My name is Ben Woerner, and I want to tell you about our family business. I was going to give you the typical who, what, when, where and why, but that information is available elsewhere, and it doesn't really tell you in a real way who we are. It can convey some shallow ideas about us, but it won't get to the core of our ethics. That is why I am going to tell you about my father, Geoff, the owner of our company.
My father wasn't always in the jewelry business, although his great-grandfather had been. Twenty-five years ago he was just entering the industry, much like I did just a few short years ago. At the time he was coming off of a series of long trips to Europe that he had taken my family on. My father isn't an overtly religious man. He won't thump a Bible or quote scripture at you. His faith is personal and private, like Thomas Jefferson's. Like Jefferson, his belief in the principle of freedom for all men is just as strong. I tell you this so that you'll be prepared to hear that for roughly four years my parents smuggled Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. My family lived in Vienna, Austria and my father drove a camper van designed for smuggling Bibles and printing plates all over Eastern Europe.
When he talks about those years it is obvious that he derived the most joy from seeing how happy he made the people when he gave them Bibles and printing plates. Those Bibles weren't just representative of a Christian belief. I firmly believe that my father and mother would've done the same thing if they had been Buddhists or Jewish. Those books and plates were essentially Freedom that they were handing out. They were giving the oppressed people of Eastern Europe the freedom to practice the religion that they desired.
My father is older, and no longer distributes printing plates as he jaunts around Europe. Because of the wisdom and foresight of the rulers of Europe he no longer needs to. Also he had a growing family he needed to provide for - it takes a lot to feed a boy who was 6'3" when he turned fifteen. His passion for helping went with him. He worked for years giving his all to both his family and the companies he worked for. He gave my sister and me the freedom to go to college, and my mother the freedom to go back and earn her doctorate. He gave the businesses he worked for the hardest work an honest man can provide. For years he was the go-to man for several companies that needed to turn failing stores around. He shared his ethics to his employees and his business sense helped straighten out the books where more sales wouldn't.
Just four years ago my father opened Cranstoun Court Jewellers. Finally, he was able to have a business of his own. From the start he worked on perfecting a business that would be able to give back to the community, as he had done previously on his own.
His hair is definitely grayer, he has more wrinkles, and he's not as spry as he was when he would carry me on his shoulders around the mountains in Austria. Today he believes more deeply than ever in the transformative powers of freedom and selfless giving. With his business he can accomplish both and not only give of himself, but help his customers give gifts that, while not as powerful as freedom, carry the gift of love.