What does it take to lead one of the most respected organizations in the jewelry industry? Michael Burpoe, Director of User Experience at Punchmark, sits down with Alexis Padis, the newly appointed President of the American Gem Society (AGS) and a driving force behind Padis Jewelry in San Francisco, to talk about her Presidency and vision for the organization.
Alexis opens up about her unexpected journey from avoiding the family business to finding her passion when she sold her first engagement ring. Her story is one of transformation and innovation, and she's here to share how she plans to steer AGS into a future filled with growth and collaboration.
Below is a snippet from the podcast episode. You can listen to the full episode here.
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Michael Burpoe - Host - 10:41
Let's talk about AGS. So, new president, can you talk about the role that the American Gem Society plays for Padis Jewelry and why you were interested in becoming president?
Alexis Padis - Guest - 11:29
When I joined AGS, my interest had nothing to do with eventually joining the leadership. It was very much around that desire to have an opportunity to network with jewelers just like me, but also the types of jewelers that inspire me.
Punchmark and AGS have a lot in common in that our focus tends to be family-owned businesses, independent retailers, but we also have a fantastic membership base of larger stores as well. Benbridge is a great example, helzberg is an example, and I have gleaned so much insight and inspiration from those types of businesses as well as peer groups, and that just from the first time I walked into my first conclave at the Hotel Del Coronado in 2013, I felt that energy and that possibility, and it's very different than a buying group or a school group, where perhaps there's geographic limitations or it's centered around certain vendors you can work with, or it's centered around stores that are exactly like you, because there's not a lot of opportunity for growth.
The AGS is about getting to be in a room with industry icons and feeling welcome to walk up to them and talk with them. And talk with the Kathy Calhouns and the Bill Farmers and these people that I've heard their names of and I read about them in-store and National Jeweler and all these magazines, and when you're at Conclave in particular, it's that opportunity to really get to learn and connect with them and people that you look up to, and that shared knowledge. Everyone's so generous with it there and it's unlike anything I've ever been a part of and that's what inspired me to want to get more involved from a leadership standpoint.
I mean very much to the point. I started on the board as a Director at Large, but I quickly transitioned to become Conclave Chair, because Conclave was to me that, you know, that beautiful opportunity that I wanted to do anything I can to support. And then, after becoming Conclave Chair, I moved on to the Executive Committee. It's about a four-year trajectory.
So I started as Secretary, then I moved into the role as President-elect and then into President, and one of my favorite things about it was I got a call from Georgie Gleim, who is somebody that I've looked to in the industry for years as a mentor. She's located here in the Bay Area and just brings so much knowledge and wisdom and enthusiasm to the industry, and she called me to ask if I wanted to serve as secretary in March of 2020.
Michael Burpoe - Host - 13:53
Oh well, that's... unfortunate.
Alexis Padis - Guest - 13:57
It was a very strange time, exactly. I was literally standing in an abandoned showroom by myself because we were doing curbside delivery and doing anything we could to just kind of stay alive for lack of a better word when the world had shut down and, in particular, San Francisco completely closed down.
And I took that call and I said yes, I'm only I didn't know at the time what I was saying yes to you, because none of us knew what the world was going to look like post-2020, and I'm really glad I did because, especially the, the jewelry industry and those of us that have embraced change and embraced a lot of the curveballs that came along with covid and you know, the year 2020 that went into 2021 and into 2022 is the jewelry in general has been very successful because we celebrate important moments and sentimentality and the fact that you're wearing tangible history and at a time where, when people's emotions are at a peak, jewelry was really something that people prioritized and our industries really thrive because of it.
So, thank goodness, I said yes, but it definitely definitely sets us in a unique position for the next few years during my presidency and what the organization is going to bring moving forward.
Michael Burpoe - Host - 15:10
Yeah. So I was interested to find out, and surprised to find out, that presidency is predetermined to be two years at a clip. So it almost kind of segments decisions and goals and things like that into things that are accomplishable under your presidency and then things that are going to be like almost long-term projects that you know you're going to have to hand off.
One of the quotes that actually kind of guides my life is, "true wisdom is planting a tree whose shade you'll never sit underneath", and I find that so, um, kind of endearing and beautiful because I'm like, oh yeah, like what, if I'm never going to kind of reap the benefits, why should I go ahead and do that? But it kind of forces you to come to grips with that.
Is that something that you kind of have to grapple with as president of of AGS, to know that there are some things that you can accomplish? And then there are things that are going to be forever a long-term goal that you'll hand to your successor and they will most likely have to hand to their successor?
Alexis Padis - Guest - 16:18
You know, I, my college, my alma mater's motto was freely receive, freely give.
Freely you receive, freely you give, and to me that means this industry was so wonderful to me on the offset. It's now my turn to give back and there are going to be times where within the next few years I get to take bows for Lisa Bridge, who was a president before me, or Michael Richards, who was a president before me, or John Carter, who was a president before me, and then Brian Moeller, for example, who's my President-elect, will get to take bows for certain things that maybe had started under my watch.
But the brilliant thing about AGS and the way the organization and the board in particular operates, is that we all very much have that long-term perspective and I still will get to sit under the shade of that tree because as a member, as a lifelong member to AGS, perhaps something that started under Lisa's watch that I now get to see through fruition still benefits me and then hopefully my children and their children and our industries. You know the greater industry at large.
So you can't take that two-year mentality because very little can be accomplished in that short period of time, but it's much more about the holistic approach and the big picture. Look at what do we want this industry organization to look like five years down the road, ten years down the road, 15 years down the road? And start that process now and hopefully that puts us in a position to evolve at a rate matching what the industry is seeing, so that we are thriving and providing the value to our membership that they deserve.
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Listen to rest of the conversation on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or through the show embed below.
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