BY STEFANIE POHL | PHOTO BY MATEO DONINI
CATRINE AND CHRISTINA MEDAWAR CO-OWNERS, MEDAWAR JEWELERS Medawar Jewelers has been a midMichigan gem for over 40 years. The family’s introduction to the jewelry business began in 1920 thanks to renowned watchmaker and master craftsman Chakib Medawar. Continuing the legacy, watchmaker and master jeweler Pierre Medawar opened the first Lansing-area store in 1978. Alongside Catrine Medawar, Medawar Jewelers grew to five locations across Michigan. Pierre and Catrine’s two children, Christina and Jon-Pierre, are now taking the reins, bringing their own talents in design and marketing to the multigenerational family business. Catrine and Christina shared their thoughts on working together in a family business and what is on the horizon for Medawar Jewelers in 2020.
YOU AND YOUR BROTHER JON-PIERRE ARE THE THIRD GENERATION OF THE MEDAWAR JEWELERS FAMILY. WHAT ARE YOUR ROLES IN THE BUSINESS? Christina Medawar: About four years ago, my brother and I officially took over our family business. We have done a lot more with social media and social advertising. 28
In our business, a lot has been changing over the past few years. Jon-Pierre and I are really excited to be part of this new industry of jewelry and having our parents backing us up. We definitely still need them. They are so wise and know so much about the business and jewelry itself. In our industry, I feel like we’re going back to the ’70s, with custom design work and not the mass production of the ’90s. My dad started off doing what we are trying to do right now with custom design, so it’s been really cool to see things come full circle. As far as our roles, Jon-Pierre is the creative director. Our goal is to create 99% of the things that are in the store — we’re about 70% there right now. Every piece of inventory goes through him, and he does a lot of the repair work, as well. We have master jewelers in every location, but Jon-Pierre oversees that part. I focus on customer service, social media work, HR and charity events.
WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF WORKING WITH FAMILY? Christina Medawar: Working with family is the best. We have a trust that you don’t have with anyone else, and that trust is really important. My brother and I have always been very close, so being able to have him as a partner is wonderful. We
G R E AT E R L A N S I N G B U S I N E S S M O N T H LY
FEBRUARY 2020
Juan Trevino, Christina, Pierre, baby Joaquin, Catrine, Jon-Pierre and Veronica
can get on each other’s nerves, but the nice part about it is we sort of mull it over and a day later it’s fine. In our family business, having our parents be there for answering questions and as a guidance is very helpful. I also love all of our employees, and they’ve truly become like family. Catrine Medawar: The best part of working with family is the fact that you are working with people you trust and people you already have an established relationship with. You love them, you care about them and they’re in your closest circle. You know that they understand you more than the average person. Sometimes working with family – they know what you’re thinking and feeling, as opposed to people you don’t know as well. Overall, working with family has been one of our strengths. For Pierre and me, working with our kids has been the best thing ever. One, we get to see them and communicate with them. I love calling Christina or having her call me 15 times a day. It’s amazing.
ARE YOU HOPING THAT YOUR SON MIGHT BECOME THE NEXT GENERATION OF FAMILY WORKING IN THE BUSINESS? Christina Medawar: I’m going to treat it the way our parents treated it for us. They
