In the Loupe
In the Loupe
Listen First, Lead Second: 1 Year of Leading AGS ft. President Alexis Padis
Alexis Padis, President of AGS, shares insights from her first year of leadership and discusses her vision for the organization's future after being re-elected for a second term.
Alexis shares what leadership development looks like in an organization with a storied history, and the humility and foresight required to implement changes that might not come to fruition during her own presidency.
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Welcome to In the Loop term and she's in the middle of it. News just came out she was reelected for, I guess, the next segment of her term, which is the next one year, and I wanted to talk to her about what she's learned in the past year as well as what she hopes to accomplish in the next year and setting up for her successor. And then we also talk about upcoming events. Ags Converge and this is an upcoming event in Carlsbad and it's going to be a really cool event that blends together GIA and AGS, two sibling organizations. Alexis is fantastic on the mic and is very inspiring. The quote that kept on coming to mind the entire time as she talks about her true year term, the quote true wisdom is planting a tree whose shade you'll never know, and I think that that really epitomizes the work she's doing as president of AGS and the work she hopes to continue and provide for her successor. But I thought it was a really cool conversation. I'm very inspired. Thanks and enjoy.
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Speaker 1:And now back to the show. Welcome back everybody. I'm joined by Alexis Pattis, president of AGS, for her one-year follow-up interview. How are you doing today, alexis?
Speaker 3:I'm great, Michael. How are you doing?
Speaker 1:So well, I was just speaking with you right before we started recording and I got a press release that you were re-elected to being president of AGS, but at the same time I was thinking back to our first interview, which was just about one year ago, and I remember you telling me it was a two-year period. Is that just kind of like process? Is that normal? What does that look like?
Speaker 3:Well, I'm very honored to be reelected as president. You'd go into the presidency for the American Gem Society knowing that it is a two-year commitment but, as a part of our bylaws, the president has to be reelected. Our slate, which consists of all of our proposed board members, needs to be approved every year by the membership. So it was a nice little nod from the membership that I'm doing a good job and I can continue with my term.
Speaker 1:Let's go. So it sounds very exciting. I guess one of the cool things as I went back and I listened to our first episode. You were a, you were the director at large, and then you were conclave chair and then you're a member of the executive committee and then president. What have you learned in your first year as president? What has that been like?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, I'm fortunate that I get to wear quite a few different hats, both within our own retail stores where I'm with Pattis Jewelry. We're based here in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have five locations and I'm president of our company here. I also have the honor of serving as president of the American Gem Society, and I think you know it's very exciting times, you know it's.
Speaker 3:The one thing I've learned about leadership is that it really truly, truly is 10 percent talking and 90 percent listening. So much of my role here within the stores and with the AGS is listening to both our team members here and our membership base with the American Gem Society. And so much is learned from just listening to people and listening to their perspectives. So for me, this first year has really been a crash course in the power of listening and really listening before making decisions. As a president, you hear a lot of perspectives. One of the things that is most important to me is to be very open and welcoming to our members and to be a sounding board and to be an opportunity for our members to feel that they have the ability to talk to somebody who can make a difference with, whatever their experiences. And then, of course, there's that challenge of bringing everyone together around our core mission of the American Gem Society, which really revolves around continued education and gemological expertise. So I'm really fortunate to have that true North Star for how I view the AGS and it's our mission. And I'm really fortunate again to have our CEO, catherine, who is an exceptional leader. Help me along the way, along with her team.
Speaker 3:Uh, but it's been a wild ride.
Speaker 3:You know, this, this year in our industry has been a trip.
Speaker 3:I mean, you think one thing you think it's going to be Russian sanctions, then we've got tariffs and we've got economic conditions where nobody really knows which direction we're going and you've got lab grown really being a disruptor in our industry.
Speaker 3:I, you know, when I said yes to rolling onto the executive committee, it was March of 2020. Wow, and I was sitting in an empty store and I had no idea what the world would look like four years from then when I became AGS president, and you know it's been a wild ride. But I really, you know, I feel like, in terms of where our industry's at, we've perhaps lost some of those North Stars, the companies that we could look to to kind of be the calm or to set the benchmark, the organizations to set the calm, and to me, that's why the American Gem Society is of the utmost importance, especially in times like these, to be that North Star, and I really I take that responsibility very seriously because it's one where our members, whether they be retailers or suppliers or sustaining members, need a place they can look to for calm, for information, for education, for peers that they know that they can rely on the advice they're getting. And that's really what the AGS provides.
Speaker 1:Wow, it's super interesting, especially because you know you're talking about how you signed up. You mentioned the term of rolling rolled onto the board. It's fascinating because it's almost like you're being educated on the role and then you have to do the role, so it's like they're training you to become president and then eventually, I believe, you roll off, you become a new member of the board.
Speaker 3:You just get kicked off, that's the joy.
Speaker 3:So I actually roll off next year mid-year and then I'm off the AGS board and I think that's the beauty in it, right Is I had my two years to really make my mark as an organization, but the two years prior to I was really transitioned and smoothly by Lisa Bridge, who was my president predecessor, and then I've really worked hard to make sure that the person after me, brian Moeller, our president elect, is ready. So it's it's the short term leadership term, but you really have this long transition period into it and it's just a change of scope. You know, I started as a director at large, which is a really broad category. At that point You're just trying to get a feel for how the board works. You're providing insights and feedback, but you don't have a point of ownership.
Speaker 3:And then I transitioned to conclave chair, where you have this great educational networking event that you're in charge of and it's super easy to energize yourself around it and to become kind of the face of that event. And then you roll onto the executive committee and you're responsible in such a different way. It's so much more deeper thinking. Long-term thinking, you know, ultimately impacts the trajectory of the organization. We're really fortunate. We celebrated 90 years, last year as an organization and I sit here very humbled by that going. How do I ensure that this organization lasts another 90 years plus, that's?
Speaker 1:a great goal.
Speaker 3:That's the big goal, right, and Lisa started that in a lot of the work we've been doing. It was really spearheaded by John Carter. What now six years ago? Then Michael Richards and Lisa Bridge, then me and now Brian, and then Mitchell Clark, who will roll into the president-elect as soon as Brian becomes president. There's this overarching goal of how do we position this group to last far beyond any of our terms.
Speaker 1:Wow, what a really interesting legacy of it all. It's almost very the fact that it's very planned out, it's very stable, but I do want to talk about leadership. Leadership is something that I think is very it's almost like very intangible, because some people got it. Not everybody got it, you know, some people really are leaders, and it's something that I feel like I've always been pressured to be a leader from a young age. I think it had to do with, unfortunately, due to sports, I was just rather tall and athletic from a pretty young age. As a result, as a young guy, that puts you into a leadership position.
Speaker 1:What's fascinating is, I do feel like leadership is whether you get it from sports or not. It does sort of kind of bake into, like the, the, you know the the base of who you are as a person. But it sounds like you've been taking on these leadership roles for quite a substantial amount of time in your career and you are rather young. Is that something you've kind of always been? You've always been a leader outside of work, in inside of work. Is that kind of something you've sort of known about yourself since you were even younger?
Speaker 3:Funny you mentioned sports, because I was an athlete growing up and I think for a lot of us that was really our first taste of leadership. If you know, you could get nominated as team captain or voted for team captain and that was something that you know from a young age. That happened. But I think leadership, you know, I don't necessarily think it is. Some people have the, some people don't. I think if somebody is really passionate about something and they have a clear vision of what they want to see happen, leadership comes naturally. And for me, I know my leadership purely revolves around my passion.
Speaker 3:I love our industry, backwards and forwards, and I was so fortunate when I first joined. Where you're coming in as a newbie, you're the opposite of a leader right. You're the, the person that's literally holding onto your parents' coattails in that situation and I was embraced so wonderfully by some amazing people in the industry and you know, through them leading me, I became a leader right and all you can do is be grateful to people like that. You know I said I stand on the shoulders of a lot of people, especially as a female in the industry. The industry has come so far in such a short period of time about really embracing women and women in leadership. The vast majority of our industry organizations are now run by leaders, and I was a direct beneficiary of some amazing people that really brought me along for the ride.
Speaker 3:So you know, I think it just depends. I think we all are a leader in one respective part of our lives. In my case, I'm just really fortunate to be so, so passionate about our industry, and so much of my industry passion is derived from my experience with AGS. All of my best friends are AGS members. Going to Conclave was really that big moment of this industry is so big. How do you make a difference? And the AGS, to me, is the organization that really focuses on jewelry stores doing things the right way for the right reasons, and that's why I gravitated towards it and why I think I sit in this position, because it just resonated with me and I wanted to do anything I could to spread the mission of the AGS.
Speaker 1:And how has president for a year now, has that informed your role? As you know, president for for Pattis Pasture Jewelry, do they kind of relate to each other? Because I wonder what the kind of difference in scope is of being a leader for a you know, a gemological society and then for a business, because on one hand your product, quote unquote is education and on the other your product is product, which is jewelry.
Speaker 3:Literal product yeah, exactly?
Speaker 1:Is there kind of like a shift in mindset? Does one form the other?
Speaker 3:You know, rather than call it a balancing act between AGS and my role here in the stores, I call it more of a juggling act, and you can add in new mom to that equation. You can add in my husband and I just bought a house. We're also in the process of rebuilding the house that we lived in that burned down. I'm really honored to serve on the executive committee of Jewelers for Children, which is our industry's big nonprofit partner that supports organizations like Make-A-Wish and Casa and all these fantastic organizations. The thing about it is that they all feed each other. The thing about it is that they all feed each other. Being in these different kinds of roles is really energizing. I wake up every morning knowing that there's going to be something that is exciting. That's going to happen one way or another, whether it be on the sales floor where somebody proposes, or whether it be.
Speaker 3:Ags is announcing this amazing event Converge that's coming up in September in a partnership with GIA. I know there's always going to be something and it's a lot of hats to wear, but I'm really fortunate to have an incredible team with the American Gem Society. Both the staff and the team of AGS is absolutely exceptional. You know, catherine. We have two Catherines now both Catherines Donna Wade, janice Denise and the entire team. They are exceptional and do so much work to make sure that our society members feel the value of their membership. And then I've got a great management team here at PADIS, and that's really what makes it possible.
Speaker 3:I also am so fortunate Our board with the AGS is so involved. It's probably the most active board in the industry. So the balancing slash, juggling act is really a product of the people around me, and I couldn't do any of this if it weren't for these amazing people, these amazing peers that I feel so fortunate to work with and learn from. And you know, it's just making sure everybody has the right opportunity to shine is what it boils down to.
Speaker 1:I love how you take an education mindset from it too. Again, with AGS being so focused on on education, I do feel like, uh, like, in a broader scope, I find that some people like being experts at things and they're very uncomfortable with being, uh, not an expert. You know being a beginner and I do find, though, that every now and then, resetting yourself to be a beginner again and resetting is like a great way to kind of inform yourself even deeper, because a lot of times we don't even realize that we do things very subtly because we're such experts at them. But I do want to ask like a year is a long time. Have you had any big decisions you've had to come across? Have you had any big decisions you've had to come across?
Speaker 1:I always joke that the tariff episode is going to be coming any day now. So long as we have a tariff deadline, every time I go to schedule it, it's guaranteed it's going to roll back another 90 days. What has that been like for you this past year? Any big decisions you've had to come across?
Speaker 3:You know, like we've mentioned, there's just so much change and so much evolution in our industry and it's, you know, try to put a date on tariffs. What tariffs? What are you talking?
Speaker 3:about it's just, you know it's. Hopefully three months from now, we'll all be looking at each other and be like remember when we were so stressed about something that didn't matter? Let's keep our fingers crossed, because learned and I claim to be an expert on nothing that, initially, is why I wanted to join AGS is because I wanted to become a certified gemologist appraiser, which is the highest credential our industry holds. It's in addition to being a GIA graduate gemologist. It's that commitment to ongoing education in order to stay a CGA, and that was purely my driver right Is I want to know that I've got the highest level of education that our industry has to offer. By no means does that make me an expert but, if nothing else, I have a credential to show that I'm committed to that expertise of sorts. You know, and it's.
Speaker 3:I think the big decisions are continual decisions for an organization. It's not these moments of black or white, it's my type of leadership is very collaborative. I very much feel strongly, and the best use of time is to get as many stakeholder opinions as possible to make sure that we're headed in the right direction. And, in the case of the AGS, every three to five years we do a strategic plan and I was fortunate to take it over. Lisa had begun this strategic plan as our past president. I took it over and we're really now hitting the ground running. It's a ton of behind the scenes work that I have to thank the AGES team and our board for, but it's resulting in a lot of really positive moves towards ensuring that the organization continues long into the future.
Speaker 3:We're looking at our governance and our membership structure and anyone who's ever looked through bylaws. You go a little cross-eyed after a few hours and in our case we had 90 years worth of bylaws and adjustments and edits and sometimes things became a little circular and you've got to reference this to get to this and up down left right. So we really streamlined so much of that, which is not a sexy proposition at all, but it's one that's very necessary to allow us to be nimble into the future, and it led us to propose a bylaws update, and some of the exciting things that have come out of it is that our credentialing, which traditionally just really extended to our retailers, is now going to be available to all of our membership types. There's no reason that our supplier members, our sustaining members, shouldn't also be able to get credentials if they want to.
Speaker 3:It's kind of that mentality of a rising tide raises all boats, and a passion project of mine in particular is we had a supplier task force which represented a good amount of the AGS member suppliers, and we are transitioning what's considered a temporary task force, which represented a good amount of the AGS member suppliers, and we are transitioning what's considered a temporary task force or kind of an ad hoc committee into a permanent committee that will have a seat at our board and on our board and hopefully that sends that very clear message to our suppliers that you are a huge part of the lifeblood of our organization and you deserve a seat at the leadership table. So we have what's called our partner advisory council. That will be a standing committee. Breckin Farnsworth from Parlay is going to chair it, and that's just two examples of ways where we look at our membership base and go what can we do better? How do we ensure that we have the most feedback we can possibly get? To basically serve as a stamp of that we're going in the right direction.
Speaker 1:Can possibly get to basically serve as a stamp of that we're going in the right direction. Wow, it's such a man, a large scope. Because increasingly that's one of the focuses at Punchmark is we had a real shift in mentality. It used to be that we were servicing retailers and then we had a moment where we were like, wait, but the other part of the ecosystem and the equation is these vendors, and shouldn't we be servicing them as well? But it's like oh, the vendors service the retailers, but we service the vendors as well. Shouldn't we all be talking to each other all the time? And when you start to have that kind of conversation about you know like having a round table as opposed to you know one-on-ones, suddenly you realize, yeah, instead of having like an ad hoc committee, maybe you need to have more of like a seat at the table. I think that's a really reasonable way to kind of approach it and also signifies that you're going into something new. That's really cool. I love to hear that.
Speaker 3:And I think it's a smart approach for you guys as well, because you know, if the suppliers aren't healthy, then the retailers aren't healthy. If the retailers aren't healthy, then the retailers aren't healthy. If the retailers aren't healthy, the suppliers aren't healthy. It's such a symbiotic relationship and the more we all can do to ensure the long-term health of all levels of our industry, the better we all are off. And it's just, you know, it's organizations like Punchmark and like AGS that hopefully provide those collaborative efforts to make sure that, as an industry, we're as strong as we can possibly be. The more we work together, the more we all pull on the rope in the same direction, the better we all are. It's truly, truly symbiotic.
Speaker 1:I truly could not agree more. But everybody, we're going to take a quick break and when we come back I want to talk about Conclave and Converge. So everyone, stay with us. This episode is brought to you in part by Jewelcraft. Running a jewelry store is no small feat. That's where Jewelcraft comes in. They're a fourth generation family owned business based in Kentucky that's built their reputation on being the reliable behind the scenes partner that jewelers across the country trust, whether it's jewelry repair, manufacturing, custom design or appraisals. They can handle anything that your jewelers don't have the time for and help scale your projects. And because their work is done right here in the USA, you avoid the hassle of overseas production delays or tariffs. That means faster turnarounds, consistent quality and peace of mind. With a team of seasoned experts and decades of experience, jewelcraft is your one-stop shop for everything you need to keep your jewelry business running smoothly, so you can stay focused on what matters most your customers. Learn more at Jewelcraftcom. That's Jewel-Craftcom. Learn more about them in the show notes below. And now back to the show. Welcome back everybody Still speaking with Alexis Paz, president of AGS, in her now second year.
Speaker 1:Yes, I would like to talk about these. They're not really trade shows. I guess you might even call them what is the term that you use for these events?
Speaker 3:Oh, that's a great question. Well, I think you hit the nail on the head. It's not a trade show. To me, it is the preeminent education and networking opportunity that our industry has to offer. Two C words Converge and Conclave. So Conclave is the American Gem Society event we host every year. The locations change. It centers entirely around education and networking. It has no real selling opportunities because you know, you kind of, if you're sitting in an educational seminar and you have the opportunity to be on a trade show floor, you kind of get this push-pull environment, whereas at Conclave you can focus exclusively on personal empowerment and on education and making sure that you are at the upper echelon in terms of industry standards and education and expertise.
Speaker 3:This year we've had an incredible opportunity, in a partnership with GIA, to put on an event called Converge. It's at a slightly different time of year this year. It's in September, september 7th through the 10th and it's in Carlsbad, and a good portion of the event it'll be hosted at the Omni Carlsbad as well as at the GIA campus. It'll be hosted at the Omni Carlsbad as well as at the GIA campus. So, in addition to all of the amazing offerings that Conclave our AGS Conclave usually has Converge is supercharged, if that makes sense. So you've got GIA right there with us. You've got the GIA experts the preeminent industry experts available to you in teaching courses.
Speaker 3:We have an open house at the GIA campus, which is really an opportunity. They very, very, very rarely open their doors to anyone that doesn't have a specific appointment. If you've ever been getting through security there is not easy. So it's these incredible opportunities to kind of merge what our two organizations are about. Gia is the education expert in our industry. Ags is the guild of jewelers that agree to adhere to that education, to those standards set by GIA, and we're really bringing the two together in such a big and exciting way. And we're just under a month before the event and I can tell you I have chills way. And we're at just under a month before the event and I can tell you I have chills. I am so beyond excited because it really will be, in my opinion, the best event our industry has ever seen.
Speaker 1:What a really cool opportunity. I don't know why this quote keeps on popping up in my head as we talk more and more about education. It's you know, if you give me six hours to cut down a tree, I'll spend the first five hours sharpening my axe, and it does feel very much like one of those, the more you invest in yourself in the education. My grandpa always said education, they can never take it away, and I think that that's really cool, that there's such a focus. Do you find that there's like a real, like a difference in strategy? Or because when you have two different organizations like AGS versus GIA, I know that you do consider them to be sister companies more or less or, I guess, related in some way with such a focus on education? Is there any point where you have to, like here's, you know the main topics we need to focus on so that we're not stepping on each other's toes, or is it just kind of a little bit of a free for all?
Speaker 3:Well, in the case of GIA and AGS sibling organization you're 100% right is the term we use. We were both founded by the Shipleys, beatrice and Robert. Gia was founded in 1931. Ags was founded in 1934. They were really created.
Speaker 3:We use the word symbiotic but truly these two organizations are created to serve and purpose to one another without directly competing. So in a lot of ways the efforts by leadership on both sides to bring the organizations together collaboratively just makes sense, because we don't compete. We do very different things. The GIA is the laboratory, it's the education. Ags provides credentialing based off of the GIA education as well as our own.
Speaker 3:And then we are that retailer network, that supplier network of like-minded people that are all working together to better our industry. So the GIA is the institution, they are the credentials and standard setting organization, and AGS is the group of retailers and suppliers that bring that institution to life. We are the networking environment, we are the people side of things, we are the retailers that experience that last 18 inches across the counter and that ultimately are the gatekeeper to the consumers that we're trying to protect by being gemological experts in our field. So they work so beautifully with one another and we're really fortunate with Catherine, having worked very closely with Susan, jacques and now with Pritesh, to keep our organizations working together for the betterment of the industry.
Speaker 1:It's really is very interesting the fact that there are, that they can kind of feed into each other. I sometimes wonder, though, when it comes to education, there's a lot of times there's a real focus on cutting edge. You know, these things that are are right on, right on the bleeding edge what is happening and what is being worked on, but also the fundamentals, and the education of that has been there for many years in the past, are just as important, and we can't like neglect those. Do you have to have, like, a conversation with, you know, your counterpart at GAA to discuss, like we should have this percentage of Converge to be focused on, you know, cutting edge education and this percentage to be focused on, like the you know, the foundation bedrock of what jewelry?
Speaker 3:education is Well, it's interesting.
Speaker 3:So Conclave is our event every year and as an AGS member you have to have a credentialed employee as part of your team.
Speaker 3:So I think there is kind of a baseline assumption that people have the basic skills, people know the four C's, they know kind of the basic information around color and jewelry fabrication. All those what Converge and Conclave are are that opportunity for continuing education and that's why I gravitated towards the American Gem Society because of that continuing education component, to make sure that we are on the cutting edge of everything that's happening in the industry. And I think, in terms of educational sessions that are offered at Converge, it really focuses on there is some degree of basics being taught, but it really focuses on what's important today, what's happening in our industry today, what treatments do we need to look out for, what things are on the horizon that we should be aware of. And that's where the partnership with GIA really serves this educational event so strongly, because nobody is more on the cutting edge and it's seeing all the things we can expect to see on the horizon, especially as a retailer, more than GIA, wow.
Speaker 1:They are the front line.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I find that those you know you can't offer a certification or a yeah, like these advanced education things, without a heavy focus on what is happening today. You know, as just in the last year I feel like lab groans have taken even a further step forward as far as like quality and process and things like that, and I would not want someone to focus only on what is happening right now, because there are still important aspects that have been going on for the last 30 years. But I do also wonder it's like, how do you balance that? But at the same time, one of the things I do find very interesting is that a lot of these people are going through these you know experiences at the same time, as a store owner yourself, I just had the opportunity to speak with Bill Becker, the president of RJL, and what's fascinating about him is he also owns a store, and hearing how he has to balance going to a trade show with being president, it's like, oh, how does that work?
Speaker 1:He's like, well, you got to have a lot of trust and trust people to do the buying, because he doesn't do as much buying anymore, because he obviously can't. When I spoke with you last, you had talked about balancing the succession journey with your parents and stepping into new leadership at Padish Jewelry. Can you maybe give us an update on what that looks like for you right now and how you're balancing? You know your own journey as a as a business owner.
Speaker 3:You know I'm really fortunate. I am now second generation and my parents are so involved and wonderful and really passionate about the industry. So you know my mom is actually the one to kind of caveat on what you mentioned. You know we've seen she says this to me all the time You've seen more change in the last five years than I've seen in the last 50 years in the industry. You know that's how quickly things are evolving. Change is slow until it's not right. All of a sudden we're here and one thing that didn't even come up yet is AI. Like let's throw that other thing into the ring of all these unbelievable variables that we're dealing with on all sides of our industry.
Speaker 3:Succession planning is a tricky subject. It's one that I'm navigating personally as I've stepped into leadership at Patashori, as my parents begin transitioning their roles. I don't ever foresee my parents truly being away from the business in any real way. I think it's in their lifeblood and when you're a business founder you want to be involved. But I do know how complex and how emotional and how rewarding that process can be and it's something that we're really working on with the AGS side. So Amanda Coleman Phelps, who's one of our board members. Uh chairs a business transition task force and we've partnered with obsidian business planning to actually provide a course for people going through succession, and it's a course that we're probably going to be going through here.
Speaker 1:I was going to say are you going to sign up Like, have to take it yourself?
Speaker 3:I am the poster child of why this course needs to exist, because we're very much in the throes of session planning. As a new mom, you know my focus. I used to be, you know, 150 percent in the stores. You know we're open seven days a week it never really dawned on me that I needed to take time away, but now, when I have this little human that's relying on me and wants mommy time, it's a little bit more difficult to be as involved as I've been. And then you add in responsibilities of some of these different industry leadership roles, that juggling act becomes a little bit more difficult. And my parents being as involved as they are has really helped allow me to continue to serve in the industry.
Speaker 3:And I know my time is coming where I will not be able to be as active as my parents perhaps want to enjoy the fruits of their labors. They've been doing this for 50 years. This holiday season was the first time where I kicked them out. After we had our big 50th party, I kicked them out and sent them to Hawaii for a few days Cool, you know. And that was the first time they'd ever been out of the store in a December time frame and I encourage them to do that more and more because they've earned it. They've been working their keisters off for so long and I have so much respect for them and the business they've built. And you know, I just count myself lucky that they want to continue to be involved and I will take them in any way, shape or form.
Speaker 3:But I think succession planning is such an important topic and if anyone is interested, who happens to be listening to this podcast, the AGS has a fantastic program, the Obsidian that if you'd like to sign up, please feel free to email me or you can come onto our website at agsorg. It is an exceptional, exceptional course. We've had a few classes go through it. It's really not being offered in any real way elsewhere and I think you know as well as I do there's nothing more important to make sure that our industry lasts long past you or I is to make sure that you know it's not just about passing the torch. It's about making sure that the flame burns even brighter for this next generation, because things are just getting tougher and faster moving and you need to make sure that that passion exists.
Speaker 1:I definitely agree, but at the same time, though, so we're talking a lot about your leadership journey. So you have been taking on increasing roles, increasing roles, and now not pushing your parents out, but having your parents take a step back.
Speaker 3:Quite the opposite. Quite the opposite. I'm like, please stick around.
Speaker 1:There's going to be a moment, I'm sure, where you realize that you don't have, you know, 57 hands and at a certain point you're going to have to pass on responsibilities to someone else. Is that? If there's one thing I know about hyper doers, like you know, people that are, you know, super motivated they sometimes have a hard time, you know, letting others take the reins Is that something that you also have to grapple with? You know delegating and maybe not being on the show floor as much. Is that, you know, a learning opportunity into itself?
Speaker 3:Definitely, and it's one that I'm in a continual learning process of, because I'm a little bit of an energizer bunny and sleep is overrated and I just go, go, go. And I think one thing I learned I lean on Lisa bridge a lot for advice because she, you know, is an amazing leader and also a mom. Her and I had her second child, my first child, within about a month of each other. So I lean on her and she always said just continue to be present when you're when you're in work mode, be in work mode and be present at work. When you're mom mode, be in mom mode and be present as a mom.
Speaker 3:And that applies across the board through whatever role I'm in and for my crazy personality type and my OCD, control-free kind of tendencies, it's difficult, but leadership is a test of all of those things and I've learned to be a better delegator out of necessity and making sure that the people that that around me feel empowered and feel like they have the latitude and decision making to be able to proceed, so that I'm not the bottleneck in a particular issue or decision, because we don't live in a world where a bottleneck allows for success. Right, If a bottleneck is preventing things from happening that need to happen. You better just be able to do it, and you know it's, I think, a product of being one of four children that you've learned.
Speaker 3:You've learned to pivot your roles. I'm the second of four. My older brother is amazing, but there are certain things that I took a leadership role in because I was the first to drive, first to go to college, that kind of stuff first to date. Fortunately, he didn't have to deal with my dad in the same way that I did as the first person to date. So you know, it's just learning to be flexible as much as possible in this crazy world we live in. I wish I could say I have the answers in that, but I very much am in a process of evolving my own skill set to make sure that I can keep up, because there's a lot going on right now.
Speaker 1:Like I said, you know, an education and learner's mindset is definitely. It's important, even with things that you know might be more antithesis of who you are. I find it very fascinating with when I started with Punchmark. There was only eight of us and, as a result, you know we can be involved with everything all the time, everywhere. And then you know, a lot of things were just trapped in Russ and Dan's brain and, as a result, as you start to expand out, we had to find ways to like literally just pull information out of their brains and they were like no, no, no, I'll, I'll handle that. It's like no, you can't, because you can't take on more responsibilities. If your cup is already full, uh, at a certain point it's just going to overflow and you're not giving your best to all the aspects. So really cool that you're. You know, having to handle all these new things as well as the increased changes, just to kind of maybe put a bow on this.
Speaker 1:Alexis, I wanted to just talk. You got one more year. Is there anything? I mean it starts with Converge. It sounds like that is the next thing on your to-do list. Beyond that, is there anything in particular that you see for yourself in the next year. Apart from, you know, planning to have AGS continue for another 90 years.
Speaker 3:You know, I think what Converge for me is. I'm a very collaborative person and I look at our industry and go there's so many alphabet organizations, there's so many people that want to do the right thing, so many organizations that are trying to do similar things. Why don't we work together more? And to me, converge is that perfect example of collaboration within our industry. So I'm hoping this event serves as a model for our industry to really start to look at how we can work together more and, as I said before, start pulling on the rope in the same direction, because that's in all of our best interests, because there's only so many resources out there. So that's a big goal for me is making sure that our industry is as collaborative as possible.
Speaker 3:We talk about succession planning. That succession plan is just as important for the AGS board of directors. So Brian, my president-elect, and I that's been a real focus for us is to make sure we have this long trajectory of future leaders to serve on the AGS board. So I'm going to use this as an opportunity if there is anyone that happens to be listening whether you're an AGS member yet or not, if you are interested in helping develop the society for the long term and are interested in serving on the board, please don't hesitate to reach out, or to reach out to anyone at the AGS team, because we really are eager to find people that want to serve and that want to lead.
Speaker 3:And then you know, I think you hit the nail on the head. You know it's a short two year term. Right, two years is a very finite period of time. Of course, the AGS takes this approach of kind of blurring the lines between the presidencies to make sure that what Lisa wants to wanted to get accomplished is accomplished under my term, what I want to get accomplished is accomplished under Brian's term, and then everything falls somewhere in between.
Speaker 3:So you know, making sure that there's this long term mindset to how we lead the American Gem Society is really, really crucial. And it's a hard thing when you're in this two-year term, but you do everything you can to make sure that what you feel is best for the organization begins to happen. And it's been nice, as non-sexy as the bylaws change may be for me personally, I know it's the right direction for our organization. And it's not glamorous. It's not, you know, perhaps widely known at this point, but the AGS team, the staff in Las Vegas, where they're headquartered, is perhaps the most exceptional group of individuals I've ever worked with, and I know that they've been working amazing things to make sure that my term as president for these two year terms is fruitful and that you know that progress continues to happen well beyond my term.
Speaker 1:What a really, I guess, inspiring kind of outlook on it.
Speaker 1:I you know, in listening back to our first conversation, one of the quotes that I left was you know, true wisdom is, you know, planting a tree whose shade you'll never know.
Speaker 1:And I think that that's very much the epitome is, is you know you as a, as a president, knowing that you're working in the right direction and setting up these things, who's you know, for bows you'll never take and for even for things that you're working on right now that, yeah, are not not sexy and I always sometimes laugh about.
Speaker 1:You know, sometimes I look at our development team and they're working on these, like infrastructure stuff, and it's like we can't tell our customers, hey, we just built better infrastructure for your servers so that they handle traffic better, because no one cares, they just assume that that's happening. But I sometimes don't know how to convey like, hey, you know we're putting in the work behind the scenes, but at the same time, sometimes I guess that's with humbleness and the kind of the burden of being a leader is that you know you can't take battles for everything and sometimes others get to take the credit. But that is still kind of part of the spirit of working in the right direction. So I love that for you, alexis. I think it's really exciting.
Speaker 3:I don't mean I get to take plenty of bows, most of which I don't deserve, but the real bows are should be given to my team here in San Francisco that allow me to take time away to be a part of AGS and the amazing AGS team that does so much work, and they don't get to take the bounce, and that's where you know I want to make a point of acknowledging that the hard work is being done by them. I just get to be, I get to be honored of serving in the role of president of this organization, and it comes from a place of just absolutely 100% believing in what we do and wanting to see that forward, because it's been such a huge part of my own personal development.
Speaker 1:I love that, Alexis. If people are interested in learning more about AGS, where should they go?
Speaker 3:AGSorg. So very, very easy URL. But I will say we're really great from an online presence. We're on Instagram, we're on Facebook. I'm all over all of the social medias at all times. As a retailer, it's just the nature of the beast, so please don't hesitate to reach out in whatever channel you're the most comfortable with, and we'd be happy to be in touch. It's, I think, perhaps the most important time to consider becoming an AGS member. We're not a buying group. We have no geographic limitations. If you have a fellow AGS retailer in your market and you want to become AGS, we welcome you. It is very much. The broader the tent we can cast over the industry, the better our industry as a whole. So if we can encourage people to join AGS, that's all we're about. We're not an exclusive organization. We're a very inclusive organization because we're all about making sure that everyone is on the cutting edge of education and on technological advancement, genealogical expertise, continuing education, which ultimately benefits the consumer, and making sure that consumers have jewelers that they can trust and rely on.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and it betters the name of the industry Absolutely. But, alexis, thank you so much. I'm really excited to follow the rest of your term. It sounds like you're doing incredible work over there and I hope that Converge goes super smoothly. We have a couple of members of our team that are going there and I hope it goes really well. But thanks everybody. I appreciate you all listening. 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 my guest was Alexis Pattis. She is the president of AGS and also just a really inspiring person. This episode was brought to you by Punchmark and produced and hosted by me, michael Burpo. This episode was edited by Paul Suarez with music by Ross Cockrum. Don't forget to rate the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leave us feedback on punchmarkcom slash loop. That's L-O-U-P-E. Thanks. We'll be back next week, tuesday, with another episode. Cheers Bye, thank you.
