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January of 2018 started out looking bleak for me. The
Mark Villanueva with General
Patraeus while serving in the Army
in Konduz, Afghanistan
Page 12
company I was working for as a store gemologist
informed me that I needed to transition from an
employee to a contractor. Late last year, I went
from salary to hourly, lost health and education
benefits, and now I was being turned from a full-
time employee to a contractor.
I made the decision to go out on my own and
build my own business and was thinking about
where to start. I had made a little desk top wood
game for a friend of mine that is also a Gemologist /
Jewelry Appraiser, Peggy Rainbow from Worthmore
Jewelers. I gave it to her as a gift to thank her for her
support over the past year.
I decided to post that little Gem Jumper game I made
for Peggy on the JHJ feed to see if there would be any
interest from the group. Within one hour I had 33 stores
email me placing orders for a total of 113.
By noon on that same day that I found myself unemployed,
we had orders for more than 400 Gem Jumpers and I
told my wife when one door closes another opens. I am
having requests from jewelers who are interested in using
the Gem Jumpers for marketing and want to include their
Facebook/Instagram information on the game along with
their company logo at the top.
All I can say is “Thank You, JHJ!” I can’t believe all of this
happened to me on the very same day I was released from
full time employment. The Gem Jumper games are priced
at $10 (plain game) and $15 (with logo info), and the
game pegs have stones that emulate natural gemstones.
The game board is stained and clear coated.
Want to place an order for Gem Jumpers? Email Mark at
tymegems@hotmail.com or call 281-707-5002
Mark Villanueva R.G.A., C.S.M.P., A.J.P.
Gemologist / Jewelry Appraiser
Tymegems
7250 N. Mesa Street
PMB #19
El Paso Texas 79912