Selling diamonds – meeting people
Jody Wainwright, joint managing director of the high-end jewellery business Boodles, finds that diamonds open the door for the gospel with some of the world’s most influential people.
He grew up in a ‘nice’ nominal Christian home; a ‘submarine Christian’ who popped up at Christmas and maybe at Easter, but without changing how he behaved the rest of the year. He became a Christian at the age of 19 ‘by mistake’. He went to church while he was waiting for some friends and decided not to be cynical. He realised that he believed in Jesus. ‘As soon as I opened my heart he just came pouring into my life.’
Jody soon realised he wasn’t meant to join the army, which was where he was heading, but he worked in Oxford for a year. ‘I was around some wonderful Christians at St Aldates who were able to teach me about the Bible.’
He then went to Bible School in London and learned to wrestle with apologetics – learning how to defend the faith. Planting churches as part of London’s Kensington Temple and experiencing the power of God at work meant he thought he might be ordained, but being a pastor wasn’t for him. Instead he asked his father for a trial year in the family business, joining a sixth generation in the company which designs, makes and sells luxury jewellery.
Jody is sometimes criticised for working with such wealth when there is so much poverty, but he is confident in his calling: ‘I feel [God’s] blessing in what I do; I feel it is a vehicle for all sorts of activity that the Lord uses.’
As an extrovert and an evangelist he discovered that he loved the work. He started selling as one of a team. Five years later he and his wife Kirsty and went to Dublin where he ran a shop for three years. There was no support network for Kirsty with three small children; the work took all of Jody’s time. In the face of those challenges, they decided that they needed time away to work on their marriage so Jody left the job.
They went to do five months with YWAM: ‘The Lord humbled us and built our marriage back,’ he says. Then ‘God very clearly called us back into the business.’
They went back into Boodles 13 years ago, having sorted out various issues in their lives and relationship. In March 2024 Jody became joint managing director of the business with his cousin and is facing new challenges and openings.
He has learned to ‘let go and let God’. He trusts God to direct his steps in all of life – the business included. When the opportunity arises to talk about his faith he makes a point of ‘spilling the beans’ about being a Christian then trusting God to give him the words to say next. In business, opportunities to tell someone about Jesus Christ are fleeting, he says. You need to practise looking out for them.
Compassion is important too, he adds. Conversations with colleagues often start with updates on family news rather than getting straight to business matters. He also tries to discern what God might be saying through him when he meets people. Jody realises that the diamonds and jewellery he sells give him a massive influence with people no one else could meet. Opportunities he welcomes, even if it isn’t great for business.
You can hear more of Jody’s story in an interview with Roy Crowne in the Gospel Entrepreneurs podcast series here.