Sales Strategy
Jimmy DeGroot: What’s Next? Isn’t About Retirement, It’s About Purpose | June 23, 2025 (0 comments)
Appleton, WI--If you’ve ever caught yourself daydreaming about retirement—fishing pole in hand, business in the rearview mirror—this one’s for you. In our latest Slow Growth podcast, Kyle Bullock and I sat down to talk about Jesse, a jewelry store owner from Abilene, Texas, who’s beginning to wonder about retirement.
Jesse’s built a good team, he's still heavily involved in the day-to-day, and he says he’s starting to think about retiring in a few years … maybe. But the bigger issue isn’t when or even how, it’s why. What does life look like after retirement? What would he do with his time? That’s where many owners hit a wall.
To help unlock purpose, we discussed one of our favorite tools: the obituary exercise. You write your own eulogy. It’s not grim—it’s grounding. Ask yourself: “What do I want people to say about me when I’m gone?” and “How have I impacted my world or those around me?” That answer reveals your true values. Once you have that, you can reverse-engineer your life, your business and your time to match.
It’s okay if your vision is simple.
Melissa from Pecos, Texas, wants to sunset her store someday and keep serving her community. Others want to build nonprofits, sell the business to their employees, mentor young people, or just take Fridays off to golf. The key is to define it, own it and move toward it with a plan.
Kyle said it best: “If you don’t have a big why—or a big pain—you won’t make change.” And that’s true for all of us.
So, to every jeweler wondering about the next chapter, don’t start with strategy. Start with your why.
Then go be amazing.
James (Jimmy) DeGroot is a professional jewelry sales and operations trainer from the jeweler’s side of the counter. Having been in management and the jewelry business for over 20 years, Jimmy offers weekly training to jewelers nationwide via the Train Retail website. Jimmy is an AGS titleholder and specializes in training relevant and timely methods for jewelry teams. He can do a full training on making Bridal Presentations the best they can be, among many other regular training options. Contact Jimmy at jimmy@trainretail.com or call 920-492-1191.