 A
New York native, Gregory Jezarian had traveled down
many paths before his entrepreneurial spirit led him
to found G. Jezarian; Purveyor of Fine Jewelry. As a
teenager, while most of his peers were maneuvering through
high school, Gregory was also maneuvering formula cars
through the amateur auto racing circuit. “At that
time I always wanted to be a racing driver and when
I got the opportunity to get my feet wet, I dove in.”
Starting out on his father’s Formula Ford team,
he immediately caught the racing bug and immersed himself
working toward his goal of becoming a professional racer.
When time came for college, he was tapped by New York
racecar builder Mayo Enterprises and offered a place
designing and building Formula cars and racing in a
Formula 2000 championship series.
Although dropping everything else to chase a dream may
seem daunting, Gregory had no second thoughts. “It
was a once in a lifetime chance I had to take. When
my father was that age, he was sent to Vietnam where
he earned a bronze star and a purple heart. His dreams
were put on hold. I was very fortunate; I owed it to
my Dad and myself to follow mine.”
He spent the next several years pursuing his goal and
traveling the country meeting some of the most fascinating
people involved with racing. Having a degree of success,
Jezarian Racing won a championship in 1991 and a runner
up in 1992, at which time he enrolled in college full
time.
During his freshman year, he was employed by a stock
brokerage firm and shortly thereafter earned his license.
“I didn’t like the job at all but I learned
enough to begin trading stocks on my own which I did
all throughout college. I knew I wanted to work for
myself and deal directly with my clients. Once you get
paid to do something you love to do, nothing else will
suffice.”
The jewelry business seemed the logical choice.
After graduating from university with his business degree,
he enrolled in courses at the Gemological Institute
of America (GIA) where he mastered the finer points
of gemology and the jewelry business. G JEZARIAN Purveyor
of Fine Jewelry was the fruit of his labor.
“When I meet with a client, they are usually about
to embark on the happiest moment of their life. I love
to see the excitement in the future groom’s eyes
when he finds the perfect diamond. I love to hear the
stories of how they met, how he’ll propose. Later
I meet the bride to be. I can almost feel the excitement
in her voice. There’s nothing like being there
when two people in love are just starting their lives
together. But the truly special part of my job is knowing
that throughout their journey as husband and wife, a
small piece if me is with them always. That’s
why I always do my best for them.”
His efforts are working. Gregory has been to nearly
a dozen states and two countries including Hong Kong
to meet with clients. “It’s amazing how
my clients refer people to me. I am honored. I’ve
been flown literally all over by clients to meet with
them for their jewelry needs. Because of my proximity
to the source, financially it’s more advantageous
to bring their jeweler to them than to shop elsewhere.
And when you add the fact they get to work with someone
they trust, I think being the family jeweler sometimes
feels like being part of the family.”
So with the jewelry business on the rise and as G.JEZARIAN
makes happy couples even happier, what are the chances
of seeing Gregory back in a racing car? “I’ve
tried everything from skydiving, motorcycle road racing—I
even passed my FAA written test to become a private
pilot but when you’ve driven a formula car, it
stays with you. I think it’s just a matter of
time before I will revisit racing as a hobby.” |
