E171: Diamonds are Forever with Jewelry Concierge Kat McCoy!

Best Kept by Kat McCoy is a jewelry consultation and sourcing company that tries to take the anxiety out of the jewelry purchasing process. Chris Thomas talks with Kat about how Best Kept was created and how it operates as a concierge service.  Areas covered include: -why her experience growing up in wealthy Greenwich, CT doesn't mean she unable to connect with a diverse collection of people -how she developed an interest in jewelry from her grandma and her grandma’s sense of style -what it was like working at Ernst & Young immediately out of college -moving on to SocialCode creating partnerships with other technology companies -whether the influence of growing up in a family of entrepreneurs made her comfortable transitioning to starting a business as a solopreneur -working with the startup accelerator Tacklebox to get her jewelry business idea fully idealized through mentorship and group feedback, and what people on a budget can do to execute a business idea -the sometimes isolating nature of solopreneur work -how she acquired an in-depth knowledge about jewelry over time to help people find a gift for someone else or to build up their own jewelry collection -how she reacts when receiving a six-figure jewelry order…hint: it involves a lot of breakdancing (okay, maybe breakdancing is exaggerating a bit) -building a reputation where people trust you when doing business -why buying jewelry is often seen as so stressful and how her concierge service can help people from all sorts of backgrounds find a meaningful piece of jewelry -whether there is ever a truly “perfect” piece of jewelry and how jewelry can be seen as an investment -being a hands-on parent while simultaneously being a hands-on business person Interested in starting a business? Interested in learning about jewelry? Interested in addressing the work-life balance challenge? If the answer to all of these is no, get your head examined, because these are all Grade A topics! To learn more about Best Kept by Kat McCoy, visit https://www.bestkept.com/