Joe Thacker Thacker Jewelry Lubbock, Texas 68, first generation Ann Thacker Thacker Jewelry Lubbock, Texas 55, first generation Amanda Thacker Thacker Jewelry Lubbock, Texas 31, second generation Amanda Thacker’s first career was about as far from jewelry as one could imagine. The 31-year-old worked as an emergency medical technician for four years after college. “I was the stubborn girl who didn’t want to work for my family,” she says. But she grew up working in the store—Lubbock, Texas–based Thacker Jewelry—and was always drawn to business. Her parents, Joe and Ann, founded the company in the tiny town of Roaring Springs, Texas (population: 231), in 1979. “There was always the idea that we would love to have her work in the business,” says Joe. As the brand flourished over the years (it currently includes a full-fledged retail location in Lubbock and