I recently interviewed one of our great customers, Brandon Alford, owner of Duff’s Fine Jewelry in Flower Mound, TX and The Exchange Gold Stores, with several stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Whether you’re looking for unique, custom jewelry for a loved one, or selling unwanted gold, silver, or coins… Brandon is the man to see! Here’s what he had to say…

How did you find yourself in the business you’re in?
I earned my business degree from Sam Houston State university in 2005 and went from there to play professional baseball for the Cincinnati Reds for a couple of years from 2005-07. My dad had started Duff’s Fine Jewelry in Flower Mound, Texas in 2001 and had always wanted to keep it as a family business. I left baseball and began working with him until we opened The Exchange Gold Stores, the first of which began in Denton in 2008. We’ve opened up three additional gold exchange stores since then. In 2012 I purchased Duff’s Fine Jewelry from my parents and have been working all them since then.

Within the jewelry industry, what do you specialize in and what is most in demand?
We specialize in custom bridal jewelry and in pre-owned Rolex watches. In fact, I’m the largest dealer of pre-owned Rolex in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex currently. I’ve actually changed the way we connect with our buyers through relying on more internet marketing and mobile visibility than in previous years. It has proven to be very effective for us. Most jewelers in our area have not caught up on that yet.

Sum up your philosophy in doing business.
The words we live and work by are honesty, integrity and reputation. We take those very seriously. We realize people want this from businesses, especially in the jewelry and gold exchange industry. We’re proud of the referral and repeat business we’ve generated through this way of doing business. And in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, we seem to connect better with our North Texas customer base than many non-traditional Texans in our industry.

What do you like best about what you do?
I love the variety in the clients I deal with and the pace of our business. I sometimes never know what to expect of the day when I open those doors. I love it when we’re filled up wall to wall in the jewelry store and we’re helping everyone with what they’re looking for. Holiday seasons are huge for us of course, and my staff does a really good job. I always try to maintain a positive attitude at everything I do. I was told long ago that 90% of the success in your life is brought about through a positive attitude.

Name a public figure (business or otherwise) you admire most and why.
I would say my father is who I admire the most. He started as an entrepreneur at the age of 18. In business, he’s always shown me that you work hard and take risks. He’s lost and won at different times, but he showed me that it was all part of the process. As a business owner, I’ve learned that you get up everyday and bust your butt to get things done. It takes no less than that, but the rewards have been tremendous.

I love to hear about the success of our customers and hope to feature more future interviews! If you’d like to learn more about Brandon’s businesses, visit his web-sites at http://duffsjewelry.com or http://www.theexchangegoldstore.com.