#45: How Gesswein Keeps Jewelers Ahead of the Curve

For over a century, Gesswein has been a trusted name for jewelers, manufacturers, and studios around the world, providing tools, technology, and hands-on support to help them stay ahead in a changing industry. 

In this episode of The Jeweler’s View, I sit down with Roger Gesswein to talk about the company’s family legacy, how they’ve embraced innovation while staying true to their values, and why partnerships matter now more than ever. 

From new technologies like electro polishing to the importance of in-person connection at trade shows, Roger shares insights that every jeweler, from independent studios to large manufacturers, can use to work smarter, serve customers better, and stay competitive. 

What You’ll Learn in This Episode: 

• How Gesswein blends tradition with innovation to stay relevant
• The role of technology in shaping the future of jewelry making
• Why relationships and shared values matter in today’s industry
• Practical ways jewelers can modernize without losing their roots

Resources Mentioned in This Episode: 

• Watch their short demo video: “Understanding Electropolishing for Jewelers” on YouTube → Electropolishing Video
• Learn more about electro polishing on Gesswein’s blog → Understanding Electropolishing for Jewelers
• Explore tools, training, and support from Gesswein → Gesswein Website

 Whether you’re just starting out or running a full-scale manufacturing shop, this conversation will leave you inspired about what’s possible when the right tools, technology, and partnerships come together.
 

Transcript

Ahead of the Curve: How Gesswein Blends Legacy, Innovation, and Hands-On Support for Jewelers

Roger Guesswein (2): [00:00:00] Welcome back to The Jeweler's View, the show where we share stories, strategies, and perspectives to help you build a business and a life that supports your craft. I'm your host, Courtney Gray, and we're spotlighting a name that almost every jeweler knows about. Guesswein For more than a Century Guesswein has been serving jewelers, manufacturers, and studios around the world with the tools, training, and expertise to help them do their best work.

They've built their reputation on trust, innovation, and a deep understanding of the craft from supporting Master jewelers and brick and mortar stores to supplyering large scale manufacturing operations and the next generation of bench jewelers. Today I'm joined by Roger Guesswein to talk about the company's legacy, how they've stayed relevant through changing times, and what excites him about the future of our industry.

This isn't just about [00:01:00] products or sales, it's about the people, the values, and the vision that keep a company thriving for over 100 years. Roger, I'm so excited that you're here. This is one I've been really excited about. Welcome to The Jeweler's View.

Thank you, Courtney. That was such a good intro.

Roger Guesswein: made me smile.

Courtney Gray: Oh, good. I've been in love with the company Guesswien for a long time, and I feel like, more people need to know what you guys are working on behind the scenes, so I'm excited to have you here.

Roger Guesswein (2): I agree. I agree. This is actually not the medium that we normally do, we sometimes give presentations and symposiums and workshops, but podcasting is a new thing. So it's really exciting.

Courtney Gray: I'm excited to bring you into it. Roger, Guesswien is such a recognized name in our industry, but I wanna start on a personal note.

What's one of the earliest memories that you have of the company or being around the work that it does?

Roger Guesswein: So I remember as a kid going to Bridgeport with my [00:02:00] dad me and my brother. I have a twin brother by the way. He would drive us up, I think during the summers and we would take a nap in the back because we lived in New York City. So it's about an hour and a half. And then we come into the office and as kids, maybe five years old, six years old. have anything to do besides maybe some packaging they would teach us, but we were pretty rambunctious and didn't like to stay still. So we would other than fight with each other, we would just run around to the different buildings and we'd go to different people and say, Hey, you're promoted, you're fired. Crazy things like that as a kid, and everyone would laugh. And so that's my first memory as a

Courtney Gray: You're fired.

Roger Guesswein (2): Yeah, you're seriously, you're fired.

no, I like you now you're not fired. And by the way, I don't even remember this really too well. People who are still here are colleagues after 40, 45 years, they tell me how we were as kids.

Courtney Gray: You don't remember those? You don't remember firing the whole staff when you were five or six years old?

Roger Guesswein (2): don't think it was up to me, but usually we wouldn't do that [00:03:00] very often. It was mostly promotions

Courtney Gray: That's hilarious. Okay. . I just gotta get a visual. I've never visited Guesswien, so I'm gonna get a view into the the floor there. This is exciting.

Roger Guesswein (2): This is our conference room and we have some old photos. Right here is my great-grandfather, Paul, so Guesswein , the company name is Paul h Guesswein and Company, officially now just Guesswein And Paul back here, he immigrated from Germany in 1896 and then he worked with his half brother William the same industry, same type of tool company in Lower Manhattan. And then he opened up our company in 1914.

Courtney Gray: Wow.

Roger Guesswein (2): It's really progressed a lot.

Courtney Gray: Lot of history.

Roger Guesswein (2): yeah, four generations right now.

Courtney Gray: Yes. This has been your and your family for generations. There's still Guesswien in the company. This is what I personally just love about it. so what does that mean for you to carry this forward? I would think that would be a big deal for you.

Roger Guesswein (2): it is mostly I know I never met my great-grandfather or grandfather. They both passed away way [00:04:00] before I was born. But my father was very involved. He was the chairman of the company and grew up in it as well and did a great job. So he really inspired me to be involved in the business. So I see it as a legacy thing for not just my ancestors, but mostly for my dad, just to bring it forward and do even better than, let's say he did, or he would expect us to do.

if I could surprise him, with the job that we've done, that would be the most meaningful thing to me. So that's really my goal, 

Courtney Gray: To carry it forward. And that's an, there's new responsibilities with that, I would imagine, because the industry's changing, 

Roger Guesswein (2): certainly,

Courtney Gray: it's continuing to evolve as does anything right.

Roger Guesswein (2): Launching the first computers, the first computer system we had maybe in the seventies, I think we had the A'S 400

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): in the seventies. And they still talk about those momentous things. then now we launched a new computer system, four years ago, and that was momentous [00:05:00] for the company.

So things change but it's still exciting,

even though we're, small to medium sized family business. There's always new things and new things to invest in and to participate in. So it's a cool industry

Courtney Gray: It keeps us on our toes, 'cause there's always something new that we can figure out or new technique. So broad. There's so many facets, it's just endless, 

Roger Guesswein (2): it is.

Courtney Gray: Keeps us excited.

Roger Guesswein (2): global too. So we we have a couple companies around the world, and so we, those dynamics really do affect us in America, how the supplyer chain works. Now tariffs of course, affect,

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): sourcing from and what you're sourcing. And then actually trends, and you would know this probably better than me, but certain designs and trends, I think start in certain countries and make their way back to America.

If you go to the Vicenza Show in Italy and January, you'll see all this amazing jewelry and maybe, by the middle of the year you'll see something in, in Vegas, and then in [00:06:00] Hong Kong, and then it's like all over the news,

Courtney Gray: And then it takes storm. Yeah.

 It's so fascinating. I was talking with Jeanette Caines who went abroad working in these ancient skills, and their kids aren't necessarily going to take over.

They weren't wanting to teach it to anybody outside the family. So there's this dynamic of, how do we have this discussion about. Teaching those skills. And carrying it forward.

Roger Guesswein (2): Important part of every aspect of the industry. Even in our business, there are businesses like ours that go away because the kids have a lot of options or they don't want to go into this line of work. And I understand that,

and even my mom would tell me, Hey, are you sure you wanna work for the family business? You can go

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): . And for me it's legacy and, continuing, the family tradition and

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): people that might be the motivation well.

Courtney Gray: The tradition and carrying it forward. Yeah, I can see why for you it would be feel very important. This is legacy for your family. This is such a historical company. How many companies do you get to work [00:07:00] with that have been around since 1914?

 And you're saying multiple companies that actually started earlier. Can you dig into that just a little bit and give us .

Roger Guesswein (2): we have a cool timeline right out there in the office that goes into it, but 

Courtney Gray: and on your website there's a timeline there. 

Roger Guesswein (2): That's a nice version of it. William, FW Guesswein, there's a catalog from 1868, I believe, and so he was related to my great-grandfather. And when you look back at the records in Germany, Stuttgart my father's side is from, can see that there's a history of metal workers in there, probably mid to early 18 hundreds. And so FW immigrated over before Paul and had that company from, 1860. And then Paul came over and worked and then that's when Paul h Guesswein was started shortly after that in 1914. So we started from 1914, but there's a history of this [00:08:00] trade in Germany coming to America, as early as I think the 1860s.

Courtney Gray: amazing. So it wasn't jewelry necessarily, it was more manufacturing different types of equipment, correct? 

Roger Guesswein (2): the broad brush is metal working tools and supplies.

And, initially I would say probably the jewelry trade was the most popular trade that we serviced. But after World War the tool and die trade became robust because of, American manufacturing growing after the Great War. So my grandfather who was alive at that time and running the company, he saw. People were buying certain products and asking for certain products, different materials, right? And then because of those inquiries, we decided to say, Hey, what more can we do for this side of the business that is relatively new to us? So when you go on Guesswein.com, or even look in our catalog you can see certain products that are very specific to let's say the mold and die industry, or medical device, or [00:09:00] even aerospace. And we actually came out with a new catalog, industrial catalog recently. So now we're separating these two things. Like we've, we did this in the past, we had two catalogs, and then we had one, and now we're gonna split them up, half the business is now non-jury, but. dad was really involved in the jewelry industry, so he was on JBT Board, MJSA, he was a

Of the 24 Carat Club of New York and was a leader in that organization for many years. So he gravitated towards the jewelry side of the business. So that naturally was something that I did as well

Courtney Gray: , How long have you been in the position that you're in? Roger?

Roger Guesswein (2): I would say 10 years is probably my real time in the company

Courtney Gray: . You were hiring and firing at age five though, so

Roger Guesswein (2): Yes.

Courtney Gray: So this goes way back. Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): That's right. . 

Courtney Gray: How fun to get to go to Thailand and see this whole other way of living in different cultures. Sounds like that's been a history and I know that even now you're traveling quite a bit to different countries.

Roger Guesswein (2): [00:10:00] It's important to travel, not just domestically, of course. 'cause there's so many trade shows. There's Atlanta Jewelry show and JA and MJSA and all these great organizations and all these great shows, for manufacturers and retail focused. And then other, artisan focused and education focused. But internationally, there's so much going on too, in these great hubs in India, in Thailand, in Hong Kong in Europe. Of course.

To really be involved and not just because we have companies there, but also because we source there. And some of the best products in the world that everyone uses come from Germany and it comes from Spain and France.

You don't see what's new every year, then you're already behind.

Courtney Gray: so staying in tune, not only with the manufacturer, but with the customers and what they're doing and getting on the floor.

Is a big part of what you guys offer that really stands out to me is that you show up, you're there you're actually seeing and touching [00:11:00] the equipment and seeing, how it's being utilized and put to work.

And I would imagine that's a huge part of innovation, is you have to, just like us, you have to see the work on somebody to know how it will function. Same with the equipment.

Roger Guesswein (2): It's really funny speaking to that. There was a supplier here with us a few months ago. They manufacture, polishing compound, right? For polishing metal and

Courtney Gray: sure.

Roger Guesswein (2): jewelry. They came here and sat down with us because wanted to know about how these compounds were used. The steps you go from one to the next, how many compounds a jeweler is using, from, getting the piece to a high shine. What color of compound is popular? And just sitting with us for a few minutes, 'cause we have some people who are really in it, who are application specialists or jewelers by trade and by education. And within five minutes they were like, we learn more in, in these five minutes than we have in

Courtney Gray: Wow.

Roger Guesswein (2): just 'cause they manufacture, a plyer or a machine or a polishing compound doesn't mean they understand the end user. [00:12:00] So we really try to

Courtney Gray: Right?

Roger Guesswein (2): between that manufacturer and the end user. And I see that as a big value add to traveling, not just to see suppliers and the shows, but also to go into the manufacturing, the factories or to the workshops and understanding how things are used because that's the

Courtney Gray: Yeah. 

Roger Guesswein (2): really make the link or discover new pathways to be successful.

Courtney Gray: Getting to be that conduit, like the connector between the person actually using the material. How do you know? Unless they, they get hands on with it. Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): similarly you mentioned we're very active. Let's say it trade shows, right? So when we go to a show, it's not like it's, we just have, a table and then we have brochures. We actually have the machines working. So you can come and play with a laser welder, a laser engraver.

We're electro polishing. We're tumbling. We have full benches set up for stone setting, hand

Courtney Gray: Wow.

Roger Guesswein (2): all these things, right? Because when you come to a show, you want to play with this stuff so you bring it to a show. And even if you would think, Hey, this is not the audience for this. Oh, a [00:13:00] retail jeweler is really casting historically we said, oh no, they're not. You make the assumption. But I swear every time I bring a machine to a show, we sell it. They get a better idea of, does this make sense for me? Maybe just from, a visual perspective or a space perspective even that

Yeah. For people to really comprehend and understand. And it just gets you closer to the end result, 

Yeah.

hopefully investing and benefiting from the technology.

Courtney Gray: Like we were saying, until you can play with the equipment or the compound, you don't know. You don't know how it's gonna work for you or where it's gonna fit in the studio. It's like trying on something before you buy it,

Roger Guesswein (2): When

Courtney Gray: isn't,

Roger Guesswein (2): don't try it on at the trade show and buy it online,

that's okay. That's just the nature of it. But we still find value

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): In person, touch and feel and speak.

Courtney Gray: Absolutely. It's night and day. I think connecting with someone in person when possible is huge. 

Thing that came up was electro polishing. Talk to me about [00:14:00] this equipment

Roger Guesswein (2): Yes.

Courtney Gray: it's such a game changer.

Roger Guesswein (2): So electro polishing is an electrochemical process to polished metal think plating, where you have your anodes and then your cathode and you hang your pieces and in the solution. And it's, adhering metal ions onto the substrate. Great. Okay. polishing is similar, it's just in reverse, so it's stripping the metal evenly, and this is likened to bombing acid bombing in the past.

And now that's no. Longer, suggested. So electro polishing has come in and it's non-hazardous. and you can put in stones as well into the solution without a problem. So this technology has really been adopted heavily internationally. And in these big factories in Thailand and India, they can get into the very small, hard to reach areas, the under galleries, with 3D printing becoming so complex, how can you finish, these hard to reach areas.

It's very hard.

Labor and even [00:15:00] in India where it's much less expensive than here, they're still investing in this technology because they understand that you can save time, so you can allocate the labor to something else, maybe more high value,

just have a better quality product faster to market.

In America. We've, we launched the technology about three years ago, and the adoption has been pretty good. With casting contractors or the large manufacturers but also retailers. 'cause we have smaller machines that you can run 14 pieces at a time,

There's one story from a manufacturer. They're a high-end manufacturer, but they're not a big volume manufacturer and they invested in one of the bigger machines, we called second step machine. It's for the insides of the pieces. I was very interested. We did the demonstration, we did the sampling. They bought it and they started using it. So after a few months, I said, Hey can you tell me why you bought this? People assume you have to be a big volume manufacturer to make this work. And he said, listen. us, the quality is improved in our pieces, but even more importantly, the individuals who were [00:16:00] polishing all day, now, I can take them and allocate their time to , learning a new skill. They can be more on the bench and doing jewelry work or learn to set stones, things that are maybe more valuable for the company, but also for the individual to get those skills and, to learn and do something else.

So that was a really cool story. It's not that it's replacing, an individual because companies like that. People don't, okay. But you can repurpose, the individual and they can learn new skills and grow within the organization as opposed to just doing one thing. Polishing. It's not an easy job.

Courtney Gray: No, it's not, it's messy there's compound flying in your face, half the time. And man, it is tedious. , It is tedious. Yeah. You're taking me back to my early days where I remember just shooting waxes for hours on end and polishing the nooks and crannies like you're mentioning, that are just impossible to reach.

Honestly, this has got to be way more efficient if it can go inside and out [00:17:00] of the piece, that is one of the biggest struggles that we have

Roger Guesswein (2): It can. And we've, we have some cool videos online as well, so if,

anyone can call in, call me and I can tell you about the technology. And we'd love to process samples too. So that's what we do. I said, don't believe me,

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): me your pieces in silver and gold and we'll process them.

We'll give you a full report and you can see the technology for yourself. That's

Courtney Gray: Oh, that's

Roger Guesswein (2): my

Courtney Gray: and beyond.

Roger Guesswein (2): But it's, yeah.

Courtney Gray: Yeah. Above and beyond. Roger are amazing. So wait, are you giving your cell phone out here? We're just gonna call No, I'm kidding.

Roger Guesswein (2): It won't be hard to find online, I'm sure.

Courtney Gray: You're listed. We'll just call Roger Guesswein and get all the things that we need for our studios. That's what I love though about the approach that you guys have is that, there's still a person that we can talk to. There's someone we can get for tech support and then you guys actually come out for retailers, I'm sure, bigger stores and do installations and show and train the teams how to use the equipment. A lot of companies, and especially now with all of the robots that answer phones we don't get that connection or that support. And these are overwhelming [00:18:00] purchases at times,. 

Roger Guesswein (2): seven micro motors

okay. And then, but I'm used to a flex shaft and Dremel, so why would I do this? And what's this add-on? And that, and the hammer hand piece and the rotary and this collet, that collett , it's like just something so simple that we know because we've been involved in it. I think that service aspect is just it's so normal to us

, We're trying to hire individuals who have the experience and once you have that knowledge, whether it's about manufacturing or distribution, whatever it is,

You hire good people, they inspire other people and they help, disseminate information, which increases the level of knowledge in your organization.

And then more people come because they say, oh, you have a great company, let me keep coming. And then it keeps growing and growing naturally.

I understand people wanna reduce head count and they wanna make it so transactional. I get that. That's great. But for us to be competitive, long term

Follow that model. If someone in the area, wants me to come in or our team to come in and evaluate their space, we can help set up shop,

One [00:19:00] jeweler or two jewelers, 50 jewelers, doesn't

Courtney Gray: Wow. Amazing.

Roger Guesswein (2): That's what we do. And we train, like you mentioned, on polishing, casting, on laser engraving, on laser welding, all these different technologies. 3D scanning, 3D printing.

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): have expertise in this.

Courtney Gray: Oh, how many experts can you just call up and get this kind of support with? I think that's amazing.

Roger Guesswein (2): Yes.

Courtney Gray: us a story about a build out that you did. What's your favorite life changing, manufacturing floor story, if you have one.

Roger Guesswein (2): man. I think my dad had some really good stories in the day where, we set up some of the original factories in India, sending containers equipment, all, to India to set factories. Were in Thailand, in the

Courtney Gray: Wow.

Roger Guesswein (2): We did a nice, some nice casting setups, electro polishing.

, A lot of the time I can say this. We do a lot of retailer, setups for retailers, right? Forget the big manufacturers, independent [00:20:00] retailers, maybe they've one store, maybe they have two or three,

and they are outsourcing their casting . And maybe they're doing their own finishing and stone setting. And we see them at a show and they were like, Hey, look at these castings. Look at this machinery. It's tabletop, right? You just need this, and this.

Here's the outcome. We can help you get there. And they're doing great. They have a lock on their market, right? They have high end clients maybe they're casting contractor is taking too long, a week. And sometimes there's, porosity and problems. So without any experience, they trust us to really set up the whole shop. And we go from never before printed, never before casted, didn't even know what electro polishing is. After three days. days. Now they can cast, they're not just casting gold and silver, they're casting platinum. And everyone maybe they think it's oh my gosh, no clue. I could never figure this out, but I promise you, I can give you references where we were able to train novices. They're smart people, [00:21:00] but they have no experience whatsoever, they're able to learn and be able to cast and print and finish and run these complicated machines. of course you build knowledge over time, just after five days,

gonna be problems in the future. But that's where a good company comes in to say, Hey, I've seen this before. Let's test this. Let's go back to your inve. How are you investing? How are you spruing? What's your temperature of your metal when you're casting things,

then they learn and they learn. They learn. Then you don't hear from them again because everything's going great.

Courtney Gray: That's the good news, right? Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): That's the good news.

Courtney Gray: that's the outcome that you want. That's amazing. Yeah. It's pretty quick turnaround too, Roger. That's impressive casting platinum. I started with casting gold and silver and I remember the boss, the boss was over casting platinum, and nobody else can do this part.

It was this untouchable thing. And

 You're making these processes more approachable for people how have you seen that scale when the people scale up, in their business and in their internal manufacturing processes?

[00:22:00] What's that look like?

Roger Guesswein (2): Yeah. It's really game changing

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): for companies now. We've had companies, let's say, from a manufacturing perspective, who are spending. Mid six figures, outsourcing, let's say casting, right? And they have some of these big retailers, like big box retailers who are like, Hey, you need to compete with overseas.

If you don't cut your price to this, we're gonna take the business away. Which is crazy. You put all your eggs in one basket and then you can lose your business tomorrow. So just being able to teach 'em how to cast electro polish so they can reduce that input cost their business. And let's do repairs,

Being able to, take in, a repair, do it within a few minutes, bring it back to your customer on the spot and say, look beautiful,

Courtney Gray: Right.

Roger Guesswein (2): And they're so happy that there's no need. In my opinion. 

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): and also for, manufacturing, being able to have your own shop, control your quality, do your own custom work. You can personalize everything you [00:23:00] do and create an experience around your shop, around your company. You can say, Hey, I can do this with you. We're gonna go on, a journey to be able to create this beautiful ring or this. Beautiful memento that you can have, in your family for many years.. Sure, you can make a lot more money if you manufacture it. That's just a fact.

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): you can have your stamp on it and say, Hey, we did this

did this here. And for me, if I was running, let's say a retail store or a manufacturing operation, I'd love to have control of as much as I possibly could. Of course, it's important to rely on contractors and there's fantastic contractors who do great things, there's many things that you could do as a company.

Then if someone wants to increase prices by a lot, you can say, Hey, maybe I could internalize this.

Courtney Gray: And to keep like you said, not only the quality control, but the authenticity of this actually is coming from the store. It's not something that's outsourced and the time saver with that. Oh my goodness.

Roger Guesswein (2): Can be days.

Courtney Gray: yeah. Or weeks. Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): oh

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): I, I give, what's your turnaround time? Three weeks? [00:24:00] If you cut it down to three days how much more, how many more jobs can you do?

I think people expect it should take three weeks to do any of these simple jobs.

To, to me it's more of a customer service thing. People want something now and have to adapt to that, even though it can be unrealistic,

same for us. If we don't have something available in stock, we lose orders all the time.

You have to balance if you wanna be competitive, if you

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): demand, I think you have no choice but to bring some of these things in. Especially if it's not too complicated. And you can get a small 3D printer. You can print a wax. Resin, prototype 

Courtney Gray: Yeah. 

Roger Guesswein (2): finger in 10 minutes and say,

what do you think? Oh no, this doesn't fit. Great. Print it again. 10 minutes, here you go. And

Courtney Gray: That's

Roger Guesswein (2): there you can, at least, you can outsource the casting after that, but at least you can do that as opposed to, having them come back in a few days.

There's no need for certain things.

Even with a small footprint in your shop. We can literally, we could cast, I could have a, a decent output in casting in like 400 square feet.

Courtney Gray: That's one big shift, [00:25:00] wouldn't you agree in the equipment that we're seeing now? And what you guys are producing and putting out there and providing to us, I think is it's night and day. These machines used to be giant and clunky and take up the entire studio.

Noisy and fumey and all the things. And now.

Roger Guesswein (2): And

Courtney Gray: And I think even the price points are, have dropped significantly because the manufacturing has gotten so much tighter thanks to the companies like yourselves. This is unbelievable to see the difference and just, I go into studios and tour and there's, this tiny laser welder that, you can use and to just change things in seconds like you're saying.

. It's more accessible,

Roger Guesswein (2): 10 years and you can see there's a lot of innovation. In some ways not a lot of innovation too, because the jewelry industry is tiny. Sometimes I go to dental shows because dental is like the big brother of jewelry.

Oh, sure.

Massive, ridiculous shows and you look at some of the products, I'm like, this is exactly the same product that we sell, but it's twice as expensive but sometimes I take technology from there and I try to introduce it to the [00:26:00] jewelry industry first

Courtney Gray: . I was thinking about this the other day of wow, this is 2025. And think about just a hundred years, how many things have shifted and

new things have been invented and all of this new innovation just in how we function as humans. Even the cell phone, like all the little things that are obvious.

Of course, and then there's cars driving themselves and what the hell's happening? We're in the future.. The flying cars next, right?

Roger Guesswein (2): yes.

Courtney Gray: it's not already, it's probably already happening. Roger, is that happen? That's happening, isn't it? Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): Yeah. It's intimidating. It is.

Courtney Gray: It is, it's overwhelming, but it's also really exciting. And

I think being on the back end of that has to be such an exciting position to see all of this shift coming, in really a relatively short amount of time. That's not that long a century. It feels long and it feels big, but a hundred years, 

Roger Guesswein (2): it's a blink of an eye.

I must say something because

Courtney Gray: do.

Roger Guesswein (2): you're reminding me of a few things. We're not old, right? But, the pace of technology and innovation, is [00:27:00] bypassing me. And I'm in my mid thirties, so I can't imagine how my uncle feels when he's in his eighties right now, and there are things I'm like, oh, this is so easy for me to do.

And I'm sure, when I have kids one day for someone who's 20 right now, it's, they can do things that I can't do. If I could get advice to anybody, it's, hire good people who know more than you and pay too much for them, frankly, overpay them, right?

That's what I think that's the best way, because it's not just about, the machines, you can buy a machine from me, from anybody. But it's the individual who's running the equipment and the machinery and who's sitting on that bench and doing the work. just because, the guy next door is paying, not paying much or whatever, you hear these rates in these different parts of the country, it's so important to hire good people because they can change your organization and they're gonna be the ones who are gonna usher in this new technology and stay up on it. Yes, I know what I know and I see things when I travel. But I also know I don't know that [00:28:00] much. And I think hiring great people and having partners in your business is the most important thing you can possibly do. So that's

Yes.

2 cents.

Courtney Gray: I love that. It was more like 10 cents and I'll take it. That's so important and it's something that is getting a little bit forgotten it seems, in all industry, not just ours, it is something that gets forgotten and, honestly, I think you're right.

These kids these days, Roger we're not old, I'm in my mid forties. I'm a little bit older, but yeah, I feel it. I'm feeling and seeing the difference. And then I work with women and men who are in their sixties and seventies it's so important not only for us to keep up, but for our brains to stay moving and learning.. Keep learning new things and how are we gonna do that? Honestly, the humbling fact.

Yes. It's gonna be our kids,

Roger Guesswein (2): I meet so many people who just say, oh, it's so hard to hire. I don't wanna hire anybody. 'cause I have to train them and deal with them. And yeah, I get that with anything. But you have to take that step. You have to take the risk, and there's gonna be problems. In the past, we've made mistakes and got burned very [00:29:00] badly. But, you never regret bringing in talent into your organization. Even if you failed a hundred times, once you get that one person, they can really transform it. So it can just be

Courtney Gray: Absolutely.

Roger Guesswein (2): or someone in marketing or point of sale, whatever it is, you gotta acquire talent. And even meta and open ai, they're fighting for talent and these guys are the most sophisticated companies in the world with all the technology.

They're still paying crazy numbers for talent

In our less sophisticated industry, I would try to do the same thing. Mm. Makes a lot of sense. That makes a lot of sense.

In more people who want to be jewelers. Because I think one of the big gripes is, I can make more money doing something else.

So how do you convince them to join your organization? It's gonna be compensation. It's gonna be culture, it's gonna be probably technology. 'cause if they can work with high tech and they see you've built a beautiful workshop, you have nice cases you do things the right way, they're gonna wanna work with you. And then it's that snowballing compounding effect.

Courtney Gray: I know this is one of the sad things is that , the industry, standard pay isn't quite right, honestly. [00:30:00] It hasn't been since I've been in the industry about 25 years. And it hasn't changed enough in my opinion, , so I think you're so right.

Pay people well, if you want them to stay and scale accordingly so that you can do that, create more efficient processes in your business and discover ways to keep. Talent available to you and to help them grow at the same time, yeah. It's a family approach. , a people approach instead of a profit approach. I always say impact first income later.

Roger Guesswein (2): Have to invest

And that's very important.

Courtney Gray: yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): Value systems. How do we pick suppliers and how do you know? , Our customers choose us. How does a the end consumer choose a retailer or a designer?

And I think you have to have shared values. How do you hire somebody? We have core values at Guesswein, we evaluate new hires on, and we evaluate each other, every single quarter.

And, I think those values mean a lot because there's always competitors and there's always similar products, right? you can have aligned values that can help you make the best decision possible, to [00:31:00] pick a supplier, to pick a colleague, to pick a partner, 

Courtney Gray: Sure.

Roger Guesswein (2): it's all related.

And I've said no to companies that wanna work with us because , I know you don't have the same values. I could probably make a lot of money doing this,

the end, it's gonna hurt our brand and our relationships with our customers, who we

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): most, and who trust us to give them. The best information possible. We've had people literally when I create a good relationship with a manufacturer, they're like, Hey, I have no experience in this. I'm trusting you a hundred percent. You tell me what to do and

Courtney Gray: Right.

Roger Guesswein (2): And when you do that to me, I'm like we have to make this successful.

I don't care what we do, no matter what, we're gonna have a good outcome you have my trust. We're committed to you. And I think you can create relationships with so many people like that, and that's really how you'll grow in the future. So that's how we run our business. On the phone with content, to the shows. We invest in that. Hiring good people, . And we have great

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): And in the end, it's all gonna come back in a good way.

Courtney Gray: [00:32:00] Literally, every day we're planting seeds, right? And to really understand what your values are as a company or as even an individual maker, I think is huge. Because you wanna align yourself with companies, with the people who , have done, or will be , succeeding at the same things that you're aspiring to do.

That's a game changer. There's many times we stay in a safe place or we don't wanna make changes or shift or define those things outta fear . I think the quality over the quantity is huge. Really attracting the right partners, the right company, and your manufacturing company is a partner.

It should be. I think. Where you're getting your supplies from, where you're sourcing things from, having clarity around that and support . Everything's at your fingertips these days. So we have to take a step back and really look at how are we sourcing, who do we wanna work with?

Who do we wanna support? Who do we wanna partner with? Essentially, it is partnerships. I love that you see it that way.

Roger Guesswein (2): it should be.

Because you

buy something cheaper. And let's say I, I [00:33:00] can get it online, the online model we talked about, what you're doing is you're voting with your dollar,

And if you're doing it based on price, I suspect that you're incentivizing probably, a lower quality, not as. Value focused company and it's not a zero sum game just 'cause you, they get a dollar at, the other company who's does everything right, doesn't get the dollar. But I think if we take a value approach, a partnership approach, and we can pay a little bit more because this company is investing in good people, you can see them in person, they answer the phone, then that dollar will incentivize. great things that we actually value. And maybe today we don't value quality 'cause we want to pay a dollar for a plyerer, And I don't wanna pay $8. So just because the plyer can last 50 times longer. Okay? That's one argument. We make that all the time. If you can only afford a dollar but maybe you pay a dollar and 20 cents from the company that has the same value system as you, because down the line when you need something or [00:34:00] you need a consultation or whatever it is, they're gonna be there for you.

We'll still be there no matter what if someone calls have never done business with us. But building a strong partnership that you can leverage in a time of need. 'cause we all need help. We all need to learn from others. I think that's very important how you vote with your dollar.

Courtney Gray: I love that you put it that way. We're literally every day voting with our dollar. Now

you're making me rethink all of it.. There's been a lot of controversy around this, honestly. Where are we putting our money? Where are we putting our energy? And who are we supporting with that? . Are we putting it into places that we believe in, that we stand behind? And yes, it may take a little more effort to work with a different company or to do that research, but it doesn't essentially, it doesn't take that long when you think about the outcome of all of us paying a little more attention.

You've been in this space and leading,

for a long time and you've seen so much change. What keeps you personally, inspired and engaged?

Roger Guesswein (2): I like seeing good outcomes for our customers. I love being involved from the beginning of [00:35:00] something where maybe are going down a path and they're like, this is how we're doing it, we're having trouble, what do you think? And then it goes into exploratory and then, planning and then implementation and then outcome and seeing that through, and then having. Them give good feedback on our team and our company. I love that. I also love when people call me and they say, I have a 50-year-old ultrasonic or steamer. It's best one I ever had. And Guesswein I love that too. That's rewarding. The whole family legacy , if my father was still around would love him to see what we've done and created. If I could surprise him with the success that we've had and will certainly have in the future, that'd be, for me personally, would be so cool. I want to do well because I want to live up to how people view our family company and our name, right? 'cause seem to have a good feeling and , high expectations of us.

And I wanna up to that every day. Because I, I believe it. I believe it. And, but you question it sometimes too because you're like, all, there are some very [00:36:00] large companies and they're faster, they have more money. 

Courtney Gray: Sure.

Roger Guesswein (2): cheaper, right? So how do we compete? And it's constant struggle to say, Hey, can we stay relevant? And and I doubt that, all the time. But, so when we can actually for real, do it where we can really put our best foot forward, win a bid, implement, have a good outcome,

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): that person said, Hey, you really helped us. You've transformed our business. Thank you so much.

That's tangible. That's real. If we can get great feedback that we were great consultants and help them achieve their goals as a business that's long lasting, that's real impact.

Courtney Gray: Oh, absolutely. , I feel the word of mouth in our industry is very strong. It reverberates pretty loudly. That's important. And that's the reward at the end of the day. I've run multiple businesses, and one was a school, and I remember having moments where I was like, what am I doing? This is so much work and so much to hold and so much overhead, all the blah, blah, blah.

And somebody would walk [00:37:00] by me. I'd literally have my head down and just be, contemplating all of the things and this decision to keep going. And

Roger Guesswein (2): Why am I,

Courtney Gray: yeah, what am I doing? Why I'm in the existential crisis every other week, 

and someone would walk by me and say, Courtney, I have to tell you.

This place has changed my life. Or that thing that you said, or that class that I took or just having this community, having this space. And I'd be like, okay, I hear you. This is why we keep going. This is why we do what we do day after day. And people don't see the realities of that, behind the scenes.

We see what we need right now, tomorrow, yesterday, whatever. And taking a minute to step back and say, wait a second have compassion or a little empathy for the other side of this. And creating that relationship, that partnership is just so much more important, for longevity, sustainability of a company.

Yeah, we have to, we're in this together, man. We've gotta take care of each other, Yeah. Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): wanna help each other. [00:38:00] When I go to trade shows, or we rejoin a trade show and get good feedback , I'm so happy you're here. I love working with Guesswein We stopped buying for many years because of whatever, it was easier to do business elsewhere. But I'm so happy you're here. I love that. That feedback, whether they buy a little bit, a lot or none at all, the fact that they're just happy for us to be there and we're at least a consideration. 'cause a lot of people show up and no one even talks to them. It's not their fault, right? We have a headstart because of just being around for a long time and maybe doing things right over the years. But I just wanna take that and just do right by these people who trust us, right? Because they, they don't have to. a really cool thing. There is a people aspect to this big time for us, and that's why we're doing more trade shows than we ever have.

Apparently trade shows are dead. I get why some people think that, but in truth they're not. Because people want community. They wanna be around others. They wanna learn, it's important to be there. You can't just have the screen and videos. That's great. But if you [00:39:00] asked, a jeweler nine times outta 10, if they could have the product in front of them to test it and see it and talk to somebody on the phone, of course they're gonna say, yes,

Courtney Gray: yeah. Oh, it's so different. It's night and day and thank goodness we can do that now. And that the trade shows aren't dead. They're not dead. Everybody keep attending because this is important. We could lose this access to the tools and equipment and to the people. To the people. And I know that's a huge undertaking and commitment for a company

so much footwork and to go out and set up all the equipment and take your staff out of the building and, so kudos to you guys for doing this and staying consistent. 

Roger Guesswein (2): I joke, we do the hard things that no one wants to do,

we would do more trade shows, travel more, answer the phones, do person stuff. No one wants to do that. If you built a company right now, the private equity company would come, whoever would come in and start one of our companies, they would never do that. How can

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Roger Guesswein (2): that business? But if you do it, I promise you the outcome will be better. 'cause that's what people really want. And even though they're not [00:40:00] voting with their dollar 'cause they wanna buy something cheaper, I promise you they will be back in the end guaranteed. 'cause it's not just about price or speed.

Courtney Gray: It's about trust.

Roger Guesswein (2): trust. Yes.

Courtney Gray: Trust and relationship.

Roger Guesswein (2): We still have to ship fast and be competitive, which we are.

But there's so many other things that, that we can invest in and and we can build that trust and really create value what we do.

Courtney Gray: What's the most exciting thing that's coming , what do you see in the next five years that excites you the most?

Roger Guesswein (2): Metal printing has been on the horizon for so long where you can print directly in metal, skip the lost wax casting process. For dental it's there. Other aerospace definitely there, but for jewelry it's not there yet. That will be game changing, i'm excited to see the outcome of all our investments, that's what I'm the most excited about, really to see how the industry transforms and how, the great people that we've brought onto our team, how they [00:41:00] evolve the more we get out and meet our customers and on Guesswien. You know, I just wanna see the payback of all of that, because I think we've done so much in the past five years, and I'm still waiting just to see the outcome of all those decisions.

Courtney Gray: Yeah. Right, right.

That's real though, because that's the driver. That's what keeps us going is when we get to see the result, we get to see how it impacted someone's life or business , and also it directs how we move forward , which decisions we make are where we put our energy and manpower. That's so important. I was just working on case studies this morning and I was like, yes, I'm doing this for every single person that I touch and work with, because I wanna know them. I wanna see their story, understand where they're coming from so I can serve them better. And I get to, to celebrate the, the results with them.. We have to celebrate those wins.

Roger Guesswein (2): We do.

Courtney Gray: if you had one piece of advice to a jeweler, a store owner or a manufacturer, whether they've been in business for decades or [00:42:00] they're just getting started, what would that be?

Roger Guesswein (2): 2,

Courtney Gray: Oh, gimme two. You're fast with that.

Roger Guesswein (2): yeah. Choose your suppliers based on values. That's super important, and hire good people and overpay for talent, and you won't regret it, I promise.

Courtney Gray: And for those of you who are listening, I want you to explore their tools, the trainings, the resources, with this amazing family, company that's been around for a hot minute.

Maybe, maybe just a hundred years or so. Roger, no big deal. 

Roger Guesswein (2): No big deal.

Courtney Gray: That is longevity, it makes me so happy that. You're still here. Y'all are still out in the world and still sharing all of the innovation and the resources that you have for us. So where do we find you, Roger?

Website's probably the best place to go. 

Roger Guesswein (2): Guesswein.com. Guesswein Facebook. Guesswein YouTube. We keep creating content 

Courtney Gray: yes.

Roger Guesswein (2): so you'll see electro polishing and the Ultrax [00:43:00] Mini and all these things on there. And trade shows. I guess the typical jewelry trade shows we're involved, we're doing Snag in Tucson,

Courtney Gray: Oh, you'll be at Snag. Excellent.

Roger Guesswein (2): Yes, we do MJSA JCK Atlanta. Gosh, there's more IJO RJs.

Courtney Gray: All the abbreviated ones.

Roger Guesswein (2): Symposium.

We have a trade show schedule,

Courtney Gray: You do good. Okay.

Roger Guesswein (2): And so that'll probably be out towards the end of the year, but

Courtney Gray: Yeah,

Roger Guesswein (2): in if you have any question about anything, even though it might seem tiny, it's fine. We just want to hear from you, learn about what you're doing, build a relationship,

Courtney Gray: Yes, there is so much benefit to working with a company that still has that in check, that we're able to actually to connect with a human right. No more robots, please. We get that with our insurance bills and all of the other day to day. To have a company that aligns with your values, that understands people and understands what we need as makers.

Thanks, [00:44:00] Roger. I appreciate having you today. This has been a blast.

Roger Guesswein (2): Thank you for having me.

Courtney Gray: We'll do this again. This is only the beginning, my friend, and there's so much more to share until then, keep making and aligning with the companies that, share the values that you do.

Really checking in with that. We'll see you next time. Onward and upward.

Roger Guesswein (2): Hi, this is Roger Gesswein.