Exclusive First Interview with the Plumb Club's New President ft. Steven Lerche of Goldstar

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Welcome back everybody to In the Loop.
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What is up everybody?
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My name is Michael Burpo.
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Thanks again for listening to In the Loop.
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This week I'm joined by Steven Lurch.
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He's president of Gold Star and he's also the president of the Pump Club.
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The Pump Club is this kind of conglomeration of jewelry vendors that make their big appearance every year at JCK.
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They have this big purple carpet that I'm obsessed with.
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But they also work year-round behind the scenes on some special interests, like lobbying against terrorists, and also doing some uh research projects about jewelry.
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And Steven is the new president and also youngest president in quote unquote history, and he is fantastic on the mic.
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I find speaking with him is really inspiring.
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And uh, as a next generation you know business leader, I find it uh very encouraging to know that uh someone like him is leading an important group in the jewelry industry.
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I hope you enjoy our conversation.
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And now back to the show.
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So excited to have you on uh the plum club.
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Uh, I really have always appreciated all of the members.
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Every time I think I've interviewed maybe seven or eight different members at this point, and uh now getting a chance to interview the new president.
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A real honor.
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Uh, could you maybe set up for the people listening at home uh what the plum club is?
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Yeah, sure.
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So the plum club is a supply side organization.
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Um, we consider ourselves and our members to be best in class suppliers within the jewelry and the watch industry.
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You know, the the origins of the club is founded on the principle of the JCK trade show and and trade shows.
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And uh those that have visited our pavilion uh at the JCK trade show are familiar um with the uh the the dog and pony show that we put on.
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Yeah.
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Um I would tell you if I can sum it up best, is our mission as an organization of these best in class suppliers is to foster professional connections across the jewelry supply chain and help shape the industry's future.
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That's really what we're trying to do.
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Our tagline is educate, innovate, and connect.
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Connection is really the biggest thing that we focus on: connecting our members, connecting our members to retailers, connecting retailers to each other, and connecting everybody to innovation and education.
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And that's really the basis of the club.
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Again, the foundation is within the JCK trade show and the pavilion that we have, but we're trying very hard to um be relevant uh year-round.
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It's really quite interesting because uh some of the different vendors that are in the group, um, you might say are competitors um, you know, outside of uh the plum club, but uh it seems like there is still some uh like a lot of camaraderie and a lot of like um bettering each other and and yeah, connecting.
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Um how do you kind of put together?
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Yes, we are kind of fighting more or less over like the same uh market, but we are also together in the Plum Club and trying to drive the industry forward.
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So it's a good question.
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I I will answer it um uh arguably a little vague.
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Um, but what I would say is yes, we are competitors, members do compete with each other, but there is enough business to go around for all of us.
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And we are founded on the principles of camaraderie.
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That is the way the club was founded, was individuals that had a shared that were competitors, but had a shared goal for bettering the industry, for pooling their resources together to shape the future of what was coming in the industry and really setting the tone.
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And I think we all have that shared goal today is although there's business that we're all going after that may overlap, in the end of the day, we all have the same goal of being best in class and trying to help set the trend for the future of the industry and not look backwards.
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Ah, that's great to hear.
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And um, you know, the new president and uh newest youngest president I heard.
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Um, could you maybe set up for me?
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So you're leading these all these independent um vendors and companies, and it's they all operate again independently.
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What is the role of a president in kind of driving this uh pirate ship forward?
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Aside from the bylaws and the legalities of the organization, we love bylaws.
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Yes, of course.
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Um, my role is really to help guide our executive team.
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We have a phenomenal executive director and staff behind him, as well as our communications director.
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That's Lawrence Hassan, Michael O'Connor, and there are others that work behind the scenes like Maria, and I don't want to lose a shout-out to somebody.
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Um, but my job is to really help guide the team that's in place day in and day out for the club for the betterment of what our strategic plans are.
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And so that may be something like this year, we we debuted a retailer uh lounge at the show, at the JCK show, which was a space that the retailers could go inside the pavilion, get themselves a little bit fancier of a coffee or a snack outside of the bistro where they weren't bothered necessarily.
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They could have their own meeting and then go on about their day with the goal of keeping everybody in the pavilion, you know, and not having to leave and wander off.
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Um whether it's something like that, whether it's our Plum Club Research Report, which pulls all of the resources of our 52, 53 odd members and going out and finding out what the consumer wants, what is the consumer looking for, and sharing that information with our retailers.
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It's everything from there to unfortunately dealing with the ins and outs of uh helping our pavilion chair um make sure that we are set up for the show, um, helping to usher in new membership.
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Yeah.
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Um, and and really recruit those that are also considered best in class.
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So um I think if I had to sum it up, it's really a guidance.
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And my role is to really guide um to help fulfill the vision that I have.
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Yeah, I guess on on the topic of membership, um, how does that how does that work?
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I mean, you said like 52, 53-ish members.
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Is it one of those things where like someone's got to leave to be allowed in, kind of like a club, or is it a uh, you know, what is like best in class, kind of a loose term.
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How do you uh make those decisions?
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Fair, fair question.
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I would say um it is a vague term.
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Um, we have two different kinds of membership.
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We have exhibiting members and we have non-exhibiting members.
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Exhibiting members are limited.
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Um, we only have so much space in our pavilion.
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Uh, members are growing every day and some are shrinking, but a lot of members are taking more boosts than they've ever taken before.
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Um, and so we are running out of space.
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And for those listening, if you are interested, uh apply sooner rather than later because we are limited in what we can offer from an exhibiting standpoint, which is the biggest draw of the club.
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Our non-exhibiting membership is those that take advantage of the other 360 days a year.
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Yeah.
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Um, and that is no, that doesn't have a cap.
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Um, we we offer that out to uh you still have to apply and uh go before a few different committees that will um dictate whether you are best in class and have the right reputation.
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Um, as a reminder out there, we are the only trade organization that requires its membership and its bylaws to be RJC certified.
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Um so those are um, we have a very, very strong focus on responsible sourcing and sustainability as a club.
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That's great.
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We feel that it is a uh a mandated requirement that helps set us apart from any other organizations out there.
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So there are some limitations on who can get into the club.
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Um, however, uh there's a lot of great best in class companies out there, and I don't think we have all of them, and we definitely want more.
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That's that's so great to hear.
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And you know, having that uh that focus on, yeah, maybe a due diligence to make sure that your members are doing right by by the world and by um, you know, their supply chains, very important.
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And I love that you guys have that as part of your kind of a foundational point.
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Um, Steven, I've always wanted to ask, I mean, on the topic of JCK, what do you guys do with the carpet, the purple carpet, all the 360 days out of the year?
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Because, like, you know, I'd be okay with having it at my house, but what do you what do you guys do with that?
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So I I wish I could tell you that we roll it out every time a customer comes and they're just rolling in the purple carpet.
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Um, that is that is tightly guarded storage.
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Tightly guarded in storage to make sure that plush, that plush feeling doesn't ever get uh dissolved in any way or or stomp down.
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So it's stepping up.
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We take good care.
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Yeah, exactly.
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We take good care of uh of our arguably biggest draw.
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I love that show is the carpet.
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You walk in there and it's way quieter.
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It's like it sucks up all the noise.
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It's amazing.
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Yeah, you know what?
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It's just it's part of the the vision that we have.
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And I and I give a huge shout out to our pavilion team.
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Um, what they do day in and day out to get that show ready and and understanding everything from the graphics to the placement of the lights, um, and to where the entrances are and the feng shui of the entire pavilion and and the flow of the foot traffic.
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It all is part and parcel to that feeling, that feeling you get when you walk past those those gates, right?
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And and that that big awning, and you you walk into the club and you you do feel something.
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At least I feel something.
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I feel something.
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And it's why I feel so honored to help lead the organization is you feel something there.
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And it's not just the carpet, it's the entire atmosphere that pulls together.
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And it's something that we hope um our retailer partners, you know, come to really respect about us.
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Is the the environment that we foster?
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So how was how was JCK?
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I didn't go this year, I went last year, and um JCK was everybody says it was it was it's get better every year with um and bigger every year after COVID, and everyone's kind of like sort of getting back into the swing of things, seems like it's back.
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Um, what was your thoughts on JCK this year?
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Um, I thought it was a great show.
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Um, I thought there were definitely in terms of independence to majors, to departments, uh stores, and and all across the spectrum, online retailers, et cetera.
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We saw a lot of good from all across the board.
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We saw majors there, we saw independents there, we saw buying groups there, we saw online retailers there, and we saw emerging, uh emerging artists, emerging jewelers out there.
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They may not be for every company, but we saw a lot of that, which is awesome.
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Um, we also felt a lot of camaraderie, a lot of the industry coming together.
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And what plagued the show last year was tariff, tariff, tariff.
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Everyone was talking about it.
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And what plagued the show this year was a little bit about gold, a little bit about concerns over gold price, but it was all about innovation.
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And the experience I had and spoke to many of my friends and peers in the industry, is everybody was looking for what's new, what's innovative, what's unique, because the customer is so much more informed these days and they're so much more conditioned, especially by social media.
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And if we're not on the forefront of the trends and putting those innovative ideas in front of our retail partners, you know, they get left behind and they come to expect that from us.
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And so I thought this show was especially good because there was no negativity that plagued the conversation.
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It was all about product.
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And I would argue in the end of the day, whether you're selling tech, whether you're selling diamonds, whether you're selling gold, whether you're selling everything in between, what we do is we sell product.
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And the more the conversation is about product, the better the results of the show is.
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Yeah.
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And you know what?
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Having that, having that monkey off the back when it comes to um yeah, tariffs, but again, it's crazy.
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I mean, just in the last few days, um, Canadian tariffs 50% crazy, and Brazilian tariffs, too.
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Um, I mean, the Plum Club is pretty uh servicing internationally, and it also um, I mean, JCK brings people from all over, all over.
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Is that something that you guys have internal meetings about?
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Like, you know, if this happens, we need to be prepared for this.
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And is that like something you guys are kind of meeting about?
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Or I mean, you guys all run your own independent uh businesses, but I do think that these organizations that kind of band together certain certain providers, uh, it's almost like it behooves them to kind of work together so to figure out how to get around these things.
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Yeah, I think it's part of the camaraderie you feel in the club is many of us manufacture in different places.
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For example, Gold Star uh factory based in in Mumbai, India, where some have Thailand or China, yes, um, or as well as uh India and others and so um, or even Canadian manufacturers, right?
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And so um it's very difficult to make a collective decision on how to target that.
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What we are doing is making sure that our members are aware of the resources at their disposal.
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If we have a really good legal strategy or law firm, rather than safeguarding that for the individual, we're sharing that with our organization.
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We're making sure our members know, well, at least as as many of us try to, is to let the other members know hey, this is what we can offer you some advice, some direction.
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We're part of the conversation.
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Um, you know, I would say it leads me to, you know, one of the initiatives we're doing right now is we're in deep conversations with Jewelers of America, who's leading the political conversation right now in Washington and bringing the Plum Club on board as a strategic partner for the the JA Pack, um, which is extremely exciting for us to just to answer your original question is it's about staying in the conversation.
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The power that the club has is we are made up of what I would say is the best and the brightest.
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And so having us at the table, um it's only positive.
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And so the fact that we're in those conversations, when we disseminate that information, like for example, the RJC, there are plump club representatives that sit on the RJC board and then disseminate that RJC information, everything that's going on to all of the members.
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So nobody is behind.
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That's and that's the value, that's the real value there.
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It's not that I came up with one strategy that's the best strategy and I'm gonna safeguard it for myself.
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It's really all about the flow of information.
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It's about connection between members, between colleagues, between the industry.
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Man, it's so interesting.
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It's almost like, I don't know, I don't want to diminish the importance of it.
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It almost kind of feels like um like a team or like um like a fraternity where these businesses kind of worked are independent but also work together.
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Um, how have they informed you?
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I mean, you are simultaneously sitting on these two businesses.
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What have you learned from being you know president of Gold Star, you know, managing supply chains, managing um, you know, this this very large uh business that is is you know quite old as well.
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How are you managing that?
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And then also, what have you learned from being president of this you know conglomeration?
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Um, how do they kind of inform each other?
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Um, that's an interesting question.
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I can't talk about the hazing than the members go through.
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So, you know, that fraternity part is out.
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Uh, it's it's like fight club.
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We're not allowed to talk about it.
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You can't talk about it.
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Um I would say logistics are never easy.
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Whether you're a jewelry supply chain or a trade show organization or preparing for a new research report or whatever it may be, um, logistics are just not easy.
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And what I've found in in our jewelry manufacturing business is that owning the supply chain soup to nuts has been a huge, huge advantage uh to Gold Star as a company.
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It's allowed us to move into the forefront of the future uh of the, or I guess that's a that's a little bit of a notch more, uh, move into the forefront of the industry and capture what we feel the future is, which is speed of manufacturing, customization in a in a strategic timeline, service, service, service, and relying on others to provide that to you is a very difficult thing to do.
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So owning your own supply chain is extremely important.
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And I've tried to bring some of that mentality into the organization where we really try and do everything in-house now, and we really try and plan in-house.
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And that's part of our new strategy with our communications director, formerly marketing director, Michael O'Connor, who's really leading the charge.
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We've got um articles out there in Forbes and uh a few that we're working on with some other uh publications that are not just trade-only publications.
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We're trying to get the word out there of what we're uh attempting to accomplish.
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And by controlling the flow of information, like I like to control our supply chain, I think we're much more um successful in our strategies.
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It's really that's really cool to hear.
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Um I'm a big fan of leadership.
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I think it's an interesting concept.
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I've been very fortunate.
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I I consider myself like um pretty natural at that.
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That's something that has come to me.
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But I come at it from a a lot of times from a sports background, and I find that sometimes um sports uh sports leadership is almost, you know, it it's great and it and it can work in in a lot of different ways, but there's also a lot of different ways to be a leader.
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There's you know, there's also being a quiet leader, there's also um yeah, being like leading from a flat hierarchy, which I think is is quite interesting, like um, you know, one that doesn't have hierarchical roles.
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But I guess I've always wondered, like, for example, setting the uh initiatives for for the poem club, um, how are those being determined?
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Like, are you, for example, these research you did a research um project, um working with the J with Jay.
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Is that something that's just like, oh, they just kind of naturally develop?
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Or is it like, hey, we should do some research about this?
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Um, how are you kind of setting the course for that?
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Yeah, I mean, it's a great, it's a really good question.
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I say personally, I set the course by uh knowing that I don't know everything.
00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:41.920
Oh, that's great.
00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:53.920
I I I work with executive coaching as well, and I and I feel like it's a really strong, yeah, and I feel like it's a really strong um message to to send out is that um there's nothing wrong with executive coaching.
00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:58.559
And I think if if anything, it's a it's a really huge asset uh and has worked well for me.
00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:04.880
Um, I would say um it's not just a few deciding for the many.
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:14.240
One of the things that I tried to do as uh the vice president leading our strategic planning committee was bring contrarian voices to the table.
00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:15.200
That's cool.
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:25.200
Those that maybe don't have the same outlook or same opinion or same customer base as some of us, and really understanding where their issues are.
00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:28.319
It doesn't mean that it's going to dictate the entire plan.
00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:33.279
Um, but that was really crucial in setting our new strategic initiatives.
00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:41.519
It was really all about getting as many, not all contrarian voices, but getting as many varying voices to the table.
00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:44.559
The diversity of membership is our strength.
00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:50.720
And tapping into that, just like diversity of your offices or your companies, that's where your strength lies.
00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:51.200
Right.
00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:55.920
I can tell you every day, you know, but until you see it, right?
00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.680
Where my father and I are, you know, we're not, we're not, we're not the important.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.880
Important ones.
00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:05.119
It's the hundred people out there that make this machine go.
00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:12.960
And I think that's what we tapped into at the club in recent years, is we've got a really big machine.
00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:16.319
And there's all these people and all these different members.
00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:31.279
And once we started to tap into what their opinions were and what their feedback was, we got to make a really, really great strategic plan filled with pillars that mattered to everybody and arguably quantified the value of their membership.
00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:31.839
Yeah.
00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:34.160
Man, it's it could be scary though.
00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:40.559
Uh I I appreciate that you're so willing to bring in um incontrarian views and and that's you know, more power to you.
00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:56.079
A lot of people are are loath to because um I think that they sometimes mistake um d you know the devil's advocate kind of aspect and they they conflate it with just impeding progress.
00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:01.440
And I think that you know, oh, if everybody is in alignment, then we'll get so much more done.
00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:10.799
But then I do kind of think, yeah, you're you're onto something where it's like if you bring in like um a different perspective, suddenly you're not hopefully you're not missing anything.
00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:12.559
Uh that's you know a lot of credit.
00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:21.599
Yeah, and it's all and it's also I think it's not just about missing something, I think it's also can you change my mind a little bit?
00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:25.599
You know, we're open to changing your mind is is that's a great sign of a leader.
00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:27.440
I think that's a leadership quality.
00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:27.920
I agree.
00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:30.559
Uh, can't say I've always been open to changing my mind.
00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:34.799
Sometimes I have my sight set on something, and yes, I'm sure we can all be that way.
00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:42.799
Um, but if I can be convinced otherwise, I want to be because nobody has a monopoly on good ideas.
00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:44.960
Wow, that's really wow, what a line.
00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:45.680
Love that.
00:23:45.920 --> 00:24:04.160
Yeah, especially, you know, those the businesses in the plum club, like, yes, a lot of times it's all you know, it's all jewelry, but at the same time, uh I'm assuming the perspective on some of these things is probably different when it comes to someone who does um charms versus someone who does diamonds.
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:05.200
I can only imagine.
00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:08.160
We're packaging, right?
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:10.319
We have packaging and and services.
00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:20.559
You know, uh GSI is a member and they're a laboratory and not dealing with necessarily the same things that the jewelry or diamond manufacturer is working with.
00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:31.359
Um it is again so crucially important to have people from all of those organizations at the table having the discussion.
00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:37.759
Um unfortunately, does can does every member contribute as much as I would hope?
00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:40.079
And and that, and should I be saying that?
00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:41.039
Yeah, probably not.
00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:41.759
But you know what?
00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:45.519
I hope one of them hears this and says, wow, I gotta get more involved.
00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:51.519
We have such a robust amount of members that are involved on a day-to-day basis that volunteer their time.
00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:53.680
Remember, people don't get paid for this, right?
00:24:53.759 --> 00:25:00.480
They're really volunteering their time, their thoughts, their energy into making something bigger than themselves better.
00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:06.559
And I call me uh a hopeless romantic, but I think that there's something really special about that.
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:16.240
We are an industry of magic, of, of memories, of gifting, of love, of whatever kind of adjective you want to throw into it.
00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:19.920
There's so much excitement around what we do.
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:28.480
And the more people that get together with that energy, that positivity, the more change that we can bring about.
00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:44.000
And I know that sounds a little cliche and maybe a little naive in in some ways, but I would tell you um, I had this conversation, and and I'm I think I can plug this uh um uh and and take his his quote here.
00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:46.079
Uh it's actually his father's quote, I believe.
00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:57.279
I I was with um JK, the CEO of Signet um at the JCK show, and we were talking a little bit about leadership um and talking about uh positivity and bringing that.
00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:02.079
And uh he he he said, K I P A, uh I think it was K I P A.
00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:04.319
Keep it positive always.
00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:10.000
And I believe he was he was quoting his father, and I really, really resonated with that.
00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:13.119
And I think that is what the club is trying to do.
00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:25.759
Keep that positivity rolling into the next generation, into the innovation, into the entire industry, and keep that momentum, right?
00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:28.720
We don't want to go backwards, we only want to go forwards.
00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:35.680
And our industry is plagued with, you know, we were$90 billion 10 years ago and we're$90 billion today.
00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:39.440
No, I I just think that you're totally onto it.
00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:44.559
It's like I do not think that positivity has ever hurt anything.
00:26:44.720 --> 00:27:09.599
I don't think, I mean, uh maybe if you're like hopelessly optimistic and you're not taking stock of of your surroundings, but I just think that positivity is like the the wind beneath your sails, you know, it's like you're gonna be rowing, but I do find that having a positive mindset makes uh you more clear-headed and and more willing to um take calculated risks as well.
00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:17.039
And when you're positive, you're more likely to believe that you're going to succeed as a byproduct of that.
00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:23.279
And hearing that that is uh like kind of like a core principle of your mindset, I definitely would agree.
00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:24.880
That's uh that's a great one.
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:26.079
Thank you.
00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:33.359
And you know, it's uh I wish I had a crystal ball to tell you what the future uh the future holds.
00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:38.240
I think for the Plum Club and our future, it is bright.
00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:45.440
We we hope that your listeners are gonna see a lot more of us, um, not just at the JCK show, but year-round.
00:27:45.680 --> 00:28:06.240
And we hope that our commitments, especially to responsible sourcing, are a driving force into wanting to, you know, wanting more individuals to become members, you know, and and really wanting other companies out there to join something a little bit bigger than just themselves.
00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:10.799
So at the same time, I I guess that that kind of brings up a good point.
00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:19.759
Um so year-round, we obviously know you guys from JCK and you guys do this um this research project, which I would love to hear more about.
00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:24.400
Um what other um kind of things are the the poem club working on?
00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:28.880
Uh it sounds like you have the leverage, you have the the minds.
00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:34.960
Um what do you guys uh kind of focus on uh other than the the five days of Vegas?
00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:43.759
Yeah, so we are in the midst, as as I as I uh kind of alluded to, of uh ushering in a new strategy.
00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:47.920
So I can't go into extreme, extreme detail.
00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:50.480
What I would say is we're looking to educate.
00:28:50.640 --> 00:29:04.880
We're looking to educate our members, we're looking to educate retailers, whether that's through the Jewelers Resource Center, whether that's through symposiums that we've put on in the past, whether that's through, you know, building our own classes or something for our retail partners.
00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:07.680
That's that's kind of one major pillar, right?
00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:29.039
We're also looking to um have political involvement, which is a little bit of what I talked to you about with the JA, getting more involved from a legal standpoint with JA and the JVC, and understanding what are our legal options in order to battle tariffs and things of that nature.
00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:29.519
Right.
00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:31.279
And then we're trying to communicate out there.
00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:34.960
We're trying to communicate our commitment to responsible sourcing.
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:44.720
We're trying to push others to advocate not just for responsible sourcing, but show action of responsible sourcing.
00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:46.160
All the cool kids are doing it.
00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:46.960
Yeah, right?
00:29:47.200 --> 00:30:04.000
Communicating that out there and making sure and hopefully having that rub off on other organizations so that we can foster this hopefully larger group of not just the plum club, but an entire industry committed to responsible and sustainable sourcing.
00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:04.480
Wow.
00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:11.839
And lastly, I would say when it comes to innovation, um, I don't know if it innovation necessarily means innovative product.
00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:12.799
I think it can.
00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:13.119
Yeah.
00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:16.480
I don't know if it necessarily means innovation in a technology world.
00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:17.920
It certainly can.
00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:25.440
I think the way we look at innovation year-round is how do we make the industry better?
00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:26.720
Nice.
00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:31.440
And how do we make things better for our members and our retail partners?
00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:44.160
And sometimes innovating could be something as small as giving them a place, a quiet place at the at the end of the show, this to get a nice espresso and have a beat, you know.
00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:57.359
And the other time it may be, you know, pulling those customers or the consumers together, finding out what they're looking for and sharing that information and those trend reports with the retailer.
00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:09.039
Or it could be something as simple as during COVID partnering up with tech suppliers to make sure that when we couldn't travel, we had virtual catalogs that could go back and forth, right?
00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:15.440
Being at the forefront of setting the tone for the industry, that's what we want to do 365 days around.
00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:27.839
It's what a nice kind of again, I appreciate your mindset on these kinds of things because I find sometimes the I oscillate between thinking too big and too small.
00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:41.119
And to hear that you're thinking in them in the full spectrum, like you said, on the one hand, lobbying to improve the jewelry industry's standing in in politics and like making and trying to like protect the jewelers at large.
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:51.440
And then on the other hand, just a quiet putting together a nice, quiet spot for some jewelers to have a good cup of espresso and maybe like get away from the super bright lights of that room.
00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:52.720
Oh my gosh.
00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:57.279
But those are both, like you said, uh, innovation.
00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:04.720
And both of them are bettering the jewelry industry, whether it's for a minute or for another generation.
00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:05.839
I kind of love that.
00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:10.000
I think that that kind of shows the full spectrum of what innovation can be.
00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:12.319
It doesn't always have to be a better mousetrap.
00:32:12.480 --> 00:32:16.720
It can be uh yeah, it can be as simple as a cup of coffee.
00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:18.000
It's as simple as a cup of coffee.
00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:19.119
Wow, what a great line.
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:20.160
I love that.
00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:23.839
No, it's I'm glad that you are excited by it.
00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:35.440
And and I and I really appreciate what you guys do with the In the Loop podcast because you know, I've gotten a chance to listen to some really great people and just hear so much excitement around this business.
00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:41.359
I fell into I didn't although my father, you know, was in it, I I didn't start in the jewelry industry.
00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:41.839
You didn't.
00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:43.279
I was 20, I did not.
00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:46.960
I I I was 25, and my father said it's kind of now or never.
00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:50.079
And I thought this was going to be a one-year stopping ground for me.
00:32:50.319 --> 00:33:17.519
And 10 years later, I haven't looked back because it's it's completely, you know, captured me, this industry, the people in it, yeah, the things that we sell, the the dreams that we sell, and the overall camaraderie of our small but big world is so uplifting and driving that I can't imagine being in another industry.
00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:24.960
And I've had the real pleasure of being able to talk to others that have such a great view of the jewelry and and diamond business.
00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:27.200
Uh, what I couldn't have said it better.
00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:34.079
I find the people of the jewelry industry, like I always say jewelers, but that can sometimes exclude some people.
00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:40.319
But like just the folks that are here, what I find so exciting is they still they still love it.
00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:44.079
They still love the jewelry and they still love talking about it.
00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:48.160
And you know, in insurance sales or something like that.
00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:54.720
I'm sure that when you go to those meetings, I'm sure that they probably don't want to talk about more about insurance sales or whatever it's gonna be.
00:33:54.880 --> 00:34:02.000
Uh, but when you go out, like the mingling of um personal life and like, hey, how you doing?
00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:09.199
Like what's been new since the last show, but also just like talking about exciting stuff about jewelry.
00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:17.920
What I've learned is that jewelers love talking about jewelry, and that is such a kind of a very comforting thing to hear because we're not all in it.
00:34:18.159 --> 00:34:20.079
I mean, for the money.
00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:21.039
I mean, that's part of it.
00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:35.679
But at the same time, hearing that people still love it and they love bringing people together and having these helping uh disperse these artifacts that are symbols of love, I just find that very um uh I don't know, comforting, kind of nice to hear.
00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:37.440
I I couldn't agree more.
00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:42.239
I I will um I will uh tell you uh a quick little story.
00:34:42.320 --> 00:34:43.519
If do we have a minute?
00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:44.960
Yeah, absolutely.
00:34:45.280 --> 00:34:53.360
And I I've equated this to like one of the best moments is I unfortunately I got hacked.
00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:57.039
My bank account got compromised about a couple of weeks ago.
00:34:57.280 --> 00:35:04.880
And I, of course, you got to deal with all the canceling of the cards and everything, and I had to cancel my actual checking account and I had to go in person to do it.
00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:12.239
And so I'm sitting at the bank and I'm looking down, and the teller that's helping me, awesome guy, is wearing a diamond men's channel band.
00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:25.840
And I just I'm looking at it and I just know I know I'm not the one sitting at a bench or anything, but I just I know our product, I know, and I said, excuse me, sir, do you mind uh if I ask you where you got your link?
00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:28.800
And he said, My wife and I bought it at Zale's.
00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:38.400
I don't, I'm not trying to be uh not rude, but I I'm not trying to like stray away from what we're doing.
00:35:38.480 --> 00:35:39.760
But would you mind taking it off?
00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:41.360
Can I see the inscription inside?
00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:44.320
And he took it off, and sure enough, was the gold star standing on it.
00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:45.280
That's sick.
00:35:47.039 --> 00:35:50.159
I was ecstatic that whole day.
00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:50.880
Yeah.
00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:52.079
Estatic.
00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:54.480
That's gotta be like a musician.
00:35:54.719 --> 00:36:01.039
Yeah, you know, that's gotta be like a musician walking down the street and hearing somebody listening to their song loud in their headphones.
00:36:01.360 --> 00:36:02.320
Yeah, so cool.
00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:05.840
And to me, that was the epitome of why I do this.
00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:08.159
Wow, what a really neat.
00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:10.800
I love hearing that kind of stuff.
00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:28.480
Uh, hearing about people like um just appreciating jewelry or like appreciating like the the stories behind stuff, you know, even if it's like that they didn't they weren't the ones that made it, but like having that personal connection, um yeah, that's really what a cool story.
00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:34.559
Uh man, in the middle of a real low of your of your year, having that and that it makes your day, that's great.
00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:37.119
It doesn't all have to be the dollars and cents of it all.
00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:52.800
And don't get me wrong, a lot of it is, a lot of it is, and and we run businesses and supply chains that are very, very difficult and staffs that are, you know, all encompassing, and nobody's got all the answers, you know, and jewelry can go wrong.
00:36:52.960 --> 00:36:55.280
Better than you're dealing in rocks and metal.
00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:59.280
Jewelry can totally go wrong, and it can always turn the other way on you.
00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:16.559
But um, I think as long as we keep talking about it, as long as we keep trying to make things better, and as long as we understand that there is enough business to go around for all of us, so it's better to work as a team rather than as foes.
00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:24.800
And that I would tell you is the biggest value that the plum club has.
00:37:25.920 --> 00:37:28.159
What a what a poignant, you know what?
00:37:28.400 --> 00:37:30.000
I would love to leave it right there, Steven.
00:37:30.159 --> 00:37:31.199
That's so great to hear.
00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:38.800
If people are interested in in learning more about the plum club, maybe checking out uh your guys' fantastic podcast, um, where would they go?
00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:45.440
So you can go to the plumclub.com and on there there are ways to contact us.
00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:52.960
Um, there are um open spots, as I said, for people to apply and and and become members.
00:37:53.119 --> 00:37:56.000
Um, I would also make myself available at any time.
00:37:56.159 --> 00:37:59.039
Um, I can be reached um by email.
00:37:59.199 --> 00:38:02.719
Um on the website, you can find my email if you go to Gold Star.
00:38:03.039 --> 00:38:04.719
Uh, it's pretty easy to find.
00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:11.440
Um, and I welcome questions, input, anything, uh, or just people looking to get in touch and learn more.
00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:13.920
Um, so plumclub.com.
00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:14.960
Fantastic.
00:38:15.119 --> 00:38:16.400
Steven, I really enjoyed this.
00:38:16.639 --> 00:38:17.280
Super cool to hear.
00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:24.239
And uh I'm so encouraged when I when I learn about the the next generation stepping in for leadership roles um in any industry.
00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:25.519
I think it's very important.
00:38:25.599 --> 00:38:31.599
It's something that is very uh near and dear to my heart, um, just on a personal level, even at my own in my own town.
00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:37.920
I I love seeing when uh the next generation doesn't step up, traditions unfortunately end.
00:38:38.079 --> 00:38:41.360
And I find that uh you guys have something really exciting going on.
00:38:41.519 --> 00:38:48.960
Um, I love getting a chance to stop by uh in JCK, and it's like going to like a carnival and getting to see all the cool new stuff.
00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:55.039
So um hearing that you guys are focused on the betterment of the of the industry is just really encouraging.
00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:57.039
So um, thank you again for joining me.
00:38:57.280 --> 00:38:58.000
Thank you, Michael.
00:38:58.079 --> 00:38:58.880
It was a real pleasure.
00:38:59.119 --> 00:38:59.360
All right.
00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:00.159
Thanks everybody.
00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:02.719
We'll be back next week, Tuesday, with another episode.
00:39:02.880 --> 00:39:03.360
Cheers.
00:39:03.679 --> 00:39:04.320
Bye.
00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:12.079
All right, everybody.
00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:13.360
That's the end of the show.
00:39:13.519 --> 00:39:14.719
Thanks so much for listening.
00:39:14.960 --> 00:39:19.679
My guest this week was Steven Lurch from the Home Club and Gold Star.
00:39:20.320 --> 00:39:24.800
This episode was brought to you by Punchmark and produced and hosted by me, Michael Burpo.
00:39:25.199 --> 00:39:29.119
This episode was edited by Paul Suarez with music by Ross Cocker.
00:39:29.599 --> 00:39:36.800
Don't forget to rate the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and leave us feedback on punchmark.com slash loop.
00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:38.239
That's L O U P E.
00:39:38.400 --> 00:39:41.519
Thanks, and we'll be back next week, Tuesday, with another episode.
00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:42.320
Cheers.
00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:43.360
Bye.