Join the celebration of innovation and leadership as Michael is joined by Amanda Gizzi of Jewelers of America, to tease the "20 under 40" list, spotlighting those who are pushing the Jewelry Industry forward.
Tune in to learn the ways Jewelers of America, National Jeweler, and Diamond Council of America amplify consumer confidence and industry growth, how to nominate members for the 20 Under 40 list, and celebrate past members of the list and where they are today!
Send feedback or learn more about the podcast: punchmark.com/loupe
Learn about Punchmark's website platform: punchmark.com
Join the celebration of innovation and leadership as Michael is joined by Amanda Gizzi of Jewelers of America, to tease the "20 under 40" list, spotlighting those who are pushing the Jewelry Industry forward.
Tune in to learn the ways Jewelers of America, National Jeweler, and Diamond Council of America amplify consumer confidence and industry growth, how to nominate members for the 20 Under 40 list, and celebrate past members of the list and where they are today!
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 Amanda Gizzi and she's the director of PR and Events for Jewelers of America National Jeweler and Diamond Council of America, and we're talking all about the 20 under 40 list and what this list is a group of individuals who are pushing the jewelry industry forward with their ideas and leadership and we're talking about previous members of the list. For the past two years, I've already had the opportunity to interview Alex from Key for Jewelers, as well as Constance Palamalu from Birthright Foundry, and we're talking about the qualities and characteristics that a successful member might have for this year's list. If you want to nominate someone to this year's 20 under 40 list, we'll include all the information later on the episode, so stay tuned for that. Thanks so much for listening and we'll be back next week.
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Speaker 1:And now back to the show. Welcome back everybody. I'm joined by Amanda Gizzi who is with a whole collection of groups. You're with Jewelers of America, national Jeweler and Diamond Council of America, how you doing today, amanda.
Speaker 3:I'm great. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to chat with you today.
Speaker 1:Man, I'm so excited to speak with you, and most specifically about the 20 under 40 list, but maybe, as before we jump into that, can you kind of give me an overview of what your role is with those groups, because three pretty impressive groups, I'd have to say.
Speaker 3:Sure. Well, just a little backstory on myself. I've actually been with Jewelers of America for 22 years and it's been an incredible organization to be part of. It's a little historical for everybody who might not fully know who JA is. We're a trade organization founded in 1906 by a group of jewelers that saw a need for there to be consumer awareness and consumer education within the industry to really ensure consumer confidence in buying jewelry. So they founded Jewelers of America and it's really grown into an organization and association that is still membership based but provides all of our members with resources, recognition and also representation within the industry. So those are really our three core areas that all of our membership benefits fall into, but it's the way that we not only serve our members but also the industry.
Speaker 1:Nice, wow. I definitely have heard quite a few of our clients are also members of JA and it's definitely one of those groups that I feel like is pushing the industry forward.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely, and we have a very strong board of directors that helps guide us through our mission every single year and ensuring that we're helping to push the industry forward. That's really our core objectives. Is, you know, how can we help our members sell more product? How can we ensure consumers are confident in the jewelry purchases that they make day in, day out? And that's really what we fight to do, and that's why we bring all of these great minds into the boardroom, so to speak, and also help all of our members really be activists on that same mission for us. So we're really proud of that and we're really proud of our membership base for that.
Speaker 1:Nice. And what about National Jewelry? I'm a big fan. Yeah, me too.
Speaker 3:So National Jewelry Jewelers of America is that that's a publication that Jewelers of America owns. However, they continue to operate independently. So the National Jeweler team is led by the very brilliant editor in chief, michelle Graff, and she has a powerhouse group of editors that work to put together daily newsletters as well as multiple print. They brought a couple print publications every year, with State of the Majors being one of them, which is always an incredible issue. If you don't know National Jewelers, I definitely encourage you to subscribe. I'm lucky enough to have been asked by Michelle to pen a column that I do. I mean a style file, so I, multiple times out of the year, put together sort of what I'm seeing in the market whether it's every single month with Burstone Jewelry featuring some of the best you know jewelry out there for that style file column. So I'm lucky enough to get to put my name on the NJ site, but it's certainly something that NJ continues to independently operate and really one of the go-to sources for news in our industry, and her team does an incredible job.
Speaker 1:It's also the source of a lot of fun facts that I pull up in a lot of my meetings with my bosses and just different people at the company, Like, oh yeah, did you hear about this? I don't know, the prices of whatever watches are rising, or this is like another interesting kind of trend and I'm like how'd you know that? It's like I just got to deliver my inbox every week.
Speaker 3:Yeah, michelle and her team are just incredible reporters, in addition to brilliant editors too. So they are really getting to the heart of the stories and really do an incredible job at digging out all of the essential information that our members need, that the industry needs to know, and doing it in fun, educational ways. For sure they don't back away from a hard story, and it's always fun to get those newsletters that pop into my inbox every day. If you don't get them, definitely subscribe because, like you said, it's fun facts that you get to learn every single day. It's really, you know, snippets of information that can help us do our jobs better each day. I'll take it.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And the final one, Diamond Council of America. Can you talk about that just as an overview?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so Diamond Council of America is a separate organization that we have an affiliation with, but Jewelers of America and DCA have an affiliation, so we support the mission of DCA. They're a nonprofit organization also that provides affordable distance education so you're able to all online education and then you can also have professional certifications in diamonds, colored gemstones and fine jewelry sales. So it's a really affordable way for people to educate their staff and to make sure that they're certified to. Again going back to our consumer confidence you know walking into a jewelry store and knowing that someone is certified to be able to sell you something really means a lot to today's consumers. That you know that empowering the consumer to be able to shop with people who are certified is another great tool for retailers.
Speaker 1:Man, that's fantastic.
Speaker 1:It sounds like you are really invested in not just the kind of the current industry but also in fostering kind of this development of more members to join the jewelry industry.
Speaker 1:It's definitely one of those kind of aspects that I'm always looking to see who is kind of pushing the envelope forward, mainly because it's no secret that the jewelry industry is aging.
Speaker 1:It is getting slightly older and, especially as stores are, you know, store owners are getting older. A lot of the times the children or their, you know, kind of like the, the heir apparent, are not really kind of either ready or not willing to take up the reins of this kind of independent business. So we're seeing so many jewelry stores just closing just as a straight GOB, and it's definitely awesome to hear because that you guys are kind of investing in that, because it's so important that we do keep these traditions around. I mean, just the other day we run this little promotion campaign in our one of our Facebook groups for our clients. We're asking what are you most excited about? And a bunch of people were like, oh, we're having a 77th year anniversary, or we're having a 104th year, like big sale in the summer, and it's like, man, these these are some legacy businesses in their communities would be not the same if they were to close down without anything. To kind of pick up the reins, I'd say.
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely. I mean we have a club that we created called the J100 Club, and it's for businesses that have been in continual business for 100 years. I mean it's incredible to see every year those anniversaries come up. And it's true what you say they are integral parts of the community and they have served generations of families in those communities, so our industry certainly wouldn't be the same without those. But then we also know that there's this great opportunity for new businesses to open up, and one of the projects that we're really excited about that we are just actually announcing our finalists for, is an emerging jeweler's accelerated program that we launched with the Black and Jewelry Coalition, and that's been really nice to see these new businesses who have started. So how can we better give them the tools that they need to be successful as they reach out? And hopefully we're going to be creating these 100 year stores in 100 years from now, we can look back and be like all right, we won't be looking back, but JAA will be looking back In spirit.
Speaker 3:It's cool to be able to really support the emerging talent today too.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. It's great that you guys are investing in that. It's definitely like you said. There's some quote out there that's like true wisdom is planting trees whose shade you'll never sit beneath, and it's like you know. I think that's kind of part of it. Like you said, will we be around to see you know the next hundredth year anniversary for a store that starts today? No, but it's kind of will make things a little bit easier knowing that I left it a little bit better, but yeah absolutely yeah.
Speaker 3:we went to the industry to promote individuals and smart individuals to enter our field. We are working really hard on our career center as well, like our career sky, and how can we encourage youth to be excited about the jewelry industry in?
Speaker 3:new and exciting ways, not just in retail store ownership, but where are their opportunities with marketing? Where are their opportunities with photography? Where are their opportunities in the social space that we can incentivize youth to enter the jewelry industry? And we know that finding and keeping talent is one of the areas that keep our jewelers up at night. So how can we better help create a brighter future for these stores by really looking at trade schools and looking at high schools, and how can we push the industry to the forefront of that conversation as they're thinking about long term employment?
Speaker 3:You know it's not just retail, there's other, and retail is certainly part of it. We want people to be excited to enter retail from the jewelry industry too. So it's a lot of exciting things and I think that's what really gives me hope for our industry is seeing the enthusiasm that comes out of those opportunities. You know to sit down with someone who I mean, if you've ever gone into a like I'll do an education class in a fifth grade school or in a fifth grade classroom and talk about burst stones and gemstones and gemstones, and just to see the eyes light up and the magic of capturing that for jewelry is something that you know we have to keep. We have to keep doing and getting people excited for.
Speaker 1:Man. Maybe on that note, I think it kind of ties in pretty well. I wanted to talk to you about your 20 under 40 list. Can you first of all just set it up for the people that might not be aware of it what this list is?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So we are about to be opening our third group for the 20 under 40. So Jewelers of America saw the opportunity and the void in the market to really celebrate emerging talent in the retail jewelry space. So we created, in 2022, the Jewelers of America 20 under 40. And we opened up a nomination period for retailers to be able to nominate them their staff. So it is open to the public, but it's a way to recognize and celebrate young professionals who example, by leadership skills, a commitment to the evolving and elevating the jewelry retail space for tomorrow's consumers. So it's really just you know who are the shining stars in our industry and how can we celebrate them and motivate others to aspire to that greatness.
Speaker 3:So we launched our first group in 2022, and in 2023, we had record number of applications come in, which really gave us the greatest hope for our industry to know that there are so many people who deserve to be featured and who deserve to be celebrated and who are really the leaders for tomorrow. And it's important to note that this list is not just owners, it's not just managers. It can really be anybody who's employed by a Jewelers of America member. So we have individuals who you know some are Jewelry buyers, some are directors of marketing, we have people who are owners and sort of. Everywhere in between there's youth that are super shining stars, that are sales leaders for their team, who are million-dollar sales leaders in some of these retail stores, all the way to owners of huge companies who are under the age of 40 and just going out and really changing and disrupting the industry in all positive ways.
Speaker 1:So that's great, I think, having that cultivated list, I mean so relatively similar to the 40 under 40 list which you've seen in I think it's People Magazine, but maybe not. So I guess, what is it that you're looking for when it comes to a successful applicant? Are you looking for, like you said, it kind of spans, the whole gambit of credentials? So how are you able to compare, for example, a buyer to someone who's on the show floor, to someone who helps with marketing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a great question. So what we look for and how we break down the application process is to try to make it so it's less about a specific role and it's about those qualities within each role. So we're able to see what makes someone successful in their chosen field. So, whether it's marketing or ownership or sales or whatever that chosen field might be, what makes them successful in that position? Who demonstrates leadership characteristics and an innovative mindset. Innovative mindset is something that is really important in the application process. So how are they thinking outside of the norm? It's great to just be a salesperson, but what are they doing that really sets them apart? Potential to improve their community. So we look for examples like DEI initiatives, industry organization involvement. Are there any programs that they're involved in within the community or within the industry? So, are they active in any other trade organization or any other associations?
Speaker 3:And then commitment to JA's code of professional practices, which is something that's extremely important to us. So how are they really exemplifying professional ethics as part of their current position? As we know, ethics are the key to consumer confidence. So that's something that's very important to JA, as all of our members have to uphold those high ethical standards. So all of the applicants have to be an employee of a JA member store. So the store has committed to those professional practices annually. But the individual has to also showcase those skills. So not even skills, it's just the commitment to ethics. And we're seeing that that's almost becoming a no-brainer in today's world, which is great to see. This is not something that people take lightly as their role in consumer confidence.
Speaker 1:I really like what you said with ethics are the key to consumer confidence. I think that that's such a very succinct way of kind of putting into what it is that a lot of retailers are trying to drive forward. When it comes to trustworthiness, we use a lot of words that kind of go into this feeling of, like you said, consumer confidence. It's like trustworthiness being a part of the community, having, like you know, morals, or knowing that someone's not going to swap your diamond with some other type of diamond. So I think that that's a fantastic way to put it at the center. But when it comes to that, I guess how do you pick that? Is there a board of jurors? Is there? Are you the one that has to select it? How do you sift through the applicants and end up on your 20 under 40?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it's a tedious and very hard job that we have a committee of industry leaders who form our committee each year. So we take these criteria and all of the judges and all of the committee members, the committee members each are empowered with those applications. And then it's that stringent criteria of being able to go through and and it's not, it's not always easy. And there, you know, there's, you know, multiple people who can really be like neck and neck and it's like what makes someone stand apart could be as little as one little initiative that they've done. So it's about finding that balance. Look, there's probably you know, dozens of in, dozens and dozens of applicants who are worthy of being on the 20 under 40. The great news is, most of them are significantly under 40. So they have multiple years to be able to stay on our radar and to be featured in years. And just because they aren't featured this year doesn't mean that they won't be featured in years to come.
Speaker 1:Ah, that's good. You know, I think that's a good point is that if they start applying earlier, they do have multiple years and maybe something that they can work towards. So that's for sure.
Speaker 3:I mean, there's definitely there's some years where it's like OK, like he's really close or she's really close, or they're really close. You know, let's, let's wait and see what they do next year and see how this sort of shakes out. And that's and that's part of the exciting part of it is like going back to people to be to say you know, unfortunately you weren't chosen this year, but please come back next year and reapply because you know there, we know that you're going to continue to do great things. And then just being able to be put on that radar of so many leaders in this space and of the committee, just to have us sort of be like watch dogs of like, OK, this is wow, look at all this talent, and just sort of monitor them from afar with the years, is nice to see and be like OK, I see that, OK, I see you on that panel, you know. So that's fantastic, it's. It's cool to see them being pulled out in in different ways too.
Speaker 1:And, I think, correct me if I'm wrong. I have nominations or applications been open yet, or are they about to open?
Speaker 3:The nomination process opens on January 30th.
Speaker 1:OK, this is what they do after that.
Speaker 3:So they will be open from January 30th through March 22nd and all of the nominations are open to the public. As I mentioned, you can self nominate or you can nominate someone else. So if you know if one of your colleagues would be a great fit or if you feel like you're a good fit, you should definitely don't be afraid to self nominate. There's no, no one can tell your your story better than you. Is what we like to remind people, so you know best how you embody all the characteristics that we're looking for. So we don't look at a nomination field and feel like, oh, they self nominated, it's, it's valued less, absolutely not. The you know who nominates is less is way less important than the information. So we always strongly encourage people to self nominate, even though I know it's hard for people to quote to their own horn, but we definitely encourage people to do that.
Speaker 1:And when are you know? When is the list debuted? When does that come out?
Speaker 3:So the judging process is actually a little time intensive just because of all of the length of the applications. So we'd like to make sure that we give all of our judges the right amount of time. So we actually announced them in mid-May, because we also have to go through after they've been selected. There's a time for us to get all of their bios and their headshots and all of those good things that come along with properly celebrating this list the way that they deserve to be celebrated.
Speaker 1:Well, I can't wait to read it. I look at it every single year. I think we'll get into it in just a moment. I want to talk about fast members, but I think we're going to take a quick break, amanda, and we'll come back in just one minute. Everybody, stay with us. Hey, everybody, exciting news, so stay tuned.
Speaker 1:If you're a Punch Bar client, this week, the client workshop is going to be held in Charlotte, north Carolina, from April 28th through the 30th. So save the date, because you don't want to miss this. If you've never been to a Punch Bar client workshop before, this is going to be a great one. It's our third edition of it and we've taken a lot of time to improve every aspect of it. We'll have educational seminars from members of the Punch Bar team as well as some of our partners, so that way, you know exactly what we've created over the past year, as well as what types of tools and techniques are available to you through the back end of your website or just through your own means. It's a really fun time. We always have cocktail hours and dinner and lunch all provided, and it's so much fun getting a chance to talk to you all more casually and to hear how the most recent year has been for you and also to trade some tips over. You know a glass. If you're interested in this, make sure you're in the Punch Bar community that is facebookcom, slash groups, slash punch mark, and make sure you're part of that, because we'll have more information for signing up very soon. Thanks, everybody, and now back to the show.
Speaker 1:All right, everybody, I'm still joined by Amanda Gizzi from Jewels of America, and we're talking about the 2040 list. And so, amanda, I kind of wanted to talk about some past members of this list. So you mentioned that there's been two years of it so far. So far, we've had at least to my knowledge, we've had two members of the list be guests on In the Loop we're really proud of.
Speaker 1:We had on Constance Palamalu with Birthright Foundry. She was on the list, I believe, last year, but she was on season four, episode 34. And we talked all about, you know, the creation of her jewelry line. And then we also have our recurring guest actually with Alex Shlinwine, also known as Diamond Diaries, and she is co-owner of Key for Jewelers, and she was on, I also believe, for the 2023 list, but she might have been on the inaugural list as well, or prior to that. Yes, so she's been a recurring member. I kind of wanted to hear about, maybe, if you have any that you wanted to spotlight, just so that people get an idea of you know, the type of people that are ending up on this list.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so both of those members were part of our 2022 or 2022.
Speaker 3:Okay, yeah, in an inaugural list of 2040 recipients, and I love those too as examples, because you talk about powerhouse professionals in our industry for reasons that you might not think about them being powerhouse, for Both of those individuals are champions for our industry. They are champions for their peers, they're champions for associations. They are champions for the industry. Take Constance, for example. Constance came to our attention for her work at Zachary's not even for birthright, so she was part of the 2040 list as an employee being nominated by the Zachary's team for her outstanding work in that jewelry store. So Constance came to us immediately. We saw in her as we do so many in our 2040, exactly the skills that we know are what are going to drive our industry forward. Constance flash forward to today. Constance is now on our board of directors for Jewelers of America.
Speaker 2:Wow, which is incredible To go from 2022, just making the 2040 list.
Speaker 3:She's now on our board of directors and it continues to really be one of those individuals that comes to us daily with great ideas and it's constantly supporting the work that JAA does, but supporting it because she sees that other jewelers need to be part of these programs and how can we better the things that we're doing. She was part of our fly-in that we do in Washington DC as part of our legislative work on behalf of the industry, so she's really just was one of the first to raise our hands of how can I get more involved and what can I do more, and I love that energy that Constance brings for sure. For that reason and Alex also the same thing. I mean you talk about someone being on your podcast. It's like the generosity of information that she shares on a daily basis with her peers so unselfishly.
Speaker 3:to just make sure that everyone around her is better is exactly what we all should aspire to be, so they're like two of the greatest examples of talent.
Speaker 1:I'm going to make sure I send this episode to both of them. So, hello, if you're listening, I'm sure they're listening, yeah, yeah. So let's talk about some that I might not have spoken with yet or the listeners might not be as aware of they. Maybe they're discovering this list this year. Are there any members that you would want to kind of shine a spotlight on?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so there's, I mean there's a handful of them, I mean there's 20 on the current list that I would love to hear all of them, of course.
Speaker 3:But there's a couple who really have, like, done the same thing where they've just shot and they've gone straight up to the top. As I walk through this list, trish Karuth she is your personal jeweler is the name of her store and she is out of Royal Oak, michigan, and she's a great example of a small jeweler who started off as just making engagement rings one of a kind engagement rings for her clientele in her community and it grew so quickly that she opened up her own retail store and she actually is one of our the participants in our emerging jeweler's accelerated program this year as well and she has just been so fun to watch what she does on the social space the education side of just educating her consumers and getting them really excited about being the custom side of the engagement ring process. How can you better work with your jeweler? So she's been really great to see. So definitely follow your personal jeweler if you don't already.
Speaker 3:And then we have really we have big stores like we have Scott Udell from London jeweler's who owns numerous stores across the East Coast and Scott has been an incredible person within the industry to watch. He's a vice president there and obviously under his parents and he's sort of grown up in the jewelry industry. So we love the balance of having someone who's born in the industry, literally raised in a jewelry store. It's his parents, you know, built London jeweler's and then you have someone like Trish who had no one in the industry but sort of came into it in their in their own right. But how they can both live on this list and how they both bring such different qualities and characteristics to the tables is cool.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, I agree, some of the people who I've been very fortunate to speak with through this podcast I love hearing the ones that where they can remember being, you know, five, six, seven years old and being in the jewelry store and like being so involved or watching rings being made and things like that. But then there are also it's almost counterbalanced by people that are from either other industries or they came in and they made a splash in the industry and allowing that to kind of, you know, be their space where they make, you know, a change, and I think that that's really cool how there's kind of like yeah, like you said, a balance of that. You know, people that are from the industry and also I don't want to call them outsiders, but people that are fresh and new to the industry as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, and how each of them can have such totally different business models and business perspectives. And you have someone like Emily Philippi from Emily Chelsea Jewelry, and like some of the programs that she's taking on, that she's so passionate about, whether it's gender inclusivity in the wedding space, you know. So it's cool to see how they're each zeroing in on areas where there's room for improvement in our industry and how they can help push that, you know, ahead and become, hopefully, the norm as the years progress. So, yeah, it's really.
Speaker 3:I always love people's story of like how did you come into the industry? You know, that's one of the things people always ask me as an outsider. Obviously, I had no industry experience, but I grew up where my grandmother loved jewelry more than anything else. You know, when we were dressed up for anything, it was always dressing up with my grandma's jewelry and it was ingrained in me and my cousins, my siblings, all sitting down on her on her floor, playing with like diamond necklaces that we didn't even know were real. She was just comfortable and wanted to share her passion for jewelry with us. So I was lucky enough to sort of make my way into the industry. But you know, like you said. Like then, there's other stories of generations and generations of legacy in the industry too, so it is cool for this list to be able to have both. Both of that balance represented is important to JA and important to the industry.
Speaker 1:And it's definitely also just to call attention just people with a lot of different, not just backgrounds, professional backgrounds, but also backgrounds from, you know, different regions of the US, different, you know, genders, different kind of I mean don't even want to say the for the full spectrum of ages, because obviously this is focused on being younger, but I do feel like this calls attention that people are able to make a splash early on in their careers, regardless or, you know, even because of the backgrounds that they carry with them. You know, having folks that I think you know, hearing about people coming from the, from the South or from, who are the children of immigrants, it's so cool to have them all be celebrated, you know, right next to each other, on a list like this. It's very, very cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's something that we that's a really careful balance of making sure that you know the big markets is easy for them to get attention because either they're in the cities that we reside in so we, you know, we run into them in industry events. But how are these other regions represented is critically important because for some of these stores, you're talking about vast parts of the country where they're underserved with retailers because they're spread out so wide across a demographic, so it's like for them to be able to reach someone who's 300 miles away and they're their closest jeweler is not an easy thing to do, but it's really important. So we want to make sure that everybody's represented for sure.
Speaker 1:Just to have curiosity. So, like after this list is released, do you do anything with these members? I know that that list is published and it typically includes a rather extensive write-up. Is there a follow-up action? Are these people, I don't know, consulted for the next years or is that kind of you know? They receive a really nice nomination and a spot on this list, forever more, and that's kind of the end of it.
Speaker 3:No, we definitely keep our members engaged. They have a group that they're involved with together. There was a call the first year that said hey, look, we want to be able to talk to one another so we can brainstorm with each other and throw ideas up against each other. So there's a closed group that they are able to stay in contact with one another. We celebrate them at an event that we do in Las Vegas every year. So all of our members are invited to attend a cocktail party where we celebrate the 20 under 40. That's really important to us.
Speaker 3:We have speaking opportunities for our 20 under 40. I'm constantly pulling them in for webinars on JA and National Jeweler, our co-branded my Next Question webinars, and then also at trade shows across the country. We're always saying, okay, let's always make sure, when JA is represented, that we have someone from our 20 under 40 represented as well. So we're reaching out to them, and then people come to us and say, hey, we want to extend this opportunity to your 20 under 40 list, whether it's attending an exclusive event or being part of brain trust to be able to. So we always present those opportunities to them too, and to the list of benefits that's kind of growing each year as we are building these programs.
Speaker 3:We're lucky to be supported by Synchrony Financial and also from Jeweler's Mutual. They saw this at its inception. They saw that this was a program that they believed into. So they're like how can we help you grow it? And that's what we're doing. So we have a couple of new things that we're working on for this year which we'll be announcing soon. For that, 20 under 40 for recognition. And then the team at National Jeweler has been so great and doing a really great profile of our 20 under 40 in their retail Hall of Fame issue, which is incredible. So we have these icons of retail being featured in the National Jeweler print edition as well as the digital edition. But then Michelle also did a really amazing interview with each of the 20 under 40 and talking about what they're seeing happening in the industry and how that might be different from those who are being celebrated in that issue. So lots of fun ways for them to get exposure and to be promoted and truly to be celebrated the way that they deserve to be celebrated. Yeah.
Speaker 1:What a cool opportunity. I'm sure that they will really appreciate that, and it gives them kind of the space to make the impact that we're all kind of hoping the next generation of jewelers are going to be able to have. I mean, I've heard of different trade show organizations having events centered around the next generation and kind of cultivating that perspective and allows for that kind of to flourish a little bit more. So, and I want to say, though, amanda, if you guys, you want to add to the list of things, I would love to interview any members of this upcoming years 20 under 40 list. You know, two of the people that we've already spoken with are two of my favorite interviews I've ever got a chance to do, so I have high hopes for the rest of them. That'd be great.
Speaker 3:Oh, amazing. Well, I'm happy to, at any time, make those connections and offer the opportunity to them. At any time they are, they continue to blow us away. So I know that there'll be great interviews and we'll see what happens with this next class, but if there's anybody from the 2023 list they would like me to make introductions to, I'm happy to do that. They continue to be our brain trust and we continue to want to make sure to to continue to celebrate them, especially through the remainder of their term until the next year, as a note. So, yeah.
Speaker 1:So maybe, as we kind of wrap this up, amanda, where can people go to either to read about the past years, and also where can they go if they want to nominate someone, if they're inspired after this interview and want to, you know, put forward either their own name or a co-workers or a colleague or something like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a great question, Thank you. You can visit jewelersorg and we will be making an announcement so you'll see it in all the trade publications as well as all of the trade publications, not just National Jewelers very supportive of JA's 20 under 40 program. But you can visit jewelersorg and type in 20 under 40 and you'll be able to find the link to the application process. So we strongly encourage everybody to join and then we can also ensure anybody that wants to receive updates. You should also follow Jewelers of America on social, so Facebook or Instagram or Twitter, and we'll be announcing when those applications are live as well.
Speaker 1:All right. Thank you so much, Amanda. This has been great. I'm really kind of inspired and hopeful now. I feel like this is kind of you know what our industry needs going forward. I think we need to empower you, know young, different perspectives, as well as to listen to the guidance of more seasoned folks. I think that having that balance is definitely what will lead us to you know, a healthy industry, and to also just to keep us on track, because you kind of need to also look behind you, but you got to be looking forward to this, so I definitely appreciate having you on, Amanda. This is great.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Yeah, we really believe in the power of listening to the next generation's insight for sure, so giving them a seat at the table, so to speak, and really just empowering them to have a voice, and so we appreciate this opportunity so that we can give voice on their behalf to this amazing group. And I definitely encourage everybody to go and check out the current list and to read their profiles, and they're inspiring every single one of them. So thank you again for this opportunity.
Speaker 1:All right. Thank you so much, amanda, everybody. I appreciate you listening as well. 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. This week's episode was brought to you by Punchmark and produced and hosted by me, michael Burpo. My guest this week was Amanda Gizzi, and she's with some pretty darn prestigious groups. Make sure you check them out Drillers of America, national Jeweler, which is a newsletter, as well as the Diamond Council of America. We're talking all about the 20 under 40 list. If you want to learn more about that, we'll have more information in the show notes below. This episode was edited by Paul Suarez with music by Ross Cochrum. Don't forget to rate the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts I see this every week and leave us feedback on punchmarkcom slash loop. That's L-O-U-P-E and we'll be back next week, Tuesday, with another episode. Cheers Bye.