JimmyCast

Podcast: Put Your Heart in Your Business

Jimmy and Doug discuss how to not only have passion in your work, but how to convey that to your team.

Published

2 years ago

June 20, 2023

INSTORE Staff

THIS MONTH, THE TRAIN RETAIL PODCAST (formerly JimmyCast) covers a topic with timeless importance: how to have passion in your business. In this episode, host Jimmy DeGroot and co-host Doug Meadows of David Douglas Diamonds in Marietta, GA discuss how crucial passion is to success and why it’s also necessary to instill that passion in one’s employees.

Jimmy remarks that everyone he’s known who is happy and successful in business started from a passion for what they were setting out to do. Doug shares how he was able to discover his passion even though he grew up in the business as a third-generation jeweler. At 23, Doug was invited to move from Detroit to Georgia in order to open a retail jewelry business with a friend, and he found his love for jewelry retail in his relationships with his customers.

Doug raises a critical question, though: How do you convey and create that passion in your staff? He and Jimmy then talk about practical ways to do that, including a quality that many may not immediately connect with passion — vulnerability.

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.