In the Loupe
Episodes
273 episodes
What You Learn in Your First Year as a Jewelry Retailer ft. Cole from Ware's Jewelers // LIVE!
Recorded LIVE from the 2026 Punchmark Client Workshop in Charlotte, NC!Mike sat down with Cole Rowland from Ware's Jewelers to unpack his jump from jewelry vendor to first-generation store owner at Ware's Jewelers. He transparent about w...
Why Those Engagement Ring Ads Keep Finding You ft. Hope Bellair
We break down retargeting as clienteling at scale and explain why it feels like ads “follow you” after you browse jewelry online. Hope Bellair shares practical ways to segment audiences, choose platforms, set budgets, and measure su...
Breaking Down the Best - Group Communication (Slack, Teams, Discord, Gmail)
Mike breaks down the real differences between Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Discord so you can choose a communication platform that fits your team size, tools, and day-to-day work. We also call out why group Gmail threads, group texts...
What Stephen Barnes Learned from His First Year as Owner of IJO
Stephen Barnes shares what his first year as owner of IJO really looked like, from decision-making and show strategy to staying grounded when gold prices swing. We talk through how independent jewelers can win with stronger vendor partnerships,...
How Jewelry Can Help Us Remember a Loved One
Mike talks through the loss of his grandmother and the unexpected way her jewelry becomes a bridge between grief, family history, and love. He shares the story of how an immigrant life, a box of jewelry on a bed, and one garnet broo...
How to Secure the Same Day Yes ft. Caratwise
Michael talks with David Berdugo, CEO of Caratwise, about why custom jewelry sales break down when momentum stalls and how better UX helps independent jewelers give confident answers fast. We dig into transparency, real-time design, and the rin...
Proactive by Design: How Punchmark Is Reshaping Online Jewelry Retail
We check in with Ross Cockerham about Punchmark’s sprint into faster payments, a rebuilt Vendor Marketing Library, and a shift to a proactive client strategy. Along the way we talk AEO, rising AoVs, and why human support still drives the bigges...
Four Stories That Reframe Jewelry & Luxury Business
Mike talks through four topics not about jewelry that he has been paying attention to that can help reframe the jewelry conversation in a new and interesting way. The crashing of the rare plant market, an Olympian who capitalized on...
Exclusive First Interview with Edge Retail Academy's New CEO ft. Becka Johnson Kibby
Mike sits down with Becka Johnson Kibby, the new CEO of Edge Retail Academy, to unpack real jewelry retail benchmarks, smarter inventory moves, and the coaching habits that outperform the market. We cover vendor partnerships, clienteling t...
Physical Retail, The Beginning or the End? ft. Peter Smith
What if brick‑and‑mortar isn’t dying, but splitting into winners and roadkill? We sit down with Peter Smith, former Hearts On Fire president, columnist for National Jeweler, and sales behavior coach, to unpack why independent jewelers just had ...
Gold, Growth, And Getting Better ft. Ostbye
We talk with Ostbye president Craig MacBean about leading through volatility, integrating a business acquisition without losing its soul, and why staying focused on independent jewelers' wins keeps a vendor business grounded. Gold c...
Gold At $5,000... Let's Talk About It ft. David Siminski
We discuss gold’s leap past $5,000 (and back) and unpack why refiners are pausing intake even as demand soars. David Siminski explains the credit and capacity squeeze, the silver backlog, and how jewelers can navigate cash settlements versus ph...
Charming Commerce ft. Rembrandt Charms
We talk with Eric Lux, President of Rembrandt Charms, about why charms convert so well online, how vertical integration keeps shelves stocked, and what smart marketing does for repeat sales. Learn more about Rembrandt Charms:
Unpacking 2025 Engagement Ring Trends & Data ft. StoneAlgo
We bring back StoneAlgo's CEO, Devin Jones, to share how a human concierge turns website visitors into verified, high-intent appointments. We also dive into engagement ring trend data across lab grown and natural diamond purchases, straight fro...
Season 7 Kickoff: What I'm Thinking About for 2026
We set the tone for Season 7 with a focus on substance: vendor stories without the pitch, real data that guides decisions, and platform upgrades that make selling online easier for everyone. 2026 gets a bold forecast as we track ADA progress, p...
Wrapping Up 2025 - The Best Bits
We close the season by revisiting ten standout moments that shaped a year of change, from AI pricing and buying group leadership to gold’s surge, fancy color diamonds, and how Tahitian pearls really form. • AI pricing tools and the...
2025 Jewelry E‑Commerce Performance Explained
We chart the rebound of jewelry e‑commerce in 2025, why average order value climbed, and how Cyber Monday pulled ahead of Black Friday online. We share two winning models, volume vs high ticket, and a practical plan to hit $50k–$100k next year....
Agentic Marketing, Explained
We unpack how agentic AI shifts marketing from reactive prompts to proactive systems that watch behavior, answer real questions, and stretch budgets. Hope Bellair joins us to map practical steps for independent jewelers, from product data hygie...
5 Tips to Prep Your Store for Black Friday
Mike shares five practical fundamental tips to prepare your jewelry store for Black Friday and the holidays. Quick wins stack up: show energy, make hours obvious, trigger visits with email, and remove online friction.
The AWS Outage and Why It Matters
We break down how a small DNS error inside AWS rippled into a global outage, and why it affected everything from uploads to streaming to... beds? Andy Szoke, Developer at Punchmark, joins us to explain cloud basics, Lambda bottlenecks, and redu...
Retailer Roundtable: Doing Things Differently This Holiday Season
Michael is joined by three independent jewelers who share how they protect margins, create memorable offers, and keep teams sharp during the busiest weeks of the year. We discuss gold pricing, VIP outreach, gift guides, and why the ...
How A Family Pearl Farm Went Viral ft. Kamoka Pearls
Mike talks with Komoka’s Josh Humbert about his family pearl farm in Tahiti rebuilt its methods around eco-farming and sustainable handling of oysters. Fish now clean their oysters, helping reefs recover, resulting in the harvesting of hundreds...
A Woven Vision ft. Malo Bands
We trace Malo Bands’ journey from handwoven artistry to a tech-enabled, service-first business, and how listening to retailers turned beautiful showpieces into scalable, profitable designs. Tony shares candid lessons on customization, B2B tools...
From Zero to One, Let's Talk About Vendor Data
Mike shares how he's helping rebuild Punchmark’s Premium Vendor Program from a one-way data pipe into a two-way system that gives vendors and retailers real value. He discusses zero-to-one strategy, systems thinking, and practical steps to stan...
The Balancing Act Every CEO Must Manage ft. Ross Cockerham
Mike sits down with his boss Ross Cockerham, Punchmark Co-Founder & CEO, about how he balances attending trade shows and events vs. being present at his own business vs. family life.Every business owner learns to balance these roles ...