a product so they are confident enough to buy it.

I enjoy being around arguably the most valuable things on this earth. We have access to the most beautiful diamonds, gemstones and the highest level of craftsmanship, working with inspiring designers, telling their stories, learning about sustainability. You can’t really do this job without learning everything you can and being able to recite it back in a way that everyday consumers can understand.

Q. What is the advantage of an in-house marketing department to a jewelry store?

A. It’s really important to have an in-house marketing department and invest in your team because these are the people who are going to tell your story. It’s the best way to control your image and reach the people you want to come and shop with you. Word of mouth is sometimes difficult to secure. Visuals, whether they are photos on Instagram, photos of the store, advertising, should all be consistent with brand image. If you’re working for different projects with different teams, it can be inconsistent. When the team is together, the marketing calendars are all connected and information is flowing smoothly all the time.

Q. How do you stay up to date on social media and other new forms of marketing and communication?

A. I keep up to date mostly by consuming it. You need to be on the platform and using it all the time. If you miss a week, so many things can change. I have an app folder on my phone and I go through all of them every day and I see what’s performing well. I follow social media agencies and freelance social media managers who post tips for their followers. They give great advice for how to grow your Instagram no matter what kind of business they are. Creating content to give tips on the content. It’s more helpful than reading an article on it.

I also read articles by the platform LATER, a scheduling platform we use, which sends newsletters about social media. I read trade magazines.

Q. Will AI have a place in the modern jewelry store, and how is it being used or will it be used?

A. I did take a digital marketing course online that helped me from a technical side. I didn’t have a traditional marketing background in school and AI was starting to come about in a bigger way. People do get nervous about it, get a little scared about it, wondering, will it take my job?

I was in a classroom with 40 other marketers who had more experience than I did and the teacher was from Google. The conversation was that it’s a tool for you to make your life easier and not a tool to replace someone’s mind. It can’t create something that doesn’t exist. It can be used to fill in more on administrative work, and it gets rid of that blank page feeling, where you have nothing. It can help you achieve your creative goals and get started on a project. The jury is out on accuracy; it’s not wise to trust it blindly just yet. But I think in terms of tech, it could do anything from graphic design, to building websites to improve try-on technology, which is clunky at the moment. But the best way to view a piece of jewelry is to imagine it on yourself.

Even though something is uncomfortable and scary if you resist it too long, it becomes more difficult. So I say, jump in and tear off the Band-aid. With the new app, Threads, I said, let’s just get it and have fun with it. That’s always my advice.

Q. Do you have advice for people wanting to combine marketing and jewelry?

A. I would say to work for a small business. Jennifer and Christina were able to offer me so much learning and experience over seven years. I don’t think I would have gotten to grow this much within some massive company. Starting on the sales floor is fundamental; at least take sales courses outside of the job if you can’t have a sales position. It’s a solid foundation to be able to successfully market the product.

Q. How do you spend time off?

A. I live by the beach in New Jersey, which is a nice split between city life and nature; I have a dog that I go on hikes with, spending time by the water is always really relaxing. It can be overwhelming to deal with the 24/7 nature of social media. Being able to unplug is really impotant.

Q. What have you tried lately to grow your audience?

A. Wild postings. (A marketing practice that involves posting messages to utility poles, stairwells, etc.) Another way of touching the neighborhood and have people see us repeatedly around gift buying season.

Q. Why jewelry?

A. I always knew I loved jewelry, however I didn’t find a program in my school that really had a jewelry outlet so I went to Parsons School of Design for illustration and culture and media studies, a five year program. Text and image was at the heart of every class. But this job didn’t emerge till social media really exploded when I graduated college.

I had a lot of jobs that taught me a lot of things in addition to school of visual arts for jewelry design. Being creative I think it’s difficult to go out into the world and find where you fit in, so I was working sculpting chocolates for Cake Boss, the TV show, as an editorial assistant for Shape Magazine, and at Tory Birch Design, where I did a lot of digital designing but I felt disconnected. It felt important for everyone to work at a store.

When I found a part-time sales position at Greenwich Jewelers, Instagram began exploding and I learned that posting jewelry and forming relationships online was something I was really good at.

The post Greenwich St. Jewelers’ Marketing Expert Sounds Off on Social Media, A.I. and Why She Got into Jewelry appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

What inspires you on a daily basis?

BROWN: No. 1, the people and the relationships that we have that come through the door and come online. Somebody always brings a new idea, and we collaborate and come up with something I never would have thought of. No. 2, when I leave work, I walk my dog in nature. Every day, it’s religious for me. I walk my dog for about an hour out in the woods. I balance the work life with that nature side, and the urban with the rural. With my dog, walking by myself in silence and solitude, that’s when I get my best ideas for work.

What’s an ideal day off?

BROWN: I bought a house about a year ago I’m remodeling, so every chance I get, I’m working on that. That’s my architecture niche. On a typical day, I work on the house, spend time with my girlfriend, and I like to exercise at night. During the week at work, I’m so sedentary. I’m within 50 feet of any direction in the store. It’s all mental; I’m always in my head. When I leave the store, I want to walk, stretch, exercise, give my mind a rest. Eight minutes from my house is a national park, a refuge. If I’m not working on my house, I’m working on myself.

What’s it like working with family?

BROWN: There’s a balance there. As long as you have the same vision in mind, and we do, that’s the most important. Every obstacle, every issue always revolves around that shared vision of where we want the business to go. As long as we have that in mind while sorting out an issue, we’re fine. Of course, we get into mini arguments. I was always close with my brother and my father but when we started working together every day, we really got close in a great way. If someone doesn’t see it one way and the other person does, we all collaborate and work it out. As long as we have that shared vision of what we want. The positives outweigh the negatives. The negatives are few and far between.

Do you have a favorite time period for jewelry?

BROWN: I like the art deco period the most. It might be because of the symmetry; maybe that comes from architecture. Before I studied architecture, I drew flowing lines and landscapes. I like being in nature so much. But art deco speaks to me whenever I see a piece. There are some fluid pieces, too, from other periods that speak to me. Before I got into architecture, I loved to draw and l loved to paint, but then architecture came along and it’s all just straight lines. Sketching, that would be my other hobby.

What makes your business unique?

BROWN: What I hear from customers is our jewelry is unique, and our store and online presence, I think that’s unique. The outside of the store is kind of monotone, and when they come in there’s a burst of color and flavor and when they look around, they’re looking at one-of a-kind pieces in these showcases. We don’t want them to go somewhere up the street or another city and see the same piece. We always looked at this as one big architecture project. It’s our vision, packaging, website, store; the experience is all unique to us. We’re like treasure hunters. We handpick each and every piece, and people know that and we pick them with our customers in mind.

What’s the secret to your five-star Google reviews?

BROWN: Honesty. Especially online. You have to describe it in detail with both the pictures and the description. Sometimes I thought about leaving something out so they can ask about it, and create a dialog. But I try to point out every imperfection or let them know if I haven’t polished it yet. I don’t want them to be surprised when they get the piece. I want them to get what they expected and more. Videos of the jewelry are a big help. The make an offer option helps create a dialog. Everything is negotiable. And that leads to other questions. Sometimes I learn something new in the process.

How do you establish trust with online customers?

BROWN: We’ve been selling online since 2000 and so we have a pretty large amount of feedback, from people who bought from us over the years and they leave reviews. We have reviews across every platform. There are more than 1,500 reviews on Ebay. It’s 100% positive. That establishes the trust. It shows the value of what they bought on Ebay at a variety of different price points. In the reviews, they’ll mention my name, my brother’s name, my father’s name. When they call the store they’ll talk to one of us. That establishes the trust.

The post Louisiana Jeweler Balances Work Life with Walks in the Woods appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

What’s unique about your store?

Trisha: Duratrans in our bridal area are all wedding and engagement photos of people who bought their jewelry from us. Customers love that we have a mural on the outside of our store that has a wedding ring and ribbons that wrap around it. My parents’ initials are at the end of the ribbons. They celebrate that love and the relationship that built this business.

How well do the two of you work together?

Aaron: We rarely fight. We used to not get along and now she does her thing and I do my thing and I don’t jump in on hers and she doesn’t jump in on mine. If I have an idea, I always talk to her about it. I’m out on the sales floor and do CAD custom design. I’m still the No. 1 sales person on the staff. I like to be out there in the middle of everything. Trisha does the marketing and donates to charities; she handles a lot of other things. It takes both of us, not one person, to do those things well.

What do you think is the secret to the exponential growth of your business?

Trisha: I saw how respected my father is in the community. Early on I worked really hard in making sure people knew who I was, not just that I was Jim Kennedy’s daughter. We have a big passion for giving back. We’ve won business of the year for the city, Rotarian of the Year, Citizen of the Year.

What’s next?

Trisha: I want to keep growing but at the same time I don’t want to get so big that you lose the feeling you get here. I want to keep the momentum and keep the same feeling alive. Family is very important to both of us. I want to make time to be a mother and not miss out on those things. Aaron has a 4 year old and I have a 1 year old, so we have our hands full.

You decided to embark on a major renovation in 2021. Why was it time?

Trisha: Our store was very dated looking. The showcases were 30 something years old, with a wood look from the ’80s and it was just time. I started having the conversation with my father before we discussed buying the business from him and I looked around at showcases. Artco flew out and looked at the store and we discussed layout and what was possible. And so we came down to a final layout that was going to involve knocking out some walls. We rented an office space next door to our freestanding building, closed for two months and emptied out the whole store. We have new flooring, we tore out some walls, built some new walls, new paint, ceiling, lights and cases.

What did you hope to achieve?

Trisha: I know there are stores you walk into that look very high end and elaborate, but I wanted this to still be comfortable and not intimidating and I like personal touches. It’s very nice but it’s not stuffy and that was really important to me.

What is the focus of your business?

Trisha: We do a lot of bridal and custom but we’re a little bit of everything. We have a large estate collection, which brings in a lot of people. We have everyday silver to higher end colored gemstone and diamond jewelry. A rather larger repair shop; we do 30-some odd repairs a day.

What did Aaron immediately bring to the business?

Trisha: He had the CAD CAM knowledge. My dad was one of the first people who bought into that software and he did well with that, but it became outdated and then for a while we worked with some vendors, who designed and casted it for us. When Aaron came we moved everything in house. That kept costs down. That’s probably one of the bigger turning points, when we started pushing all in house custom design. We’re constantly investing in the newest software and staying on top of it so we can continue to compete.

What is your dad doing in retirement?

Trisha: Our dad still will come in on the weekend sometimes. His office is still his space. It’s not like he walked away and never came back. He actually bought another family business and put my cousins to work. He’s the landlord of an antique and estate shop. He turns 70 this year. He’s doing his own thing, enjoying it and staying busy.

Have either of you done other types of work?

Aaron: I put in years of being a foreman on a tree crew. I did landscaping. Then I moved to South Florida and opened a jewelry store down there. I lived in Boca Raton for a couple of years, then our Mom became ill and I came back and got to be with her for her last six months. Then I decided i’m going to go back into jewelry. I got with another family owned jeweler and became a store manager before my sister and my dad reached back out and when the time was right we all came back together.

What drew you to jewelry and why was it appealing enough to stay in it?

Trisha: Growing up I never wanted to be in the jewelry business. I knew I wanted to be a mom and my parents were never home when I was younger. But their schedules opened up more and Shane Decker came to our store when I was in high school to evaluate the business for my parents. He talked to me and said, “I think you should reconsider because you have a personality that would do really well with this. You’re blessed that they built this up and if you reconsider you will also have that ability to take more time off.” But all I could remember is that Dad worked from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Starting out he was it. He would sell it and then make it at night. But I went for it and I’m so glad I did. I get to use all my talents, all my strengths here and I get to do a lot of different things. No day is ever the same and I love that. It is a lot of work and it’s worth it. I have a work life balance. I’m not working till 8 p.m. or anything like that. I do bring work home, but our mom died when she was 57 so I know life is short. You have to be in the moment. We’re cognizant of that.

When I brought my brother back into the fold I made it known i’m going to be starting a family and that is going to be my No. 1 priority so I offered him a bigger stake in the business, so i could be the mom I wanted to be. I do my best.

The post Siblings Collaborate to Take Missouri Jewelry Store to the Next Level appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

For 10 years, Izzi Krombholz, 32, has worked with her father, Lee Krombholz, at Krombholz Jewelers in Cincinnati. Last year, Izzi, who is also a musician, launched her own online business, Haus of Morning, which focuses on Victorian jewelry and goth-themed apparel. “I get excited every time I make a sale,” she says. One motivating factor was her own search for sophisticated alternative clothing, jewelry and accessories that didn’t make her look like a teenager. “I always wanted to find a way to tie my passions together. Jewelry, fashion, music. it all goes hand in hand,” she says. “I love mourning jewelry; that is the main thing that inspired this whole thing. Victorians were so sentimental.”

The post Victorian Jewelry Is the Focus of This Online Store appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

Since ELIZABETH IZAGUIRRE, 27, decided not to become a dentist and instead purchased her mother’s three New York City jewelry stores, she has launched ecommerce, gone viral on Instagram, begun to sell high-end watches, and counts celebrities among her clients. She’s more than quintupled revenues at Elizabeth & Co. in three years. “I knew that we needed visibility,” she says. “We didn’t have a website or Instagram. We created an Instagram, @ Elizabethandco, and everything happened so organically. All I wanted to do was put together content that I loved and share it with the world.”

ONLINE EXTRA

How did the business begin?

It’s my legacy. My mom is from Peru and she immigrated here in the early 1980s. She came during a time when they changed the gold standard in the U.S. and with a lot of work and a little bit of luck she opened up a store in the Bronx and it took off. We came to Washington Heights, and my mom had such a great run for the past 30 years. I graduated college in 2017 and went to go study diamonds. I’m a GIA graduate and I prepared myself a little bit before I got into the business 100 percent.

What was your early experience with the business?

My mom was a single mom and she would take me to the store on the weekends. I began visiting my mother’s stores from a young age and was always taught the ins and outs of the industry and quickly began appreciating the jewelry and clients we worked with. My Mother gave me confidence and independence within the business and because of this I’ve been able to start expanding and building upon what she created.

How did you decide to follow in your mom’s footsteps as a jeweler?

I spent my entire life thinking I was going to be a dentist. I went through sophomore year as a bio major. I thought that was it for me. It wasn’t till my mom realized when I was a sophomore that I was really into becoming a dentist. She thought I would change my mind and ralize what she created. At the end of sophomore year I had to declare the major and my mom just took me to work with her. She took me to the diamond district here in New York and did all these business deals. She was a total boss bitch and she showed me what she was doing. It was so cool! The business deals were eye opening. I realized I could go my entire life without being the boss in the room. It changed my perspective on everything. How well respected she was throughout that day. How she just moved like walking on water. It was the coolest thing for me to see as a 19 year old. That’s when it really clicked to me. I’m doing the wrong major and maybe I should just go major in finance and business administration!

How else does your mom inspire you?

She’s the first generation of jewelers. Being a woman in the industry, today it’s normal but back in the 1980s that was kind of unheard of. Dad always said `Stay home, take care of the kids.’ He wanted her to be a housewife and that’s not what she wanted to do. Thanks to her we get to live this beautiful fulfilling life. I love my mom because that’s my mom, but to have your mentor be this extraordinary woman, for me all I want to do is carry on this legacy. For my future kids, too. Mom is retired. She said, `I cried here. I suffered here. I bled here. I’m going to go see the world now.”

What did you do to prepare to buy the business?

It was very important to me to ensure I had all the knowledge going into the business. I studied at GIA so that I could learn all about Diamonds, CADS and more! I’m pleased to say that I am now a GIA Certified Jeweler and can supply some exquisite diamonds to my clients that will add an extra special touch to everything we do. Feel free to contact us for more information on this if needed.

How did the business really take off for you?

The first thing I knew that we needed is visibility. We didn’t have a website or Instagram. Social media platforms, that’s how a business is now seen. They want to see what you have online to see if it’s even worth going in. we created an Instagram and it went viral, it was so beautiful, everything happened so organically. Back in 2021, Cardi B invited me to Vegas for her birthday party. It was so awesome and everything went crazy afterwards. I started working with a Latin artist, Johnny Ventura. I’m Spanish and I like to represent the Latin community. I was involved with the Ventura family. Went to a music video in Puerto Rico to style the band La Cervesa. And from there I did a sponsorship with Remi Ma for the first all female rap battle. Then I had Offset come to my store as well.

What do you like about your work life now?

I know this is work, what we have to do, but I really do love it. I really do like creating the content. In order to give mind body soul and give everything you got you got to love it at least. Or at least you better. It makes me happier when my team feels like I’m worth following. How can I make them want to follow me if I don’t believe in my ideas? What keeps me going is knowing if I fail, they fail. If I fall they fall. My team and everyone around me I try to keep positive.

What does your mom think about your success?

She’s over the moon. Everywhere she goes, she says `You’ve got to follow my daughter.’ It’s the cutest thing ever. I know she’s so proud. I’m the youngest and I don’t think anyone ever expected much from me. I was such a rebel when I was little. I had such a big personality, where you can put me in a room where I don’t know anyone and I will make friends. I was never scared to knock on a door.

How did you get the idea you wanted to be a dentist?

My older sister is a dentist and she is eight years older. She did so well and got accepted into NYU with an amazing scholarship. We knew our parents were jewelers, but at the time, it didn’t mean anything to us. My sister trapped me into thinking we can open up our own practice. I was always bright in school in the science department. It did make sense at the time, so I went to NYU, too, and her professors were counting on me to represent the biology department, too. I did really well. And then at the end of sophomore year is when I took a turn.

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Wendy Johnson, senior buyer’s assistant for Borsheims, has been selected by her colleagues as the winner of the company’s prestigious Ike-It Award, named for Ike Friedman, who owned the company from 1947 to 1989. Johnson, who grew up on a farm outside of Albion, NE, earned a bachelor of science degree in apparel marketing from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She began working at Borsheims in Omaha, NE, in 2007 and was promoted in 2019. “Our staff is grateful for her positive attitude and tremendous work ethic,” said Borsheims CEO and president Karen Goracke. Johnson lives with her husband Matt and sons Andrew, Aaron and Nathan, who all love soccer. “If I’m not working, I’m at one of their sporting events,” she says. “I like to walk a lot, hike, travel with my family, I just love being outside.”

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ONLINE EXTRA

I LOVE MANAGING PEOPLE. I think more than I love jewelry even. I think I have stayed in tune with people’s needs, which is a full-time job. If someone is starting to say they are overwhelmed, I’ll work on getting help in that department quickly. We do reviews every quarter, in depth, about what’s going on, how they’re feeling about their work, their boss, about me, and I make sure people take vacation.

WE HAVE AN UNLIMITED VACATION POLICY. If their manager approves it, they can take the time off. There’s no hard limit. Most people take a month off. If you start getting to eight weeks that would start to feel excessive. I have had people get married and go on their honeymoon and take three weeks off in a row. It tends to work out. The team loves it, so they make it work for each other.

OUR CULTURE is one of autonomy, accountability, and flexibility. I hire personalities, not skills, knowing that the right people can learn about diamonds – but the wrong people can’t learn flexibility or work ethic. Managing well is a lot of work – weekly one-on-ones, celebrating workiversaries, etc – but it’s the single most important thing I do. If you’re not a people person, make sure your manager is.

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Jewelry designer Desi Torem believes that everyone should feel like a celebrity no matter their budget. As the manufacturing source for her designs (jewelry manufacturer MK Luxury Group is owned by her father, Moshe Kraiem), she’s able to provide attainable luxury. A former celebrity stylist, she treats all of her customers like stars at the Beverly Hills retail jewelry boutique she opened with her brother, Justin Kraiem, last year. Desi is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and the face of the JustDesi brand.

ONLINE ONLY Q&A with Desi Torem

What has been your biggest challenge?

I would have to say that my biggest challenge has been balancing all the different hats that I wear. Sometimes it’s hard to relinquish the need to control every moving part of the business and trust myself to delegate responsibilities to my team. Creatives have a great sense of attachment to their art, so I’m constantly needing to remind myself that my personal attention needs to be focused on the more important aspects of the business.

What do you do to keep up your energy?

In 2022 I started a business, opened a retail store, planned my wedding, and got married, so I’ve been busy to say the least. My schedule doesn’t leave much room for “me-time”, but for the last year or so, I’ve been leaning more heavily on my religion to keep me grounded. Observing the Sabbath has really provided me the relief I didn’t know I needed. One day a week to shut off your phone, put your work aside, and connect with the people you care about allows you to recharge and start each new week with a sense of calm and renewed spirit.

How many roles do you have in the business?

My brother and I founded the company at the height of COVID as a team of two, so we really had to do everything on our own at the start. While my team is growing, I still take a pretty hands-on approach in my business and wear a lot of hats. I am still very much involved in the day-to-day operations and customer relations, in addition to the executive responsibilities and designing, of course. I treat this company like my baby and am still not quite ready yet to loosen the reins and am thoroughly enjoying every minute of our growth.

How did you become comfortable modeling for your business?

It’s really challenging not to be self-critical. I still battle with my confidence in front of the camera, but I hope it inspires other women to get out of their comfort zones and challenge their self esteem issues too. While its difficult to do, I think being the face of my brand as an ordinary woman also really humanizes an otherwise very superficial industry. I think people can envision themselves in something better when they see real people modeling it. So while it still makes me wildly uncomfortable sometimes, I think its important for me to practice what I preach, and show people that luxury is within reach, confidence is built, and that everyone is deserving of feeling like a star.

What is your brand’s message?

My brand is all about attainable luxury for the masses. Our mission is to make everyone feel deserving of love and a bit of spoiling. Whether you are shopping for yourself or for someone else, its our job at JustDesi to make sure you leave with a sense of pride in your purchase. We live for the moments that put smiles on people’s faces and take the job of finding the perfect piece for each individual person very seriously. It’s a high-class, tailor-made experience for all. Budget shouldn’t stand in the way of luxury and value.

What is your secret to working with family?

I can see how working with family could be challenging, but it actually works really well for my brother and me. Justin and I both play very different roles in the structure of our organization, and really trust each other to do what we show up to do. I think the secret is establishing clear roles, agreeing on goals, and communicating behind closed doors when obstacles come about. I’m lucky to have him, truly.

Why does retail appeal to you?

While design is my true passion, I love the people part just as much. I come from the manufacturing side of the industry, and while that put us in a really unique position to service the market with incredible value, it also was exciting for me to be able to actually help people. Everyone needs a jeweler they trust. I become an enormous part of my clients lives and so many of them have become my great friends. Caring for my clients and getting to know them on a personal level, allows me to service them in a way they haven’t experienced before.

How do you create a luxury experience for everyone?

Simply put, our store breathes opulence, but our prices don’t break the bank. There is no better feeling than being invited into a store like a VIP, and leaving knowing that in addition to a wonderful experience, you also got a great deal. But more than that, I think, is the service you get when you walk into our doors. It’s incomparable. We’ll work with you, and treat you with the same respect and care, regardless of your budget. You’re welcomed in with champagne and chocolates, and walked through the showroom, to our in-house atelier where you can actually watch your jewelry being made. And because jewelry is such a personal thing, you’ll work with a style consultant to create a complete look, unique to your individual taste, lifestyle, and budget.

What do you think other retailers can learn from JustDesi?

I think retailers do themselves a disservice by focusing too much on the sale and not enough on the client. It’s important to be flexible and accommodating, and while everyone knows the saying “the customer is always right”, great customer service is still very hard to come by. Owning your own business isn’t a 9-5 job. I’m on call for my clients 24/7 and even though jewelry doesn’t sound like it should be an emergency, I can’t tell you how many late nights I’ve worked, jewelry home-deliveries I’ve made, insane deadlines I’ve had to make, or unrealistic expectations I’ve had to meet. My clients know they can call me at any time and that nothing is out of my scope of work. I go above and beyond for them, and I think the personal attention and dedication to their happiness provided at JustDesi is something all retailers can learn and grow from.

What do you like about your location in Beverly Hills?

I grew up in Beverly Hills, so this area feels like home to me, but for most people, it’s suggestive of a very exclusive and intimidating neighborhood. Most of the surrounding stores can only be shopped by the rich and famous. Our intention was to deviate from that stigma and create an inviting, pressure-free experience, in an otherwise very exclusive neighborhood. We welcome all genders, races, and income brackets into our family, and have something for everyone.

How do you foster relationships with celebrities?

I try to treat them like real people, and I think that they appreciate that. I think so much of their lives revolve around how others perceive them, and I just try to keep it real with everyone regardless of their status.

What has been the most exciting aspect or moment of opening your store?

It’s hard to pinpoint the most exciting moment since this year has been filled with so many incredible highlights, but we just celebrated our one-year anniversary in December. Seeing the culmination of the many relationships we’ve cultivated this year come out to celebrate and support us was a really special and emotional experience for me. It wasn’t just a sense of pride, but rather, gratitude for the ups and downs and everything in between.

What type or style of jewelry have you enjoyed wearing lately?

I have the luxury of changing up my jewelry, so my style and metal choices change pretty frequently. I think jewelry has the power to transform a look completely, so I accessorize based on my mood or outfit. I take a lot of risks with my fashion and my style changes all the time, so my jewelry needs to reflect a multitude of vibes from classic, to edgy, or glamorous. On my low maintenance days, my staple pieces will always include an easy pair of hoops, a bangle stack, multiple hand-chains, and some sort of evil eye for protection.

How has your life or career up to now surprised you?

Launching my business and planning my wedding at the same time wasn’t exactly the plan, but with COVID, we had to roll with the punches and adapt accordingly. I feel like building a business and starting a marriage have a lot of similarities, and I couldn’t do either one without a supportive team or husband. Teamwork makes the dream work!

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