President of Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry Jared Silver (pictured with Stephen Silver himself) makes the most of a changing business landscape.
What has your business’ experience during the pandemic been like?We are extremely thankful to have so many friends in this community. Not long after the pandemic started, we began getting calls from customers asking if we were OK. This happened to the staff at the store as well. That was an eye-opening and gratifying moment.
How have you given back?We have continued to support our charity partners. Over the past years, we have worked with notable cancer research organization the V Foundation. This year, we added an interesting twist to the fundraising by creating ruby-encrusted wine bottles with our friends from Gemstone Winery. These were a big hit at the V Foundation’s recent auction where we helped raise $300,000 to help reach a total of $3.6 million. As a second initiative, we launched a buying campaign working with Ronnie Lott to raise funds to benefit Eat Real and Eastside Prep, two causes of which Ronnie has been a longtime supporter. As we have always done in challenging economic times, this initiative provides liquidity to those that need it by selling gold, jewelry and watches.
What’s your personal 2020 slogan?Meet the moment. I think we all have to be mentally flexible enough to find the opportunities that are always created in times of crisis. Quick changes in business often involve pain, but they make for a more agile organization, which is an asset in good times as well as bad.
