After years of moving from city to city with his family as a child, Tony Chang spent most of his youth in the southern California city of Ranchos Palos Verdes. Upon his high school graduation, Chang set off on a path to earn himself a graduate’s degree. Along the way, however, he slowly began to realize that this path may not be the one for him. Coming to these realizations also meant Chang was coming to face the fear of starting over in his career path. “Honestly, it was horrible and challenging,” Chang shares. Acquiring a desire for financial freedom after reading Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad, Tony began taking the right steps to entrepreneurship.
The path was not easy for Tony Chang, though. He spent time as a realtor with Keller Williams and time working at a local 24-hour Fitness, but never quite felt like he was fitting in. “I struggled to find myself. I struggled to find out what I wanted to do. I struggled to make a name for myself.” Facing fiscal, spiritual, and emotional grievances in his life, Chang was not sure where to turn next. “I went through a period where I had a negative balance in my checking account and had to use my points from my credit card to keep afloat,” he shares. “The most difficult challenge I am so happy to have overcome is really having self-worth, self-confidence, and self-acceptance to put myself out there for the world to experience.”
Chang’s life turned on a dime after a chance run-in with the CEO of Ablaze International Corporation. Six years of working for Ablaze gave Chang the necessary education and experience in the jewelry industry, as well as entrepreneurial confidence, to finally make the life-changing decision to become his own boss. In 2018, Tony Chang founded Super Jewelry Co. and began building a worldwide brand that sells 10K and 14K fine real gold jewelry and custom pieces. The southern California entrepreneur has created a brand identity that puts the customer first. “I get back to my clients within 24 hours after they have contacted me. I make it easy for them to do business with me by interacting with them as I would a friend,” Chang states.
Now a well-established and recognized jeweler himself, Tony Chang shares that his path to success was not the easiest. “I went through mental breakdowns because I was so used to being an employee but, when I got into business for myself, I literally had to put my old-self and mentality to death,” recalled Chang. His biggest tip to young entrepreneurs, though, is to not rely on yourself to do all the work. “You'll have more fun and manifest your goals faster with a great team of people, even friends, who share the same vision as you.” The budding jeweler is set for massive success if he continues to play his cards right.