Michael sits down to speak with Paige the Jeweler, a concierge jeweler who works one on one with her clients to bring their imagination to life! We discuss the process of meeting with a client over coffee to discuss their ideas and the subsequent steps that follow before delivery of a custom ring or other piece of jewelry.
We also talk about Paige's experience working in retail and how the development of those soft skills have set her up for success as a concierge jeweler!
Follow Paige on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paigethejeweler_/
Send feedback or learn more about the podcast: punchmark.com/loupe
Learn about Punchmark's website platform: punchmark.com
Michael sits down to speak with Paige the Jeweler, a concierge jeweler who works one on one with her clients to bring their imagination to life! We discuss the process of meeting with a client over coffee to discuss their ideas and the subsequent steps that follow before delivery of a custom ring or other piece of jewelry.
We also talk about Paige's experience working in retail and how the development of those soft skills have set her up for success as a concierge jeweler!
Follow Paige on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paigethejeweler_/
Send feedback or learn more about the podcast: punchmark.com/loupe
Learn about Punchmark's website platform: punchmark.com
Welcome back everybody to In the Loop. What is up everybody? My name is Michael Burpo. Thanks again for listening to In the Loop this week. I'm joined by Paige the jeweler, and she is a concierge jeweler and that's a slightly different route than what a lot of my guests are. A lot of my guests are retail jewelers, and hearing the perspective of someone who, for example, meets one-on-one with their clients and creates something very bespoke or one-of-a-kind for them often is a very interesting process, and Paige also talks about the soft skills that goes into her having this opportunity today and the way that she works with her clients to deliver something truly one-of-a-kind, as well as what the final presentation is going to look like. It's a really interesting talk and something slightly different than what we normally do, and I hope you enjoy.
Speaker 1:This episode is brought to you by Punchmark, the jewelry industry's favorite website platform. Whether you're looking for better e-commerce performance, business growth or campaigns that drive traffic and sales, punchmark's website and marketing services were made just for you. It's never too late to transform your business with a user-friendly, point-of-sale, integrated website platform designed for growth and results. Sign up for your free demo today at punchmarkcom. While you're enjoying this week's episode, take a moment and leave us a star rating on the Spotify mobile app. Or, if you're on Apple Podcasts, leave us a star rating and a review. It's the best way to help us grow into show that you're really enjoying the show. Thanks, and now back to the show. Welcome everybody. I'm joined by Paige, a concierge jeweler. How you doing today, paige?
Speaker 2:I'm doing great. How are you, mike?
Speaker 1:I'm doing very well. We got a chance to meet through a Facebook group, young Jewelers Helping Young Jewelers, which I hope to get to at the end of this episode. Talk about it a little bit more, because I think a lot of our listeners do skew a little bit younger. So I think that a lot of people that would be valuable to that group. But how do you introduce yourself? When you explain to someone that you first meet? How do you explain what your day to day is like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. So. I always introduce myself and say, hi, I'm Paige the jeweler. And they always laugh and they're like, okay, paige the jeweler, because you know all the jewelers. They say, oh, I'm like one person I follow is Moses the jeweler and they're like and he's like I am Moses the jeweler and he goes to the whole spiel and then I kind of talk about my credentials I'm a certified gemologist and kind of go through the whole thing. But you know, kind of talk about, you know my mission, making something from nothing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so, as a concierge jeweler, you're just starting to explain to me before we start recording. It sounds like the day to day is quite different. Can you kind of set me up with what it is that you do when you go and you meet a client and what it is that you're trying to accomplish?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. So I do love the part of my job where no day is ever the same.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Sometimes I'm meeting clients that they're you know, they're very discreet. They want me to come to their home, or they want to come meet me at the office. Say I have, you know, I bought an essential diamond for them, my specialties and completely custom. You know, my quote is making something from nothing. So it just really depends on which customer I'm working with, and my day to day is never the same. Sometimes I'm going to meet coffee with a customer or I'm going to their home or they're coming to the office. It's completely different, based on the customer's needs and what is comfortable for them.
Speaker 1:So are you selling them specific pieces and are you trying to like outfit them for, usually for events, or is it like, hey, we just, you know, want to buy something as almost like as an investment?
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say not as much investment I do. I would say I specialize more in custom engagement. You know custom, just custom jewelry in general, that is on the heavier carat weight side, and the area that I'm at doesn't really specialize in doing complete custom from beginning to add. You know, doing the rendering, the CAD work, all of that. It's a very long process. When it comes to, you know, a traditional store and being working with a concierge jeweler, somebody like me. It's fast tracked right and working with those customers. They want it right here, right now, as soon as they possibly can. So for me too, to close the sales sooner than later. But also, you know my customers know that they're getting the best quality. I'm inspecting it. You know for QC, everything right there, right in front of them. And also I always say that If it doesn't meet my personal standards of would I wear it, if I would not wear it, it's not okay for my customer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and now Paige. I guess I should probably even start with this when in the when are you calling from, Like? Where do you reside?
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm actually Lake Minnetonka area. I am 30 minutes west of Minneapolis, so I'm not sure if you've heard of the Twin Cities yeah. I'm actually based on the biggest lake besides Superior Minnesota.
Speaker 1:Very cool. So I guess for these kinds of things, man, how some engagement rings definitely really popular, especially for our jewelers. So say, you go and you meet with a client, so you're going to sit in. I think it's really funny that you go and you get to know them, because we do a similar sort of process for our websites, where we get a chance to sit with someone, we speak with them a little bit further. You want to hear about their goals and what their aesthetics is, that they prefer, and then it gives us a more clear kind of view as to how we should approach it when it comes to that kind of stuff. What sort of things are you inquiring about when you have these? Let's just say the first meeting is just over coffee. What sort of things are you trying to get an idea about? Are you asking about other pieces specifically that they've enjoyed, or is it something a little bit more ambiguous than that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really depends on every customer's different. So I'm going to have some customers that come to me. I did one recently that was seven carat totally, and she had no idea what she wanted and I told her. I said you know what? I am your very, I am the close friend of yours and I'm your jeweler and I love you dearly, but I can't put 10 rings in a one, right? So it just depends on the customer. It depends on what they're looking for.
Speaker 2:Sometimes I have customers who they bring me a Pinterest photo or they're like this is exactly what I want, and I always encourage them to go shopping at a big box just to try stuff on and say, hey, you know, just take a day, go to Shane or go to K or whatever is closest to you and try stuff on. Because even for me, you know, it's so funny yesterday, I'm a huge Asher girl, right, I love Asher. Asher is my favorite cut and I tried on a pair yesterday and I'm like, huh, I don't really I don't hate this. Yeah, as much as I thought I, I thought I would.
Speaker 1:My personality trait. It's gone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, literally, you know, and it just, it just makes me laugh because it's like, you know, as we get older and as we work with more jewelry, we work with more customers, our tastes do change. And you know, 10 years ago, when my first job was in jewelry, I, I, you never would have caught me with a pair, or you never would have caught me with an oval, because they're so trendy, right, and you know, that's why I love my Asher's, because they're timeless and they're coming back, which I'm so happy they're coming back, but it just, like you know, kind of getting sidetracked. But back to what you know, it just depends on the customer, it depends on what they are looking for. You know, sometimes I have customers that say I want to, you know, turn this heirloom piece into something modern. You know, it is totally depends on you know what the qualifiers are going to be.
Speaker 1:You typically find that most people are looking for a singular piece, or do they are they open to complimentary pieces, for example, like you know, getting an engagement ring and then wanting to, you know, pair it with some wedding bands or some earrings or something that kind of goes with the set? Or do you typically find that people start with with one object and kind of just nail that and then go on to the next?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really just depends on the customer and their timeline. You know, for example, the seven carat total weight that I just finished recently. It's a gorgeous three stone. Yeah, it was. It was incredible.
Speaker 2:It was like it was like a milestone in my career where I'm like, okay, big diamonds are my thing and in the area that I'm in, it is it is honestly the wealthiest area of Minnesota.
Speaker 2:It is the most millionaires per capita, which I'm very blessed to be born and raised in the area that I was and, and now that I'm a concierge jeweler and I'm really targeting this niche, it's like, okay, these multimillion dollar mansions on this massive lake, there's no jeweler there anymore.
Speaker 2:You know, the last jeweler that we had left was an excelsior on the other side of the lake, based on complete opposite from me or from where my offices are, but they closed during COVID, which you know they just retired and nothing happened. But they just retired and they said, okay, you know, it's time to be done, which a lot of older jewelers did that during COVID, which, for obvious reasons, and I'm like, okay, I would love to open up a store, but that's just not where the market's going right now and I think about it to myself. I'm like I don't want to do watch batteries for the rest of my life. You know stuff like that where, and also you know when you're dealing with those other's wealthier customers and you're helping them. The time is money for them to, not just for me. And I just found that it's more efficient to like, okay, meet them for coffee or meet them at their house, or they come to the office, you know, it just makes it more seamless.
Speaker 2:But I would definitely would say when it comes to. You know, for example, with my seven carat total I just finished the gorgeous three stone Middle stone was five, five carat emerald, cut DVVS to just absolutely gorgeous. It was set 18 carat yellow and then we had tapered by guys in the side that were one carat each and it was just a beautiful, beautiful ring. And I am so happy and she's not. She hasn't gotten engaged yet, she hasn't been proposed to yet, so I'm waiting.
Speaker 1:On those projects? Are you typically working with you know the bride to be, or with the groom? What do you typically find is like your point of contact?
Speaker 2:You know, it's kind of it's all situational, like, for example, with this one, I was working with the male fiancee and then also, you know, with the female as well, and saying, you know, this is what I want, you know. And then I it was so funny I told her I'm like just go look, just go look. And then she ended up picking something that was completely different than she thought she was going to have. I kid you not, she brought me like pictures of line ring, like a leafy ring, and then we ended up going with a three stone, like a super modern three stone. And, like you know, I always tell my customers too, you know, less is more. You know, always get other pieces down the line.
Speaker 2:But when it comes to, you know, building the sale and building sales down the line, like for this customer, you know she has a long list of things that she wants. You know she wants a Rolex for me. You know I'm looking for one that she like, one that she's wanted for a long time. You know, it just depends on her customer. But I will say, like, as far as building the sale, you know I already have her, we have. So she wants some.
Speaker 2:An East West bezel, emerald cut eternity ring for her wedding bands. I have that ready to go when they're ready. You know things like that were, you know built, building it. You know having his ring have because he's super minimalistic and and he's like I just want to come from a bit comfort band and sell a gold match her nothing crazy which doesn't, you know, ceo engineer right Makes sense. But yeah, I mean I just would say, like it's all situational, I try to, you know, build the sales which they possibly can. But I do think you know, throughout my career now being independent and representing myself, I've gotten the most return rate than any other position I've ever had.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's amazing. So I guess you go in, you go, you speak with these people and you get a real idea and just say they, they offer you a whole bunch of reference images and like a lot of details about what it is that they're looking for. So what is your next step after that? Do you start by sketching things out, or are you jumping in the CAD or kind of? What is that process like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I mean say that we narrow it down. You know, like for my, for my last clients during the night, just gave them for the, for the big carrot. You know, I actually have been using a ton of there's this, there's this, this bot that has been done recently and in the young jewelers group it's called Jewelers Advantage. I know we've kind of talked to them a little bit, but it's this bot that we had some friends and very well known in the industry, jesse Corby and Richard McCarthy who created this bot. It's called Jewelers Advantage and it's basically this amazing bot where you go in and you say create me a 3D render of a three stone ring and it's yellow gold and the center stone is five carrots and the taper by guests in the sides are one carrot total weight each, and then the spot is created to understand jeweler terms, right, so it understands, you know, gold, it understands carrot total weight, it understands all the terminology that we use as jewelers and it makes it into this 3D rendering for you.
Speaker 2:And this, this piece of technology, has made my life so seamless and quick and effortless. You know we're used to waiting three, four days for a render, you know, depending on what manufacturer you're using and you know it's just never quick enough. And that was one thing that just drove me crazy was I want to have and same thing for customers too. You know they want the instant gratification, they want it as soon as possible. You know, I mean, I have guys who call me and say I want to propose, you know, in a couple days, what do you have for me?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh you know you get those phone calls. It happens, you know, and so when it comes to you know, not the bigger, better thing, but really you know the next part of technology is going to change our industry. This is a huge thing that has really significantly helped my business, especially when it comes to customs.
Speaker 1:Man, but a really interesting and novel way to kind of implement that AI to it, especially because, if you can feed, you know a bot that met. You know, however many CAD models are just just individual designs. Having them be able to blend it together is definitely something that comes that you know aids you in it. So I guess, when it comes to that, what is like, how do you get it across the finish line? Are you working alongside you know a third party company that can help you get it to the finish line or kind of walk me through that part?
Speaker 2:Sure. So once I get to that rendering process and we agree, you know and the nice thing about having AI and doing the AI is like, okay, you're only charging for your time, I'm not going in there and, like you know, going in perk, we wait until we're at the complete done, done. Then I go on and make the CAD and then, you know, we get the CAD process done and say, okay, this is what the CAD looks like. I send it over to my customer, I get the final approval and when it comes to customs, I always request a 50% down or more, depending on you know what project it is Like.
Speaker 2:For example, my big project, I required, you know, this amount down right here, right now, to get those diamonds in and say, okay, I need this amount right now. You know you need to write the check now so I can get your diamonds in and you own them, they're yours. And that was quite a process because we started at seven center. So we, and then you know, my, my client's hands. You know she's this very vibrant, amazing Italian woman, but she's a size four and a half hand, so our ring size, I should say, though a seven, you know, took up her whole knuckle and it was you know, finding that.
Speaker 2:you know it's the definition of Boulder right and finding that happy medium. You know, going through that process. So then you know, getting the deposits, you know that's a huge thing I always advocate for whoever jewelers that I talked to is. You know you should have a custom signing fee, you should have those fees. You need to get paid. You know, and that's one thing where a lot of jewelers they don't, they don't advocate for themselves and that's kind of why I feel like it is a dying trade because you know, up until our generation they didn't advocate, they didn't say, okay, yeah, we need this amount for this process. You know, they kind of just let it go. And I do believe that you know our generation is going to change that in the aspect of getting paid for our work.
Speaker 1:When it comes to those kind of you know, I guess projects that are that are stage based or or I guess, you know, I guess I like to think of it as stages when it comes to doing anything custom, how it's like there's there's the exploratory and then there's the conceptualization of it and then there's the actual rendering or mockup or whatever you're going to be doing with it. I think of those things as like stages and gates in between them, and I always recommend, whether you're a freelance artist or you're a you know a custom, you know a custom jeweler or anything in between, I always recommend, at those gates, that is your opportunity to delineate it and then charge whatever percentage of your project, because there's nothing worse. It just increases your stress. If you, you know, have the only gate that you pay attention to be the final one, which is the handoff, and if that's what you are going to tie in 100% of a project to, I just feel like man. You're really setting yourself up for some stress if things don't go well.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, absolutely. And that's a thing too, where you know your customer can take a hard left turn and say, nope, scratch the idea. I found something I like completely better. So at that point, you know, it's very important, even for me where, okay, you know, if we're going to do this, you know I need this amount of X down. Or you know, my fees started this amount. And even for friends in the industry when they come to me and say, oh my God, how are you rendering so good, how is this Like, how are you doing this?
Speaker 2:You still have to charge for your time and you know, unfortunately, you know, in our industry, a lot of, you know, different people like to take advantage and that is just how it is. But in general, we have to make sure that we are getting paid for the work that we're doing. And you know, like I said, you know you can take a far right turn or a far left turn. You can't. You can't decide where your customer is going to go, and it's our job to mold ourselves to. You know, always say yes and then figure it out later, right?
Speaker 1:So when it comes to delivering, let's just say, you know, everything goes super smoothly. You get your 50% down, everything goes well, you actually get the piece back and you're setting everything. Everything looks good. How are you? What's the grand reveal like? Sometimes I kind of feel like it's an over, overthought or afterthought, I guess, is the term where you are. You know, a lot of times people don't give a lot of you know special to the special moment. How do you go about, for example, say, for a ring, how are you, you know, handing that over to your client so that it does feel like kind of a monumental occasion sort of situation?
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely so. Like, for example, you know, my customer with with my really big ring that I just finished recently, I hand delivered it to them, so it's not a thing where I really believe that, unless they're not a local customer a lot of my customers are local to me in the Twin Cities.
Speaker 2:You know, I firmly believe. You know this is my product that I've made, I believe in that's a hundred percent, as if I would wear it myself and if it was my own personal piece and, you know, adding that personal touch where I do hand deliver it to my customers and if, if not, they they are, if they're not comfortable, you come to their home or whatever the case, I'll meet them somewhere. But I always give them, you know, a bottle of champagne or I ask them is there any way I can help with your proposal or is there anything special you would like me to do? You know, I really I'm trying to differentiate myself.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of old school jewelers in the Twin Cities that are very old school and it's a very, you know, just in the last couple of years, our, you know our area has had a very tough time, especially when it comes to, you know, covid, all the George Floyd protests. You know there are so many jewelers that were completely rob clean more than once. You know there's so many things that our industry here is struggling and it's, and now it's kind of got to a point where now we're getting into 2024, where I think a lot of them are mostly recovered now. But it's taken many, many years to get to that point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, totally understand that. It's good that you're, you know, kind of reinventing the process as much as possible for yourself and striking on your own is definitely really impressive. Paige, we're going to take a quick break. We're going to come back. We're going to hear a little bit more about you know how you got into this profession and hear a little bit more about your backstory. So, everybody, stay with us, we'll be back in just one minute.
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Speaker 1:Visit nationalraritiescom slash pages, slash host dash and dash event it's going to be in the show nuts below or reach out to Justin Van Maeter by emailing Justin. That's J U S T I N at national raritiescom. Let them know that in the loop sent you Thanks back to the show. All right, everybody still with page the jeweler, our concierge jeweler. So, page, tell me, how did you get into this profession? I guess this is you know someone, some middle schooler or, you know, high schooler is probably going to hear this and be like man. This sounds like the coolest job, working with gigantic stones and really expensive metal. How did you end up in your seat?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. So you know kind of and I just actually talked about this recently in a post that I did on my Instagram where I ended a little Q&A of how you know, get to know Pige the Jeweler and get to know like how I got to this point, and I kind of referenced that earlier and I was like, wow, you know, it's crazy to think about. So when I was a little girl, I used to go stay with my grandmother on the weekends. You know, as we do, you go stay with your grandparents and my grandmother lives in this really small town in southern Minnesota and in the downtown area they had this bead store and it was very unique to where it actually was a house and it was somebody's like. Half of it was a house and half of it was a bead store, like in the front room type of thing.
Speaker 2:And I remember when I was I was very young, you know, four or five it was my grandmother, grandmother and I's saying we would go, you know, say I was seeing a Friday, saturday, sunday or whatever the case might be, we would go, you know, saturday morning or Sunday morning after church and go pick out beads. And I would go pick out beads and I would just pick out, you know, pretty colors. But ever since I did that, it was always very, very high end, structured patterns to a point where, and I would whip them up so quickly, it was like a seventh sense for me. And I did that for many, many years. It was a passion of mine was just beating and, you know, doing all those types of, you know crafts and just you know sewing. And because my grandmother quilted, you know I've always been very artistic. I've always loved jewelry. I've been doing it since I can't even remember. But then I, you know, was in retail.
Speaker 2:I originally thought I wanted to be a fashion designer and then I, you know, quickly learned. You know how the industry is, it's you know I grew up watching Project Runway. That was like my. My dream was to go make clothes and, and you know do fashion and you know, go live in Paris and go live in New York and you know, go, you know, reinvent myself and I'm going to be a big designer one day, you know, like you sell her on and Dior, and it's going to be me. And that was my plan for a very long time. And then I actually got blessed with my daughter. I had my daughter my senior year of high school. I was 17 when I had her. So after I had my oldest May, I had to take a very quick pivot and say, okay, you know, I have to work. I'm a single mom, I need to, I need to go work. You know I have to care for my kid and myself. And you know I worked a few retail jobs here and there.
Speaker 2:I actually was working at Norrin's drum in this area, where we had a Shane company very close to us, and at the time I was selling premium denim which is like AG page jeans. You know things like that are like 400, 500 bucks a pair, right, and I kid you now I sell most things like hotcakes. And I've always been very good at sales. No matter what I'm doing, my mom always says, from the beginning of, I've been doing sales I can sell garbage to garbage man. She always laughs at me and says you're just like your dad, you can sell anything to anybody. And I've always been very good at sales. And when I was there, when the customers that I helped actually was a Shane company recruiter and she came to me, you know I've always been a total jewelry. No matter what I'm doing, always were tons of jewelry and glam. And you know, and back then I more than now than now, obviously because of COVID and things like that has changed so much of the other pants in the sweatshirt, right, but you know, back then I would get fully dressed, the nines go to work. You know, because if you look at you feel good. You know something that I'm selling a really high quality product. You know it's $400 jeans I mean no one's, I mean it's a lot of money to spend on pair of jeans for anybody.
Speaker 2:And I got recruited to go work at Shane company and I went as my first job in jewelry. I was 18 at the time. I was so excited I was making $20 an hour and back then that was a lot of money back then. Okay, like you know, I was 18, had a one year old baby. You know, I think I was still nursing at the time. I can't remember, but I was still nursing, I was still doing the whole mom thing. I was working 60 hours a week. I was just totally grinding. I was making so much money at the time and my second week, working at Shane company, I sold a five carat natural diamond.
Speaker 2:And yes it was a huge win and it was crazy because it was so funny, because nobody would greet the customer that came in and he was a spiker, you know, a little rough from the edges looking, and nobody agreed him. I boss said, yeah, you go and you grow, go greet him. And I said, okay, fine, I'll greet him. He looks like my grandpa Jim, you know, and little does my boss know that I grew up on motorcycles my whole life.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I, you know I peek out the corner and you know I see his big street glide brand new street glide. It's, you know, $75,000 bike. You know, and given, you know he's got his big cut off shirt and he doesn't look like the guy that's going to spend money. But I knew, I knew like he looks just like my grandpa Jim, with the handlebar mustache and everything, and you know, I greeted him I actually use the motorcycle analogies during my pitch and they just clicked for him and the whole sale ended up being close to $200,000.
Speaker 1:Holy smokes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and because you know, the fiance came in and she played both wrong in their second marriage and she picked out a plat once that that was just it was begged to be getting with. And then we're putting you know, it was very, very but and heavy this, this cushion was, so it was very deep, it wasn't. It had the table value of like a four, like a max of a four, so it was very deep stone. But I ended up working out perfectly and at that point in time I knew I'm like that's a house, that's amazing, yeah.
Speaker 1:And we're working on a little bit of commission at that time. Did that get this?
Speaker 2:company doesn't, doesn't do any commission at home no.
Speaker 2:I made no commission off that sale. Well, it didn't matter to me because I'm like this is my that's. I treat all my customers the same. You couldn't spend a dollar with me or $200,000. You know, everyone's treated fairly in my book. And at that point in time I just knew that this is my calling. And it was like it was like it was so easy to me. And you know, going into the forest seas, getting my, getting, you know, my certifications, become a gemologist, you know doing all those things. It just clicked and I'm like this is what I'm supposed to be doing, this is my calling.
Speaker 1:And then now I'm here, so I guess I kind of that's one of those things that I sometimes have a hard time kind of explaining or putting into words is, I think that a lot of people refer to them as soft skills. You know, like just being nice or personable, or, you know, getting a chance to kind of warm people up, even people that you know again, like your example, might not be on first blush the easiest person to speak with, but that sounds like a you know, it sounds like you have a lot of soft skills. Do you think that your time, you know whether at Nordstrom or what have you, was kind of what set you up to be able to start, you know, being a concierge driller?
Speaker 2:I would say my experience through just every place that I've worked, just in general, to. You know, build up, you know those, those skills, the selling skills of course. But I would just say you know it's a personality trait if you can sell or if you can't sell, you know you think about the car salesman right Back in the day. They're selling stuff out of their trunks. You know that I could have seen myself being one of those guys in the past life. You know that's. I really believe either you have it or you don't. But you know you can always learn. You know the, the personable skills and and working with people and being kind and and I do think that does go a very long way. I think a lot of people are lacking that nowadays just you know be kind to each other and just it goes a long way. And also you know, just for me, I go out of my way for my customers and it always comes back to me tri-fold.
Speaker 1:You know, no matter what I'm doing, yeah, just gotta be kind, and I do agree. I think it comes back. So really quickly, paige, we're going to take one more break and then I want to come back and I want to talk about this new group that you're an admin for on Facebook. All right, everybody, stay with us. This week's episode is brought to you in part by Accessiby, punchmark's ADA Compliance Partner.
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Speaker 1:And now back to the show. All right, everybody Still speaking with Paige the jeweler. Paige, I want to talk to you about this Facebook group. Actually, how I met you is through a group called Young Jewelers Helping Young Jewelers. What I refer to it, as is YJYJ, is that's how I refer to it to my bosses. I know that it's a spin off of another very popular group called Jewelers Helping Jewelers, jha. Could you maybe set it up and how you became an admin for that group?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. A good friend of mine, garrett, created this group, and so there's three admins. There's myself, alan Wood, who I'm sure you've heard of. He's an amazing, amazing, amazing joy designer who I just look up to him every day. He's so talented. And then Garrett is also our main admin, who created the page. And you know kind of when it started, I told myself I want to be a part of this group. We know we're innovating, we're doing things different, we don't shame people, for, you know, having free speech, or asking questions.
Speaker 2:It seems like.
Speaker 1:It seems like a lot of people are pretty early on in their careers, which is absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And I want to say, too, like we are very welcoming, you know, and our trade is dying. So it's like, okay, if there's other people that are interested, they want to become a Goldsmith, they want to become a Bench Jeweler, they want to become a jewelry designer or be a concierge jeweler, like me, we're very warm and welcoming, you know. Please come join our group. We'd be happy to have you, you know, and also help you know along your timeline, because we all have to help each other to make it. You know, and it's just been a really, really neat journey to get where we are now, or it's growing and growing, and I could see us being as big as JHJ eventually.
Speaker 1:I saw this one post in there. It was so funny, it was so right on. It was like this one guy I don't want to call him a kid because I have no idea how old he was, but he was like my gold bars, like I melted down a whole bunch of I don't know scrap and my gold bars are really blobbly and I was like man, I love this place. It's so so beginner. And then like someone was in there and like, oh yeah, you're using too high of a heat or something like that. I don't know, but it's. It's so inspiring to me to know that there are people that are you know, that they are where you started from, which is learning, and whether that's you know, it's so quick to, as you're chasing that that dragon of trying to get better and always be an expert and trying harder to you know, know everything about the trade. It's it's. I think it's refreshing to know that there are people who are just starting out and they are at the beginning of the journey and they are novices, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And I will say too, you know like there's some things you know like I do refer to my good friend Alan all the time and I'm like hey, like what do you think about this? So you know my really good friend, sabrina Len, who's an amazing designer like me and also a bench jeweler, you know we all help each other, you know, and I there's sometimes when I'm like, huh, I never would have thought about that way. Let me go ask my friends on young, young jewelers, helping young, young jewelers, and you know it's really it's an amazing forum where you know and I and I and even though I've been in the industry more than 10 years, you know there's some things that I'm like you know what I'm just going to ask some friends that actually aren't going to make me feel bad for asking those questions.
Speaker 2:You know, because in other groups to not even just JHA, but other groups that you know they are older people that are part of those groups they'll shame you. You know they'll shame you for you know asking about you know, like one thing for me, I, I pride myself and I sell everything. If you want a lab diamond, that's totally cool with me. If you want a natural diamond, totally okay. If you want moist and night moon stone, whatever you like, that's totally. I'm totally okay with that and I really do believe that our forum and our group is so innovative for being accepting of everything, especially when it comes to lab diamonds.
Speaker 1:I totally agree. I definitely think that being being open and sharing a lot of information and and also being having a space where people can have the courage to ask, you know, really beginner questions, is what the industry needs a lot of, especially because this seems to kind of, you know, be a little bit playful. I'm always very pessimistic when it comes to groups. I think that there's a honeymoon period where things are really awesome. I think that's kind of where we are right now, but, you know, I think it's just kind of on yeah, you guys but the admins, to stay on top of things and keep a train on the tracks as much as possible.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You know, and I think that we are very diligent. One thing that we're very diligent about is you cannot sell anything in the group that is not wholesale pricing. We're very, you know, we're very on top of it when it comes to certain things. You know, because we are younger, we do have technology on our side. We grew up with technology, you know we are. We're constantly talking in our admin groups.
Speaker 2:So what do you think about this? Or, you know, recently we made certain policies and procedures for auctions. You know things like that, where you know we are on top of those things. We are talking about different policies and things we want to implement. You know, we even have been talking about recently of like having a meetup, or like you know, the Tucson shows coming up and there's a few of us that are going to get together in the group, and you know things like that where, if we have certain resources for her, you know, say, I'm looking for something special and I don't feel like I'm, I'm going out of my way to go in my group and say, hey guys, what do you think about this? You know I just want opinions and it's and it's honest opinions that are just there and they come from a place of like, loving and caring, versus being shamed and shouted at and and just being plain mean.
Speaker 1:Sure yeah, I know it's one of the other groups, you know.
Speaker 1:But you know what I think that I got to commend you guys. It's been really fun. I mean, that's how I met you from there and I'm also like going on there just to just to sometimes ask questions or poll about you know topics that I'm trying to do for in the loop. So definitely thank you for you know being a part of that Paige. Before we kind of wrap, I want to give the listeners kind of like a way to you know, learn more about you or follow up. Where can the people find you?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. You guys can find me on Instagram at page the jeweler underscore, and that's mostly where I do a lot of my posting. I am pretty well known for doing like crazy blasts of my stories Nice, Sometimes I'll do like custom design blasts or I'll do like different themes or all the different renderings that I do. But Instagram is the best place to find me at page the jeweler underscore.
Speaker 1:Awesome, paige. Thank you so much for being on. This is really great. I love having a chance to speak with someone that's approaching this in a different or novel way, and it definitely sounds like you are really making a name for yourself. It is really great hearing from you. I think we'll end it there, everybody. We'll be back next week, tuesday, with another episode. Cheers Bye, all right, everybody. That's the end of the show. Thanks so much for listening and thank you so much to our sponsors. This episode was brought to you by punch mark and produced and hosted by me, michael Burpo. My guest this week was paid to the jeweler and you can find her social information in the show notes below. This episode was edited by Paul Suarez with music by Ross Cochran. Don't forget to rate the podcast on Apple podcast and Spotify. It really is the best way to help us grow. Thanks, and we'll be back next week, tuesday, with another episode. Cheers Bye.