In a landscape dominated by big box stores, how do small retailers not just survive but thrive? We’ll find the answers today as we chat with Stevie Cummins, the powerhouse behind Jewel of the West, to explore how independent stores can win in 2025. Listen in...

WESA Retail Roundup June 9, 2025

• Host: Glenn the Geek, Host of Horses in the Morning
• Facebook: Retail Roundup Facebook group
• Guest: Stevie Cummins of Jewel of the West | Facebook | Instagram
• Presented By: Western English Sales Association

Time Stamps:

00:11 - Introduction to the WESA Retail Roundup

00:34 - Strategies for Small Retail Success

11:55 - Marketing Strategies for Local Businesses

24:14 - The Importance of Authenticity in Merchandising

30:36 - The Importance of Positivity in Business

34:25 - The Importance of Reevaluation in Business

Takeaways:

• The podcast emphasizes the necessity for small retailers to adapt and innovate in an increasingly competitive marketplace dominated by larger corporations.
• Stevie Cummins of Jewel of the West highlights the significance of fostering a positive work environment and empowering employees to enhance customer service.
• Effective marketing strategies, such as soliciting genuine customer reviews and engaging in social media, can significantly boost a small business's visibility and sales.
• The discussion reveals that maintaining a unique and authentic brand identity is crucial for small retailers to differentiate themselves from big box competitors.
• Utilizing local advertising and community engagement activities can drive tourist traffic to brick-and-mortar establishments in small towns.
• The episode underscores the importance of resilience and a positive mindset for small business owners during challenging economic times.

Well, hi everybody.

Glenn the Geek, back with you.

Founder of the Horse Radio Network and host of Horses in the Morning, the longest running daily horse podcast, one of the longest running daily podcasts in the world at 15 years.

Welcome to the WESA Retail Roundup.

The Retail Roundup is your go to virtual hub for all things retail.

Join panel discussions, learn from webinars, share your thoughts, ask questions and connect with your community.

We host a virtual event on Mondays and share educational content with you every week via the Retail Roundup Facebook group.

If you're not a member yet, search for Retail Roundup on Facebook.

In a landscape dominated by big box stores, whether they're, you know, physical stores, brick and mortar stores, or online stores, how do small retailers not just survive, but thrive?

Stevie is the founder and creative force behind Jewel of the West, a western inspired boutique known for its unique creation, curation and fiercely loya customer base.

Stevie, where are you guys located?

We are in a little town in the Black Hills of South Dakota by the name of Hill city.

We're about 10 miles from Mount Rushmore.

Are you the only business other than Mount Rushmore in Hill City?

No, no, actually we have a really cute little downtown.

It's kind of one or two blocks long, but a lot of stores, art, galleries, restaurants, things like that.

We have strong traffic May mid May through mid October.

So about five months out of the year.

Are you open the other months?

We are, we are.

I do not own the building that we are in.

I rent and as you can imagine, the rent in a little tourist town can be pretty high as have all the other expenses gone up.

So there's no way I could survive if I didn't stay stay year round, stay open year round.

And we found some really great workarounds that we've built upon over the years that have really helped us succeed.

So you're brick and mortar and online?

Well, we don't have an online shopping cart website.

We have a website that kind of shows the vibe of our store and where people can go and schedule a virtual shopping appointment.

It also has a very robust calendar of events so that people can see what we have going on.

We do so much virtual, our virtual and our social media.

Honestly, they're probably responsible for 75% of our revenue throughout the year, including tourist season added in.

So we've really built upon that and it's been a huge Focus.

And we've stayed very consistent with it.

So that has been very helpful.

Well, that leads to the first question, right?

Is how do you compete with the Amazons and the big box stores of the world?

You know, how do you compete individually with that?

Yeah, well, I'll be honest.

You know, it can be hard at times.

One, we're pretty transparent here.

You know, sometimes you'll have a customer come in and say, well, I saw this online at their website for $5 cheaper than you're selling it.

And, you know, I'm just real honest with people that, you know, 90% of vendors sell direct to the end user.

And that can make it very hard for their wholesalers, you know, the people that buy wholesale, to sell retail.

Because we eat that freight coming to us and with what freight costs have done, I just can't eat them all or I won't stay alive.

So I'm just honest that I wish I could.

But this is, you know, recently I got in 29 boxes of boots and the freight on it was $497.50.

You know, I can't eat all of that and charge the same price they are.

So I'm honest and transparent with people.

But also I feel like we stand out in a lot of other ways too.

One I can honestly say, most importantly is the women that work for me.

I don't even know how to say enough about them that really, I don't even know how you put a value on them.

In South Dakota, the minimum wage is $11.50 an hour.

I start my employees at 15 an hour.

We never advertise that we have a job opening.

I would rather work 16 hours a day, seven days a week than have someone in our establishment that is not a good fit for the type of customer service element that we want to provide to our customers.

So pretty much all of our employees, they were either a really good customer that we reached out to, they were a referral by a good customer, or a friend of an employee that decided they wanted to come on board.

And what we have developed is truly a family here.

We give a different experience than I think you can get in most big box stores.

I don't know about you, but these days when I walk in a big store, I feel like I'm having to ask for someone to help me.

And even sometimes when you ask, you can't get the help.

And I've given up on that.

I never even just assume nobody's there to help you.

You just make that assumption, right?

You find it yourself.

A lot of times, yeah.

And a lot of times the younger folks, which I don't want to stereotype people because I've had some amazing young employees that left and went off to college.

But a lot of times, you know, they're busy on their cell phone and they don't even look up to acknowledge my age range currently of staff is 53 to 70.

I love it, isn't it?

And I feel like it comes from a generation that truly cares about the in person experience, the customer service element.

There is not a person that walks in our door that is not greeted and thanked for coming in and that is not thanked when they leave for stopping in whether they made a purchase or not.

And I love that about the women that work for me.

And I think that is one thing that really helps us stand out.

Another thing that has really helped us is the marketing company that I work with that manages my website.

They told me that if you could get more Google reviews it would help your business.

They said do not ask for good reviews, just ask for honest feedback.

And they said the more of those you get, the more it is going to drive people to your website when they're looking for a keyword like turquoise jewelry or what have you.

And so we started a thing.

One of my techie young gals that went off to college, she created a barcode for us and we do them on these fun little postcards.

We put one in every package.

Sometimes we'll hand them out to people that just come in to browse.

And it's got our return policy on there.

It takes this takes you right to our Google page where they can leave review and we just ask for honest feedback and tell them it really helps us if you tell us how we can improve what you enjoyed.

And we do a $250 gift certificate drawing every 100 Google reviews that we get.

And the marketing company actually used us as, what do I want to say, kind of an example to other clients because it's driving so much website.

We are sometimes in the first or second position when people search certain items.

Our tiny little store that's not even 1,000 square feet.

So that really helped us as well.

That's interesting because you know, one of the things we always said in business and marketing is you have to make it simple or they won't do it.

And what you've done is made it simple for them to do it.

Yes.

And we do our drawings live.

I use that wheel of names, you know, where you're em all in.

So People can see that it's fair and honest and it has really driven people to give us honest feedback and it's really helped out.

And I love how they're always giving a shout out.

If you go to our Google page, one of the overview things that Google says about us is that people comment on how lovely the staff is.

And you know, we're not pushy.

We let people know, you know, we want to help you just let us know if there's anything you'd like help with.

But we also don't breathe down their neck while they're shopping.

We let them enjoy the experience and kind of fill out the vibe.

Some people want you to engage with them from the minute they walk in and not ever let go of them.

And others, they just want to browse and be left alone till they're ready for something.

So.

So we try to read the room there.

But I feel blessed because truly I call my staff the jewels and they are amazing and they are worth gold.

And I think that is one way that you can really stand out as a smaller store instead of a big box.

You have control over who's hired and the type of vibe and the type of people and you know, with the servant's heart that are in there.

Instead of being put out and feeling like, you know, that's not my job, it just.

That is probably the biggest difference in our store is my staff.

So one of, you know, one of the things too that I think smaller stores, and I know we felt this too, you feel the pressure to that you need to kind of scale up.

You need more products to be competitive with the big box stores.

And that's killed a lot of stores too.

I mean that's, that's a temptation that gets you in trouble.

Yes, it does.

And it definitely can.

And things have not always been perfect.

There are times I've had to right the ship in different ways.

But I will tell you, you know, the one thing that's kept me grounded is money.

I don't have as much money as the big box.

Kind of grounds all of us, doesn't it?

Yes, it does.

Darn it.

Wouldn't it sometimes.

Unlimited checkbook.

But not the case.

But I think too what I love is that instead of trying to be everything to everyone, you figure out what your customers love the most.

And not just being a certain brand store.

It's fun because you can bring in all these different brands and just carry the most epic of what they have to offer.

And I think that's an opportunity where I Think depending how you look at that, to me it's an opportunity to outdo the big box store.

They might have more offerings, but not every single thing is amazing.

If you just really hone your eye in on what's most exciting to your customers, I think you can really see some good sales.

So you're in a location that brings a lot of tourists in for a certain period of time.

How do you get them to come in your store locally?

So let's, let's forget the Internet now.

Now you're, you're, you're brick and mortar in, in a local town.

And how are you getting to come in?

Is it just that they're walking by and they're going to stop in anyway because they're just hitting store to store to store?

Or are you doing advertising in the area?

How are you getting the word out?

I will tell you.

In our state, I advertise with Kello Land.

I absolutely have gotten so much bang for my buck.

Not only do they advertise in the entire state of South Dakota, it's a TV station that goes as far as Sheridan, Wyoming, which is three and a half hours from us.

It goes into Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, not the whole state, but the parts closest to our.

So it's a, it's a, it's a TV station.

It's a TV station and we do commercials.

But also once a month they have something that they do every week that's called Kello Land Living.

And it's like a program where all these different businesses get featured and it's six to eight minutes long, your segment is.

And they film it and it's where you can really talk about the heart of your store and what it is and what you have to offer and the things you're doing that has drove so much business for us.

And so that is where the bulk of my advertising goes.

And I assume it's in all the hotels that it's shown in all the hotels.

It is one of the main channels that most of the hotels put out, you know, like on their news and everything.

So it's, it's been good money.

And I'll be honest, I haven't had a lot of money to advertise other than that.

But we're very lucky because we are a small downtown.

And so the tourists, when they come, they do kind of start and go down one block and up the other side and we are blessed with a very good location.

I pay the highest rent in town, but I'm Kitty Corner from a world famous restaurant that is owned locally, that was started by a little German woman called the Alpine Inn.

And we also are directly like the railroad, the old Hill City Railroad.

It's a huge tourist attraction to ride that.

And when people get off the railroad and cross the street to come to downtown, that that street takes you right to the corner where we are.

So we are blessed with that.

We definitely pay more.

But it does help us out.

What's been your most successful social media?

Gosh, you know, I would say two things.

One is just we do very descriptive videos, and it's really prevented a lot of returns because I'll tell you, amongst designers and even within a designer's line, like in Double D Ranch, I have everything in my closet from a small to a 1x.

And just sizing can be all over the place on things.

And I'm not putting them down.

I'm just saying all designers are like that, you know, and even just from designer to designer.

And we've.

We hardly ever get a return or an exchange because of the description we put out there about the fit.

And we'd recommend going up or this piece is really not good for someone with large boobs, you know, or this looks better on someone with more of a boyish figure.

Not curves.

You know, we try to really just be authentic and honest.

So that has been helpful.

But the big event for us on social media is I grew up in a basketball family.

My dad was a basketball coach for over 35 years.

And March Madness, big thing in our household.

Big, big thing amongst my family.

And we decided to do March Madness thing every year.

We've done it three years now.

And we do it in correlation with one of our vendors, Juan Antonio, his great one of a kind handbag.

And we take photos of every handbag we have in store.

And we do brackets where we match them up against each other.

And we do a poll every day where people have to vote on their favorite bag.

And the winning bag advances to the next round.

And it's drove a lot of traffic because we'll give you an extra entry if you tag five of your friends.

That sort of thing.

That has been huge for us every year.

We've noticed major growth during that.

You know, it's huge because it's just fun, right?

I mean, it's just fun.

Yeah.

And someone's winning a handbag at the end of that.

You know, one of a kind, gorgeous leather handbag.

So that's probably been our biggest event.

I love that because it's so interactive.

And two things.

It's interactive, but it's, it's repeat interactive.

They're coming back to vote every time, so that builds over time too.

But people want to come back and vote every time because they want to see the one that they actually want to win as the winner.

It's a brilliant.

That's brilliant actually.

And a lot of times the one that wins sells during the contest.

So we always will pick another great bag.

We try to pick one that's, you know, going to appease most people.

You know, some people don't like fringe, some don't like cowhide.

So a lot of times we'll go with more of like a leather bag that's a little more common, you know, and stuff if the one that wins sells.

So, so what can you do merchandising wise in the store that's never different than the big box and maybe calls more attention to obviously the products with.

Do you, do you, do you merchandise in a way with the products with the higher margins?

Where, you know, do you, do you think about that?

We actually always try to.

First of all, once a week, every Monday, we change out all of our displays and we do that.

Which displays?

Let's clarify that because some stores can have a lot of displays.

Mannequins, where our clothing racks are, there's shelving on top of all of them.

And you know, we may have pillows and blankets up there or you know, we have a lot of those not full on mannequins, but like the shirt, the iron shirt stands that you can put a shirt or a blouse over and we'll pair it with a handbag and wallet, you know, and, and a hat or what have you.

And we just always try to change our displays.

We also try to mix, which is.

A lot of work.

It is, it's a lot of work and.

But it produces sales and it is.

We try to mix high end and more affordable pieces together so that not everything is super high end.

And it is a lot of work.

But I'll tell you, if you ever have a piece that's really fabulous and for some reason it's not selling, we'll move things around.

We do a floor reset every week where we just kind of change things up a little bit.

That way if you're in a period where you can't afford to get a lot of new merchandise in, it gives things a fresh look and makes people see it with a different set of eyes.

Is there one particular display that you that just, you know, did 10 times better than you thought it would or was Your best one of the year or whatever.

Was there one that stands out to you?

Well, I will tell you that we have this one employee that she just has this amazing style and some of the stuff she puts together, it's like, I would have never thought of that, but it's really good.

But we.

We name our mannequins.

We're kind of goofy here at work.

Work.

And Marilyn.

Marilyn's our mannequin that's about five feet in the door when you walk in, right before you turn to go to the cash.

She blonde and shapey, and she's headless, actually.

We always have a hat on her of some sort, you know, because she stops about right here and we just lay a hat there.

But she always puts something really fabulous and unexpected on that mannequin, and it just always seems to bring the comments big time.

And I'll be honest, I don't want to name throw, but I will tell you, Pat Danke, her pieces are so special.

And there's almost always a piece of Pat Danke on there.

Just something really unique that's maybe paired back to more everyday stuff.

But we have a lot of fun with Marilyn.

She's definitely our flashy model.

So obviously social media kind of helps you a little bit to level the playing field, even with some of the big ones.

Yeah, they spent a ton of money and all of that, but I still think that the smaller companies can get more engagement.

They may have, you know, a million followers on Facebook, but your company, I'm not saying you specifically, but, you know, everybody's company that has 50,000 can get more engagement than their millionaires.

You know, that's.

And actually Facebook, you know, they made some changes a couple years ago that really trashed our pages.

Right.

And we all had to get creative to.

To bring back the engagement.

But that allowed us to.

Right.

I mean, it allowed us to.

To level the playing field more.

And is that what you found?

I.

I do think so.

And one thing we really focus on is quick response.

We have done away with our landline in our store, and we have two cell phones.

We.

We transferred that landline number over and we have them in conjunction with each other.

It's two separate phone numbers.

So we've got two lines people can be calling in on or us calling out on, but we can.

It updates the social media, any texts going back, virtual shopping via text with customers.

So we try to really keep an eye on that.

The employees, somebody's always got one of the phones on them.

And when they get a Second, they're making sure.

I think being responsive is very important.

But I also think, you know, one of the things you were talking to me about was how do you feel like you can compete with the big box store?

And I kind of looked into, you know, when they made all those changes and things kind of crashed down.

I was like, maybe I need to hire an influencer.

And I quickly reigned myself in because I noticed two things.

One, I didn't have the money to hire an influencer.

And two, I gotta be honest with you that, that, that's not my customer and that's where I need to stay grounded.

I think it's amazing to see those beautiful reels that are real fancy and they have all these special features and highlights and all these things they do.

I'd have to go to college for six months to learn how to do all of that.

And we just have stayed really authentic.

And there are times we've done really well with our outfit of the day videos.

People are always saying, I loved what Stevie had on in that.

So we started like when I shot a video of something else.

So I've started doing an outfit of the day video every day and putting it up on my stories.

And you know what?

Some days I realize I haven't done that till I'm ready to go home.

And maybe it was a 14 hour day.

And we're all that age where having hot flashes and, you know, things.

We're not always looking so hot.

Sometimes I'm barefoot, my feet are tired.

We have kept it so authentic.

And that is one of our biggest compliments we hear over and over is that people say, I love how you guys are authentic.

You show the clothes on people that aren't a size 2, that aren't a 5, 10 size 2, supermodel with airbrushed makeup, you know, hey, sorry.

All I've got on is mascara today because I had a hot flash and the rest melted off.

I think that's really helped us is being authentic and really learning who is your customer.

And we have customers of all different ages.

But I would say honestly, our average customer is 45 to 65.

And so we're just trying to keep it real.

So it's interesting because with the Horse Radio Network, our listener base, which is tens of thousands, but they tend to be in the 40 to 70 range.

Women 40 to 70 is.

Tends to be who, who the.

Our active listeners are.

Yeah, yeah.

And, and that.

So that makes sense, right?

I mean, it does kind of make sense, I think for us and probably you that is coming down a little bit in age.

We're picking up more of the younger than we ever have in the past.

And I think that's because, you know, the whole world's catching up, right?

So, yeah, I agree.

And I think, too, you know, I think things have gotten a little crazy these last four or five years.

Oh, really?

And, yeah, just a little bit.

Anyway, I will tell you that I feel like the Western way of life, that down home, you know, giving thanks to God, you know, being grateful, it's really.

I feel like people want more of that in their life.

And I feel like it's become a life that is more appealing to a broader age range now.

And it's just grounded and it's wholesome and it's good and it's positive.

And I do think that's part of it, too.

That's.

That is what is driving more of an age range in there.

I think people are realizing after what we've been through that, wow, I want to be grounded a little more and have these roots and care about things that really matter.

And so I think in a way, that's been a blessing, too, for all of us in business.

You know, it's interesting, too, people whine all the time about the negative effects of social media, right?

But what they don't realize is it even younger people, teenagers or whatever, you're exposed to so much more than we ever were growing up, right?

I mean, we had the newspaper and magazines and tv.

That was it.

So you're exposed to so much more than you ever were before.

You're seeing things that you would have never seen 20 years ago.

So it does open it up more than it ever has in the past.

It's not all negative.

A lot of that's a positive because you are exposed to more than you ever were before.

I don't view that.

Yeah, there are negative aspects of anything, but I don't view that as a negative in this case.

I ran an acting company for 10 years pre Internet.

We would have done so much better had the Internet been around, because we could have been exposed so much more.

Right.

We had to do everything the hard way.

You know, we were advertising on radio and TV and newspapers.

Everything was harder.

You know, even selling tickets was harder.

So it has made doing business easier in many ways.

And also, you know, there are challenges that come with that, too.

It's keeping up with.

Keeping up with it all is the challenge.

But you're right.

And going back to what you said about doing those daily posts about the outfit of the day.

What we have found through all of our experiment, I'm part of the Equine Network, which is the largest network now for the media world in the horse world, period.

They own everything.

And what we have found is posts first thing in the morning with horse people.

It's between 6 and 7 o' clock and get 10 times more play than if you posted at 4 o' clock in the afternoon.

And we just found that that's the way it is, you know, we get a lot more play.

So now I'm at the point now even for Horse Radio Network, if I don't post it by 10 o' clock in the morning, I wait till the next day.

I don't even post it.

Yep.

Yeah.

Because I know it's going to get lost.

That's interesting you say that because that is kind of what we've noticed.

I'm an early riser, so I'm always up by 5am and I kind of have morning routine and I'm usually in a chair doing my to do list and my social media for the day between 6 and 7am before I go out to feed horses.

So that's interesting.

And another thing that you said really caught me when you said that everything was harder back in the day.

And I think sometimes, like when I was talking about employees and stuff, I don't ever like to stereotype anyone, but I do think that people of our age did have to work harder for things.

It wasn't.

You know, I see such a difference these days, even just at a high school level.

Used to if you were a good athlete and worked hard, you could get playing time at high school.

Nowadays, if your parents don't have you on these expensive travel ball teams, you know, that literally destroy any weekend time at all.

It's so expensive and everything.

But then maybe things come easier.

But back in the day, if that was how it would have been, that wouldn't have been me and my sisters.

My parents couldn't have afforded that.

And we just, I mean, I had two jobs in third grade, I had a paper route and I mowed lawns and I've just always been a hard worker.

And I don't know, there's something about that gratitude, that gratefulness level that comes out when you've really had to work hard for something and it means more.

And I love that.

There you go.

So we're running out of time.

Do you see?

Do you see opportunity, and what do you see?

Where's it fall?

I do see opportunity because I feel like this is an opportunity with things looking up.

First of all, I think every owner of small businesses needs to first look in the mirror.

You know, these last several years have been so hard that it's so easy to get down, feel defeated.

You've got to do a check and get yourself in place.

How bad do you want it and what is your attitude like?

This is an opportunity to.

To totally reset your attitude, to manifest amazing things for your business, your staff, everything, to reevaluate, you know, who is our customer, what do we want to be?

What do we want to focus in on?

It's really a time for reset and, you know, really think about what fun you can bring.

I think that is one reason we have a lot of people coming back to our business.

We do a lot of fun events for the locals.

In the middle of winter, when the weather's crappy and no one wants to get out and half the businesses are closed in town, we do a pajama party and we serve mimosas, and people come in in their pajamas and slippers, and we all drink mimosas and we take pictures and we give a killer prize to the person with the best pajamas.

We have so much fun in our store.

And I do, I feel like this year things are looking up.

So ride that wave, get on that wave of positivity and, you know, look up and be grateful and really figure it out what it is that you want to do.

And anytime you feel yourself maybe slipping back into that negativity, rein yourself in and refocus, because it does bring amazing things to a person.

And I feel like, too, that things have been tough and we're coming out of that really, really tough, bleak stuff, that if you just hang on and be positive, think of all the amazing things that are coming, and you don't want to waste all of that struggle bus you went through the last four or five years.

And so I just encourage everyone to find your passion, be positive, manifest awesomeness, and just look up and look ahead.

I couldn't agree more.

We, I always said, you know, I do some consulting, and, you know, I've owned a number of business over the years, some successful and some not.

As all of us that have been around for a long time, we owned a number of businesses, some are successful and some are not.

That's just the way it is.

But our thing, my wife and I always said, are we having fun?

Are we still having fun?

And the minute we said we weren't having fun anymore, that's when we sold the business or we moved on.

You know, and, you know, if you're not having fun, your employees aren't having fun, your customers are not coming back because they don't want to come to a place that's not fun.

Right.

But just what you said.

Yep.

And you're probably done.

Go find something then that is fun.

Go.

You know, it doesn't.

Because you're closing the business for whatever reason or selling it, doesn't mean that you failed.

It just means you've learned something and now you're going to go find the thing that is fun.

You know, I started the Horse Radio Network.

Now it's almost 18 years ago, and I started it because I wanted to have.

I was a performer and I wanted to have fun again.

I hadn't performed in a while, and, you know, that's why I did it, was to have fun again.

And, you know, this is the longest job I've ever had because, you know, because I'm still having fun.

And I think.

I think that's, you know, we talk about the money and all that stuff, but sometimes you're making money and not having fun, and then you have to look at that too.

You know, that's, you know, life is short.

Do we all want to just do something we're not having fun with for the rest of our lives?

Yeah.

That is so important.

It is.

And I do.

A time to reevaluate.

And as small business owners, we're lucky.

We get to make a lot of decisions that big corporate businesses, you know, they're being ruled by someone higher up that is maybe making decisions that the manager doesn't agree with.

And, you know, you're lucky because, as you know, we're lucky as small business owners, we can make changes, we can.

Write, while we're a lot more nimble.

Right?

Yep.

Yep.

That is one of the huge advantage.

That's probably the biggest advantage we have, is we're nimble.

I agree.

We can make a decision today and implement it tomorrow.

They make a decision today and implement it in six months to a year.

Absolutely.

You know, it's even like on an application for anything these days.

They want to know all these different things about you.

And, you know, I don't care what religion or what race someone is.

I want to hire people that have a vision and a heart that fits in in our establishment.

And I think that's where it starts.

You know, sit down and reevaluate.

Is who you have working for you really portraying the vision you have for your business?

Are they all in?

You know, and I just, I love that as a small business owner you get to make decisions that eliminate a lot of headache.

Other things might be harder in ways, but there's a lot of really positive things, a lot of them.

And then there's the 100 hour weeks.

Yes.

And I've done some of those.

Isn't it better when it's for yourself and you're building something for your family versus doing it for someone that you know, doesn't say thank you, maybe doesn't appreciate it, expects more.

Instead of saying thank you, good job.

They're like, why didn't you get this done too?

And I love that.

And I do think as a small business owner, you have to ask yourself, are you filling up your employees cups?

Do you, do you sandwich a piece of criticism between two pieces of praise?

Are you lifting them up?

Are you empowering them?

I just, I think it's so important.

I always knew if I could ever go in business by myself that the most important thing to me would to be that, to be the kind of boss I always wished that I had.

And I did have one or two bosses like that in my years of working.

And I feel very grateful for that.

Yes, we all had both.

Major difference.

Where can people find you?

People can find us on social media.

We're on Instagram and Facebook at Jewel of the West.

It's singular.

There's someone in North Dakota that's jewels, plural.

So you can find us there.

And Our website is www.jewelofthewest.com.

you can contact us through there.

You can read about our pillar project annual award we give out, which has been a huge thing for us.

You can schedule a virtual shopping appointment or check out how we do it.

It's really fun.

Not many people use our virtual calendar.

We do it through calendly.

We have a few use that but most people just call the store and sched one.

But yeah, you can definitely check out the vibe of our store and everything there.

Very good.

Thank you, Stevie.

Appreciate you being on with us today and thank you all for joining us for WESA's retail roundup.

We're only what, two months away from Dallas again?

Yeah, yeah, we're only two months away.

To to watch the retail roundups, check out the WESA trade show YouTube channel.

You can also find episodes on Wisdom by WESA podcast.

So if you want to listen to it on the Wisdom by WESA Podcast Feed, and they have a terrific podcast over there as well.

And on the WESA website@wesatradeshow.com Retail roundups will be published every week.

And you can subscribe by Wisdom by WESA on Apple, Music, Spotify, or any podcast player.

Don't miss out on the Retail Roundups here every Monday.

Thanks, Stevie.

Next time I come up.

Thank you so much to see the rocks.

I'll come over and say hi.

Okay?

All right.

That would be awesome.

We'd love to have you in.