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Departments
Observations
By Amber Michelle
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| G & G Creations |
One of the greatest challenges in the jewelry industry is getting started and staying in business. There are a multitude of young, talented designers breaking into the industry, but can they make it? Materials to create jewelry are expensive, getting exposure through shows, ads, or even online can be costly, as is hiring a consultant for business advice. Talent can take a designer a long way, but not necessarily all the way. It also takes a certain amount of business acumen for a fledging enterprise to succeed. Cindy Edelstein, Jeweler’s Resource Bureau and Andrea Hill, StrategyWerx, recognized this need and developed a way to help designers thrive. The two created The Future of Design contest, a business incubator competition that nurtures emerging design talent in the fine jewelry industry. Now in its second year, the competition asks entrants for a comprehensive business plan, which is reviewed and critiqued by a panel of experts. The entrants are narrowed to three finalists, each of whom must give a presentation outlining their business plan in front of a live audience, which happened during the recent MJSA Expo New York. The winner, announced at the show, is given a year of business support products, from booths at shows to technical and marketing support, as well as mentoring by industry associations and experts. G & G Creations was selected as this year’s winner by a panel of judges that included, along with both Edelstein and Hill, Hedda Schupak, editor of the Centurion Newsletter; Ann Arnold, president/chief executive officer (CEO), Lieberfarb, and Bruce Pucciarello, owner, Novell Design Studio. The judges selected G & G Creations because of “their amazing design, agile business practices and marketability.” This type of fostering of new talent is important. New designers add a fresh perspective that not only invigorates the jewelry sector overall but increases consumer interest and demand. We, as an industry, need to develop new talent for the future in every way that we can. Article from the Rapaport Magazine - April 2013. To subscribe click here.
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