What makes the jewelry industry so dynamic and rewarding is the ability to help others find happiness through the beauty of jewelry, and the resulting happiness found through serving customers.

Here are six examples of how participating in the jewelry industry leads to happiness:

1. There is a hedonistic approach to happiness that states the sole good in life is happiness. Aristotle approached happiness as the meaning and purpose of life. The jewelry industry offers all who are involved the pleasure of working with beauty while serving others who are searching for happiness through the pleasures of fashion, accessories, and jewelry.
2. People who work in the jewelry industry and those who enjoy learning about jewelry can find happiness through the experience of engagement. There is always more to be learned and experienced and that can bring happiness.
3. There is an engagement that comes when one learns about jewelry that can be very experiential when presented professionally. Gandhi saw happiness as what we think, what we say, and what we do, and when all three are in harmony. Consider how happy jewelry customers are when they are confident in their jewelry purchases and their fashion statements that are accented with just the right jewelry.
4. Jewelry offers lots of meaning for happiness. Ayn Rand referred to happiness as the state of consciousness that proceeds from the achievement of one’s values. Could a newly engaged couple showing off their wedding jewelry be better described?
5. Relationships are causes for happiness. Perhaps George Sheehan’s description of happiness through relationships says it best.… Happiness has something to do with struggling and enduring and accomplishing. Working with customers can be all of the above, but the folks I meet who work in the jewelry industry do find helping others discover the beauty and joy of jewelry to be a real source of happiness.
6. Working in the jewelry industry offers individuals great opportunities for achievement. Margaret Lee Runbeck offered happiness not so much as a station to arrive at, but rather as a manner of travel. The jewelry industry has been the means to a happy career for many thousands of people.

There are so many aspects of happiness that involve the jewelry industry. The ability to engage, serve, and educate others is not just a reward. Through the beauty of jewelry our experiences become rewarding consequences. We are truly lucky to be able to find an industry that offers so much happiness to so many people. Happiness from working in the jewelry industry is not just a reward—it is a consequence of behaviors and attitudes about serving others that we each bring to the job every day. We decide daily what our happiness will be.

Dr. Tim Malone served on the faculty of GIA for several years. Well known for his presentations at industry conferences and events, he now consults jewelry companies on how to offer sustainable competitive advantages, more effective differentiation, and sales, marketing, and merchandising management performance improvement. He can be reached at 760-305-7977 or at netvalue@cox.net.

JCK