THIS IS THE FIRST EPISODE of “Supernatural Cheer”, INSTORE’s new podcast dedicated to the happiest jewelry store owners in the country and how their cheerfulness fuels everything from sales to team culture. Our debut guest is Denise Oros of Linnea Jewelers in La Grange, IL — a jeweler with so much energy she says if she could bottle it and sell it, she’d make more than she does on gold.
Show Transcript
IMPORTANT NOTE: This transcript was produced with the help of AI and lightly edited for clarity. While we’ve done our best to make it accurate, automated transcription isn’t perfect — you may spot the occasional error, especially with names, industry terms, or moments where people talk over each other. When in doubt, the audio is your friend.
Trace Shelton: Hello and welcome to “Supernatural Cheer”, the happiest podcast on Earth. I’m Trace Shelton, editor in chief of INSTORE. On Supernatural Cheer, we’ll talk to the country’s most jolly jewelry store owners and ask them how they stay so darn cheerful all the time and how that’s helped their businesses, their teams and themselves. My first guest is Denise Oros, owner of Linnea Jewelers in La Grange, IL and longtime reader of INSTORE and member of our Brain Squad. Denise, how are you feeling today?
Denise Oros: I’m doing wonderful, Trace. I just wanted to say congratulations. You know, you’re my favorite scarecrow.
Trace Shelton: Hey!
Denise Oros: You’re outstanding in your field!
ED NOTE: A scarecrow … out, standing, in his field. Get it?
Trace Shelton: I’m happy to be one. I appreciate that. Well, let’s talk about joviality. How important is cheerfulness to you?
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The Energy You Bring
Denise Oros: I think it’s not only important to me, it’s important to my team and my business. Whenever you walk into a restaurant, a store, a meeting, and the tone is subdued and tight, you immediately feel that tension. You’re not in a safe place. You shut down and close in. But when you walk into a place that’s exciting and joyful and inviting, and the conversation is lively and there are people laughing, you immediately relax. You feel safer. You feel like you’re in a place where energy flows. That is what joyful, cheerful, what I call high energy brings to a business, to a relationship, to an exchange. It just makes all the difference.
Trace Shelton: That’s interesting. Do you feel like that’s how it feels walking into your store?
Denise Oros: Yes, absolutely. We practice really hard on our opening questions. Not your standard “What brings you in today?” but questions that are a bit more engaging and inviting to immediately start a conversation. You still have customers who say “I’m just looking.” Fine. I always look before I buy. I’m a firm believer in everything Shane Decker teaches. You have to find that fine balance. But business people know this — you coach your team on having a bit of humor. As soon as you engage a client and make them laugh, you have about a 95 percent success rate of closing that deal. That’s important to me as an owner, but it’s also important to my team, because whenever those commission checks come in, there’s a lot of joy.
Trace Shelton: That’s so true. Have you always been this cheerful?
Denise Oros: If I could bottle this stuff and sell it! I’ve had high energy all my life. Gold is wonderful, but energy — it’s a whole other commodity. And the thing is, you can share it immediately.
Trace Shelton: Do you think it’s contagious in your business? With your team, when you walk in the door, how does that manifest itself?
Denise Oros: When you walk in and you’re greeted and you feel comfortable in the environment and you’re engaged, you’re more open. You’re more willing for the exchange. That makes selling easy. I have lots of pretty things in my showcases, and pretty is never hard to sell. I just have to get it in your hands. So whenever a customer is talking to my people and asks, “Where’s Denise? What’s she doing?” they’ll say, “Oh, she’s taking a cooking class. She quit burning salad a couple of years back.” It’s a silly line — I stole it from Aleah ages ago — but people relax, it’s funny, and you move on. I think it’s extremely important. It gets that rapport going with your customer.
The Business Impact
Trace Shelton: You’ve kind of hinted at this, but how would you say cheerfulness has helped you and your business?
Denise Oros: Linnea Jewelers is a fun place to go to. Ladies Night Out, we blow the doors off my building with women lining down the street. They come, I have a money gun. I shoot money into the air. People are astounded — “Oh my God, they’re actually throwing money at us.” And you know what? They turn around and spend it in my store. It creates the biggest gossip vibe in my community that you can’t believe. Money can’t buy that stuff. It’s viral. It happens in an instant.
Trace Shelton: That’s amazing. And how would you say cheerfulness helps you lead your team?
Denise Oros: Think about the worst boss you’ve ever had. How did they lead? It’s as far opposite of that as you can possibly imagine. You open with gratitude. “Thank you for doing such and such. That was a magnificent sale. Thank you for finding that shortcut for getting repairs from one end to the other.” When you acknowledge and lift your team, you make them feel worthy. It brings an unspoken cheerfulness and gratitude into your everyday fabric.
Denise Oros: We don’t argue in my store. You don’t hear raised voices. You don’t hear sharp exchanges. We get along better than any family I’ve ever been in, but we work at it really hard. We try to understand where the other person is coming from. All of my girls have an attitude of servitude. We’re here to serve. We’re here to make whatever you’re doing easier. All of us work like a unit. I can’t fully explain it, but it’s been an evolution and I’m extremely grateful for it.
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Hiring and Training for Cheerfulness
Trace Shelton: Do you hire for cheerfulness? And is there a way you encourage or train for it?
Denise Oros: I hire for intelligence. I’ve found that if you hire intelligent, curious people, they adapt and learn more quickly than the average person. You can teach someone to be a better salesperson, but you can’t teach someone to be engaging if it’s not their personality. That first foot forward — how someone greets you, the energy they project — that’s what I’m looking for, because I can navigate that through all the wickets and teach them how to sell or close a deal. But if they don’t have that energy, you’re in trouble.
Denise Oros: As for cheerfulness, we do things that are fun. We have Pajama Day in our store. Pajama Day means we’ve made all of our numbers for the year. I buy everybody pajamas, and we wear them the day before Christmas Eve because we are exhausted. I don’t want to pick any more outfits. I am tired. So everybody gets pajamas. I get so much personal feedback — “Those were the softest pajamas you’ve ever gotten us! I wore them the whole week we were off.”
Denise Oros: Customers come in and go, “You guys are all in pajamas!” We’re like, yes, we are. And when we explain what Pajama Day means for us, they know it means we’re successful, that we’ve put forth our best effort, that we’ve delivered. We’ve been doing it for almost a decade now. What does an owner want? I’m happy to buy my team pajamas.
The Role of Education
Denise Oros: Store owners need to invest in their employees’ education. Going to national shows like INSTORE with all of its training abilities and classes, it encourages my team to be better storytellers, better salespeople, because they have more tools in their toolbox. To me, the underpinning of happiness and joy is education. There’s no doubt in my mind that without the education my girls have, we wouldn’t be the machine that we are.
Trace Shelton: That’s interesting. I wonder if education and the intelligence you mentioned earlier sort of opens the way for joy and cheerfulness — because you can have more fun when you know what you’re talking about, right?
Denise Oros: And I don’t think there’s anything worse than giving an answer that’s untrue. My girls throughout the day will say, “Let me check pricing. The gold markets are a little insane right now. Just let me check on this for you.” Taking a minute to be focused, centered, and honorable in your presentation and exchange — those things are critical for relationship building and customer loyalty. People come back to the same girls over and over because their questions got answered, their problems got resolved, they felt heard. Jewelry is a trust business. It’s not necessarily a money business.
Making Cheerfulness Personal
Trace Shelton: Do you personally feel that being cheerful and joyful on a daily basis actually makes you a happier person?
Denise Oros: Whenever I have to deal with an arrogant, difficult customer, before I walk out of my office, I reset. Because when I’m walking on that floor, I want a smile on my face. “I’m happy to see you. How can I help you today? Let’s see what we can do to get this resolved. Sure, my pleasure.” That willingness to serve, that willingness to help someone — I don’t want you to be aggravated. “We can get this taken care of. Give me just a second. Let me get all the facts so I’ve got everything straight.” That honest, honorable exchange with a smile on your face smooths out so many wrinkles. A simple smile. It’s free. Give it away.
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Tips for Staying Cheerful
Trace Shelton: Do you have any tricks or tips for other people to stay cheerful?
Denise Oros: About 15 years ago, we had a priest who’s a personal friend. He’d gone to a Buddhist monastery and done some work, then to India to work with monks there. He did a lot of spiritual journeying on his own. When he came back, he said, “Every morning when I wake up and open my eyes, I’m grateful for the day. Thank you for letting me see this day.” Then he thinks about the day before and lists things he’s grateful for. Once you start training your mind to find joy, to find positivity, to find the building blocks of a great day, it becomes part of your personality. It becomes part of your persona. And you carry that with you wherever you go.
Denise Oros: I love coming into a room and everybody goes, “Oh Denise, I love it whenever you walk in. You’re so much fun.” Do I practice it? Of course I do. I work at it because I think it’s like anything else — it’s a muscle you have to train.
Trace Shelton: So what does practicing it look like for you before walking into the store?
Denise Oros: In the mornings, I’m extremely grateful for whatever happened the day before. I drink coffee in my sun room every morning. I’ve got about eight squirrels that come to visit my back door. A couple of them I can actually hand peanuts to and they’ll take them. It’s the simple things in your life.
Denise Oros: People get really angry when they’re held up in traffic. I truly believe it’s in my path for a reason. It kept me from something further down the line, or I needed to stop and think about something, or I needed to rehearse my day. What am I going to do when I walk in? How am I going to greet everyone? What are the main things I have to do?
Denise Oros: And here’s another thing I do: I pick the hardest, meanest thing I’ve got to do and I tackle it first. Once I get that off my plate, the rest of my day feels like candy. If you push it off, all you do is build anxiety, frustration, and fear. What quietly guides all of us? Fear. So I try to resolve that early in my day.
Denise Oros: Brian Dodge said for years to handle your challenges first. It was one of the most brilliant pieces of information I ever got. And Josh Linkner just talked about the monkey brain this morning. Learning to control your monkey brain — your personal disciplines. I’ve learned to come back to ground zero. “This is where I was going to start. Let me start again.” It’s been pure gold for me as a monkey brain to get refocused, recentered, and back on track. Energy goes where your attention is. So if you can put your attention where it needs to be, the energy will follow.
Trace Shelton: So many great tips. Well, thank you, Denise, for sharing your experiences and advice on staying cheerful. And thanks to our viewers for checking out the podcast. We’ll see everyone next time on Supernatural Cheer.
