Ep 2: 'This Is Our Space, This Is Our Vibe' — Andy Koehn

THIS IS EPISODE TWO 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 guest is Andy Koehn, co-owner of Koehn and Koehn Jewelers in West Bend, WI — a rock and roll jeweler who dropped the suit and tie, built a store that feels like a concert, and will tell you that life is pretty damn short to spend it being someone you’re not.

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 guest today is Andy Koehn, co-owner of Koehn and Koehn Jewelers in West Bend, Wisconsin, named one of America’s coolest jewelry stores by INSTORE in 2021. Andy, how are you feeling today?

Andy Koehn: I feel great, Trace. I love doing this stuff. I’m glad you asked me. It’s awesome.

Trace Shelton: Awesome. Well, you know, we’ve written about you and your store in the past, and we’ve talked about how you’re kind of like a rock and roll jeweler, right? How does that contribute to your cheerfulness on a daily basis? Or is that like a product of your cheerfulness?

Andy Koehn: Boy, I think they’re for sure intertwined. Gosh, I’m so surprised to hear I’m a cheerful person. So they’re intertwined because music, of course, is one of those things that can shift your mood from good to bad or vice versa. And it was something that we made a conscious decision to do in our store years ago, like that’s who we are. Like when we jump in the car, we turn on certain music, we dress a certain way. You know, it was just right for us to drop the suits and ties. It’s fine that people want to do that, we wanted our store to feel like who we were. And we think we perform better that way as well.

And in fact, we talk about our store like we’re a band. We refer to ourselves as a band. If people want to email us it’s to [email protected]. And we just have — I’ve always used that idea of there being, each one of us has our role to play, our part to play in creating a great song. And of course our audience is clients. It certainly does help going in every day and going, yeah, this is our space, this is our vibe. And so we’re more natural in that, and that probably adds a ton to the way that we behave when we’re in the store.

Trace Shelton: And it’s interesting you say, I don’t know if I’m actually that cheerful — because, you know, everything that we’ve written about you and obviously when I see you in person, you are cheerful. But I don’t know how you are in the store on a day-to-day basis. It seems like you just don’t take yourself too seriously. Does that not equate to cheerfulness, or does it?

Andy Koehn: I don’t take myself too seriously and sometimes I take some shots for that. But you know, life is different for everybody, and just some of the things that I used to think were very serious don’t feel as serious to me anymore. So it’s not always a party, right? But there’s also a moment where you can decide how you’re gonna react. Are you gonna react like this is the biggest thing to ever befall anybody, or is this — most of the things that we worry about and get upset about are pretty minor in the end. They really are, and they’re solvable for the most part. There’s very few things in life that are not solvable.

And you know what, Trace — solvable is also relative. Just because I think this is how this chapter or this page should end does not mean I’m right. There are other people who are adding to that story. So I think being a little bit more open to that helps a lot — to go, yeah, I was wrong, or yeah, I hadn’t thought about that, let’s try that. I think that helps a lot. I think it takes a lot of the pressure off. It’s easier to be in a good mood when you don’t feel like there’s a noose around your neck.

Trace Shelton: Yeah, it’s interesting because I think that’s a pretty rare attribute — a person that’s not defensive every time somebody challenges them. And I know, as a lot of the leaders in this industry, it’s almost like a pride thing, right? Like, you’re challenging the way I’m thinking, so you’re wrong, I’m right, here’s why, and don’t come back to me again. Obviously that’s not how it works for you. Does that help your outlook on a daily basis, to just say like, yeah, it’s okay, I’m gonna make mistakes and I hope somebody calls me out on it?

Andy Koehn: Yeah, at first it doesn’t feel good when they call you out on it because you’re like, oh yeah, I know how I want this to go. And it’s not like I never lose my shit, because of course I do. But that’s the times when you can go back into your little cave and once your pride sort of relaxes a little bit, then you can actually consider it. And sometimes it’s like, yeah, you know what, they had a point. How am I gonna make this sound like my idea? That was a joke. Or it’s like, they have a point. And then there are sometimes that they have a point, but it’s really not the direction that we should be going. Like we don’t have to chase every shiny penny.

So yeah, I mean, all of that stuff. I feel like I’m a pretty open guy. Again, I don’t know — we have our own ideas of who we are. I feel like I’m a fairly open guy, but to a degree, at some point it’s like, no, it’s still not what we’re gonna do. You can lose friends, or business people that you do business with — you can sort of put a rift there. But gosh, you gotta know what you believe in the end, and life is pretty damn short.

Trace Shelton: Good point. So let’s talk about the fact that you’re the guy that’s in the front of the store. Your lovely wife, Jen, is back of the house helping with operations. Why do you like to be out in the front?

Andy Koehn: I’m kind of an attention whore.

I don’t mind grabbing a microphone and talking or singing or whatever. I’m fairly self-assured that way. Jen and I talk about this all the time — if we’ll go to a play or a concert or something like that, I used to be like, God, don’t you just want to get up there? And she’s like, are you kidding? No way. So I just was born not being afraid of attention, and I don’t know that I feed off it, but I do enjoy it. You sitting here asking me these questions is a real honor for me. It’s a treat and I would do this all day long with people if they would let me.

Trace Shelton: And you do a lot of this, right? Like you have a podcast, “How to Buy Like a Guy”, you’ve written a book that’s recently come out, “The Inappropriate Guide to Buying an Engagement Ring”. Why have you done all that? And what’s that process been like? And how has it resonated with clients?

Andy Koehn: I can tell you how the podcast started because I really believe our industry is ignoring guys. Guys are looked at as a wallet. I’ve even seen jokes about it go viral — some guy saying, is there anything here in this store for me? And they’ll be like, sure, walk along with me — and then they give them the credit card swiper. Ha ha ha. But I feel like that’s so short-sighted. Guys aren’t stupid. They just don’t care about this until they do, and then when they do, it’s a very short window for them. So they just want to know what they need to know so they can make a good decision and get something that they’re proud to give and she’s proud to wear. That’s how that whole podcast thing started.

I just wanted to tell them things like — we take it for granted — she’s got a wish list, go to the store and buy what’s on the wish list. It sounds so simple, but they don’t know. They’re like, there’s a wish list, but she’s also the person that’s changed her mind four times in the car on the way to dinner. So I want to make sure that I’m doing the right thing here.

And then that led into the book because one of my sales associates said, hey, can you sort of teach me how to sell the way you do? And I’m like, sure, I’ll write a little sales training manual for the store. And then while I was writing it I’m like, my gosh, I’m just talking to a dude. I’m just sitting here talking to a guy as if I’m having a beer. And so the language is a little less — well, hence the title. I say some inappropriate things as judged by today’s culture. But it’s just man to man, guy to guy. It’s not that women can’t read it. It’s just how I talk. And I don’t want to clean that up too much because you produce things, you create things — it’s gotta be right for you first. And then if anyone cares to consume it after, that’s just the icing on the cake.

Trace Shelton: That’s fantastic. And do you find that cheerfulness helps you as a leader? Does it help in leading your people to stay happy, to stay cheerful?

Andy Koehn: I think so. You can’t make anyone be cheerful, but you can at least try yourself to be in a good spot. I don’t mind saying this has been a slow week so far — it’s not like I’m dancing in the streets or anything like that. But it’s like, that’s one week. This is not something that we need to change our whole demeanor over, or like the end is near or any of that.

And then I have a lot of faith in my people as themselves. We hire them, we train them certain ways of doing things, but we want them to come through. We hired them for who they are. We don’t need another Andy, we don’t need a Jen. We hired you because you’re Lindsay. We want Lindsay to come through, or Stacey, or Kristen.

So yeah, it does help from a leadership standpoint, because I’ve worked with people who are just downers. And boy, you know how quickly that affects you — you’re having a great day and you walk in and go, how’s it going? And it’s like, it’s fine. And you’re like, crap.

Trace Shelton: Yeah, that’s a great point. Are there any other tips and tricks you have for keeping the cheer levels high in the store? I know you guys have a playlist that you and Jen kind of share back and forth. Do you think music is helpful for that?

Andy Koehn: Music is immense. Music is really, really important, even for when clients are coming in. Other tips to be cheerful — music is for sure one. It’s just a part of the whole mix. We’re lucky enough that we can control all of that. I know there are stores that may not be able to.

But you know what I would say? I would say align yourself with the store — like if you’re an employee, it should fit, right? When we do interviews, we’re like, we want this to be a match. It has to match vibe-wise. And we’ve not hired people who had better skills than we were looking for, who could have taken us to the quote-unquote next level, but we’re just not meshing — even during the interview. No disrespect, we like you, but I don’t know if I want you in the band.

So there’s so much interwoven in this. Growing up, I loved reading and consuming things about my rock heroes and the way they’d have a great band. And it’s definitely not easy — it’s not like we have a quick trigger finger. But we’ve gotten more careful about how we hire people, and even our vendors — it’s not just about money. Money is really important, without it we don’t survive. But we want to align ourselves with those that kind of match who we are. And I think that helps on the happiness quotient very much.

Because I’ve been doing this for so long, I’ve done business with vendors that I just honestly didn’t like. And it’s not an indictment on them. I read once that you’ll meet people along the way who just, for no reason, you won’t like each other. And it doesn’t bother me for long, but it’s like — I’ve got my own corner of the universe that I need to maintain. And so that’s okay.

Trace Shelton: Yeah, absolutely. That made me think — you can choose your staff, you can choose your vendors, but you can’t always choose your customers, right? It’s whoever walks in the door. How do you warm up a customer? How do you impart your good cheer, your easy-goingness, your thought that jewelry buying should be fun, to the client when they walk in?

Andy Koehn: So I do want to say something about that. We can’t choose our clients — but in a sense, we do. They choose us, of course. But there are clients who come into our store who are just not for us. We have the brands that they would love, some even already own those brands, but they don’t like our vibe.

To chase those people — which I’ve tried — was always futile. And it required us to change the way we were behaving, which is super artificial. And there’s no sustainability in that. I never knew what people meant by sustainability until like two years ago, and then I finally discovered what it meant — you can’t keep it up. It’s a farce. And it’s exhausting. So how are you supposed to be in a good spot when you’re tired because you’re putting out a face and a demeanor that you’re not comfortable doing?

There’s a respect line. I’m not saying we’re all about us, but when we’re authentic, the people that like that sort of approach find us, they stay, they tell others like them. So yeah, we do have an impact on who’s gonna walk through that door. Now I’ve talked so much I can’t remember your question, but —

Trace Shelton: No, I think that’s great. What I was trying to get to is when you’re in the store and a customer walks in, how do you kind of warm them up? How do you help them to be cheerful? But it sounds like for the most part, people kind of know who you are when they walk in. They’re probably expecting that a little bit.

Andy Koehn: I think they are expecting that a little bit. Our ads, our social media posts are very much who we are. Sometimes we say things that — we even look at it and go, we probably shouldn’t have put that one out there. And isn’t that the role of marketing? To help those who are looking for what you have and what you can offer to find you.

And then how we set the tone — I’m sorry, I keep going — but we have music playing that we actually crowdsourced from our customers. We put out a thing years ago, maybe even before Facebook, saying, hey, send us your songs — we’re gonna make a Koehn and Koehn playlist and we wanna be playing your music when you come in. And we got just a ton of suggestions. And then again, when we’re not worrying so much about trying to be something we’re not, I think you pick that up right away. We all do. We all meet people and suddenly we know whether or not we’re going to be best buds.

Trace Shelton: One of the things you guys do — and I assume you’re still doing it — is you have a taco truck outside. Do you do that all year round?

Andy Koehn: Yeah, that’s Jen’s deal. Jen was so smart during the whole COVID thing. In our town, there’s only a certain number of food truck licenses that you can have, and she’s like, let’s get one of those. And she got one. And then it’s not even really about us — she was like, that guy’s so nice, he’s got this really cool little taco truck, come use our parking lot. And so he did.

And now we have a food truck every Thursday — not in the winter. She’s expanded that into a cupcake truck, and we’re working on a lobster po’boy truck for this year. And that’s just a fun thing. It’s more for them, really, but it’s just a cool little touch. I thought she was crazy at first, and then I’m like, no, that is cool.

Trace Shelton: It is. Yeah, it’s really cool. Well, let’s wrap up with this. Most jewelry retailers love the business, right? They love what they do. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about how important it is to exude that love, that joy, in the sales process, in dealing with clients, or even in just taking in a repair.

Andy Koehn: Boy, I think one of the nice things about loving what you do is you’re not really thinking about it that much. You’re hardly conscious of it, especially when you understand and believe that you’re doing it the best. I think every friend that I have in this business who owns a store, we all agree our store is the one to go to. And so when there’s no effort there, that excitement generally just kind of comes out in the things that you say. And that’s a very attractive situation in our world right now.

I love independent jewelry stores. I think we are one of the best holdouts to a different era — where you could go into a place and literally consult with someone who actually really, really cared about what you were getting. It’s not transactional. Amazon is just transactional, that’s all it is. Consume, consume, consume. But in our world, you form these great bonds.

So be who you are — if you’re the suit and tie guy and you grease your hair and all that, great, do that all the way. Then are you really thinking about it much? No, not at all. You don’t have to. And so that’s where that — call it joy, happiness, energy, excitement, whatever — that’s just naturally gonna come through, even when someone’s upset with you. The guys I know, the people I know in this business who love what they’re doing — and by the way, I didn’t always love what I was doing. I sort of stumbled into this and I’m like, shit, this is awesome. But when you have that mentality, doesn’t it just change everything?

Trace Shelton: Yeah. I know I said I was going to wrap up on that, but it made me think of one other thing — you sometimes get distracted by things going on in the world, maybe things going on in your life outside of the store, maybe things going on inside the store, that make you not feel so happy. How do you reset yourself when you walk into the store every day?

Andy Koehn: I do have ways. I sing in the car. I talk to myself a lot. When I’m definitely in a spot that’s really not so hot and I recognize it — and boy, once you start to recognize when you’re in that spot, that’s pretty empowering, right? Then you can do something about it. You can either decide you’re gonna sit there — and there are days where you’re like, nah, screw it, I’m just gonna be sad or upset, I’m just gonna wallow in this, and that’s okay. But then there are other days where you’re like, nope, I’m stopping that path. And I’m gonna put on these headphones and crank up a song, or I’m going to listen to something motivational.

I love reading books from back in the 1920s because their life was so much harder than ours and they had these little tricks — they all believed in things like control your mind. And those things, even if it’s just a little bit, even if you get just the beginning of getting out of that zone — I think this is really important to be able to do. It takes effort. Sometimes it takes monumental effort. It’s not good enough just to say stop it. It’s like, stop it, but do this instead, consume this instead. That makes a world of difference. A world of difference.

Trace Shelton: Yeah, absolutely. No, I totally agree. Well, thanks, Andy. I appreciate you sharing your experiences and advice on staying cheerful, and thanks to our viewers for checking out the podcast. We will see you next time on Supernatural Cheer.

Andy Koehn: Thank you, Trace.