The Final Cut

Note to self

Rapaport Magazine asks industry execs: What advice would you give a young you starting out in the trade?

By Rapaport News

Ari Epstein,
CEO, Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC)
A young me was ambitious, confident and impatient — I don’t take half measures or like doing things gradually. First piece of advice: Stay disciplined, even if it is not in your nature. Born and raised in Antwerp, [I found] the industry an attractive option. Don’t reject an option just because it is close to home. Explore as much of the trade as possible — fortunately, in Antwerp, it is all condensed into a small area. When you find what feels right, visualize your goal and make it work. Wake up and go to bed early so you can do as much as possible any given day. Always hit your deadlines. Be professional, but don’t let it slow you down; be ambitious, but don’t go so fast you lose your footing. Stay grounded: Relationships, family and community will be very important before you know it. Above all, stay hungry!

Brandee Dallow,
Founder & president, Fine Girl
The three pieces of advice I would give a young me starting out in the industry would be:
   First, experience every level of our pipeline — from mine to retail. By understanding how each facet of the production process works, why it’s uniquely important to the overall industry, and how it leads to the end result (jewelry on a consumer’s finger), you can better appreciate what makes our product as special as it is.
   Second, take the time to get to know people throughout the business. Your connections are the key to succeeding, and also to enjoying your time in the jewelry industry, so invest in those relationships.
   Third, always keep an ear outside of the industry, bring back peripheral knowledge and challenge the status quo. Learning from the way other businesses succeed (or even fail) and sharing that knowledge almost always leads to positive change.

David Bennett,
Worldwide chairman, Sotheby’s International Jewelry Division
I started out in this industry somewhat by chance — my idea on leaving university was to train to be a film director. However, my father, who was rather horrified by the idea, cunningly arranged for me to spend a year at Sotheby’s instead, for an immersion in all the specializations. At the end of that year, 1974, to my surprise, I was offered a place in the jewelry department. Looking back now, I see that my passions at the time were philosophy (in which I had obtained my university degree) and astrology, and so I didn’t immediately grasp any obvious link between those disciplines and the world of jewelry. Gradually, however, having studied gemology and learned to work with precious metals, I began to understand that all these things are closely interconnected. My career has, in fact, been guided in a sense by the importance of the relationships between individuals, precious stones and the planets. So I would tell my younger self, “You are not moving away from your intended path; you are on the right track.”

Deborah Marquardt,
Chief marketing officer, Diamond Producers Association (DPA)
If I could go back and give a young me some advice, I would say — stay curious! Ask questions, keep learning, and find mentors and companies that give you plenty of opportunities to do both. Technology and digital communications have transformed marketing and will continue to do so. The fundamentals remain important, but the methods and the media are perpetually in flux. Curiosity keeps you current and relevant; it connects you to people and opens doors. As a manager now, I look for key traits that cannot be taught. “Curious by nature” is one of them. People don’t learn to be inquisitive. They are born that way. And if someone is curious, they are likely to become passionate about a subject, and curious, passionate people are committed — they go the extra mile. These are the people who make organizations great. Curiosity keeps us moving forward.

Image (clockwise from top left): Ari Epstein, Brandee Dallow, Deborah Marquardt and David Bennett.

Article from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2018. To subscribe click here.

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