March 18, 2025 • 45 mins
For an exclusive first interview, Michael interviews Stephen Barnes, newly announced Owner and President of IJO about what the changes mean for him, IJO, and the retailers & vendors included in the group.
Stephen Barnes shares his journey from longtime IJO member to President and now Owner, discusses his vision for the future of the Independent Jewelers Organization and what this transition means for retailers and vendors.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to In the Loop.
What is up everybody?
My name is Michael Burpo andthanks again for listening to In
the Loop.
This week I'm joined by thenewly announced IJO owner,
stephen Barnes, and this is mythird interview with Stephen.
I interviewed him as his firstexclusive interview after being
(00:22):
announced president in 2023.
And then we did a one-yearcheck-in last August in 2024,
talking about what he's learnedin his first year on the job.
And recently, at IJO PalmSprings, it was announced that
he was going to be, or is,purchasing IJO and I wanted to
ask him what that means for him,but also for the retail
(00:45):
jewelers that are members of IJO, as well as the vendors like
Punchmart.
It was a really coolconversation.
He's very forthcoming about hisgoals and his vision for IJO
and, as a longtime member of IJO, he seems to understand the
unique place that IJO fits inwith the jewelry ecosystem and I
really appreciate that abouthim.
(01:05):
But also I asked him some ofthe harder hitting questions.
I wanted to ask him a littlebit about what the brokering
process of buying IJO from theprevious owner, jeff, was like,
and also I asked him about isIJO on the right track and what
does he have to say for somemembers that might have stepped
away in recent years.
(01:25):
He's very forthcoming abouteverything.
I think it's a fantasticconversation and if you enjoy
conversations about the jewelryindustry, I'd like to encourage
you to subscribe to In the Loop.
It's free and we're availableevery week on Tuesdays with new
great conversations about thejewelry industry.
Thanks, and enjoy theconversation with Stephen Barnes
.
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Speaker 1 (02:45):
And now back to the show.
What is up everybody?
Very special day.
I am interviewing StephenBarnes, the president and now
owner of IJO.
How are you doing today,stephen?
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Man, I am fantastic, Mike, I am on top of the world.
Life is grand.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Very cool.
This is now the third part inour kind of recurring series and
I'm just interviewing youanytime there's a change in your
title.
It seems like Very excitingnews.
It was just announced at IJOPalm Springs that you are now
the sole owner of one of thelargest, if not the largest
(03:28):
jewelry organizations you knowin North America.
Can you explain to me whatbeing owner and the new sole
owner means to you?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Sure, absolutely.
Well, it's a dream come true inmany aspects, Michael.
You know I've been a member ofIJO for over 25 years, or our
family's jewelry store has beena member of IJO over 25 years.
I just remember coming to myvery first show and just how
impressed I was and just blownaway with the organization as a
whole.
And so I became very, veryinvolved, very passionate about
(04:01):
the organization and truly adream of mine one day was to
just work for IJO and then, asthings progressed along, it's
like man, that became a reality.
And then, on top of that, likeI never thought I'd have the
opportunity of being an owner ofIJO one day, but it became a
reality.
And so, yeah, definitely livingthe dream, I'm very passionate
(04:22):
about my role in this companyand how we can make everybody
around us better.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
It's really a cool, cool thing to watch.
So you were announced.
It's just about been two years,or one and a half years I guess
, since you assumed thepresident role, and that was a
pretty exciting move because youhad been a longtime member.
Like you had mentioned, we hadour follow-up interview actually
to the day last year, on August1st I believe, and from there
(04:51):
you kind of provided a littlebit of a checkup, talking about
your goals for unity inside ofIGL, which was really cool to
hear and how that's somethingthat only someone who's a real
member could kind of target as afocal point.
Now, as owner of IJL, I wantedto ask are you still president?
(05:11):
Is there a delineation betweenthose roles?
Or was president sort of thetitle before you could become
the owner?
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yes, I think it was definitely a stepping stone into
ownership.
You know, coming from a retailbackground and a consulting
background, I had to reallylearn about the organizational
from a corporate standpointversus just, you know, I mean, I
understand business, Iunderstand all those things, but
just understanding the IJO wayand how IJO runs things.
(05:42):
So I think it was definitely astepping stone towards getting
to where I am today.
As far as what changes, nothingreally changes in my role.
I'm still going to assume therole of president.
I'm still going to be theleader of this company.
I feel like I've got 20 moregood years in me to make this
happen, and so I'm looking longterm on this.
I'm setting up 20 year plansright now and goals for, you
(06:05):
know, the next 20 years of how Ican bring everybody along with
me.
So, yeah, it definitely is.
Nothing really changes for mein this ownership role.
I'm still going to be thevisionary, still going to
provide the leadership that thisorganization needs.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I love that, and so I guess let's get into, like, the
questions that everybody isdefinitely very interested in
hearing about.
So the first one is going to bewhat is the process of
brokering, like a purchase of anorganization such as IGO?
Igo has so many retail members,so there's the retail member
list, there's all the vendors,there is the I mean employees
(06:43):
that work directly under you,there's, I'm sure, a million
other assets that go along withit.
What is the process of, likestarting to buy something,
because I imagine it's slightlydifferent than just buying a
house or something like that.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, it is.
And it comes down to the firstthing and I've said this many,
many times as a consultant whenI was in the consulting world it
comes down to communication.
You know, I think Jeff and Ihad a very good relationship we
still have a very goodrelationship and I think that's
all due to just we were veryopen and communicated with each
(07:17):
other exactly what we wantedthroughout the process and we
were very sensitive to eachother's needs and wants and
desires of how we wanted thistransaction to actually happen.
So, you know, people look atthis and they say, oh, it just
happened.
No, this has been years in themaking.
This is not something that justhappened overnight.
(07:39):
These conversations started, youknow, seven, eight years ago
with the process of how wewanted to arrive at an end goal
of transitioning IJO.
And once again, for us and forJeff and I, it started with
those conversations.
And then, once we kind of hadsome agreements on what we
wanted and how we wanted thistransaction to actually happen,
(08:03):
then of course, we involved moreprofessionals, like our legal
teams, our accountants, becauseonce again, we don't understand
all the tax laws, we don'tunderstand all the legalities of
how you shift such a largeorganization over, and so, once
again, with their guidance, withtheir help, with negotiations
back and forth between each oneof our professional teams, we
(08:26):
were able to reach a very happycompromise that suited both of
us very, very well.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
So I guess that's an interesting kind of point is
that I believe Jeff was secondgeneration ownership at IJO and
now yourself, obviously a member, someone that he definitely
trusts and has worked with for along time.
But is that something that hecan dictate some of the vision
(08:52):
or some of the goals goingforward in the sale of something
I don't really understand?
I know that with somebusinesses they can make it like
you can never sell this portionof the business or something
like that where it becomes aboutwhat assets must stay under
control.
But in the grand scheme ofthings, is there anything that
(09:15):
Jeff was able to kind of put inthe stone on his way out the
door that makes it so that youhave to kind of adhere to this
vision that he and his fatherhad set up initially?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Yeah, to some degree there was some legal boundaries
that I had to stay within, basedon contractual obligations to
each other.
However, you know, jeff hadmany, many opportunities
throughout the last five or sixyears.
He had many, many differentcompanies, many different
private equity groups, manydifferent individuals actually
(09:50):
approach him about, you know,possibly wanting to buy IJO.
And Jeff kept coming back tojust one really sound thing
about IJO that he just didn'twant to give up.
He knew that if he were to sellit to a private equity or to
just a conglomerate of some sortthat he just didn't want to
give up, he knew that if he wereto sell it to a private equity
or to just a conglomerate ofsome sort, that he would
definitely lose control and losethe legacy that his father
(10:11):
started, you know, over 50 yearsago.
And one of the reasons I thinkthat he specifically chose me is
because he knew I would protectthat legacy and continue to
provide the necessary resourcesfor our retailers, for our
vendors and, more importantly,the staff at IJO.
And you know, staff is anamazing team.
(10:33):
When I think about what allthey go through and what they do
behind the scenes.
They do not get the properaccolades that they deserve,
because they're just an amazingteam to work with and to lead.
So yeah, going back to the, youknow your question.
Yes, jeff kind of chose mebecause he knew I would protect
(10:55):
that legacy of his dad and makesure that we take care of our
members?
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah, and you mentioned the staff.
Is the IGO staff going to bestaying on?
Is that included in thepurchase from Jeff that you'll
retain this number of members ofthe staff?
Speaker 3 (11:13):
No, there was nothing in writing specifically geared
towards that.
However, I can say without ashadow of a doubt, the staff is
100% on board with this change,with the direction that we are
taking this company, and Ishared with them Tuesday in our
staff meeting that you knowwe're in this together and that
(11:34):
we are going to make thisorganization better, and I'm
just one person and I can, youknow, only do so much, but it
takes a team effort for us tomake this organization great,
and so they're all on board, andwe're even in the middle of
looking and hiring and bringingadditional staff members on to
fill some roles that we feel areimportant to drive us future or
(11:57):
further into the future, forsure.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Really cool and I guess all that I know it costs.
It costs money, I mean, andthat's one thing I kind of just
wanted to ask just in like theinitial kind of setup for this
interview.
I know that IGO is revenuedriving.
It definitely makes it'sprivately owned, so it should be
making some money.
And now you want to be makingthese, you know additional
(12:22):
acquisitions.
Are you?
If it's okay with you to ask,are you the sole owner for this
or was this like a conglomeratepurchase?
Is it under your name or is itunder your jewelry store's name?
Like what does that look like?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, so I am a single member, llc, and so I am
the sole owner of IJO, movingforward.
Now I'll say that with a littlebit of caveat Anybody that
knows me and my family, my wifeand I are partners in everything
we do, even though my name maybe on that document, we are a
team and we do everythingtogether.
(12:56):
I don't make any decisionswithout her and vice versa.
We have that mutual respectwith each other.
So we're very much a teammoving forward through this
process.
But yes, to answer yourquestion directly, yes, I'm a
single member, sole owner of IJ.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Good save, steven.
Hello, ms Barnes, if you listento this, everybody, we're going
to take a quick break and whenwe come back, we're going to
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And now back to the show.
All right, everybody stillspeaking with Stephen Barnes,
(14:18):
the president and new owner ofIJL.
So, steve, we just talked aboutthe acquisition and the process
of buying.
You've made a lot of assurancesthat not a lot is going to be
changing in regard to, like, theleadership and direction of IJO
, but I assume that noteverything is going to be the
(14:39):
same.
Some things might be changingand I wanted to ask what changes
are you planning to make,because I am sure that there are
some things that you might havewanted to alter while you were
president that you were not ableto.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, as president, youknow I always still had to
answer to Jeff as the owner itwas his company and ultimately
you know his decision, finaldecision on everything.
Now that I'm owner, it doeschange that a little bit in the
fact that I still haveaccountability.
I still have to answer to myboard of directors, I still have
(15:13):
to answer to my staff and mymembers, but it does give us a
little bit more flexibility tomake changes as we see needed.
You know, one of the biggestchanges that I hope to do very
quickly is basically change thepersona of IJO in general, and
what I mean by that is I thinkthat for so many years IJO had
(15:34):
the persona that the quoteunquote leadership or staff of
IJO was unapproachable, you know, untouchable kind of thing.
And anybody that personallyknows me or has known me for
years knows that I'm somebodywho just I love people, I love
relationships, I love buildingrelations, I love talking to
people, getting to know peopleand I am very approachable.
(15:57):
And over the last couple ofshows I've had so many retailers
and so many vendors come up tome and just share their story or
share some of their challengesand we've been able to talk
through a lot of those issues orchallenges that they have and
come to a common ground and bothof us move forward, or both,
you know, the organization andthe member move forward in a
very positive way.
(16:17):
So that's what I really hope tochange immediately within the
organization that hey, ifthere's challenges, issues or
anything that you feel you needto share with us, please come to
us.
We're here to help any way thatwe can.
We as an organization are hereto provide resources and tools
and everything to makeeverybody's life better, and so
(16:39):
please reach out to us and letus know how we can make those
differences, or how we can helpyou in those challenges,
interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, I guess you know, when I think of like
strong leadership, like whatdoes that meant to me?
I think one of the things thatit's always meant is being like
receptive and having a greatunderstanding of everything and
seeing the field clearly.
And seeing the field clearly,and when I think about like
incredible leaders, I alwaysthink of people who are, you
know forgive the analogy, butit's like people who are willing
(17:11):
to like sit down at the lunchtable with you and just listen
or just kind of hear what'sgoing on, because in the end,
these are jewelry stores andthey are experiencing a variety
of, you know, experiences allover the world.
It's not just people in theNortheast or in the Midwest,
it's all of the different ones.
So coming up with like thesedecisions that are going to be
(17:33):
affecting them is probablysomething that is rather
difficult.
Are there any main challengesor main goals that you plan to
kind of tackle head on now aspresident and owner?
Are there anything that youdefinitely have kind of in your
eyes, now that you've beenspeaking with jewelers more?
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Yeah, you know, with my retail background for the
last 30 some years, it reallygives me insight into the
challenges that our retailmembers are facing, because I've
sat in every seat.
You know, in previous interviewsI've talked about kind of my
progression from early childhoodall the way up.
I've sat in pretty much everyseat you can sit in in a retail
jewelry store.
So I can identify with a lot ofthose issues and challenges
(18:18):
that our retailers are facing.
And some of those challengesare very simple, that things
we've not thought about beforeas an organization and how we
can help, you know, providingdifferent service providers,
whether that's, you know, legalcounsel, accounting, bookkeeping
, health benefits, you know allkinds of other benefits that
(18:39):
might come up HR services, youknow financial services.
We've got stores that are, youknow, very profitable and
they're like, okay, now thatwe're making money, what do we
do with all this money orwhatever the case may be.
So, just being able to reachoutside the box a little bit and
find ways that you know what asan organization we've got the
resources to be able to provideand help our retailers kind of
(19:01):
figure some of those pieces ofthe puzzle out that they've
neglected for so many years.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I think that's a.
That's a really good way tokind of put it is you know,
using experience?
I always say that, like,experience is the is the true
shortcut is that.
I always ask people like oh, ifyou've ever done this before,
do tell, because all you'redoing is just saving me
iteration on everything I'mdoing and I guess, is that
something?
Is there going to be anotherStephen Barnes, eventually?
(19:26):
Are you, do you have your eye?
Are you trying to find who thenext?
If there's going to be anotherpresident or someone who needs
to be, because you can't beeverywhere at once Are you kind
of planning to have someone thatwill be able to do that role
for you as you assume more andmore leadership, you know?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
like I said earlier, I've got about 20 good more
years in me and I'm a planner,so obviously I'm always looking
for quote unquote the nextunderstudy or mentor that I can
bring alongside of me to helpthem in their own personal
careers.
And I'm a true believer inmentorship and coaching.
I've had great mentors in mylife and coaches in my life and
(20:08):
I've been a mentor and coach tomany, and so, once again, when
the time is right, I always feellike that person rises up and
kind of becomes evident in theirrole in my life.
So I would probably say withinthe next five to 10 years, I
will be looking for that personto start bringing alongside of
me to hopefully coach throughthe rest of my tenure, if you
(20:31):
want to call it that.
But yeah, I'm always going tobe looking for that person and,
who knows, it might be withinour organization.
It might not be within ourorganization, but I always keep
my eyes open to thoseopportunities for when you know
that person does arrive.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Very cool.
And one last question when itcomes to like what's changing.
So now you have this kind ofyou know, leadership, you get to
make these the big, you knowmore unilateral decisions.
So do you get to choose theshow locations or is that still
kind of like a convolutedprocess?
Are you going to haveeverything in North Carolina
going forward or is that stillkind of decided way out?
Speaker 3 (21:10):
You know those shows.
Obviously we have to book thoseusually three to five years out
because of contractualobligations of the hotel and
just planning on that.
So you know, we're prettybooked out, I think, through
2027 as of right now.
We do have a little bit ofsay-so, or I should say I have a
little bit of say-so in that,in the fact that we kind of come
(21:34):
up with ideas and we havesuggestions from, you know, our
memberships, our vendors, andthe reality of it is is there's
only a certain amount of placesthat we actually can fit into as
an organization, because wehave such an amazing turnout for
our shows that there's just,once again, not as many hotels
that can support the amount ofrooms that we need to provide
(21:57):
for our membership to be able toattend our shows.
So with that limitation, youknow, we try our best to try
different places, but it is achallenge, so to speak.
Directly to North Carolina.
It's on the radar.
I can't say specifics yet, butit's definitely on the radar
because I want to show off myhome state of North Carolina.
(22:18):
I'm very proud of it and sohopefully we can make
arrangements to get to NorthCarolina at some point in time.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Well, hey, if you wanted to get to North Carolina
at some point in time.
Well, hey, if you wanted to goto North Carolina.
I know a guy he's pretty big upin IJL.
Maybe we could put in a fix andget us at IJL in four to seven
years.
It sounds like.
Well, stephen, we're going tocome back in just a moment and I
want to hear about your roadmapfor IJL.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
So everybody, stay with us in just a moment and I
want to hear about your roadmapfor IGO.
So, everybody, stay with us.
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Speaker 1 (23:44):
And now back to the show.
All right, everybody Stillspeaking, with Stephen Barnes,
president and new owner of IJL.
So, stephen, we were justtalking about kind of the
acquisition and then we talkedabout what's changing.
(24:05):
And now I want to talk aboutthe roadmap.
And you've always talked abouthow you IJL just celebrated a
couple years ago 50 years andnow you're planning for the
future 50 years and that doesn'thappen without like a pretty,
pretty strong roadmap.
You can't take things day byday.
If you're trying to plan for 50years, can you kind of give an
(24:28):
overview of what your roadmapfor IJO looks like?
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Absolutely.
So you know, the first thing Ilook at is I want involvement of
our members because I think themore that we can get our
members involved in ourorganization, the more we can
educate them.
The more that we can get ourmembers involved in our
organization, the more we caneducate them, the more we can
provide resources for them.
So that's the first thing.
I do have a growth mindednessto me and my vision is to
(24:55):
continue to grow our retailmembership side of our
organization.
I don't ever want to be thelargest organization, I just
want to be the best, and bybeing the best, I think it is a
collectiveness of all of uspulling together and doing our
parts to make us the best.
You know what is our secretsauce?
(25:15):
It's our members.
Truthfully, our members shareopenly with each other their
ideas and different challengesthey have and they help all of
our members overcome some ofthose challenges.
So for me, growing our memberbase with quality members that
are going to contribute to theoverall health of our
organization, that's one of mymain focuses.
(25:35):
Like I said, I don't ever wantto be the biggest, just want to
be the best.
When it comes to that, I alsowant to expand our vendor
partnerships with a lot of ourvendor members.
You know we've got a decent mixof vendors, but I feel like
there's still some categoriesthat we're a little low in.
I want to look at vendors thatare going to be great partners
(25:56):
or buyers that maybe ourjewelers are already using, or
maybe that we bring in some thatthey're not currently using to
give them a different mix.
We're also going to be lookingat ways that we can provide
value to our membership withpossibly looking at bringing in
different brands of vendors thatwe don't necessarily have right
(26:18):
now.
So we are setting up thoseappointments in, you know, maybe
in JCK this summer in luxury,to be able to hopefully bring
some of those vendor partners onas well.
I'm also looking at ways thatwe can provide services to our
members, like I mentioned before, whether that's legal services,
bookkeeping, accountingservices, benefit services,
(26:40):
whether that's health care orinsurance, financial you know
retirement plans, things likethat.
We're just looking at allencompassing that we can do to
just help our members get better, from marketing resources to
educational resources, I meanwe're just we're covering every
area that we can to try to helpour organization grow
(27:01):
organically internally and alsohelping them grow their own
businesses.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
And you know what.
I really appreciate that thegoal is not just growth for IGL,
because I could see how veryeasily it would be hey, let's go
from having this many retailersto having this many retailers
but it's more about thesustainable kind of action to it
.
So at the beginning of thisinterview I had mentioned, I
(27:29):
wanted to ask some of thetougher questions because in our
last two you're president itwas more of like a kind of like
a you know, this honeymoon phasefor the first year and a half.
I wanted to ask you this Do youfeel like IJO is on the right
track for those things?
Obviously, you've beenpresident for just a short while
and now owner, and I know thatthese things can take a long
(27:52):
time.
It's not like it's like asailboat that you can change
anywhere.
It's more like a big oceanliner that takes a long time to
change its course.
Do you feel like IJO is ontrack for those goals?
And you know success that youjust outlined, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Pretty much over the last 18 months since I've
assumed the role of president.
My initiative has been straight, very straightforward I want to
really pour into our nextgeneration of jewelers, which
we've done.
We've had two amazing workshopsover the last two years with
them doing off-sites, wherewe're building into them, we're
(28:30):
pouring into them witheducational, with networking
opportunities for them topersonally grow in their own
abilities and being able to goback and implement things in
their own jewelry stores to helpthem grow.
We've also recognized the needfor some of our larger volume
stores, larger revenue stores,that they felt like they just
(28:50):
weren't getting quite the levelof education that they were
needing.
So we, even at this lastconference, we had a workshop
designed specifically for themto give them tools in their tool
bags to help them go from, youknow, $5 million to $10 million
or $10 million to $20 million.
So we're definitely trying topour into our retailers as best
(29:13):
we can to help them continue togrow.
We've gotten so many neweducational tools that we've
brought on, technology toolsthat we've brought on, marketing
tools that we've brought on.
So we've started initiating allthose things.
But, just like you said, this isa pretty big ship and it's not
going to turn overnight, butsome of those initiatives have
(29:33):
already began to happen.
You know, we talk about unity,and one of the things that I
feel very confident in is thatwe as an organization are going
to continue to get better andstronger together.
I think that the retailers arerealizing that our vendors are
partners of ours, meaning thatnone of us are going to be
(29:55):
successful without each other.
Our retailers need our vendors,our vendors need our retailers.
Ij, as an organization, we needour retailers and our vendors.
So if we can collectively worktogether, we're all going to get
stronger, and that's what weneed is just unifying our
efforts to make this industrybetter.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
I like the thought behind you know laying the
groundwork with education,because that's what I've always
been.
A big focus of mine atPunchmark is that we can't
convince people to just use ourproduct more.
We have to experience, explainthe why and then the how.
But at the same time, againanother little bit harder one is
I feel like you alluded tothese larger stores.
(30:39):
So some of these, we considerthem.
You know these power users.
So for us these are these starsthat are that are pushing the
bubble for e commerce.
You know we're impressed bywhat they're doing and it's no
secret that like 10% of ourstores are doing like 80% of the
volume when it comes to ecommerce, because they've have
it figured out.
(30:59):
And I can only extrapolate thatto IJO and some people, some of
the naysayers might say thatthere is a focus on this family
and it's a little bit morebeginner-friendly when it comes
to for these retailers.
You know the education is greatbut the education is typically
(31:19):
you know about like hey, let'sbuild up together.
But what about?
Do you feel like some of thesemore, these stores that are
pushing the envelope, have areason to be coming back to IJL
under your leadership?
Is that kind of the goal is toentice them to return or to see
the increased value with IJL100%.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Man.
That is exactly what we'retrying to do.
You know, we, at this lastconference in Palm Springs two
weeks ago, we had stores thathad not been to a conference
maybe in a couple of years andthey had not seen quote unquote,
the new IJO and what we've beenkind of trying to do, and and
some of those were very largestores, $10 million plus stores
(32:06):
and they came.
I actually personally got achance to meet with them and
talk with them and just I wantedto hear from them like, what
are some of your challenges?
What can we do as anorganization to help you get
better?
And once again, they came toour workshop that we had on
Friday and literally after theworkshop, they came up to me and
(32:28):
they said this is exactly whatwe've been missing.
We're not getting this fromanywhere else.
This quality of education,these resources that you're
providing us with, we are notgetting within any of our other
organizations.
And what I did and what we didas IJO is we started looking
(32:48):
outside the jewelry industry.
You know we all go to differentconferences and we kind of hear
some of the same speakers.
Well, we're trying to diversifyourselves.
We're looking outside thejewelry industry and bringing in
higher quality speakers, higherquality presenters that are
presenting content that anybusiness owners.
Doesn't matter if you're in thejewelry industry or not, but
(33:08):
any business owners can apply totheir business and take their
business double, triple, 10xtheir business using the tools
and resources.
So that is what we're hoping todo.
And yes, so you know all ofthose naysayers who may have
walked away or stepped away fromIJO in the past couple of years
.
All I can say is come back,give us a chance, see what we're
(33:30):
doing differently, and you'reinstantly going to be surprised
at what you see.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
And I guess it also goes to say that there is some
competition out there.
Out there and it's somethingthat I have taken some comfort
in at Punchmark is we're notjust believe it or not there's a
big store out, a big businessout there that we're competing
with as well, that has billionsand billions of dollars in
(33:56):
investment, and we're just this,you know, company and we're
trying our hardest.
But I think that there issomething that they can learn
and, like I mentioned before,you know, advice and watching
others is the greatest shortcutyou can find is, you know, it
just saves on having to innovate, or saving on having to, you
(34:17):
know, experiment as much.
Ask about that.
Do you find that competition issomething that you find healthy
for IJO?
You know having this otherorganization that is kind of,
you know, pushing the limits andtrying their hardest to
innovate as much as possible, isthat something that is
(34:38):
benefiting IJO as well?
Speaker 3 (34:40):
I truly believe the competition is a great thing.
I look at it as it helps us allstay sharp.
It always helps us to, you know, always be looking at bettering
ourselves.
I think that if there's nocompetition, we get very
comfortable and we get stagnantin our approach.
I am one that just wants thebest from everybody, and you
(35:00):
know I also want you know, otherorganizations, other
competition or whatever.
I want them to be healthy aswell.
I'm not one of these that says,oh, I've got to be the best and
I want to take down everybody.
That's not my approach.
I feel like there's plenty ofopportunity out there.
All I ever ask from anyorganization that maybe thinks
(35:22):
or considers themselves acompetitor is let's just all
play fair and play nice in thesandbox.
You know there's enough outthere for all of us to exist and
so, yes, for me, you know, whatmakes IJO different is our
people, and I believe that trulyis our secret sauce, and I know
that we tout the fact that weare family.
(35:43):
I can't express how many peoplejust come up to me and say the
IJOS shows are so different.
We just see something sodifferent here.
We get so much value out ofthem.
We're not just a buying group.
We are an organization that istruly focused on making every
single member the best versionof themselves that they can be,
(36:04):
helping them all to achievemaximum potential in their
businesses, whether that's theretailers, the vendors or our
service providers.
We want each one of them to beas strong and as healthy as they
can be, and we're there tosupport that any way that we can
.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
You know what.
I think that that's definitelythe mature approach, and I think
that learning from, fromanywhere that you can.
I always laughed at like, uh,you know I'm a big fan of of MMA
and people find, uh, you know,inspiration and techniques from
the most unlikely of sources andI find that that is one of
those things that that is truecreativity and that is true, um,
(36:40):
you know, innovation is beingable to learn from anywhere.
Um, are there?
Is you had mentioned going toother shows that aren't just
buying groups?
Are there?
What are you learning?
Or like, have you been able toexperience anything outside of
IJO that's got you kind ofexcited or jazzed up that that
you want to bring back to IJO aswell?
Speaker 3 (37:01):
Absolutely so.
So me personally, I'm all about, you know, continuing my
education, and so, for me, Iattend at least two or three
other conferences a year thatare not jewelry specifically
related.
I've attended the Global Summit.
I'm going to an actualorganizational workshop this
(37:24):
summer, so I'm always personallylooking for ways to grow my
knowledge outside of the jewelryindustry, specifically because
I've learned throughout my lifethat I actually learn more and
take things away from otherindustries that I can now apply
to the jewelry industry thatwe've not thought about.
Unfortunately, I feel like thejewelry industry is behind the
(37:45):
times when it comes totechnology and innovation I
think that we've not thoughtabout.
Unfortunately, I feel like thejewelry industry is behind the
times when it comes totechnology and innovation.
I think that we lag behind someother industries.
So I'm always looking atfinding ways of looking at those
other industries and takingthings away from them to say,
hey, how can I adapt or how canwe use that in our industry to
make us better?
Speaker 1 (38:04):
You know, I think that's right on.
A lot of times, it takes someunfortunate and tumultuous event
to really push this industry ofours kind of forward or make us
take that leap.
And you know, with the pandemic, I feel like we grew up, you
know, 10 years over the courseof a couple months, but that
(38:26):
still put us like three yearsbehind the times and I was like,
oh, come on, guys, like we'vebeen yelling about this for
years and years and years, and Idon't want it to be a
tumultuous event that forces usto learn what's happening
nowadays.
We need to be looking around atother industries, whether it's
these like quick buy events thatI feel like some of these
(38:46):
stores are doing to greatsuccess, whether it's on
Facebook or Instagram or onlineauctions I feel like some stores
are just really doing so wellor even just these buying events
at different stores that arereally kind of bringing in like
a strange and unique demographicto their stores.
I feel like it's these thingsthat have sprung up only in the
past couple of years that arereally some of the driving
(39:10):
factors in why the industry is,you know, starting to succeed,
especially with, you know, it'snot the easiest time for
jewelers.
Is that something that you'vebeen hearing?
Because the price of gold, manis.
It is an all time high.
It is so expensive.
What is it that are you telling?
Telling jewelers, hey, justweather the storm as best as you
(39:33):
can?
Or is it more nuanced in this?
Because it's not like you justjoined the industry yesterday.
It's been.
You know, this is your life.
Is this something that you'vekind of seen throughout the
years?
Speaker 3 (39:45):
I have.
You know, our businesses,especially in the jewelry
industry, has been such a rollercoaster over the last I'm just
going to say 10 years.
You know, we look at all thechallenges.
We went through with COVID andwe came out of it.
We came through what we callthe COVID bubble where we had
these great sales and greatrevenue.
And then, you know, 23, 24,kind of settled back in and
(40:06):
leveled back out to some of ouryou know pre-COVID numbers and
you know, I think the storesthat have really embraced the
new normal are the ones that aregoing to be, you know, looking
at growing their businesses.
Do we have challenges?
Yes, you know we've got allkinds of challenges, whether
that is the natural versuslab-grown diamond world.
(40:28):
We've got gold prices going up.
We've got tariffs that are, youknow, out there now.
So, once again, we have all ofthese challenges.
But we'll be able to navigatethose together and collectively
if we will just all focus onwhat is best for our industry,
what we can do to help eachother through this, what we can
(40:49):
learn from each other from this.
We're going to be better andstronger throughout that process
.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Stephen, I couldn't have said it better myself.
And just to kind of end this ona slightly more lighthearted
kind of note, if there's onething I know about jewelers, we
love a trophy, we love a littlecommemoration, we love something
to signify.
We've been there and I thinkwe've seen so many customers do
this over the years, so we kindof want that ourselves.
Did you commemorate beingpresident with anything?
(41:17):
Do you get a watch?
Do you get like I don't knowlike a ring that has the IGO
crest on it or something likethat, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
I've got one myself for my family crest.
Is that something that you doAnything in particular?
You know it's kind of funny, soI'll kind of give you a little
backstory.
So my wife and I, when wetravel, we always like to
remember where we are and whatwe do.
So we're not huge art peoplebut we love buying original
artwork wherever we go, when wetravel somewhere, Just once
again, it can be a smallsomething, but we always like to
(41:51):
commemorate and memory of thattrip with some art.
And at our Palm Springs show ourkeynote speaker was Eric Wall,
who was an amazing speaker andartist and he painted.
During the general session whenhe was speaking, he painted
several, several pictures,portraits, and at the end of the
(42:17):
general session we auctionedthose portraits off and are
donating all of the money to twowonderful causes in California
to help combat the wildfires andall Well.
My wife, knowing that we try tocommemorate those events in our
life when we travel, she wasable to continue to bid on a
(42:39):
piece of artwork that Eric Wallpainted of Einstein and once
again we did receive that, wedid win that auction, and so
that Einstein painting will behanging in my office in
Connecticut to commemorate thismoment in my life.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
An Einstein painting as the trophy for becoming a
jewelry organization owner.
What a roundabout way to getthere, but I love that one.
That's a great trophy.
Good for you.
And is there anything that youwant to leave our listeners with
?
I'm sure that everybody isgoing to be very excited and
(43:17):
interested to follow iJo alongthe years.
But anything you want to say asyou kind of embark on this new
chapter of your career,absolutely.
I just want to tell, as youkind of embark, on this new
chapter of your career,Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (43:27):
I just want to tell everyone that may be listening
you know what I have a big heart.
My heart is absolutely set onhelping anybody that I can
within our organization or evenoutside of our organization.
We just want everybody that wecan to be the best versions of
themselves, that we want them tojust achieve whatever it is
they can in life.
(43:48):
And if you don't believe, youcan just look at my career and
how I've reached to where I amthe pinnacle of where I am that
if you believe in yourself andhave great support around you,
you can achieve anything in life.
And so I want that for everyone of my members of IJO,
whether you're a retailer,whether you're a vendor.
I want to help you to achievethe success that I know you can
(44:09):
do, and I believe in you and IJObelieves in you, and we're here
to help you any way we can.
Speaker 1 (44:16):
Man, that's so exciting.
I'm very, I'm very excited tofollow along.
I follow IJO like a fantasyfootball team, like I really
hope that they are doing thebest and things are successful
and I'll be following along yourjourney as well, very excitedly
.
Thank you so much for coming onagain, steven.
Hopefully we can follow upagain in about a year and I can
(44:38):
hear about what the first yearof your ownership has been like.
But I really appreciate youtaking time out of your very
busy schedule.
Thanks for speaking with me.
Speaker 3 (44:45):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
I appreciate it very much.
All right, thanks everybody.
We'll be back next week,tuesday, with another episode.
Make sure you subscribe.
Thanks Bye, all right,everybody.
That's the end of the show.
Thanks so much for listening.
This week my guest was IGOowner and president, stephen
(45:08):
Barnes.
Thanks so much for joining.
This episode was brought to youby Punchmark and produced and
hosted by me, michael Burpo.
This episode was edited by PaulSuarez with music by Ross
Cockrum.
Don't forget to rate thepodcast on Spotify and Apple
Podcasts.
It's the best way to grow thepodcast and leave us feedback on
punchmarkcom slash loop.
(45:28):
That's L-O-U-P-E and we'll beback next week, tuesday, with
another episode.
Cheers, bye.
Welcome to In the Loop.
What is up everybody?
My name is Michael Burpo andthanks again for listening to In
the Loop.
This week I'm joined by thenewly announced IJO owner,
stephen Barnes, and this is mythird interview with Stephen.
I interviewed him as his firstexclusive interview after being
(00:22):
announced president in 2023.
And then we did a one-yearcheck-in last August in 2024,
talking about what he's learnedin his first year on the job.
And recently, at IJO PalmSprings, it was announced that
he was going to be, or is,purchasing IJO and I wanted to
ask him what that means for him,but also for the retail
(00:45):
jewelers that are members of IJO, as well as the vendors like
Punchmart.
It was a really coolconversation.
He's very forthcoming about hisgoals and his vision for IJO
and, as a longtime member of IJO, he seems to understand the
unique place that IJO fits inwith the jewelry ecosystem and I
really appreciate that abouthim.
(01:05):
But also I asked him some ofthe harder hitting questions.
I wanted to ask him a littlebit about what the brokering
process of buying IJO from theprevious owner, jeff, was like,
and also I asked him about isIJO on the right track and what
does he have to say for somemembers that might have stepped
away in recent years.
(01:25):
He's very forthcoming abouteverything.
I think it's a fantasticconversation and if you enjoy
conversations about the jewelryindustry, I'd like to encourage
you to subscribe to In the Loop.
It's free and we're availableevery week on Tuesdays with new
great conversations about thejewelry industry.
Thanks, and enjoy theconversation with Stephen Barnes
.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
This episode is brought to you by Punchmark, the
jewelry industry's favoritewebsite platform and digital
growth agency.
Our mission reaches way beyondtechnology.
With decades of experience andlong-lasting industry
relationships, punchmark enablesjewelry businesses to flourish
in any marketplace.
We consider our clients ourfriends, as many of them have
(02:11):
been friends way before becomingclients.
Punchmark's own success comesfrom the fact that we have a
much deeper need and obligationto help our friends succeed.
Whether you're looking forbetter e-commerce performance,
business growth or campaignsthat drive traffic and sales,
punchmark's website andmarketing services were made
just for you.
It's never too late totransform your business and
(02:33):
stitch together your digital andphysical worlds in a way that
achieves tremendous growth andresults.
Schedule a guided demo today atpunchmarkcom.
Slash go.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
And now back to the show.
What is up everybody?
Very special day.
I am interviewing StephenBarnes, the president and now
owner of IJO.
How are you doing today,stephen?
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Man, I am fantastic, Mike, I am on top of the world.
Life is grand.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Very cool.
This is now the third part inour kind of recurring series and
I'm just interviewing youanytime there's a change in your
title.
It seems like Very excitingnews.
It was just announced at IJOPalm Springs that you are now
the sole owner of one of thelargest, if not the largest
(03:28):
jewelry organizations you knowin North America.
Can you explain to me whatbeing owner and the new sole
owner means to you?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Sure, absolutely.
Well, it's a dream come true inmany aspects, Michael.
You know I've been a member ofIJO for over 25 years, or our
family's jewelry store has beena member of IJO over 25 years.
I just remember coming to myvery first show and just how
impressed I was and just blownaway with the organization as a
whole.
And so I became very, veryinvolved, very passionate about
(04:01):
the organization and truly adream of mine one day was to
just work for IJO and then, asthings progressed along, it's
like man, that became a reality.
And then, on top of that, likeI never thought I'd have the
opportunity of being an owner ofIJO one day, but it became a
reality.
And so, yeah, definitely livingthe dream, I'm very passionate
(04:22):
about my role in this companyand how we can make everybody
around us better.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
It's really a cool, cool thing to watch.
So you were announced.
It's just about been two years,or one and a half years I guess
, since you assumed thepresident role, and that was a
pretty exciting move because youhad been a longtime member.
Like you had mentioned, we hadour follow-up interview actually
to the day last year, on August1st I believe, and from there
(04:51):
you kind of provided a littlebit of a checkup, talking about
your goals for unity inside ofIGL, which was really cool to
hear and how that's somethingthat only someone who's a real
member could kind of target as afocal point.
Now, as owner of IJL, I wantedto ask are you still president?
(05:11):
Is there a delineation betweenthose roles?
Or was president sort of thetitle before you could become
the owner?
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yes, I think it was definitely a stepping stone into
ownership.
You know, coming from a retailbackground and a consulting
background, I had to reallylearn about the organizational
from a corporate standpointversus just, you know, I mean, I
understand business, Iunderstand all those things, but
just understanding the IJO wayand how IJO runs things.
(05:42):
So I think it was definitely astepping stone towards getting
to where I am today.
As far as what changes, nothingreally changes in my role.
I'm still going to assume therole of president.
I'm still going to be theleader of this company.
I feel like I've got 20 moregood years in me to make this
happen, and so I'm looking longterm on this.
I'm setting up 20 year plansright now and goals for, you
(06:05):
know, the next 20 years of how Ican bring everybody along with
me.
So, yeah, it definitely is.
Nothing really changes for mein this ownership role.
I'm still going to be thevisionary, still going to
provide the leadership that thisorganization needs.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I love that, and so I guess let's get into, like, the
questions that everybody isdefinitely very interested in
hearing about.
So the first one is going to bewhat is the process of
brokering, like a purchase of anorganization such as IGO?
Igo has so many retail members,so there's the retail member
list, there's all the vendors,there is the I mean employees
(06:43):
that work directly under you,there's, I'm sure, a million
other assets that go along withit.
What is the process of, likestarting to buy something,
because I imagine it's slightlydifferent than just buying a
house or something like that.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, it is.
And it comes down to the firstthing and I've said this many,
many times as a consultant whenI was in the consulting world it
comes down to communication.
You know, I think Jeff and Ihad a very good relationship we
still have a very goodrelationship and I think that's
all due to just we were veryopen and communicated with each
(07:17):
other exactly what we wantedthroughout the process and we
were very sensitive to eachother's needs and wants and
desires of how we wanted thistransaction to actually happen.
So, you know, people look atthis and they say, oh, it just
happened.
No, this has been years in themaking.
This is not something that justhappened overnight.
(07:39):
These conversations started, youknow, seven, eight years ago
with the process of how wewanted to arrive at an end goal
of transitioning IJO.
And once again, for us and forJeff and I, it started with
those conversations.
And then, once we kind of hadsome agreements on what we
wanted and how we wanted thistransaction to actually happen,
(08:03):
then of course, we involved moreprofessionals, like our legal
teams, our accountants, becauseonce again, we don't understand
all the tax laws, we don'tunderstand all the legalities of
how you shift such a largeorganization over, and so, once
again, with their guidance, withtheir help, with negotiations
back and forth between each oneof our professional teams, we
(08:26):
were able to reach a very happycompromise that suited both of
us very, very well.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
So I guess that's an interesting kind of point is
that I believe Jeff was secondgeneration ownership at IJO and
now yourself, obviously a member, someone that he definitely
trusts and has worked with for along time.
But is that something that hecan dictate some of the vision
(08:52):
or some of the goals goingforward in the sale of something
I don't really understand?
I know that with somebusinesses they can make it like
you can never sell this portionof the business or something
like that where it becomes aboutwhat assets must stay under
control.
But in the grand scheme ofthings, is there anything that
(09:15):
Jeff was able to kind of put inthe stone on his way out the
door that makes it so that youhave to kind of adhere to this
vision that he and his fatherhad set up initially?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Yeah, to some degree there was some legal boundaries
that I had to stay within, basedon contractual obligations to
each other.
However, you know, jeff hadmany, many opportunities
throughout the last five or sixyears.
He had many, many differentcompanies, many different
private equity groups, manydifferent individuals actually
(09:50):
approach him about, you know,possibly wanting to buy IJO.
And Jeff kept coming back tojust one really sound thing
about IJO that he just didn'twant to give up.
He knew that if he were to sellit to a private equity or to
just a conglomerate of some sortthat he just didn't want to
give up, he knew that if he wereto sell it to a private equity
or to just a conglomerate ofsome sort, that he would
definitely lose control and losethe legacy that his father
(10:11):
started, you know, over 50 yearsago.
And one of the reasons I thinkthat he specifically chose me is
because he knew I would protectthat legacy and continue to
provide the necessary resourcesfor our retailers, for our
vendors and, more importantly,the staff at IJO.
And you know, staff is anamazing team.
(10:33):
When I think about what allthey go through and what they do
behind the scenes.
They do not get the properaccolades that they deserve,
because they're just an amazingteam to work with and to lead.
So yeah, going back to the, youknow your question.
Yes, jeff kind of chose mebecause he knew I would protect
(10:55):
that legacy of his dad and makesure that we take care of our
members?
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah, and you mentioned the staff.
Is the IGO staff going to bestaying on?
Is that included in thepurchase from Jeff that you'll
retain this number of members ofthe staff?
Speaker 3 (11:13):
No, there was nothing in writing specifically geared
towards that.
However, I can say without ashadow of a doubt, the staff is
100% on board with this change,with the direction that we are
taking this company, and Ishared with them Tuesday in our
staff meeting that you knowwe're in this together and that
(11:34):
we are going to make thisorganization better, and I'm
just one person and I can, youknow, only do so much, but it
takes a team effort for us tomake this organization great,
and so they're all on board, andwe're even in the middle of
looking and hiring and bringingadditional staff members on to
fill some roles that we feel areimportant to drive us future or
(11:57):
further into the future, forsure.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Really cool and I guess all that I know it costs.
It costs money, I mean, andthat's one thing I kind of just
wanted to ask just in like theinitial kind of setup for this
interview.
I know that IGO is revenuedriving.
It definitely makes it'sprivately owned, so it should be
making some money.
And now you want to be makingthese, you know additional
(12:22):
acquisitions.
Are you?
If it's okay with you to ask,are you the sole owner for this
or was this like a conglomeratepurchase?
Is it under your name or is itunder your jewelry store's name?
Like what does that look like?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, so I am a single member, llc, and so I am
the sole owner of IJO, movingforward.
Now I'll say that with a littlebit of caveat Anybody that
knows me and my family, my wifeand I are partners in everything
we do, even though my name maybe on that document, we are a
team and we do everythingtogether.
(12:56):
I don't make any decisionswithout her and vice versa.
We have that mutual respectwith each other.
So we're very much a teammoving forward through this
process.
But yes, to answer yourquestion directly, yes, I'm a
single member, sole owner of IJ.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Good save, steven.
Hello, ms Barnes, if you listento this, everybody, we're going
to take a quick break and whenwe come back, we're going to
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And now back to the show.
All right, everybody stillspeaking with Stephen Barnes,
(14:18):
the president and new owner ofIJL.
So, steve, we just talked aboutthe acquisition and the process
of buying.
You've made a lot of assurancesthat not a lot is going to be
changing in regard to, like, theleadership and direction of IJO
, but I assume that noteverything is going to be the
(14:39):
same.
Some things might be changingand I wanted to ask what changes
are you planning to make,because I am sure that there are
some things that you might havewanted to alter while you were
president that you were not ableto.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, as president, youknow I always still had to
answer to Jeff as the owner itwas his company and ultimately
you know his decision, finaldecision on everything.
Now that I'm owner, it doeschange that a little bit in the
fact that I still haveaccountability.
I still have to answer to myboard of directors, I still have
(15:13):
to answer to my staff and mymembers, but it does give us a
little bit more flexibility tomake changes as we see needed.
You know, one of the biggestchanges that I hope to do very
quickly is basically change thepersona of IJO in general, and
what I mean by that is I thinkthat for so many years IJO had
(15:34):
the persona that the quoteunquote leadership or staff of
IJO was unapproachable, you know, untouchable kind of thing.
And anybody that personallyknows me or has known me for
years knows that I'm somebodywho just I love people, I love
relationships, I love buildingrelations, I love talking to
people, getting to know peopleand I am very approachable.
(15:57):
And over the last couple ofshows I've had so many retailers
and so many vendors come up tome and just share their story or
share some of their challengesand we've been able to talk
through a lot of those issues orchallenges that they have and
come to a common ground and bothof us move forward, or both,
you know, the organization andthe member move forward in a
very positive way.
(16:17):
So that's what I really hope tochange immediately within the
organization that hey, ifthere's challenges, issues or
anything that you feel you needto share with us, please come to
us.
We're here to help any way thatwe can.
We as an organization are hereto provide resources and tools
and everything to makeeverybody's life better, and so
(16:39):
please reach out to us and letus know how we can make those
differences, or how we can helpyou in those challenges,
interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, I guess you know, when I think of like
strong leadership, like whatdoes that meant to me?
I think one of the things thatit's always meant is being like
receptive and having a greatunderstanding of everything and
seeing the field clearly.
And seeing the field clearly,and when I think about like
incredible leaders, I alwaysthink of people who are, you
know forgive the analogy, butit's like people who are willing
(17:11):
to like sit down at the lunchtable with you and just listen
or just kind of hear what'sgoing on, because in the end,
these are jewelry stores andthey are experiencing a variety
of, you know, experiences allover the world.
It's not just people in theNortheast or in the Midwest,
it's all of the different ones.
So coming up with like thesedecisions that are going to be
(17:33):
affecting them is probablysomething that is rather
difficult.
Are there any main challengesor main goals that you plan to
kind of tackle head on now aspresident and owner?
Are there anything that youdefinitely have kind of in your
eyes, now that you've beenspeaking with jewelers more?
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Yeah, you know, with my retail background for the
last 30 some years, it reallygives me insight into the
challenges that our retailmembers are facing, because I've
sat in every seat.
You know, in previous interviewsI've talked about kind of my
progression from early childhoodall the way up.
I've sat in pretty much everyseat you can sit in in a retail
jewelry store.
So I can identify with a lot ofthose issues and challenges
(18:18):
that our retailers are facing.
And some of those challengesare very simple, that things
we've not thought about beforeas an organization and how we
can help, you know, providingdifferent service providers,
whether that's, you know, legalcounsel, accounting, bookkeeping
, health benefits, you know allkinds of other benefits that
(18:39):
might come up HR services, youknow financial services.
We've got stores that are, youknow, very profitable and
they're like, okay, now thatwe're making money, what do we
do with all this money orwhatever the case may be.
So, just being able to reachoutside the box a little bit and
find ways that you know what asan organization we've got the
resources to be able to provideand help our retailers kind of
(19:01):
figure some of those pieces ofthe puzzle out that they've
neglected for so many years.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I think that's a.
That's a really good way tokind of put it is you know,
using experience?
I always say that, like,experience is the is the true
shortcut is that.
I always ask people like oh, ifyou've ever done this before,
do tell, because all you'redoing is just saving me
iteration on everything I'mdoing and I guess, is that
something?
Is there going to be anotherStephen Barnes, eventually?
(19:26):
Are you, do you have your eye?
Are you trying to find who thenext?
If there's going to be anotherpresident or someone who needs
to be, because you can't beeverywhere at once Are you kind
of planning to have someone thatwill be able to do that role
for you as you assume more andmore leadership, you know?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
like I said earlier, I've got about 20 good more
years in me and I'm a planner,so obviously I'm always looking
for quote unquote the nextunderstudy or mentor that I can
bring alongside of me to helpthem in their own personal
careers.
And I'm a true believer inmentorship and coaching.
I've had great mentors in mylife and coaches in my life and
(20:08):
I've been a mentor and coach tomany, and so, once again, when
the time is right, I always feellike that person rises up and
kind of becomes evident in theirrole in my life.
So I would probably say withinthe next five to 10 years, I
will be looking for that personto start bringing alongside of
me to hopefully coach throughthe rest of my tenure, if you
(20:31):
want to call it that.
But yeah, I'm always going tobe looking for that person and,
who knows, it might be withinour organization.
It might not be within ourorganization, but I always keep
my eyes open to thoseopportunities for when you know
that person does arrive.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Very cool.
And one last question when itcomes to like what's changing.
So now you have this kind ofyou know, leadership, you get to
make these the big, you knowmore unilateral decisions.
So do you get to choose theshow locations or is that still
kind of like a convolutedprocess?
Are you going to haveeverything in North Carolina
going forward or is that stillkind of decided way out?
Speaker 3 (21:10):
You know those shows.
Obviously we have to book thoseusually three to five years out
because of contractualobligations of the hotel and
just planning on that.
So you know, we're prettybooked out, I think, through
2027 as of right now.
We do have a little bit ofsay-so, or I should say I have a
little bit of say-so in that,in the fact that we kind of come
(21:34):
up with ideas and we havesuggestions from, you know, our
memberships, our vendors, andthe reality of it is is there's
only a certain amount of placesthat we actually can fit into as
an organization, because wehave such an amazing turnout for
our shows that there's just,once again, not as many hotels
that can support the amount ofrooms that we need to provide
(21:57):
for our membership to be able toattend our shows.
So with that limitation, youknow, we try our best to try
different places, but it is achallenge, so to speak.
Directly to North Carolina.
It's on the radar.
I can't say specifics yet, butit's definitely on the radar
because I want to show off myhome state of North Carolina.
(22:18):
I'm very proud of it and sohopefully we can make
arrangements to get to NorthCarolina at some point in time.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Well, hey, if you wanted to get to North Carolina
at some point in time.
Well, hey, if you wanted to goto North Carolina.
I know a guy he's pretty big upin IJL.
Maybe we could put in a fix andget us at IJL in four to seven
years.
It sounds like.
Well, stephen, we're going tocome back in just a moment and I
want to hear about your roadmapfor IJL.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
So everybody, stay with us in just a moment and I
want to hear about your roadmapfor IGO.
So, everybody, stay with us.
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Speaker 1 (23:44):
And now back to the show.
All right, everybody Stillspeaking, with Stephen Barnes,
president and new owner of IJL.
So, stephen, we were justtalking about kind of the
acquisition and then we talkedabout what's changing.
(24:05):
And now I want to talk aboutthe roadmap.
And you've always talked abouthow you IJL just celebrated a
couple years ago 50 years andnow you're planning for the
future 50 years and that doesn'thappen without like a pretty,
pretty strong roadmap.
You can't take things day byday.
If you're trying to plan for 50years, can you kind of give an
(24:28):
overview of what your roadmapfor IJO looks like?
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Absolutely.
So you know, the first thing Ilook at is I want involvement of
our members because I think themore that we can get our
members involved in ourorganization, the more we can
educate them.
The more that we can get ourmembers involved in our
organization, the more we caneducate them, the more we can
provide resources for them.
So that's the first thing.
I do have a growth mindednessto me and my vision is to
(24:55):
continue to grow our retailmembership side of our
organization.
I don't ever want to be thelargest organization, I just
want to be the best, and bybeing the best, I think it is a
collectiveness of all of uspulling together and doing our
parts to make us the best.
You know what is our secretsauce?
(25:15):
It's our members.
Truthfully, our members shareopenly with each other their
ideas and different challengesthey have and they help all of
our members overcome some ofthose challenges.
So for me, growing our memberbase with quality members that
are going to contribute to theoverall health of our
organization, that's one of mymain focuses.
(25:35):
Like I said, I don't ever wantto be the biggest, just want to
be the best.
When it comes to that, I alsowant to expand our vendor
partnerships with a lot of ourvendor members.
You know we've got a decent mixof vendors, but I feel like
there's still some categoriesthat we're a little low in.
I want to look at vendors thatare going to be great partners
(25:56):
or buyers that maybe ourjewelers are already using, or
maybe that we bring in some thatthey're not currently using to
give them a different mix.
We're also going to be lookingat ways that we can provide
value to our membership withpossibly looking at bringing in
different brands of vendors thatwe don't necessarily have right
(26:18):
now.
So we are setting up thoseappointments in, you know, maybe
in JCK this summer in luxury,to be able to hopefully bring
some of those vendor partners onas well.
I'm also looking at ways thatwe can provide services to our
members, like I mentioned before, whether that's legal services,
bookkeeping, accountingservices, benefit services,
(26:40):
whether that's health care orinsurance, financial you know
retirement plans, things likethat.
We're just looking at allencompassing that we can do to
just help our members get better, from marketing resources to
educational resources, I meanwe're just we're covering every
area that we can to try to helpour organization grow
(27:01):
organically internally and alsohelping them grow their own
businesses.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
And you know what.
I really appreciate that thegoal is not just growth for IGL,
because I could see how veryeasily it would be hey, let's go
from having this many retailersto having this many retailers
but it's more about thesustainable kind of action to it
.
So at the beginning of thisinterview I had mentioned, I
(27:29):
wanted to ask some of thetougher questions because in our
last two you're president itwas more of like a kind of like
a you know, this honeymoon phasefor the first year and a half.
I wanted to ask you this Do youfeel like IJO is on the right
track for those things?
Obviously, you've beenpresident for just a short while
and now owner, and I know thatthese things can take a long
(27:52):
time.
It's not like it's like asailboat that you can change
anywhere.
It's more like a big oceanliner that takes a long time to
change its course.
Do you feel like IJO is ontrack for those goals?
And you know success that youjust outlined, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Pretty much over the last 18 months since I've
assumed the role of president.
My initiative has been straight, very straightforward I want to
really pour into our nextgeneration of jewelers, which
we've done.
We've had two amazing workshopsover the last two years with
them doing off-sites, wherewe're building into them, we're
(28:30):
pouring into them witheducational, with networking
opportunities for them topersonally grow in their own
abilities and being able to goback and implement things in
their own jewelry stores to helpthem grow.
We've also recognized the needfor some of our larger volume
stores, larger revenue stores,that they felt like they just
(28:50):
weren't getting quite the levelof education that they were
needing.
So we, even at this lastconference, we had a workshop
designed specifically for themto give them tools in their tool
bags to help them go from, youknow, $5 million to $10 million
or $10 million to $20 million.
So we're definitely trying topour into our retailers as best
(29:13):
we can to help them continue togrow.
We've gotten so many neweducational tools that we've
brought on, technology toolsthat we've brought on, marketing
tools that we've brought on.
So we've started initiating allthose things.
But, just like you said, this isa pretty big ship and it's not
going to turn overnight, butsome of those initiatives have
(29:33):
already began to happen.
You know, we talk about unity,and one of the things that I
feel very confident in is thatwe as an organization are going
to continue to get better andstronger together.
I think that the retailers arerealizing that our vendors are
partners of ours, meaning thatnone of us are going to be
(29:55):
successful without each other.
Our retailers need our vendors,our vendors need our retailers.
Ij, as an organization, we needour retailers and our vendors.
So if we can collectively worktogether, we're all going to get
stronger, and that's what weneed is just unifying our
efforts to make this industrybetter.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
I like the thought behind you know laying the
groundwork with education,because that's what I've always
been.
A big focus of mine atPunchmark is that we can't
convince people to just use ourproduct more.
We have to experience, explainthe why and then the how.
But at the same time, againanother little bit harder one is
I feel like you alluded tothese larger stores.
(30:39):
So some of these, we considerthem.
You know these power users.
So for us these are these starsthat are that are pushing the
bubble for e commerce.
You know we're impressed bywhat they're doing and it's no
secret that like 10% of ourstores are doing like 80% of the
volume when it comes to ecommerce, because they've have
it figured out.
(30:59):
And I can only extrapolate thatto IJO and some people, some of
the naysayers might say thatthere is a focus on this family
and it's a little bit morebeginner-friendly when it comes
to for these retailers.
You know the education is greatbut the education is typically
(31:19):
you know about like hey, let'sbuild up together.
But what about?
Do you feel like some of thesemore, these stores that are
pushing the envelope, have areason to be coming back to IJL
under your leadership?
Is that kind of the goal is toentice them to return or to see
the increased value with IJL100%.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Man.
That is exactly what we'retrying to do.
You know, we, at this lastconference in Palm Springs two
weeks ago, we had stores thathad not been to a conference
maybe in a couple of years andthey had not seen quote unquote,
the new IJO and what we've beenkind of trying to do, and and
some of those were very largestores, $10 million plus stores
(32:06):
and they came.
I actually personally got achance to meet with them and
talk with them and just I wantedto hear from them like, what
are some of your challenges?
What can we do as anorganization to help you get
better?
And once again, they came toour workshop that we had on
Friday and literally after theworkshop, they came up to me and
(32:28):
they said this is exactly whatwe've been missing.
We're not getting this fromanywhere else.
This quality of education,these resources that you're
providing us with, we are notgetting within any of our other
organizations.
And what I did and what we didas IJO is we started looking
(32:48):
outside the jewelry industry.
You know we all go to differentconferences and we kind of hear
some of the same speakers.
Well, we're trying to diversifyourselves.
We're looking outside thejewelry industry and bringing in
higher quality speakers, higherquality presenters that are
presenting content that anybusiness owners.
Doesn't matter if you're in thejewelry industry or not, but
(33:08):
any business owners can apply totheir business and take their
business double, triple, 10xtheir business using the tools
and resources.
So that is what we're hoping todo.
And yes, so you know all ofthose naysayers who may have
walked away or stepped away fromIJO in the past couple of years
.
All I can say is come back,give us a chance, see what we're
(33:30):
doing differently, and you'reinstantly going to be surprised
at what you see.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
And I guess it also goes to say that there is some
competition out there.
Out there and it's somethingthat I have taken some comfort
in at Punchmark is we're notjust believe it or not there's a
big store out, a big businessout there that we're competing
with as well, that has billionsand billions of dollars in
(33:56):
investment, and we're just this,you know, company and we're
trying our hardest.
But I think that there issomething that they can learn
and, like I mentioned before,you know, advice and watching
others is the greatest shortcutyou can find is, you know, it
just saves on having to innovate, or saving on having to, you
(34:17):
know, experiment as much.
Ask about that.
Do you find that competition issomething that you find healthy
for IJO?
You know having this otherorganization that is kind of,
you know, pushing the limits andtrying their hardest to
innovate as much as possible, isthat something that is
(34:38):
benefiting IJO as well?
Speaker 3 (34:40):
I truly believe the competition is a great thing.
I look at it as it helps us allstay sharp.
It always helps us to, you know, always be looking at bettering
ourselves.
I think that if there's nocompetition, we get very
comfortable and we get stagnantin our approach.
I am one that just wants thebest from everybody, and you
(35:00):
know I also want you know, otherorganizations, other
competition or whatever.
I want them to be healthy aswell.
I'm not one of these that says,oh, I've got to be the best and
I want to take down everybody.
That's not my approach.
I feel like there's plenty ofopportunity out there.
All I ever ask from anyorganization that maybe thinks
(35:22):
or considers themselves acompetitor is let's just all
play fair and play nice in thesandbox.
You know there's enough outthere for all of us to exist and
so, yes, for me, you know, whatmakes IJO different is our
people, and I believe that trulyis our secret sauce, and I know
that we tout the fact that weare family.
(35:43):
I can't express how many peoplejust come up to me and say the
IJOS shows are so different.
We just see something sodifferent here.
We get so much value out ofthem.
We're not just a buying group.
We are an organization that istruly focused on making every
single member the best versionof themselves that they can be,
(36:04):
helping them all to achievemaximum potential in their
businesses, whether that's theretailers, the vendors or our
service providers.
We want each one of them to beas strong and as healthy as they
can be, and we're there tosupport that any way that we can
.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
You know what.
I think that that's definitelythe mature approach, and I think
that learning from, fromanywhere that you can.
I always laughed at like, uh,you know I'm a big fan of of MMA
and people find, uh, you know,inspiration and techniques from
the most unlikely of sources andI find that that is one of
those things that that is truecreativity and that is true, um,
(36:40):
you know, innovation is beingable to learn from anywhere.
Um, are there?
Is you had mentioned going toother shows that aren't just
buying groups?
Are there?
What are you learning?
Or like, have you been able toexperience anything outside of
IJO that's got you kind ofexcited or jazzed up that that
you want to bring back to IJO aswell?
Speaker 3 (37:01):
Absolutely so.
So me personally, I'm all about, you know, continuing my
education, and so, for me, Iattend at least two or three
other conferences a year thatare not jewelry specifically
related.
I've attended the Global Summit.
I'm going to an actualorganizational workshop this
(37:24):
summer, so I'm always personallylooking for ways to grow my
knowledge outside of the jewelryindustry, specifically because
I've learned throughout my lifethat I actually learn more and
take things away from otherindustries that I can now apply
to the jewelry industry thatwe've not thought about.
Unfortunately, I feel like thejewelry industry is behind the
(37:45):
times when it comes totechnology and innovation I
think that we've not thoughtabout.
Unfortunately, I feel like thejewelry industry is behind the
times when it comes totechnology and innovation.
I think that we lag behind someother industries.
So I'm always looking atfinding ways of looking at those
other industries and takingthings away from them to say,
hey, how can I adapt or how canwe use that in our industry to
make us better?
Speaker 1 (38:04):
You know, I think that's right on.
A lot of times, it takes someunfortunate and tumultuous event
to really push this industry ofours kind of forward or make us
take that leap.
And you know, with the pandemic, I feel like we grew up, you
know, 10 years over the courseof a couple months, but that
(38:26):
still put us like three yearsbehind the times and I was like,
oh, come on, guys, like we'vebeen yelling about this for
years and years and years, and Idon't want it to be a
tumultuous event that forces usto learn what's happening
nowadays.
We need to be looking around atother industries, whether it's
these like quick buy events thatI feel like some of these
(38:46):
stores are doing to greatsuccess, whether it's on
Facebook or Instagram or onlineauctions I feel like some stores
are just really doing so wellor even just these buying events
at different stores that arereally kind of bringing in like
a strange and unique demographicto their stores.
I feel like it's these thingsthat have sprung up only in the
past couple of years that arereally some of the driving
(39:10):
factors in why the industry is,you know, starting to succeed,
especially with, you know, it'snot the easiest time for
jewelers.
Is that something that you'vebeen hearing?
Because the price of gold, manis.
It is an all time high.
It is so expensive.
What is it that are you telling?
Telling jewelers, hey, justweather the storm as best as you
(39:33):
can?
Or is it more nuanced in this?
Because it's not like you justjoined the industry yesterday.
It's been.
You know, this is your life.
Is this something that you'vekind of seen throughout the
years?
Speaker 3 (39:45):
I have.
You know, our businesses,especially in the jewelry
industry, has been such a rollercoaster over the last I'm just
going to say 10 years.
You know, we look at all thechallenges.
We went through with COVID andwe came out of it.
We came through what we callthe COVID bubble where we had
these great sales and greatrevenue.
And then, you know, 23, 24,kind of settled back in and
(40:06):
leveled back out to some of ouryou know pre-COVID numbers and
you know, I think the storesthat have really embraced the
new normal are the ones that aregoing to be, you know, looking
at growing their businesses.
Do we have challenges?
Yes, you know we've got allkinds of challenges, whether
that is the natural versuslab-grown diamond world.
(40:28):
We've got gold prices going up.
We've got tariffs that are, youknow, out there now.
So, once again, we have all ofthese challenges.
But we'll be able to navigatethose together and collectively
if we will just all focus onwhat is best for our industry,
what we can do to help eachother through this, what we can
(40:49):
learn from each other from this.
We're going to be better andstronger throughout that process
.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Stephen, I couldn't have said it better myself.
And just to kind of end this ona slightly more lighthearted
kind of note, if there's onething I know about jewelers, we
love a trophy, we love a littlecommemoration, we love something
to signify.
We've been there and I thinkwe've seen so many customers do
this over the years, so we kindof want that ourselves.
Did you commemorate beingpresident with anything?
(41:17):
Do you get a watch?
Do you get like I don't knowlike a ring that has the IGO
crest on it or something likethat, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
I've got one myself for my family crest.
Is that something that you doAnything in particular?
You know it's kind of funny, soI'll kind of give you a little
backstory.
So my wife and I, when wetravel, we always like to
remember where we are and whatwe do.
So we're not huge art peoplebut we love buying original
artwork wherever we go, when wetravel somewhere, Just once
again, it can be a smallsomething, but we always like to
(41:51):
commemorate and memory of thattrip with some art.
And at our Palm Springs show ourkeynote speaker was Eric Wall,
who was an amazing speaker andartist and he painted.
During the general session whenhe was speaking, he painted
several, several pictures,portraits, and at the end of the
(42:17):
general session we auctionedthose portraits off and are
donating all of the money to twowonderful causes in California
to help combat the wildfires andall Well.
My wife, knowing that we try tocommemorate those events in our
life when we travel, she wasable to continue to bid on a
(42:39):
piece of artwork that Eric Wallpainted of Einstein and once
again we did receive that, wedid win that auction, and so
that Einstein painting will behanging in my office in
Connecticut to commemorate thismoment in my life.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
An Einstein painting as the trophy for becoming a
jewelry organization owner.
What a roundabout way to getthere, but I love that one.
That's a great trophy.
Good for you.
And is there anything that youwant to leave our listeners with
?
I'm sure that everybody isgoing to be very excited and
(43:17):
interested to follow iJo alongthe years.
But anything you want to say asyou kind of embark on this new
chapter of your career,absolutely.
I just want to tell, as youkind of embark, on this new
chapter of your career,Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (43:27):
I just want to tell everyone that may be listening
you know what I have a big heart.
My heart is absolutely set onhelping anybody that I can
within our organization or evenoutside of our organization.
We just want everybody that wecan to be the best versions of
themselves, that we want them tojust achieve whatever it is
they can in life.
(43:48):
And if you don't believe, youcan just look at my career and
how I've reached to where I amthe pinnacle of where I am that
if you believe in yourself andhave great support around you,
you can achieve anything in life.
And so I want that for everyone of my members of IJO,
whether you're a retailer,whether you're a vendor.
I want to help you to achievethe success that I know you can
(44:09):
do, and I believe in you and IJObelieves in you, and we're here
to help you any way we can.
Speaker 1 (44:16):
Man, that's so exciting.
I'm very, I'm very excited tofollow along.
I follow IJO like a fantasyfootball team, like I really
hope that they are doing thebest and things are successful
and I'll be following along yourjourney as well, very excitedly
.
Thank you so much for coming onagain, steven.
Hopefully we can follow upagain in about a year and I can
(44:38):
hear about what the first yearof your ownership has been like.
But I really appreciate youtaking time out of your very
busy schedule.
Thanks for speaking with me.
Speaker 3 (44:45):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
I appreciate it very much.
All right, thanks everybody.
We'll be back next week,tuesday, with another episode.
Make sure you subscribe.
Thanks Bye, all right,everybody.
That's the end of the show.
Thanks so much for listening.
This week my guest was IGOowner and president, stephen
(45:08):
Barnes.
Thanks so much for joining.
This episode was brought to youby Punchmark and produced and
hosted by me, michael Burpo.
This episode was edited by PaulSuarez with music by Ross
Cockrum.
Don't forget to rate thepodcast on Spotify and Apple
Podcasts.
It's the best way to grow thepodcast and leave us feedback on
punchmarkcom slash loop.
(45:28):
That's L-O-U-P-E and we'll beback next week, tuesday, with
another episode.
Cheers, bye.
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