My Favorite Things: Dana Friedman

Published

10 years ago

March 9, 2015

INSTORE Staff

Dana Friedman
G. Thrapp Jewelers
Indianapolis, IN

S T O R Y B Y H A R R I E T H E I T H A U S

This article originally appeared in the March 2015 edition of INDESIGN.

Here are a few of jeweler Dana Friedman’s absolute favorite things:

1 THE “DANA” CUFF I’ve sold tons of stacked bracelets to customers who see the ones I wear. I wear one cuff bracelet on my right wrist that I have probably sold 40 times. Now I warn buyers that they may be seeing it on other people. John Apel, the designer, actually calls it the Dana cuff now. Even other people in our industry have purchased it.

2 PEYTON PIC I got married in 2010, and my husband had always warned me that if Butler University — where he graduated — got to the NCAA Final Four on the day of our wedding, we had to go. Of course, they did. And so we went. Just before the game, we went for one last drink at St. Elmo Steakhouse, which is close by. I still was in my wedding dress, and football quarterback Peyton Manning was there. So I got a picture of myself with Peyton Manning on my wedding day.

3 WATER-SKIING I’m a big water-skier. Growing up, I was in a water-ski club where we did ski shows and taught people how to water-ski. I’ve invited our clients’ kids out to learn how to water-ski or ski on the inner tube, and it’s been so much fun teaching them and watching them learn.

4 WINNING PUPPY I went with some clients to an event for which G. Thrapp had donated a piece. The top prize was a puppy, a mini-Labradoodle that was worth about $2,000. The client was going to bid on it to contribute to the charity, but he didn’t want to keep the dog and asked me if I wanted it if he won it. This is the cutest dog you’ve ever seen. Of course I wanted it. So when he won it, I got the puppy!

5 GET-UP SETUP I like a variety of music, just the way I like my jewelry. Hip hop, the Pointer sisters, whose Christmas album we put on every Christmas season, Michael Jackson, all kinds of things. I don’t always put on music for the store, but definitely at the beginning of each day, before we’re open, I do. It’s always something cardioworthy.

Family Legacy, New Chapter: How Wilkerson Turns 89 Years of History Into Future Success

After 89 years of serving the Albany community, Harold Finkle Your Jeweler faced a pivotal decision. For third-generation owner Justin Finkle, the demanding hours of running a small business were taking precious time away from his young family. "After 23 years, I decided this was the time for me," Finkle explains. But closing a business with nearly nine decades of inventory and customer relationships isn't something easily managed alone. Wilkerson's comprehensive approach transformed this challenging transition into a remarkable success story. Their strategic planning handled everything from advertising and social media to inventory management and staffing — elements that would overwhelm most jewelers attempting to navigate a closing sale independently. The results speak volumes. "Wilkerson gave us three different tiers of potential goals," Finkle notes. "We've reached that third tier, that highest goal already, and we still have two weeks left of the sale." The partnership didn't just meet financial objectives—it exceeded them ahead of schedule.