Bench Jeweler Memes

LEVEL UP (Or At Least Try To) & Brad is on Vacation! EP.40

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0:00 | 51:20

Brad is on vacation, which means Dusty is stuck doing all the jewelry repairs and is handling it about as well as you’d expect.

In this episode, we tackle a topic that actually matters: how jewelers can level up. Whether you’re a brand-new apprentice, an experienced bench jeweler, a stone setter, CAD designer, goldsmith, or jewelry store owner, we do our best to share advice that can help you grow, improve your skills, increase your value, and take the next step in your jewelry career.

We definitely don’t have all the answers, but we clumsily take a swing at it anyway.

Along the way, there’s plenty of the usual Bench Jeweler Memes banter, sarcasm, shop talk, repair stories, and random detours.

Topics include: bench jewelry repair, goldsmithing, stone setting, jewelry career growth, jewelry industry advice, continuing education, shop life, and one very grumpy jeweler trying to survive without Brad.


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Dusty

Well, good morning. It actually is good morning, uh, from, uh, Step Daddy Ron Studios. Dun-dun. My guest is... I have a very special guest that I'm about to introduce, and, uh, I'm excited. Probably the biggest name in the jewelry industry. He's, um, joining us from, from the beach, some remote location. You won't be able to tell from his background, but trust me, he's in an exotic location. Welcome to the show Brad from Bench Jeweler Memes. Welcome, Brad.

Brad

Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Yeah, I'm here, exclusive island somewhere. Uh, BJ

Dusty

you with,

Brad

flew me out

Dusty

Mandrell or

Brad

Yeah, he flew me out here. I didn't wanna spend time with him 'cause he's, he's starting to... You know, he, he gets

Dusty

his head, I think

Brad

gets a little, uh, handsy,

Dusty

Gets a little handsy. Um, so we did have, we ha- we have already had our, our pre, um, our pre-show banter, so you'll have fun editing this. A couple quick updates. Uh, Brad is on vacation. That's why he's not here. I'm sitting at his desk, sitting right here with our laser,

Brad

Cozy,

Dusty

we open because we, we couldn't record Monday for various reasons. Well, it was Brad's wife, that's the reason, um, because she was making it very hard on me and I didn't want to,

Brad

Mm-hmm.

Dusty

I didn't wanna come here. And also, I didn't wanna record and talk to Brad after 24 hours of vacation. At least now he's got a couple days under his belt. So how's your vacation going?

Brad

Yeah, it's fine. It's like,

Dusty

On

Brad

you know, like we go every year, so it's kinda like, mm, same, same, same old thing.

Dusty

Y'all

Brad

The kids are pretty bored

Dusty

somewhere else to go.

Brad

so it's like, okay.

Dusty

God.

Brad

Well, that's not how timeshares work, does it? We have to come here every year

Dusty

We should do a, uh, Ben Shapiro memes timeshare but not tell anybody that's what it is until they get really invested

Brad

We could do

Dusty

New revenue steam, stream

Brad

could do a cruise

Dusty

Uh, yeah, we could do a cruise. Um, do we bring our kids to that? Is that like in a no kids type thing?

Brad

No, no, no. Stupid. What an idiotic question

Dusty

been, um, I've, uh...

Brad

Is that the washing machine in the background? Hear

Dusty

It might be the AC.

Brad

Oh, could be our washing machine. It's pretty loud in here

Dusty

Oh, I don't, I don't hear anything in your background, but we'll

Brad

Oh, okay. Cool

Dusty

Um, so all right. So we're trying to stay on top of these episodes. Um- Obviously, we're-- I think I mentioned that, you know, we mention it all the time, but we're gonna mention it again. Um, please send us an email, um, for show ideas, stories, topics. Uh, our man Rob over in, uh, the, he formerly of Dog's Body, he, uh,

Brad

Dog's

Dusty

us a nice, lovely email and, uh, it was nice to, to hear from him. And, um, if you have some show ideas or some topics that we could talk about in depth, it's not 'cause it's summer and we're running out of stuff to talk about. That has nothing to do

Brad

No, we have so much to talk about. Man.

Dusty

a full schedule all summer long, but if you have a great idea, we can squeeze it in. Uh, speaking of, I think... No, not next. Is it next? How many more of these do we

Brad

I think it's

Dusty

have our very special guest? Okay. No, no, we have a couple more episodes before we have a special guest. So I think for the next couple it's just me and Brad. Sorry. Um, but

Brad

People love it

Dusty

probably... Um, oh, we know what we should do. Um, since I, I've-- a lot of people saw this if they stuck around for the, um, for the banter. Here's my little, my little setup for my pour-over. And, and you're probably wondering why did I bring that up? Well, I'm gonna bring

Brad

Why did you bring that

Dusty

reasons. One, 'cause I realized as I was making my coffee that I'm about to run out of coffee, and wouldn't it be nice if someone bought me a coffee?

Brad

Hmm, that's a great

Dusty

way you can do that is there's a link wherever you're watching this. There's a link somewhere that says, "Buy me a coffee." Maybe I'll flash it up on the screen, and you can scan the QR code and send us, um... Coffee's expensive these days. It costs around four or $500 for the good stuff. Send it.

Brad

Mm-hmm. Don't

Dusty

you had your coffee today, Brad?

Brad

But

Dusty

Have you had your coffee this morning?

Brad

I sure have. Um, just the K-Cup

Dusty

Give me... What was it?

Brad

Mm, some Green Mountain deal

Dusty

Folgers? Mm. Was it the, um, the blueberry crumble? Was that one? Blueberry something?

Brad

Probably, but no.

Dusty

don't know.

Brad

No, I'm just pretty plain

Dusty

did you put cream in it?

Brad

Sure did. Hazelnut

Dusty

Did you really? I'm drinking my, that's my... Oh, you can't really see it, but it is black.

Brad

Black

Dusty

Um, all right, Brad, so we texted a little bit. Um, first off, um,

Brad

we have any balmy coffees to read?

Dusty

Oh, that's why I was doing, that's why I did that transition. That's why I got a co-host, 'cause nothing would get done around here without Brad. Da,

Brad

Mm-hmm.

Dusty

da, da, da. We have a couple, nothing crazy. Uh, we did read the one about binging 37 episodes while sheet rocking my basement. We read that one. Correct. That was on the last episode

Brad

I don't think so

Dusty

Pretty sure we did. Um, it said, "Love the potty. I binged all 37 episodes while sheetrocking my basement workshop. Thank you for the distraction."

Brad

Oh,

Dusty

That wasn't me burping. Uh, I spent most of my career working for myself, and so I feel like I've missed... Yeah, I, I read this.

Brad

So I don't pay attention

Dusty

I've avoided is changing watch batteries. Okay. Anyway, thank you Kyle, with a C. Such a weird way to spell Kyle. Love you,

Brad

with a C? So

Dusty

Yeah

Brad

like how? Like C-Y-L-E

Dusty

Like, yes

Brad

Hmm. Okay. No,

Dusty

All right,

Brad

have used. Okay. But thanks

Dusty

It's true. Uh, maybe he's from, maybe he's from... I don't know. No, at the end he said he wrote his name, and then he put in parentheses Kyle with a C, so that must be his claim to fame

Brad

Okay.

Dusty

Thought it said

Brad

way to

Dusty

a

Brad

it, bro. I mean it

Dusty

Uh, thank you for, but thank you for buying, buying us a coffee. I appreciate that. Um, all right. Uh, somebody named Maggie said, Really enjoy your banter. Thanks for keeping it fun." Do we even need to talk jewelry anymore? Do we just... We just

Brad

what I'm saying

Dusty

That's what people tune in for. No,

Brad

they realize we don't know what we're talking about

Dusty

I don't know. Um, mm-hmm, uh, we had a second, uh, yeah, in the, yeah, okay. Uh, "I enjoy listening to you guys while I work. Thanks for the entertainment. Danessa." Thank you, Danessa

Brad

Thank you

Dusty

And, um, we've, we've read from Beach Dahlia Jewelry before. And so she, she once again was a supporter and she said, "I'm a girl." Dahlia. All right, Dahlia.

Brad

Dahlia, dude. You're

Dusty

assume so, but you can

Brad

the last time you're like, "I don't know if that's a boy or a girl."

Dusty

Ever- everyone in the world was like, "It's a girl." Except, except me. All right, I have some show notes, Brad. Do you?

Brad

Um, other than the ones I texted over to you? Nope

Dusty

Okay. So let, why don't you tell m- tell everybody what you texted me,

Brad

Okay

Dusty

and then let's just jump right into it

Brad

So believe it or not, we had so many ideas. Um, Monday Dusty was like, "Oh, we probably need to think of something." And so I thought, how do-- how, how can we... I forget how I phrased it. Basically, how do you level up in this industry?

Dusty

Yeah.

Brad

And, um,

Dusty

And Brad's,

Brad

and I was

Dusty

tell us

Brad

for three different people, one would be like the starter just now learning, um, someone that has got the basics down pretty well. Um, kinda like me, like I'm not like an advanced person. And then the advanced, like maybe time to set off and start their own shop type deal

Dusty

So we're gonna, this episode's gonna focus on how do we get master jewelers to be better

Brad

Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. How do you do that?

Dusty

I'm, I'm joking. Um, all right, so where should we start? You said, you said start with the, maybe the novice, right? Somebody who's

Brad

Yeah. Maybe just, like, say it's a hobby, so wants to get in the industry, um, but doesn't know how. They, they've watched some videos. They've maybe got, like, a hobby kit going on, but would like to turn this into an occupation. How would you do it, Dustin?

Dusty

Well, uh, um, you're gonna have to chime in too, 'cause I'm definitely not the, the authority and the expert here. But, um, I don't know. I think every situation's different, so take what we're saying with a grain of salt. But I feel like if somebody just asked me that question, um, I would, I would say a list of things. One, I would... I always highly recommend, uh, New Approach School for Jewelers out, um, out near the Nashville, Tennessee area. Um, I'll go ahead and say it now. In a, in a couple episodes, we are actually, um, one of our guests is gonna be Drew. If you've been to No- New Approach, you know exactly who Drew is. Um, Drew was Blaine's right-hand man for forever, and I think within the last year or so, I don't... May- maybe longer, I can't remember. Um, he'll, he'll tell us, 'cause I don't know. He did leave, um, New Approach and to go open up his own, uh, retail jewelry store. Um, some would argue that was an insane decision, because New Approach is awesome, and I feel like if they were like, "Hey, you wanna come live out here and work here?" I'd be like, "You mean I don't have to help customers, and I can just, like, help other people learn how to be bench jewelers?" Yes, absolutely. But, um, we are gonna have him on. So that, that is... I, I know that's, uh, it's a small school. There's only so many spaces, but there's lots of one-week classes. There's a, the 12-week program. This is not an ad for New Approach. I've been to New Approach for the one-week stone setting program. And, um, 'cause I once found myself kind of what you describe, Brad, as not, not really no- novice but had been in the industry for a while, but I never really focused on setting stones. Somebody else did that. And so I went, I went there for a week, and, um, I won't talk too much about it 'cause it might come up with Drew. But, um, the facility is amazing, and so it's like if you can plan ahead and try to get into that program, I think it would be awesome. We also have some other friends, maybe future guests, who can talk about that experience in depth, so I'm not gonna do that here. But I know there's other schools out there too. You just have to go look for them. Um, I don't know. Some of the stuff that you've done in the past, is that still a, a viable option, and what did you do when you were getting started?

Brad

So I went to a school, I don't think it's open anymore. Um, but honestly, my-- what we both did, we, we just started working at like repair kiosk and just kind of, um, you know, that way you get in front of a lot of pieces of jewelry. You're around people that are fixing things, um, and you'll learn a lot that way, um, to see if it's something you're actually interested in, um, before you spend the money. Um, but yeah, I think a conjunction of both of those, like, you know, work at a job that, that's in the industry and then find the niche that you like and then start taking classes, uh, that correspond with

Dusty

FedEx is here, and I've missed FedEx for like the last two days. Hold on

Brad

So what Dusty just said is totally wrong. Like, who goes to school, like, immediately? See if he's messed up anything. Well, bingo. No, looks fine Everybody doing okay? Or was it stellar?

Dusty

about that in just a minute. Um, yes, but it was... You know what happened 'cause we tried to order last week and we always prefer to not do FedEx.

Brad

Yep

Dusty

And they did FedEx and it was supposed to arrive the next morning, um, for the next day air delivery, which was Friday morning. And then checked it all day Friday and it was in a different state. And then Monday of course it came before I got here. So now after paying for overnight air, got it about four days, five days later. So that's fun. I love FedEx. Psych. Um,

Brad

Stellar, if you're listening, which you are, uh, just go ahead and remove FedEx as an option for our shipping

Dusty

Oh my gosh. It's... Oh, I know every area is different, but FedEx is awful here. Absolutely the worst. Anyway, back to our conversation. Um, this is real life. This is, this is how it is running a retail jewelry store. Um, not everything goes smooth. But, um, all right. So yes, I think... I know that's not always possible, but the reality is what Brad said is correct. You have to find a way to get in at a jewelry store, and it... I know that's not convenient, and it's not what nobody wants to hear, but sometimes you might not be able to get in. Like, I just... "Can I just get a job here as a bench jeweler even though I don't know anything?" Because truth be told, people like myself, like I... The, the way I got a job at one of those quick repair type places was I knew how to change watch batteries and size watches and customer service. And so I was able to sell myself on, "Hey, I could be a- an asset to this team because I can do all the stuff that nobody wants to do. I'll sit up front and greet customers and take in repairs," because you can learn a lot taking in repairs, and change all the watch batteries, and we... Lord, we did a lot of those. But then there's downtime, and you're s- sitting and standing right beside an experienced bench jeweler, and you're watching. So for... Before I ever touched a, a torch, I mean, it was probably two or three, four years just watching, and it's amazing what you can learn just from watching. But at some point you do have to have hands-on experience, and then it's like, "Hey, can, you know, can I try to solder that chain? Can I try to do that?" And then if you're lucky, you can get a, um... You can work with people who- bench jewelers who don't speak, uh, really good English, and then they can just yell at you when you mess up.

Brad

And you won't have any idea what you did wrong. It's fine

Dusty

Just like, No, no." I'm like, "Oh, okay." Um, I think I remember, I don't know if it was me or somebody else who was in, like, a similar position as me, but, um, he was, uh... We talked about him before. This Armenian dude, great guy. And I, like, sat down at the bench, and he was like, "Nope." And I'm just like, "What?" He's like, "Nope," and I'm, like, repositioning myself, and I'm, like, holding the, holding the torch. He's like, "Nope." And he just kept saying nope, and I'm like, "I don't know what's happening here." And then, um, he was like, "You have to pull out your, uh, pull out the, the catch tray before you start working." I'm like, "You coulda just, you coulda just led with that, buddy. You coulda just led instead of me sitting here for five minutes going, 'Nope. Mm-mm. Nope.'"

Brad

Same guy that dropped a hot ring on my hand

Dusty

Yeah, yeah. Well, catch the last episode if you wanna hear about Brad getting branded. Not his legal name. The, the action of getting branded Anyway, um, yes. But yeah, I mean, obviously there's-- thankfully we live in 2026 and there are tons of resources. There are tons of videos. Um, I mean, there's this podcast. Um, we teach people a lot. Um, we,

Brad

We sure do

Dusty

we do- we don't. Um, this is what happens when you, uh, have been doing it for a long time though. You, you, um, you start a podcast and complain about everything.

Brad

That's top level

Dusty

parts of it. But I do think there's, I mean, there's GIA, uh, bench stuff, there's GRS, there's, um, there, there's probably more smaller ones that, that I'm not sure about. I do think, um, maybe in the future there's gonna be some other smaller, uh, individuals that start these little schools and classes. We've, we've even joked about Stepdaddy Ron once he, uh, his next phase of retirement could be just opening a, uh, training studio in his basement or something, right?

Brad

Would you-- how, how much would you pay Stepdaddy Ron to teach you engraving?

Dusty

Like, you know Or anything really. Now, which remi- which, which reminds me, here's another way to learn if you're, if you're kind of... This is, we're kind of getting past just novice. Like, you know, I've been doing it a little bit. I know what I'm doing. I'm not the best. I'm not the worst. Um, I have a pretty good understanding of, you know, I can size some rings and fix some chains. Here, here's what not to do, and we've talked about it before, is that when people are willing to take the time to make a video and show you their process, and then they post it on somewhere like Jewelers Helping Jewelers, don't bash it, and don't whine about it and complain about it and say, "Well, that's not how you do it," and, "Doesn't that seem like a silly way to do it? Seems kind of wasteful to do it that way." It's like, why don't you just watch the video and try it?

Brad

Mm-hmm.

Dusty

And then like, uh, I think we talked when we had Chuck on. It's like, hey, there, there's a lot of different ways to do things. Yes, sometimes there is a wrong way to do it, but if there's a jeweler that's posting a video and he's been, you know, doing this for longer than I've been alive, maybe he knows what he's doing. Yes, does age or, you know, years doing this equate to expertise and always being right? Not necessarily. But just watch the video, and if you're like, "Yeah, that's not how I would do it," that's okay.

Brad

We need to start,

Dusty

you're new

Brad

we need to start some type of forum that's just, like, our people that are not douches

Dusty

All right. I'm... Do you know what? You just segued way into something quite perfect actually. Um, I vaguely mentioned this to you, and I was messaging someone last night because there is a forum that exists, Brad. Did you know that?

Brad

No

Dusty

this is kind of crazy. Um, I don't know how I accidentally found out about this. I'm trying to remember. Let me go find it. So Brad, have you ever been on Discord?

Brad

I have not, but I've heard a lot about it

Dusty

Do you know what it is?

Brad

Uh, forums for different topics

Dusty

Um, well, yes. I think it was... I'm gonna look like an idiot here. I'm gonna look like a boomer, but it was ki- Did you say for diamonds?

Brad

No. Four on four. What did I say?

Dusty

I don't know what you said. We'll have to rewind the tape.

Brad

Yeah, I don't know. Maybe I did

Dusty

I think, I think Discord was mostly ear- in the early days used for gaming. Um, kind of a place to, to, to conversate and hang out. Um, anyway, um, I got on there honestly because there was some, some of the, uh, bourbon groups were like, "Hey, we have a Discord chat." And it's, you know, and it's kind of broken up into like the old chat rooms. Man, my ear itches. Um, it's broken into the old, um, like chat room style where there's like, um, categories if you wanna talk about stone setting or if you wanna talk about, you know, laser engraving or laser repair or whatever. Then there's like s- all these sub conversations.

Brad

Mm-hmm.

Dusty

Well, um, and, and actually what I can do is I can put the link to this Discord channel, um, in the description of this video, um, or audio, wherever you're listening to it. But the group is called, um, it's just called Bench Jewelers. It's on Discord, and it is run by a, um, awesome guy named Kevin who I, I, I hopped in there. I'm really bad about not going on Discord a ton. Um, but I'm trying to get better about it because, uh, Kevin has built, um... It's, it's an insane, like it is broken down. Honestly, it might be a little too detailed. Like good for him because I would not have the... I would, I would have like two channels. Like, "Hey, you wanna complain or you wanna help me?" That'd be the two channels I have. Uh, but it goes from, um, introduction, social media. You can showcase your work. There is a school that like is, sponsors the p- the group. Um, I'm not sure where it is. Don't know nothing about it. You could explore this on your own. There are voice channels and chats. I'm not sure how those get... There's a workplace, um, category, but it's also just talking about, you know, seeking jobs or offering jobs. Um, there's shop safety. Brad, I think you would really enjoy the shop safety talk. Um, pricing, uh, work injuries, um, work venting. Then there's a repair section, uh, ring sizing, costume repairs, retipping, platinum, laser repairs. Um, I mean, it's very detailed, so if you have a very specific question, you could probably find a, a subcategory for that. There's fabricating CAD and casting, um, chats, stone setting chats. There's gemology watchmaking. Brad, you can get in there and help us out with some watchmaking stuff. Um, appraisals, buying gold, laser engraving. There's tool talk. There's some classes. There's, um... Anyway, there's so, there's so many. There's even a... I don't know. I meant to tell you this, Brad. There is a channel just for posting memes

Brad

Man, if somebody would get in that game

Dusty

Yeah. So, and, and I realize some people have shared some of our content there, and sometimes, you know, the... It's just, it's, it's... I think... Okay, so here's... I was messaging Kevin last night, and this was part of our conversation. I said, "Hey, we're gonna be recording." I said, "You know, I really wanna mention this. I think this is really cool. I wanna get better about it. Brad, I think you should hop on there, and, um, I think it's, it's ju- it's kind of new-ish, I guess." And he said there's about 200, I think he said, um, about 231 members. I'm not sure how many of those are, are, are active. But I basically said, "Hey, you know, we wanna mention, um, the Discord because I think this is a really cool, uh, outlet for people, especially new ones, but also we need experienced people in there too to help answer questions." It's kinda like JHJ without all the drama, you know?

Brad

I was gonna suggest

Dusty

it does seem like there's some fun conversations going over there.

Brad

He, he can name it Jewelers Actually Helping Jewelers

Dusty

Yeah. Yeah, right now I think it's just called, you know, it's just, just Bench Jewelers. But he definitely said it's definitely geared towards craftsmen, uh, bench jewelers, CAD people, gem cutters, and it said we tried to avoid letting regular store owners in. I guess I got a pass because I am a bench jeweler. Um, and they try to, uh, uh, limit vendors, um, or, you know, they're limited to people that they actually know and trust, and we try to, um, always, uh, to give a way to help people in need. Oh, we try to do giveaways. I swear I can, I cannot read. Um, get discounts from schools, tool vendors for the server, and this next year we're hoping to give away a week school slot to someone. So if you are in that novice category, they're actually trying to give away, like, to send someone to one of these schools for a week. Um, it's all creating a place that no matter how long you've been in the industry, you can ask questions without recourse, learn something new, find or offer a job. And I can say I've seen Kevin answer a ton of questions on here, and, um, he, he seems like he knows what he's doing. Um, so I, I think I'm taking a moment to plug, to plug the Discord channel. I will post a link, um, in the description

Brad

That's awesome, man. It's crazy that I mentioned Vorum and you just sold to that guy

Dusty

Yeah. Um, maybe while you're on vacation you can, uh, hop on Discord and we can go over there and help, help people out. I, I do think it, it does seem like an actual legit place to just share and talk and ask questions. Um, I haven't seen any kind of, mm, you know, sassiness or anything like that over there. It seems like it's all just people just trying to help. And, um, so cool, cool thing. Um, wanted to give them a shout-out, and, uh, maybe we'll see you guys on Discord.

Brad

Hmm.

Dusty

Um, let's see. There was something else. So that was... All right. So that's kind of the, um That was kind of... So now what about, um Like the, the next level of like, okay, I've been doing this for five, 10 years. I'm doing repairs every day. I'm, um... Like, what, what's kind of the-- what's another thing we can do for b- as bench jewelers to kinda keep, keep that trajectory going?

Brad

So this is, that's probably when you're gonna want to... Honestly, you could take more classes, but you could also really find your niche a-and go towards that. So, um, if you have all the bases down and you want to be, let's just say you wanna be an engraver, go that route, and at that point, you could offer that to different stores, or you could just open a shop where that's all you do. But you could really start to specialize, um, at that point, and I think you could, um, I think you'd be happier. I think you'd make more money. Um, in-instead of just seeing, you know, all of these repairs every day, um, you know, you can just specialize. Th-this is all I'm gonna do

Dusty

Yeah, I think the, uh, I, I think I love in this, the jewelry industry, there is so many avenues. Um, so that I think there is something for everyone, and I think we've done a pretty good job 'cause we, we actually like doing repairs. I don't... I mean, I don't know, m- I'm speaking for

Brad

No. Yeah, I do

Dusty

Um, I don't, I don't mind it one bit. Um, I mean, truthfully, be told I'd rather do repairs all day than set stones all day. But I know, but I know some people are the exact opposite. Um, and that's perfectly fine. There's some people that just wanna engrave all day, and I think maybe you might box yourself in a little too much if you only do one thing. But, um, I think the, the one thing that I think comes up a lot, like on Jewelers Helping Jewelers and, and we've joked about it, is when you are an experienced bench jeweler and you kind of either reach a peak or, or the store you work for doesn't really, um, value you as much as, as they should, then there is a temptation, and rightfully so, to just, to just go out on your own. Um, I do-- I also know that there are stores and bench jewelers who have great relationships, and they're just like, "Man, I'm just gonna... I could work here for the rest of my life. I feel like I'm valued. Um, you know, I make a decent living, and, um, that matches, you know, what I bring to the table." And I think that is awesome, too. But really, every situation's different, and you gotta really play... You gotta really figure out what you wanna do, um, and how you wanna keep growing. You mentioned the classes. I mean, I feel like I'm rambling now, but these are all, all fantastic options

Brad

So I think this is a good question for you. Um, mm-hmm, totally. When... Because you had to answer this yourself. When do you have the experience to go out on your own? And is it based on experience or is it based on a, a bunch of different things?

Dusty

I don't, I don't know, um, how to answer that 'cause the, the interesting thing is we all know, I've mentioned I worked for a small family jeweler for nine years, almost nine years exactly. And probably after four to five years, I tried to leave. I tried to go anywhere. And then about two years after that, I tried to leave again. Like, I tried to leave multiple times. And uh, I mean, I kinda saw... I don't know. I just felt like I was kinda boxed in. I'm gonna be changing batteries here forever, and I definitely didn't wanna keep doing that. Um, and so I don't, I don't, I don't know. Um, I do know, I do think, um, that it's a good thing that I didn't start my own place when I wanted to and that I had to wait a few more years because I learned so much of what to do, what not to do. But I will say when I, when I, when I opened the first shop, there was a lot I didn't know. But thankfully, in this industry, relationships really are important. And so I knew if I was gonna do this on my own, I needed a couple people I could turn to when I came into a problem and a situation that I didn't know how to fix or if I messed up. And so I was... I think if you truly know your strengths and weaknesses and you have a plan to make up for the weaknesses, whether that be... I knew stone setting was a weakness, so when I started my own shop, I didn't set stones. I had a jeweler friend who I had a good relationship with and I could go and say, "Hey, I need you to do all my stone settings until I get this figured out." And then after a year or two of using a friend, I was like, "Hey, I'm going new approach and I'm gonna fine-tune my setting skills." And then I did that, and now I haven't sent out stone setting in forever. And there's still things that I send out now that are things that either I don't wanna do or too time-consuming or don't have the equipment to do. So I don't know if that answered the question, but

Brad

Yeah, it does. Like, you don't... You're

Dusty

really know

Brad

you don't have to know everything to, to go out on your own

Dusty

Yeah. And, and, and to repeat, like you don't... There are situations where I don't think you... If there's a desire to open your own store, then I think you should make sure you know what you're doing and you have the skills to, to make money. Um, and if you're that risk taker, then go for it. But then, you know, we've had, I think it was, was it, um, I don't know if Callie implied that or not, but other people that are just, you know, they have a decent, a good environment, and there's other bench jewelers that all the time that hop on JJ and share stories and they, they love where they are. They're treated well. They're respected. Um, they get left alone from customers and salespeople. That, I think that is the struggle of a lot of bench jewelers is we're, we're the type that wanna sit at the bench and be left alone, and when you go out on your own, that is not an option. And so if you're not prepared for that, then you need to find a good situation to where you can limit, limit that.

Brad

Yes. Yep, that's definitely

Dusty

your, uh,

Brad

I will never be out on my own. Do it

Dusty

We should get your wife on here. She's got ex- experience about that. You wanna bring her in? Talk about opening her own store

Brad

She's, she's charging her car, I think. I don't even know what she's doing

Dusty

But even when you guys opened the store, like you, you were there to do, you know, some stuff, then you were like, "I'm staying in the back. I ain't talking to people." And here you kinda have to talk to people occasionally

Brad

You do, unfortunately. Ugh, it's

Dusty

Mostly because we make Brad work right here in the checkout area, and the showcases are about two feet this way. So,

Brad

We should move me closer to the people

Dusty

we got... We can just put you in the middle of the floor so people can just walk up and touch your shoulder while you're

Brad

rub my hair Boop.

Dusty

working, like s- excuse me. But we got, we got Ari now, so she's a big help. Um, but I don't know. Back to, back to the, the, the point at hand. Um, I guess that answers that question. I don't know. It's... All these kind of questions are up for debate. In fact, if you have something to say about that, let us know in the comment section, don't forget to subscribe.

Brad

Smash that like button

Dusty

Um, we got, we got a little bit of time. Um, I got, um, you're on vacation all week,

Brad

Mm-hmm.

Dusty

um, which is gonna set us back. Um, we did not talk shop talk I think that, I think that was it. I don't know.

Brad

Oh, okay. He won't

Dusty

so last week, Brad, before, yeah, no, before you left, you did a really good job of making sure your basket was almost empty, so I

Brad

Sure was. Just, uh, waiting on some stellar parts. FedEx

Dusty

Oh, and oh, yep, they're over there. Um, so I gotta work on those today. I did a few things yesterday just to kinda clear it. I was trying to make sure that we started this week fresh. Um, that way I can just promise everything for when Brad gets back, um, so he can have a busy Monday next week.

Brad

That's right.

Dusty

I think we'll be fine. Um, I don't know about everybody's area. I know, you know, some people, as soon as school lets out, they get way busier. In where we are, we actually get pretty slow when school lets out. I shouldn't say pretty slow, but slow enough to where we can stay on top of things. We have a little more freedom, uh, which lets me have time to edit podcasts. Um, but, uh, and it also gives us time just to, to hang out and take a, take a little breather because, um, there are seasons where it's like, feel like you're being buried. But right now is not one of them, so that's nice

Brad

Yep. It's a cool time of year

Dusty

but I mean, I know we said shop talk, but long story short, um, we are very good on repairs right now. Uh, I have a couple things I gotta finish up this week, but honestly, it's probably the most chill shop talk segment we've ever had because I don't have much to say

Brad

Um, yeah, yeah, I think we're set. I don't have any repairs this week

Dusty

Brad doesn't have any repairs this week. Um, oh, I meant to ask, ask you, on the way to the beach or at the beach, have you subjected your family and forced them to listen to One Beautiful Week by BJ Mendelson?

Brad

Hmm. So we've listened to the whole album a few times. Um, well, I don't know about a few times, but no, no, I thought like going into the beat, like going like that, that stretch of road, like from reality to the beach, we'd be jamming it. But no, because we had been stuck in traffic and what should've been like a four-hour drive turned into like a six-hour drive, and we were all just dead, so yep

Dusty

Well, I think today, if you got- are you guys gonna hit the beach today or no?

Brad

Mm, no. Whatever they wanna do

Dusty

The pool? You gonna find yourself at the pool at

Brad

the pool. Definitely the pool. You, you want me to jam it for everybody?

Dusty

Y'all need to get, if you ha- if you don't have one, I-- this is what I would recommend 'cause people love this when you're at the pool or the beach and you get one of those, like, uh, a speaker that you can really just crank up where everyone is forced to listen to what you're listening to,

Brad

Dude

Dusty

you should just blast BJ Mandrell

Brad

That would be awesome

Dusty

Somebody did comment on, um, I think one of the... Something I shared. Oh, yeah, the, the, just the music with that meme drop I did. It was the Revision song by BJ Mandrell, and, um, somebody was like, "What music is this?" I'm like, "Well, people, keep up."

Brad

Come on. Cheese

Dusty

we have a, uh... Just for people who are just finding out about this, this will probably be cropped up into a little clip. Um, we have a music insider named BJ Mandrell who makes music for the jewelry industry. Also, we make, uh, memes and reels on Instagram, and also we do a weekly podcast that is, uh, on YouTube, and it's just now become a video. It was audio only. And also it's on Spotify and Apple Podcast every single week, and it's just two bench jewelers talking about life and work and what it's like in this ind- in- industry, and the good and the bad and the ugly, the, the, the licking of fingers to get rings off, the repairs, the, the clients, the good, the bad.

Brad

And ugly.

Dusty

what we do.

Brad

Mm-hmm. Yep

Dusty

We do, we do have a couple ugly employees here. I'm not gonna say names, but it's me and Brad. Um, Ari should be here in just a few minutes. I have a feeling she's gonna be knocking on the door, so we probably wanna wrap this up soon because I have crap everywhere. But Brad, I hope you enjoy your vacation

Brad

Thanks, man. I miss y'all. I really do, 'cause my family is driving me nuts. Yeah, pour one out

Dusty

I'll pull, we'll pull one out. We'll pull one out for you. Well, just tell them you wanna come, come on out. Come home early. Come in Frid- you should come home Friday and

Brad

I just come

Dusty

in. Don't even clock in.

Brad

Okay, I won't

Dusty

don't even come to work. Just come... We'll record another podcast. We'll have two this week.

Brad

Mm-hmm.

Dusty

We should've just done... You know what we should've done? Dude, this would've been... All right, maybe we'll do this one, but then we wait a day. Every day we do a 10-minute podcast and just upload it of just you at the beach

Brad

Man, that'd be great Do you hear my family in the background?

Dusty

shut this down. I can hear him now. Um, I'm gonna shut this down. Brad, remember, don't, don't turn off your phone or close this app until it's uploaded, so hopefully we can salvage this audio and footage.

Brad

Yep

Dusty

the meantime, um, thanks everyone for listening. Stay till the end. There might be some little pre-show banter going on. We love, uh, doing those for you guys, and I'm... Probably we do. If I was somebody to love doing it, we just do it, so you don't have to listen. I don't care.

Brad

Yep,

Dusty

But anyway, uh, Brad, Brad, I miss you and I'll see you very soon

Brad

All right. See you, buddy

Dusty

Bye This is the, um,

Brad

Dang, boy.

Dusty

banter. already almost done, but I figured I would show it off. So we spent our first five minutes being boomers, trying to, trying to figure out, um... Can you hear that? Oh, oh, I can kinda hear your, your family in the background tell me, "Get out."

Brad

They're not in here

Dusty

see if I can put my coffee cup here or I'm gonna spill my coffee on here. Um, you know what we didn't do last time is talk about, um, Step Daddy Ron Studios. See if I can get comfy here. Gotta get comfy. We didn't, we didn't mention

Brad

he is, he's gonna sue us for contract, um,

Dusty

we never, we never did a contract, so... Man, we just, I look so clear and you look so blurry. I hope that when you send th- this gets sent to me, it looks good.

Brad

I know. You look great though. You really do.

Dusty

So since we're... Oh, thank you. Um, since we're... Since it works what?

Brad

Suits you.

Dusty

Let's see. How it suits me. So we are

Brad

never looking at each other when we do this

Dusty

I know. I'm just gonna watch myself the whole time, see what I look like

Brad

Me too. Man, look at me

Dusty

Um, so we'll say for people who stay to the end, um, this is the first time, um, we mentioned it in the last episode about needing some new equipment. New laptop came in. I'm using it.

Brad

Ooh, how's

Dusty

Brad is using his iPhone, which it's working great so far. I'm trying to keep it strictly for, um, you know, editing and stuff, and I think... I have a feeling this is gonna go easier and quicker and better editing just doing this as if, like, we're gonna start recording in different locations. It's gonna work out so well. But I've been doing a lot of A- AI research to make sure I'm not screwing this up, 'cause I'm not recording a backup audio of this, so if it doesn't work, then we won't have an episode this week

Brad

It'll be a best of

Dusty

Yeah, I'm not, you know, definitely not gonna spend the time doing the best stuff, so that means we will not be doing it. Um, all right, so I don't know if you can... Well, I guess we need to intro ourselves in, don't we? Hmm, mm, mm, mm.

Brad

Do you need to clap?

Dusty

All right, I gotta get, I gotta get my phone out. I gotta get the other... Dude, we gotta, um, people will enjoy this. Yesterday I got, like, the... I was here for obviously a little bit doing some work, and, um, turn my phone on do not disturb. Um, and so the, s- I noticed the store phone was dead, so I plugged it in. Well, I guess after it got charged enough, it turned on, and the same phone number called, like, I mean, seven or eight times in a row. So much so that I couldn't put it on do not disturb. There's a bug. Oh, I called it. Um, that I couldn't even put it on do not disturb fast enough. I could have swore I just did this. Um, is that your phone buzzing? Are you on

Brad

It was. I got... how

Dusty

there with you, right?

Brad

do I do that?

Dusty

And just swipe down from the right, top right corner

Brad

Okay, hold on. Boomer.

Dusty

Oh God.

Brad

Oh,

Dusty

go grab the other phone real quick

Brad

Let's see here. Let me move this here What the heck, bro?

Dusty

uh

Brad

Dude, hold on. Okay, hold on

Dusty

Oh, look. Okay. You got real clear there for a second

Brad

Well, I turned it off. How, how can I... I can't even... Okay, I gotta do this. Oh, no, I don't wanna do that. Um, I- it will not allow me to swipe down. Okay, there, there I swiped. Okay, let's see here.

Dusty

Where?

Brad

Do not disturb. Where would that be?

Dusty

but this is like, this is like talking my wife through technology

Brad

is that... Oh, focus. Let's see here.

Dusty

Yeah. Yeah, hit that and then it'll-- and then you should be good

Brad

Okay. Got it. Man. Oh, there we go. All right

Dusty

All right, you're back

Brad

This is going

Dusty

how your video turns out, 'cause I can hear you just fine, but man, you are so blurry and freezing up all the time

Brad

No. Yeah, I can hear you. You're a little blurry, but not bad

Dusty

Yeah, I think it's just your service. Okay. Well, before both of our phones died... So anyway, the, uh, before we get into it, um, I was like, I think the phone just kept ringing, kept ringing, kept ringing. And, um, and then, and then there was a text message that said, "I called Saturday a bunch, and I've called like four times today." Keep in mind they were calling Saturday, Sunday, or Monday when we're closed. And, um, and so I just was like: Hey, you know, I'm in the shop doing a little bit of work, but we're closed today. Um, do you need anything? "Yeah. Can you just call me?"

Brad

Oh no

Dusty

I'm like: Just what do you need? So I called him. He was like: Hey, you guys are awesome. Can y'all size a ring for me? And I'm like

Brad

Seriously?

Dusty

And then the other text was pr- I didn't... It don't make any sense. Um, somebody had texted like, I don't know, over a week ago. It was just like, "Hey, do you guys, you know, need my ring fixed? Do y'all do that in your store?" And I was like, "Yeah, we do. Come on by." And they say, "Great." I can't find this number in the Edge. I can't find her name anywhere, but I got this long text on Saturday late in the day. "I want my ring back. Everything you told us you were gonna do kind of didn't do. I don't want you to send my ring out." Something... I can't even ring... A long-winded voicemail. Something... It said, "You do everything on site, but you don't. I want my ring back now." This was at, like, 5:00 PM on Saturday. And I'm like, "I don't even know who this is." There's no record of their name or their phone number. I searched first name, phone number, and clearly all they needed was a sizing, which means we definitely have it here. But I can't e- I went through the store yesterday just to make sure. There's nobody even here in the store named Megan anywhere. And so I texted. I was like, "Hey." I was like, "Dude, we're, we're closed today." I was like, "But, um, if there's something I can help you with, like, if you could send me some more information." Um, no response. And then I waited till, like, right before I left and was like, "Hey, I'll be back tomorrow, but, uh, call me if you have any questions." It was so weird.

Brad

That is crazy

Dusty

Do we have any... I know we're... Is this... All right, I'm trying to make sure we don't

Brad

Some of those ring sizings we sent out, you know, we're apt to do

Dusty

I know. Oh, okay. I guess we're seven minutes into bantering. Oh, Lord. Okay. All right, you need me to do the intro? I'll introduce our guest. Okay. All right. Three, two, one.