1 hr 13 min
#302 - Don Zale - Former Chairman of Zale Corporation - A Great American Business Story That Brought Diamonds To The Masses The Fort - An Entrepreneurship Podcast
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- Entrepreneurship
Growing up in Wichita Falls, Texas, Donald Zale watched his father, a Russian Jewish immigrant from an orthodox family, turn a small jewelry store into the Zale Corporation. Don worked alongside his father in the jewelry store and assumed the role of chairman of the board in 1980.
In addition to being a successful businessman, Don and his wife, Barbara, became known as a philanthropist, using their wealth to help build hospitals, fund scholarships and aid the homeless. Don works chiefly on his family’s foundation, which funds community services and programs involving health, education, and Jewish heritage across several states.\\
On this episode, Chris and Don discuss:
The founding story of Zales and growing up in the family business
The diamond industry
Managing shareholders within the family alongside external shareholders
Zale's hostile takeover and being pushed out
Life lessons for listeners
We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.
https://www.thefortpod.com/survey
Topics
(00:02:28) The founding of Zales
(00:13:38) The power of relationships
(00:15:13) The biggest changes from the 40s to today
(00;16:52) Don’s relationship with his father and experiences growing up in the business
(00:24:38) When did the business really start to take off?
(00:29:47) The shift to focusing on Diamonds
(00:37:21) How do you think about marketing?
(00:39:27) Lessons learned growing up in a family business
(00:42:32) Managing shareholders within the family as well as external shareholders
(00:43:41) Don on Zale’s hostile takeover
(01:03:38) The potential in the diamond industry
(01:06:59) Life lessons for listeners
Support our Sponsors
Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital
Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/
Chris on Social Media:
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd
Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX
Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys
Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0
Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO
The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts
Growing up in Wichita Falls, Texas, Donald Zale watched his father, a Russian Jewish immigrant from an orthodox family, turn a small jewelry store into the Zale Corporation. Don worked alongside his father in the jewelry store and assumed the role of chairman of the board in 1980.
In addition to being a successful businessman, Don and his wife, Barbara, became known as a philanthropist, using their wealth to help build hospitals, fund scholarships and aid the homeless. Don works chiefly on his family’s foundation, which funds community services and programs involving health, education, and Jewish heritage across several states.\\
On this episode, Chris and Don discuss:
The founding story of Zales and growing up in the family business
The diamond industry
Managing shareholders within the family alongside external shareholders
Zale's hostile takeover and being pushed out
Life lessons for listeners
We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners.
https://www.thefortpod.com/survey
Topics
(00:02:28) The founding of Zales
(00:13:38) The power of relationships
(00:15:13) The biggest changes from the 40s to today
(00;16:52) Don’s relationship with his father and experiences growing up in the business
(00:24:38) When did the business really start to take off?
(00:29:47) The shift to focusing on Diamonds
(00:37:21) How do you think about marketing?
(00:39:27) Lessons learned growing up in a family business
(00:42:32) Managing shareholders within the family as well as external shareholders
(00:43:41) Don on Zale’s hostile takeover
(01:03:38) The potential in the diamond industry
(01:06:59) Life lessons for listeners
Support our Sponsors
Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital
Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/
Chris on Social Media:
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd
Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX
Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys
Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0
Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO
The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts
1 hr 13 min