If you are a jeweller who is just beginning your career in the field, having a mentor may be quite helpful in getting your career off the ground. Continue reading to find out how to make the most of the opportunity to get knowledge from someone who has previously been through it all.
It is not a simple process to try to establish your own firm, regardless of the industry. It might be much more difficult for jewellers who make their wares by hand.
Find opportunities to gain valuable experience by collaborating with a seasoned professional in the jewellery industry who can guide you toward greater success.
As a jeweller, having a mentor may provide you with a lot of advantages. After you’ve established yourself in the industry, you may “give it back” by serving as a mentor to an aspiring jeweller.
What kinds of mentoring opportunities are there to choose from?
Having a mentor in the jewellery industry may take on a wide variety of guises and be referred to by a variety of names. Apprenticeships and internships are two of the most prevalent forms, and both of these terms refer to the same thing.
If you are a student, the school that you attend and the teachers there may have information on opportunities that are currently open.
Never be hesitant to ask someone if they know somebody in the industry! The expertise and insight you get from these roles may or may not be compensated, but the value of those experiences and insights to your future company plans cannot be overstated.
Signing up for a program, such as the ones offered by the Women’s Jewellery Association or the American Gem Society, is still another way to participate in an official mentoring relationship.
These programs provide their participants the opportunity to be paired with another jeweller in the community who can offer advice and support as they pursue their goals. Additionally, Flourish & Thrive provides a variety of essential services, some of which need payment.
There is no requirement that a mentoring relationship always take the form of a formal partnership. It might be members of your family, your friends, your coworkers, or even a celebrity or fictional figure whom you look up to.
If you are going to be taking lessons at a jewellery studio in your area, you should make an effort to take a few of those sessions from a teacher whose work you respect and cultivate a connection with them. They have the potential to facilitate a mentoring connection that does not necessarily stop with the completion of the program.
During her conversation with Kelli Greene at the 2021 Jewellery Business Forum, Jules Kim mentioned that mentors may take the form of anything that has the power to shape our lives, including well-known figures from popular culture. Advantages of Having a Business Mentor in the Jewellery Industry
Having a mentor in the jewellery business may provide a multitude of advantages to their mentees. You are going to receive an insider’s look at how a jewellery business is handled, and you are going to find out what other skills you would need to acquire before going into business for yourself.
You will also be introduced to many alternative design styles, which may be of use to you in determining what style best suits you. The most essential thing is that you will broaden your professional network with individuals who will help you become more self-assured and who will make you feel more prepared to launch your own jewellery business.
Advantages for you and your company
Emma Hoekstra, the winner of the Halstead Grant for 2019, sat down with Hilary Halstead Scott for an interview in which she explained all of the beneficial effects that her numerous jewellery company mentorships had when she first began her own firm.
In the instance of Emma, she had a number of different mentors in a wide range of contexts. She was able to obtain experience working in a gallery setting and accompanied her mentors to several local events and exhibits to broaden her horizons.
When you have a mentor who is able to assist lead you down the route of your jewellery business, you are able to have exposure to a wide range of different advantages that go place behind the scenes.
Emma reaped one of the most significant benefits from this. She had a lot of fun getting an up-close look at how the items were packaged and sent to ensure that they were delivered in pristine condition.
You could also gain experience in providing service to customers, which is a valuable skill to have. Learning how to interact with customers from someone who already has policies in place will not only offer you experience working directly with consumers, but will also help you design your own rules in the future.
Gains for your various pieces of jewellery
Emma suggests that you try to take in as much knowledge as you can while you are actively participating in the mentoring relationship that you have.
You could be taught everything from polishing to production work and all in between during your time here, along with a wide variety of other methods. When you work in the handmade jewelry sector, it’s likely that you’ll learn both what you enjoy and detest about yourself the most.
Emma discovered from this experience that, despite the fact that a production line would be required, the one-of-a-kind projects that she worked on were where she found the most fulfillment.
Your mentor is also able to provide you priceless constructive criticism that will be of great use to you in the development of your jewelry ideas.
A mentoring, according to Jules, consists of having people place expectations on you that you wouldn’t have placed on yourself in the first place. She also feels that a mentee should be provided with an environment in which they may learn without the threat of failing.
If you had the chance to take risks with the designs of your jewelry, what kinds of risks would you take? Imagine how far you, your jewelry business, and even yourself could go if you had someone who believed that you were capable of accomplishing everything you set your mind to.
Gains for your own benefit
According to Jules, “it takes a village” in order to properly cultivate an artist and their perspective to the point where they may become a master.
This community will become both a professional and personal resource for you. Your mentor(s) has the potential to become a lifetime friend, colleague, and cheerleader in addition to helping you grow your professional network.
The most important piece of guidance that Emma can offer is to keep an open line of contact with your mentor. They will probably comprehend that you want to one day launch your own commercial enterprises at some point in the not too distant future.
The majority of people that provide mentoring for businesses related to jewellery will be pleased to assist you in reaching that point. Never be hesitant to inquire about the process behind anything or the reasoning behind how something is completed.
Pay it forward and become a mentor to other jewellery company owners.
There are a lot of wonderful advantages to being a mentor in the jewellery industry, regardless of whether or not you had a good mentor when you first started your company.
Because of her own prior experiences in the jewellery industry, Jules Kim was aware of how challenging it can be for young jewellers to establish themselves in the market.
This served as a significant motivation for her to launch her own mentorship program, which she called the Bijules Incubator.
She fosters jewellers who don’t always fall into the classic mold of a handcrafted jeweller by means of this program, which she uses to establish a community centered on real-life experiences.
Nanz Aalund has written a book titled “Setting Up Your Own Mentorship Program at Your Studio” that you might read if you believe the concept of establishing a mentoring program in your studio is an interesting one.
A Jeweller’s Guide to Apprenticeships is a resource that provides ideas for projects that teach specific skills and tool usage, as well as advice on safety and motivation from other jewellers who have had successful apprenticeships.
It’s quite possible that you’ll learn just as much as, if not more than, the person you’re mentoring. Your mentee will develop their own unique style throughout the course of your mentoring relationship, and they will be able to demonstrate that style to you.
Even further, Jules claims that at one point or another, her former interns went on to become her mentors. As you accompany and advise your mentee on their path, you will almost certainly improve your own leadership abilities.
In addition, just like your mentee, you will broaden both your professional and personal networks as a result of the experience, which is especially true if you have more than one mentee throughout the course of your career.
There are no genuine trade secrets in our business, as Jules pointed out when she was being interviewed, We have all been through a wide variety of situations and have acquired the skills necessary to cope with them. Why not share what you’ve learned with others?
Check out Hilary’s discussion with Emma Hoekstra on her experiences working with jewelry mentors in the interview that can be seen here.