59 Millennium - Twenty-first Edition BUSINESS, FINANCE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Mr. Austin is proud to have developed Austins Fine Jewelry into a provider of unique services, including dedicating his showroom space to fine jewelry and pre-owned jewelry. Mr. Austin began collecting rings shortly after he opened the store and now has almost 10,000 rings and ring-related items, all of which are displayed in his ring museum. Outside his work in gemology, he remains an avid collector of works by regional painters and enjoys driving the original 1953 Pontiac that has become his signature. While proud of his professional achievements, Mr. Austin considers his marriage to his wife, Kathy, to be his greatest accomplishment, and attributes his success to her ongoing support and the stability that her career as a nurse practitioner provided for their family. After leaving Glenn Cutter’s Jewelry Store in 1988, Mr. Austin applied for unemployment but understood that his goals had shifted to include becoming the owner of a jewelry store. He pursued distance learning to become a certified gemologist with an eye toward being able to accept jewelry trade-ins and perform appraisals. Mr. Austin worked out of his home for four years while studying to be a gemologist. In 1992, he opened a small store to establish his business. In 1996, he was able to purchase a commercial building from the former owners of a local jewelry store, and he has remained in the 1,000-square-foot space ever since. He continues to operate the store himself, working four days per week, and plans to transition to a three-day workweek in the coming years as he approaches what he considers retirement.
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