Kelly Putter

Contributor for Yahoo Canada

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The power of ADHD is being harnessed by entrepreneurs

Today’s successful entrepreneur might possess an MBA, well-connected parents and plenty of chutzpah, but there’s one often misunderstood component and it goes by the four-letter acronym known as ADHD.

Experts say Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurological condition shared by most entrepreneurs, some of whom have a knack for controlling their ADHD so they can foster success in their professional lives.

“I bet 80 per cent of entrepreneurs have it,” says Dr. Ned Hallowell, a U.S. psychiatrist and leading authority on ADHD. “Although way fewer have been diagnosed with it. Almost every entrepreneur I meet has it and when I talk to groups of entrepreneurs and describe ADHD they’re all jumping out of the chairs saying that’s us.”

Many of ADHD’s traits are those needed to win in the business world: creativity, high energy, risk tolerance, quick thinking, multi-tasking and resilience. Or, as Hallowell puts it, it’s like having a Ferrari engine for a brain with bicycle brakes. Some manage to harness its power, while others fail.

ADHD impairs how people manage their attention. Some people with ADHD flit from one thing to another, others hyper focus. What makes it tricky to diagnose is that many of its long list of symptoms can be thought of as extreme forms of normal behaviour. Ever been called a chatterbox? Told you have ants in your pants? Are you forever losing your keys and missing appointments? Do you blurt out your thoughts or do things before thinking them through? Do you spend a lot of time daydreaming or playing video games? Are you easily distracted, overly sensitive and forgetful? They may be signs of ADHD, or not.

Conservative estimates peg four to five per cent of the population as having the condition. It’s commonly believed to be a disorder that only children have, but adults do, too. And don’t let the acronyms fool you. ADHD and ADD are one and the same. Medical professionals generally refer to it as ADHD, while media, educators and entertainers seem to prefer ADD because it’s easier to say and remember. October is ADHD awareness month in Canada.

In good company

After years of struggling with anxiety and depression, scattered and impulsive thinking and being a workaholic, comedian Rick Green was diagnosed at 47, shortly after his son had been diagnosed with the disorder, a common occurrence as ADHD is highly hereditary.

“I went through life in a wrestling match with an invisible opponent,” says the now 62-year-old Green, who today uses his comedy to tell others about ADHD. “And the thing about that was I didn’t even know I was in a wrestling match. I just thought this is what life is like for everyone and it’s not.”

HealthGrove | Graphiq

An adrenaline junkie, he excelled as a comedic actor, writer and producer, co-creating and performing on The Red Green Show and TVO’s Prisoners of Gravity. Despite his success, fits of unproductiveness plagued his career.  Why he could never complete the many movie screenplays he’d started became apparent after his diagnosis. They would take months to write, an insufferable amount of time to the mind of someone with ADHD, who bore quickly and are easily distracted. Green excelled at skit writing, a comparatively quicker though equally challenging craft.

“Anything I was successful at I could make sense of and the things where I struggled, like trying to finish a screenplay, never happened,” says Green. “And I could see why and let go of the guilt and take all that energy to other projects.”

ADHD Awareness Month In 1 Minute from TotallyADD.com on Vimeo.

Green’s website TotallyADD.com is filled with witty videos, blogs, and webinars. In operation since 2009, the website is on track to hit two million visitors this year. A labour of love, Green says at one point, he had to sell his house to keep the website up and running. Books, DVDs and merchandise are for sale on the site, but there’s plenty of free information, including a coaching directory and chat forums. He also offers presentations, workshops and talks on ADHD and his currently performing his one-man show on the subject, titled My Award-Winning Coast-to-Coast Mental Disorder.

Other entrepreneurs who have the disorder include:

[Cameron Herold (Twitter)]

Cameron Herold has built three companies beyond the $100 million mark. Previously vice president of Ubarter.com and COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, he is now chief operating officer of coaching company BackPocket.

[Richard Branson (Time)]

Virgin Airlines founder Richard Branson, who quit school at 15 and had trouble into his fifties distinguishing the difference between the terms gross and net, is a wealthy adventurer who leads an empire comprising more than 400 companies.

[David Neeleman (L), Chairman and CEO of JetBlue Airways, shows Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (R) some of the features of a JetBlue aircraft at O’Hare Airport October 26, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)]

JetBlue Airways founder David Neeleman told ADDitude magazine: “If someone told me you could be normal or you could continue to have your ADD, I would take ADD.”

[Paul Orfalea, Todd Zeile and Natalie Orfalea during Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Annual Gala at Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, United States. (Photo by E. Charbonneau/WireImage/Getty)]

Kinko’s founder Paul Orfalea struggled with severe dyslexia and ADD/ADHD as a child, which made it impossible to follow along in the classroom.

[Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, is seen after being presented the Lifetime Achievment Award by Princess Victoria of Sweden at the Swedish Chamber of Commerce Centenery Celebrations on May 12, 2006 in London, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)]

Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish founder and chairman of IKEA stores, stated he adapted the inner workings of his business to compensate for his ADHD and dyslexia.

According to Forbes.com, research suggests that a tendency to be self-employed and an entrepreneur is dominant in those with ADHD.  A notable U.K. study showed a genetic link between a dopamine receptor gene variation associated with ADHD and the tendency to be an entrepreneur. Sensation seeking, common in ADHD, is more common among entrepreneurs than in the general population and anecdotal reports bolster this point, saying that people with ADHD are three times more likely to own their own business.

Making the most of ADHD in business

So if entrepreneurial ADHD is a real thing, what can people with ADHD who aren’t the Richard Bransons or David Neelemans of the world, do?

Learn to create systems and delegate mundane tasks to an assistant or partner, recommends Linda Walker, a Montreal-based ADHD coach whose specialty is entrepreneurs. Find someone to do the paperwork or administrative work. Typically, these business bright lights aren’t short on good ideas, but they have difficultly executing their schemes, trouble with time management and they bore quickly with routine tasks. Something as basic as accounting could derail an entrepreneur’s grand plan.

“It’s not a lack of will that makes them have difficulty writing a proposal it’s just a question of ‘where do I start?’” she says. “We look at energy patterns. When are you most able to focus and focus for a long time? How can we optimize those periods of the day? ADHDers are very much powered by interest, competition, novelty and sometimes urgency.”

Hire a coach, eat a balanced diet, exercise, meditate, try medication, find the right career or business and find the right life partner are all on the to-do list of the entrepreneur with ADHD. Left unchecked ADHD can lead to a slew of issues that include addictions, anxiety, depression,  impulsive spending, frequent accidents, poor relationships and underachievement at school, work and at home.

Getting the medical profession to grasp ADHD is a big part of the problem, says Hallowell, who believes physicians and psychiatrists often misdiagnose ADHD for other conditions.

“I can fill many buildings with Nobel prize winners, Pulitzer prize winners and self-made millionaires and billionaires who have ADD,” Hallowell says. “The diagnosis can truly change your life dramatically for the better. Don’t be afraid of it.”

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Reno consultants aim to stop home owners from getting ripped off

[Getting a good contractor is tough, and sometimes you need someone to point you in the right direction. (Getty Images)]

A bankrupt contractor left Sally Jacquart and Russ Visch high and dry last year in the midst of a home renovation that ended up spiraling into a much bigger job thanks to the builder’s neglect.

Initially, the Toronto couple put up with the work delays, thinking that was business as usual until the builder opened the roof above their kitchen which caused more damage from rain. After nearly four months and a cost of $50,000, they’d had enough and decided to fire their contractor. Then they got word that he’d gone bankrupt.

“We were shocked and we didn’t know what to do,” says Jacquart. “Honestly, we were very nervous about hiring someone as the only yardstick we had to measure was the one we chose the initial contractor with. How could we trust our own judgment to pick somebody else, especially when we had no room to lose more money?”

They turned to The Reno Coach, a service offered by Toronto’s Reiner Hoyer, a former contractor, who now acts as a third- party advocate on behalf of the homeowner, ensuring that the reno, no matter how big or small, goes smoothly. The going rate for a reno coach or consultant is in the neighbourhood of $150 to $200 per hour but Jacquart says it’s money well spent. Not only did Hoyer give them peace of mind with his experience and advice, he managed to save them money in the long run.

“He really put our minds at ease in terms of feeling we’d connected with someone who was on our team and who would advocate on our behalf,” says Jacquart. “The magic with him is the connections he has and the relationships he builds so we know we can trust these people.”

Renovation consulting is a relatively new niche service that proponents expect will grow right alongside Canada’s booming home renovation industry. Canadians spent a record $53 billion on renos last year, according to a Scotiabank construction report. Hoyer believes Toronto’s super hot real estate market coupled with the popularity of home renovation shows on HGTV and other networks have fueled interest.

A renovation consultant often steps in once a project has gone wrong or a relationship between the homeowner and the contractor has soured. But they’re much more than hand-holders. They will assist with jobs big and small from helping you locate that funny smell in the basement to million-dollar renovations. Besides helping ensure your project is done on time and within budget, a reno coach can also meet with contractors to discuss design plans, review estimates, arrange schedules with builders, conduct inspections, solve problems, help resolve disputes with contractors and design maintenance plans for your home.

While some question their value, saying they do the same work of a contractor or designer, reno consultants boast that it’s their impartiality and the fact that they’re not selling you any extras other than their services that sets them apart.

“I’m not selling you flooring or kitchen cabinets and I’m telling you here are the important design considerations and options,” says Jeff Clarke, president and CEO of the Toronto-based Renologic.ca. “Since we’re not trying to sell you anything, our advice is based on practical knowledge and custom-tailored to your needs.”

Clarke paid a visit to a client who was about to sign an $18,000 contract to have her leaky basement waterproofed. The moisture issue had been misdiagnosed and in the end the house only needed a $1,000 repair to fix the problem.

“It’s great when you can save people a lot of money,” he says. “We’re a homeowner’s guardian angel.”

The profession may be quite new but Clarke expects it will grow thanks in part to the shortage of skilled trades people and the industry’s lack of oversight. A home inspector for 30 years, Clarke points out that when he started out few people knew of home inspections and today they’re almost compulsory.

“There’s a need for renovation consultants,” he says. “Would anybody invest $100,000 in the stock market without financial advice? Why are you spending $500,000 on your home reno without a $500 consultation from an expert?”

The home renovation process can be long, labourious and costly. Add to that the fact that many clients jump in with too much enthusiasm and too little information, there are bound to be mistakes made. Throw in disreputable contractors and you have a nightmare waiting to happen.

Hoyer always does a credit check on contractors and trades people.

“The financial stability and how they run their business should be a major concern for the client,” says Hoyer. “But often it’s not and they’re giving over money blindly. The industry is very unregulated. And everybody is so focused on looking at the workmanship and getting references in the construction and contractor industry. A guy can be a good tradesperson but he runs a lousy business so now he’s not filing his tax returns and is behind in his WSIB payments and his HST, but he continues to operate because it takes a while before they start knocking on his door.

“My approach is if I can help the people beforehand I’m doing a better service than what Mike Holmes is doing afterwards.”

From over-inflated work estimates to jobs that grow in price at every turn, Hoyer enjoys helping protect his clients from the games and tricks played by disreputable contractors.

“I feel good helping people and saving them from making the wrong choices and giving them solid advice and guidance to level the playing field.”

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Coping with the psychological effects of real estate regret

[Buying or selling a home can be overwhelming, but there are ways to cope.]

If you’ve played the real estate game even once, odds are good that you may have experienced a whiff of regret at some point.

Nagging though they are, regrets shouldn’t sap your energy, keep you up at night or plague you with chronic medical conditions.

“Real estate is often one of biggest investments you’ll make in your lifetime,” says Dr. Eilenna Denisoff, a psychologist and director at CBT Associates in Toronto. “And so if someone has a predisposition to anxiety and they tend to be a worrier then making a decision around real estate can be very difficult or almost paralyzing.”

Since our emotions are driven by our thoughts, what’s important when you’re experiencing regret is that you focus on changing how you think. To prove her argument, Denisoff uses a simple example of a dog. For one individual, the dog makes that person feel happy and excited, while another is terrified. “It’s the same dog,” she explains. “So it’s not the dog that determines how you feel, it’s what you think about the dog.”

But learning to love the dog can be tricky. When your “woulda, coulda, shoulda” response seems to dominate your thinking it’s time to teach your brain how to become more flexible and positive.

“Flexible thinking is always associated with better health and very rigid thinking makes it difficult for people to feel good about anything,” says Denisoff. “For example, if somebody has a very high perfectionist standard and they set the bar so high they leave little room for themselves to be happy with any decision they make. And that kind of perfectionism can lead to a lot of regret, sadness and is associated with clinical depression.”

Talking to a professional helps when negative thoughts and self-doubt become debilitating. A psychotherapeutic strategy known as cognitive restructuring teaches people to identify and dispute negative thinking patterns which are commonly associated with mental health disorders. With this process, your brain practices alternative ways of thinking and interpreting events and experiences. Learning to tolerate a certain level of uncertainty is also healthy.

Regrets about Vancouver’s wild real estate market appear to underlie many of the reasons clients come in to seek guidance or advice from Mark Weinberg, a registered psychologist in Vancouver.

“When you talk to anyone here that’s a consideration at the back of their minds,” Weinberg says. “When you are living in [a] place where you sense your opportunity to go up in [the] world in terms of your residential lifestyle is impeded and there’s a sense that your friends are leaving for opportunities elsewhere that will happen. I don’t know if it’s true but there’s a sense of migration here that people are leaving.”

That’s not altogether surprising given the city’s housing prices. A typical single-family home in Vancouver is $1.4 million, while the city’s desirable west side commands $3.2 million for a single family house.

Weinberg says the human mind can’t tolerate the notion of having two competing thoughts so we start to rationalize uncomfortable thoughts, a state known as cognitive dissonance. For example, the thought that a person will never be able to afford to buy a house in Vancouver could drive someone to rationalize that renting is the better way to go because investing in an over-heated market is foolish and prices are far too high.

“With cognitive dissonance you bring down the tension within your mind by telling yourself another story,” he says. “It’s a good thing. That’s how we help regulate cognitively or emotionally, the decisions and things in our lives.”

The research on regret shows that the more opportunity you have the worse you feel, which seems counter intuitive. Weinberg uses the example of not studying for an exam. If you don’t study and fail you’ll be sorry but if the reason you didn’t study was because your power went out, you can say it wasn’t your fault and that you didn’t have a choice in the matter. That sense of having no choice in the matter is what is driving some of his clients to make a move in the real estate market.

“They will say to me I have to do this because I don’t have a choice otherwise I won’t get a property here,” he says.

We should also learn from our regrets, advises Weinberg. Since people who experience regrets tend to think in black and white terms, people should rethink those thoughts which will put them in a better context.

“Usually there’s more grey than they realized,” he says, “because emotionally we tend to go towards the catastrophic in times of stress.”

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Lack of knowledge leads to big regrets for Ontario's first-time homebuyers

[If you’re not well-informed, you could end up with some serious regret when buying or selling your home.]

Ontario may be home to one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, but that doesn’t mean residents are particularly real estate-savvy.

In fact, according to the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), Ontario’s real estate regulator, a sizable number of Ontario residents know little to nothing about the process of buying and selling a home. A study by RECO found that 32 per cent of first-time homebuyers did not feel prepared or knowledgeable about buying a home.

Granted there are worse things to be ill-informed about – forgetting your partner’s birthday is likely to be a much bigger pain than forgetting the formula for closing costs – but buying or selling a home is probably the biggest transaction you’ll ever participate in, and it pays to know what you’re doing.

Horror stories about the real estate market abound: houses are commanding tens of thousands over asking price, and dozens of offers are being made on sub-par abodes, prompting a kind of panic in which even the most knowledgeable buyers are not immune.

Kelvin Kucey, a deputy registrar of regulatory compliance with the RECO, readily admits that he and his wife got caught up in the hysteria in 2012 as multiple offers quickly became the new vernacular in Toronto real estate. Their rushed purchase meant overpaying for their home and doing so without the safeguard of a home inspection.

“And even to this day there are problems with the house that we’ve now had to ante up to repair because there were shortfalls in the construction,” says Kucey. “With that it was getting caught up in the buying process, the pressure to buy and not taking the cool heads approach that were promoting right now in our Be Home Smart campaign.”

RECO’s Be Home Smart campaign launched this month to help calm consumers frenzied by the highly competitive housing market. According to the Ontario regulator’s latest study, approximately 38 per cent of buyers are willing to go 20 per cent over their budget to get the house of their dreams. And given that the average single family home in Toronto is $1.2 million, that’s a hefty overage. Of those people, about 20 per cent are blindly offering more than they’ve budgeted without knowing if they can get the financing to do so.

But going over budget isn’t one of the biggest regrets Ontarians have about the process, according to RECO’s 2014 survey. Forty-one per cent of Ontario homeowners and 45 per cent of first-time buyers wished they had done things differently when buying their homes. Their biggest regrets? Not having a better grasp of the buying and selling process, not viewing more houses, skipping the home inspection and not doing a better job of researching and interviewing realtors.

Contracts are seldom compelling reading and that is evident in these survey results, which show that 43 per cent said there were sections of the real estate contract that they didn’t fully understand.

The survey also showed 36 per cent of Ontario homeowners mistakenly think that after a real estate contract is signed, a buyer or seller has a trial period during which they can cancel it. An additional 33 per cent said they were unsure if this was true.

“It’s spooky when you look at that stat – 69 per cent of people have no idea what they’re doing when they’re signing those deals,” says Kucey. “The only thing that has a cooling off period with regards to real estate purchasing is a brand new condo when you’re purchasing from the developer. Everything else is binding.”

When it comes to who can represent the buyer and the seller, did you know that a single realtor can act on behalf of both sides in a transaction so long as both parties agree in writing? Neither did 58 per cent of Ontario respondents.

Finally, over half incorrectly believe you get your deposit back right away if a deal doesn’t go through, when, in fact, the money can only be returned if both the buyer and seller agree, or by a court order.

To learn more about the buying and selling process or how to stay cool in a hyper competitive housing market visit www.reco.on.ca.

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Matchmakers explain why offline romance is all the rage

[Couple introduced through mutual acquaintances have a higher chance of staying together than those who met online. / Thinkstock]

If you’re looking for love this Valentine’s Day, it may be time to stop swiping right and instead meet people in real life, like your grandparents did.

“What I’m hearing is that people find it refreshing to date in an old-school way,” says Toronto matchmaker Julie Ritchie, who runs Six Degrees Introductions. “There’s an acronym used – IRL, which means in real life and that’s how my clients like to meet.”

When it comes to lasting love, the numbers also appear to favour traditional, in-the-flesh meet ups as opposed to introductions through dating websites. In fact, research out of Stanford and Michigan State Universities show couples who meet in real life through someone they both know are more likely to marry and less likely to separate or divorce than couples who meet online.

If online dating is your thing, expect to be at it for a while. The research also shows that those who meet on the web are more likely to date than marry or form lasting relationships than those who met IRL.

“Marriages resulting from introductions through friends far outnumber those from dating websites,” says Ritchie. “Technology can certainly help you to meet people, but connecting with someone who is already validated by friends and peers make all the difference.”

The Michigan State study looked at more than 4,000 couples and found that relationships were far more enduring for couples who met in traditional ways such as through friends or work or thanks to shared hobbies and interests.

Even if online daters find lasting love, the long-term forecast isn’t great. They have a 28 per cent likelihood of splitting from their partners in the first year, the study says.

And if you think finding true love on the web is the real McCoy, think again. Many online daters lie. According to a 2012 survey, 53 per cent of American online daters said they lied on their profiles. Women lie about 10 per cent more than men, mainly about their looks. But men are culpable too. They lie about their work status, suggesting it’s more important than it really is.

That’s not to say that online dating should be cast aside. In fact, Ritchie encourages her clients to look for love on the web, even though she believes the pool of potential candidates is too big, making it too hard to find the right fit.

“It’s hard to find that one great catch using a drag net,” says Ritchie. “Here’s an analogy I like to use: when I’m on the subway, I look at how many people I would potentially have something in common with. Online dating is a little like the subway. Your odds of finding a good match are slim.”

Back to the real world

 The disastrous results of Internet dating are what have prompted a backlash and pushed the popularity of traditional dating services.

“If anything, online dating has been great for matchmaking services,” says Toronto matchmaker Rebecca Cooper Traynor, who owns Match Me Canada. “A lot of single people have had some really terrible experiences online, especially women in their mid 30s, who want to have children and feel the time crunch. They have no problem contacting a matchmaking service because they’re freaked out and feel they have no other options.”

The stats back her up. According to a U.S. think tank and pollster, one third of Americans who have used online dating sites have never actually gone out on a date with someone they met from those sites. And just five per cent of Americans say they met their spouse or significant other thanks to online dating.

Still, that doesn’t stop us from trying. According to Maclean’s magazine, 25 per cent of Canadians have tried Internet dating, and 16 per cent have had sex with someone they met online.

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Ethical diamond engagement rings: how to know you're getting the real deal

Photo courtesy Thinkstock

As symbols of undying love and devotion, diamonds may set your heart a quiver.

Just watch out for dirty rocks.

That, of course, is easier said than done. Conflict diamonds or those that fund clashes in war-torn countries are what consumers are increasingly looking to steer clear of. Much like food, clothing and many other products produced with disregard for human or environmental rights, today’s consumer wants assurance that the diamond they’re buying is ethical.

The thing is, purchasing diamonds, like life itself, offers no sure-fire guarantees.

“Once a crystal is mined and put in a pile with others there really is no way of proving origin,” says Anne Neumann, president of Harold Weinstein Ltd., a Toronto gemmological lab that appraises jewellery and grades diamonds. “There really are no systems in place to be able to distinguish a diamond from Sierra Leone versus a diamond from South Africa. Once it’s out of the ground, a diamond is a diamond is a diamond.”

So how does a consumer gain confidence knowing that the jewel they’re considering is ethical?

“Buy Canadian,” Neumann says. “From the mine to the jewellery store, there’s a chain of supply that’s monitored at all levels by government agencies.”

The Canadian Diamond Code of Conduct is an organization that establishes a minimum standard based on records and a chain of warranties required to validate a Canadian diamond claim. The code allows Canadian diamonds to be traced from the Canadian mine to the diamond jewellery retailer, providing consumers with a means to authenticate Canadian diamonds.

There is a half dozen or so active diamond mines in Canada, mainly in the Northwest Territories with one in northern Ontario. These diamonds mines make Canada the third largest diamond-producing country by value after Botswana and Russia.

Canada’s reputation for producing untainted diamonds may be solid, but there are plenty of other countries producing conflict-free diamonds such as Australia, Russia and even African nations such as Namibia.

Funds from illicit blood diamonds have been used to finance warlords and mount insurgencies, particularly in central and western Africa. Conflict diamonds have helped fund rebel groups in Angola, Liberia, the Congo and the Ivory Coast with perhaps the most vicious clash taking place in Sierra Leone during the late ‘90s.

In an effort to stem the trade of illicit rough diamonds, the Kimberley Process (KP), a government-led and UN-sanctioned certification scheme, was launched in 2003. KP requires member states to set up a control system for the import and export of rough diamonds. Diamonds that meet the requirements get a KP certificate. Currently, 81 countries are represented.

According to Ron Gashinski, a consulting gemmologist, who worked for the province of Ontario as a senior diamond advisor and chief gemmologist, 98 per cent of diamonds shipped around the world have gone through the Kimberley Process. But critics say loopholes in the KP continue to permit diamonds associated with abuses to infiltrate global markets. And that just strengthens Canada’s reputation for producing conflict-free stones.

“The demand for Canadian diamonds is quite high,” Gashinski says. “Ten years ago you never saw diamonds sold as Canadian diamonds. Go to Costco and you’ll see a section for Canadian diamonds. Obviously, there’s a market for people who are more conscientious.”

Some say consumers will pay higher prices for Canadian diamonds or those that have been mined ethically thanks to the extra work involved in the process of guaranteeing origin.

“My advice would be so it will cost you five, seven, 10 per cent more but then you know what mine it came from,” says Gashinski. “If you have any degree of social conscience and can afford it, why wouldn’t you pay more?”

There are a number of steps you can take to ensure you’re dealing with an ethical product and seller, says Phyllis Richard, executive director of the Jewellers Vigilance of Canada (JVC) and president of the Canadian Diamond Code of Conduct.

Buy from a reputable jeweller, because unscrupulous dealers exist in both bricks-and-mortar retail shops and online websites.

Ask where the diamond comes from.

JVC recommends that you choose a jeweller who is a member of the Canadian Jewellers Association.

Find out early on about store policies on refunds and exchanges.

Don’t believe outlandish claims. If the price is too good to be true, it likely is.

“It’s not easy to get a diamond out of [the] ground or we’d all be doing it,” says Richard. “It’s a huge investment and it takes a lot of skill extracting the stones. It’s very complex and that’s why you should deal with someone you can trust.”