The Money Maven: Dione Kenyon – President Of The Jewelers Board Of Trade
July 24, 11
With a background in the financial world, Dione Kenyon was a perfect pick to lead the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT), the industry’s dedicated credit and collections bureau.
How and why did you get into the jewelry industry?
It was not an intentional career design. In 1976, I joined a small family business that dealt with base metals. That company supplied materials to the fashion jewelry industry. In 1983, I moved over to Leach & Garner Company, which supplied materials to the precious jewelry industry. I learnt about the industry from a manufacturing and financial point of view as I worked for the treasurer and credit manager until 1989. In 1989, I moved to Fleet Bank, where I worked in the precious metal lending group for close to 10 years. I spent a lot of time in the New York market, again, primarily in terms of precious metal until we acquired the National Westminster Bank Diamond Group, which brought me new knowledge in this sector.
What was the progress to your current position?
Today, I run the Jewelers Board of Trade. I joined the organization in 2002 when the previous president passed away unexpectedly. I had served on the board in my capacity as an industry banker in the 1990s.
What does JBT do?
Briefly, JBT is a non-profit, member-owned organization that offers credit and collection services, and education about the two, primarily to the U.S. industry, but also to international businesses who want to assess the credit status of businesses in America. We are essentially the Dun and Bradstreet of the industry.
We promote industry welfare by providing credit services and industry data we gain from gathering this information. Our members confidentially share financial information with us about how businesses pay them and how it may affect the industry. We also do collections for our members when they encounter payment problems.
From an education perspective, we offer tips on how businesses can protect themselves. We maintain and distribute statistics from our database on such subjects as the numbers of active businesses in the US industry, new business openings as well as closings and bankruptcies, and credit rating trends.
What does your job entail? What is a “typical” day like?
If nothing else demands my attention, I spend the first part of the morning gathering news from the financial media and the trade press. I could then be in on a conference call or listening to company’s financial results calls. We publish a monthly industry overview report for our members so I could be working on that. I also spend a lot of time talking with members, industry colleagues, and working with our board and committees to which I devote significant time. There is also always something to be discussing with one of my six management colleagues.
I work on strategic initiatives, such as a current data mining project that will enhance our members’ future ability to draw information from our database. I also participate in a number of industry organizations and boards, so there is always something to be thinking about. And, I am helping the 42 people who work with me at JBT to find all the things they need and want to know to do their jobs effectively every day for our members.
 Dione Kenyon |
I think it is still a man’s world, but it is changing. It has changed incredibly in the 30-odd years I have been involved. The manufacturing side is still dominated by men, but there are women executives in some of these businesses and on the design side, but you don’t see many of them running the companies.
This is not just the case in the diamond and jewelry industry. Look at any manufacturing industry around the world and you won’t find many women. It’s hard to say if it is because they are not interested in making the choices and trade-offs to take these positions, or if their family obligations haven’t allowed them to.
Women can definitely contribute more. Jewelry is not just a commodity to be traded and sold based simply on cost to manufacture and price. It’s got an emotional and intangible value to factor in. The female approach could make a difference here because it’s primarily women for whom this product is designed, marketed and sold.
Do you think being female has either helped or hindered you in the industry? What have your experiences been as a woman in the industry?
I don’t think being female has hindered me. The men I have worked with have encouraged and guided me – and I have worked primarily with men. I wouldn’t say that all men are always comfortable with women, and I wouldn’t say there haven’t been times when I haven’t felt like an outsider, but the same would be true of men working in a majority female environment.
Back in the 1980s, when I was doing a lot of cold calling, I would hit the road and would be able to get appointments because I was a woman; there were some curiosity about me.
Where would you like to see more women participating in the industry?
I would love to see more women CEO’s bringing that female perspective to the industry. Women manage differently and they think differently. It’s not better or worse, but it does offer diversity of thought. In other industries, though, such as accounting there have been all sorts of programs to encourage and promote women, but they just don’t choose to persevere to the top. Some of the choices that women make influence this, an aversion to politics, the challenges of work life balance, and the incredible amount of time it really takes to build the relationships and knowledge to gain a top position and stay there.
Does JBT do anything specifically to help or encourage women in their career?
We do, probably somewhat because I am a woman. At JBT, and before in banking, I ensured that women (and men) got/get the flexibility to work at home, as well as flexibility in their hours, to manage the work life balance, which is not easy. I try to give women opportunities to grow and to learn. I have also supported the women in our company in terms of encouraging them to join other trade organizations, such as the Women’s Jewelry Association, and other organizations where they can get out and about in terms of networking. I am committed to doing that for the men at JBT as well, of course. Being a woman and having had a close to 35 year career, I also try to share what I have learnt along the way as a woman in business, with the women who work for me.
What has been the high point of your career so far?
I think that leading the JBT is a high point. It’s an opportunity to take everything I have learnt and to put it to work for the industry rather than working at a for profit company, which you have to manage to public company standards, dealing with government regulations and bureaucracy. At JBT, we are member-owned, member-driven and industry-driven and we can do what we think is best for the industry. It is not about earning profit, per se but about earning enough to keep the organization healthy enough to effectively fulfill its mission at a manageable cost for our members.
When I came to JBT, we had all the elements in place, but we had not been modernized in a lot of ways. We had a lot of data but it was not organized in such a way as to allow our members to gain the insight it can provide. I have had the great opportunity to bring the organization forward, but there is still work to be done. I would like to see JBT be a global business. We are beginning to build the foundations, but there is a lot more to do. I have a great team, a great board, terrific members and a great industry, with a lot of potential to do more to enhance industry welfare, the root of our mission.
Which woman do you most admire in the industry?
I have been in the business for so many years that it is hard to name just one. One of my early mentors, Nancy Brewer, started her own jewelry manufacturing business in the 1980s. She is a very good friend and a role model. The women who founded the WJA, especially the New England WJA, Tony Lynn Judd and Linda Goldstein. The WJA was the first organization I became a part of that had the purpose of networking for women in the industry. In manufacturing, Babette Cohen of I. B. Goodman & Co. Phyllis Bergman of Mercury Ring. Certainly Anna Martin a colleague on the banking side. We represented different banks but we were co-workers in lending to the industry. The leaders of some of the industry organizations today; Cecilia Gardner at the Jewelers Vigilance Committee; Ruth Batson at AGS and Donna Baker at GIA. Varda Shine I don’t know personally, but she is a powerful woman in an important company. Marcee Feinberg at Lazare Kaplan has also had a very important career.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
When you do become a woman leader in any industry, it’s a little lonely, and there is a different kind of network or support that you need to maintain. You have to keep developing yourself and keep learning from others who are leaders. You also have to mentor others.