From an interview that took place in Summer 2022
“What’s one moment of your life that you wouldn’t miss for anything in the world?”
It’s Arron’s question, not mine, but I lean forward anyway in anticipation of the answer. We’re sitting in the Synergize Hub – me on a stool, Arron on one of our squishy brown chairs.
On the couch across from us, Shaun Goodyear answers without a pause. “Our first date.”
Next to him, Tiffany Goodyear beams a smile brighter than her pink dress. “I’d say the same thing, actually.”
It’s easy to believe it. The Goodyears are one of those couples with a deep, constant, tangible appreciation for each other. If you’re lucky enough to hang out with them for a few minutes, you’ll notice how each of them amplifies the other’s gentle, cheerful energy. They’re so well-matched that it’s hard to believe Shaun essentially dragged Tiffany out to that first date.
Tiffany met Shaun through a dating app she downloaded just to make jokes with her friends. The two of them messaged for a few days before agreeing to meet up for drinks. But when the day came, Tiffany found herself wondering if this partial stranger from a dating app she didn’t really use was truly worth her effort.
“I used every excuse to get out of it, but he had a solution for all of them,” she recalls. After trying late meetings, post-hot yoga sweatiness, and even just sleepiness, Tiffany realized she couldn’t cancel without being obviously rude. “I thought okay, let’s just get this over with,” she admits. Even today, it makes her laugh. “Then I can get rid of this guy and go on my way.”
Shaun isn’t naïve; he knew what she was trying to do. But he wasn’t deterred. “I just had a feeling she was special,” he says. “I wasn’t going to let her get out of it without at least talking to her first.” His instinct was right; the two of them clicked instantly. From the moment they met, it felt like they’d been friends for years. Although neither of them had been looking specifically for anything serious, Shaun swears he knew that night that Tiffany was the one.
The two of them were married at a Sandals in Montego Bay, Jamaica, just after Christmas in 2016. Since then, they’ve traveled back a few times and built friendships with the locals. “We’ll message them from time to time. One of them just had a baby, so we sent them a baby gift,” said Shaun.
“We just want them to know someone’s thinking about them. And maybe because of that, they’ll do something nice for someone else.”
– Shaun, on his and Tiffany’s friends in Jamaica
Shaun and Tiffany’s stories have always been like their first date, or their friendships in Jamaica; an unexpected “yes” that leads to something better than they could have imagined. Take Shaun’s career in jewelry, which was sparked by a chance meeting with one of his former teachers from North Central High School.
When he graduated from high school, Shaun had one career path in mind: Taking wildlife photos for National Geographic. To gain some experience, he took a job in a portrait studio. It was a little farther from the great outdoors than he’d hoped. “I did mostly portraits of babies. Not quite what I expected,” he jokes.
Shaun’s life changed forever when that former teacher came into the studio where he worked. The teacher mentioned that he’d just received the upcoming semester’s course catalogs for GIA (the Gemological Institute of America). Shaun had always been talented in his high school jewelry design classes, he pointed out. Would he ever consider a career as a jeweler?
Shaun took the catalogs home after work and pored over them with his dad. The two of them scheduled a trip to California to visit the Institute. Just like his date with Tiffany, Shaun felt the connection immediately. “I took one step inside the rotunda of GIA, and knew it was for me,” he says.
At GIA, Shaun’s detail-oriented nature and natural enthusiasm helped him excel. He learned he had a passion for gemstones; the dozens of types, the ecological conditions that forge them in the earth, and the subtle differences that make one stone different from another. He finished his time in school at the top of his class, with a degree in Gemology, Jewelry Design, and Jewelry Manufacturing. Today, it helps him bring all sorts of unique designs to life at Indy Facets.
“I got to meet people from all over the world,” Shaun reminisces. “The student body back then was 300-350 people total, and about 70% international students. They were from some of the biggest families in jewelry, from Belgium, South Africa, Thailand. But we didn’t think about it when we were taking class together or eating lunch together. They were just my friends.”
Hanging out with this diverse group fed Shaun’s desire to explore and experience the world – something he shares with Tiffany, who grew up in Monticello. After going to Purdue, Tiffany worked as an office manager in an orthodontic practice. Eventually, she left that job to stay home with her two kids, Hannah and Jack. Surprisingly, that led to a season of life that took her across the globe: an opportunity that came through a multi-level-marketing company.
Over the next several years, Tiffany built a worldwide team of more than 200,000 people. Her company gave her the opportunity to attend global conventions in countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Bogota; places, she says, that took her outside the midwest “bubble”.
“Being outside the country was just eye-opening. I changed a lot during those years. It left me hungry for more.”
– Tiffany, on her travels
Tiffany moved to Carmel in 2010 to live closer to the airport, making it easier for her to fly for work trips. Unfortunately, shortly after she did, her company went through a merge. The resulting complexities meant she could no longer stay with her team. Heartbroken, Tiffany took it as a sign that this chapter of her life was over and got a new job in Carmel. “When people hear about my experience, they always try to get me on their teams,” she says. “But I don’t have any desire to go back to that world.”
Although they love to travel, Tiffany and Shaun find the most meaning a lot closer to home. Neither one loves the spotlight, so you’ll never see them seeking praise for it, but they’ve been quietly pouring into their local Carmel community behind the scenes for the past several years.
“We really like to be tied into our immediate community. There are a lot of amazing national causes, but we’re a small business with limited resources, and we can have a bigger impact locally,” Shaun explains. “We want to pick and choose very specific charities and partner with them in a bigger way so that it makes a difference.” Noble of Indiana, Dotted Line Divas, Fountains of Hope International, and the local Ronald McDonald Houses are just a few charities that Shaun and Tiffany have recently supported.
One cause that is near and dear to both Shaun and Tiffany is Cocktails and Caregivers, a nonprofit they discovered through Synergize. As it turned out, the two of them already had a personal connection to the organization; Shaun had recently designed a ring for Cocktails and Caregivers’ founder, Amanda Evans- Clark, and her fiancé. Although they knew the couple, the Goodyears weren’t familiar with Cocktails and Caregivers’ mission until the 4:30 Meetup. Having walked through some health battles of their own, Shaun and Tiffany knew firsthand the importance of supporting caregivers as well as patients. A few months later, they’d end up donating a piece of custom jewelry for the nonprofit’s next gala.
“One thing you’ll learn about Shaun is that he’ll make sure everybody else is okay before he’s okay,” Tiffany adds, next to him on the couch. “I think that’s where you get your energy from.”
“That’s true. And I get that from my dad.” Shaun’s mom passed away when he was ten, leaving his dad with Shaun and his siblings. He gives a lot of credit to his dad for the person he turned out to be. “I can’t tell you how awesome of a man he is.”
“He’s just like Shaun!” Tiffany says proudly, smiling at him. “I look at Shaun sometimes and I tell him, ‘This is your dad talking’.”
Shaun smiles back. “Well, that’s a good thing.” According to him, his dad is the most optimistic person he’s ever known. “He gave us that optimism, and taught us to be hard workers. He taught me to do things only once, and make sure that when I’m doing them, I do them the right way.”
“Because of him, I grew up thinking and caring about others.”
– Shaun, on his dad
Tiffany has also been blessed with great role models. “The leaders I met through my MLM journey really impacted me, especially the ones in other countries,” she said. “I met a lot of different people who taught me a lot of different things.” Aside from them, both she and Shaun can name dozens of people who impacted them in different ways.
Another group of people who have a huge impact on the Goodyears are their friends in Synergize (and no, we didn’t coerce that answer). “Even in the short period of time we’ve known the people in Synergize, they’ve had this massive impact on who I am and who I want to be,” Shaun says. “I feel like it unlocked something inside of me that’s always been there, and then magnified it. I’ve always done good things for people, but I feel empowered to do so at a much bigger level because we have all of you guys in our lives.”
“Synergize is what we’d been searching for,” adds Tiffany. “A group of like- minded people and authentic relationships. Me and Shaun try to be good people. I’m not saying we don’t make mistakes, but if you do right by people, and are honest with people, and don’t try to take advantage of people, you can lay your head down and know you did your best every single night. That’s what we see in Synergize, and we’re really excited for its future.”
Shaun and Tiffany are both Christians, and their faith is another thing that strengthens them when life gets heavy. “When you go through something bad, you’re drawn back to your faith,” Tiffany says. “Since I’ve started my health journey, I’ve been praying a lot more. God definitely knows my name!”
Of course, the two of them have also had a huge impact on each other. “He’s honestly an angel,” Tiffany says of Shaun. “What you see is what you get with him. He’s never raised his voice. He’s an amazing husband, and he’s an amazing bonus dad to the kids. I couldn’t ask for anyone better to do life with.”
Shaun swears he would be nothing without her. “Even from that first date, it felt like we were on the same team and the same path. She’s been there to support me through everything we’ve wanted to do in business and life together. She stands behind all the crazy ideas I have and helps me embrace them.”
One of Shaun’s crazy ideas turned into the business he now owns: Indy Facets Private Jeweler. The spark for the idea came from a show called Royal Pains. It followed a private doctor in the Hamptons, who went from house to house taking calls from residents. At the time, Shaun worked for a different jeweler, but had been thinking for a long time about how to make the process of buying jewelry special again. The show made him wonder; could he start his own business as a private jeweler?
In 2018, the Goodyears decided to find out. Shaun renovated the inside of a building that used to be a medical office in Carmel Executive Park, and Indy Facets Private Jeweler was born. “A piece of jewelry is like a small trophy that people carry with them to celebrate life’s most awesome moments,” says Shaun. “The purpose of Indy Facets is to make that process special and meaningful.”
He’s not just talking about the buying process. “We don’t have anything for sale in our office,” Shaun explains. “Everything is custom. Everything is made-to-order for each individual that books an appointment.” Because he designs every piece on a case-by-case basis, no two pieces of Indy Facets jewelry are alike. Each one is significant and beautifully detailed, created with love and attention, with each unique customer at the forefront.
“No matter your budget, your experience and the care we put into your piece will be the same,” Shaun clarifies. Although ‘custom’ and ‘private’ carry an expensive connotation, Indy Facets creates pieces at all price points. Shaun isn’t in the jewelry business to milk you for every dollar he can. “You come to me because I’m an expert in diamonds, which means you don’t have to be in order to get what you want. People have been trained to hustle to get the best deal when it comes to jewelry, but that’s not how it is here. I’ve got your back. That frees you up to worry about what’s really important, which is the moment you’re celebrating.” He would never want anyone to leave his shop wondering if they could have gotten a better deal somewhere else.
Unlike a traditional jeweler, Shaun puts transparency, authenticity, and quality above everything in his practice. In fact, Indy Facets is the farthest thing from traditional. Rather than replicating the stuffy, upscale atmosphere in a normal jewelry store, Shaun built everything about the Indy Facets experience with comfort at the forefront. He’s committed to providing an experience with no hype, no pressure, and no judgement.
A custom piece starts with a private appointment, then a design process that takes place over a period of days or weeks, complete with 3D-printed prototypes. Every detail is customizable, meaning you won’t be limited to pre-made templates or base designs.
Each customer works directly with Shaun on the design for their jewelry. As Shaun gets to know them over the weeks, they start to feel like friends. “I love getting the texts at, like, 11pm, when one of my customers sends me pictures from the proposal,” Shaun says.
“The core of what we do is making those moments special, and getting those texts solidifies that we’ve achieved that.”
– Shaun, on feedback from his clients
“It was like a Jake-from-State-Farm situation at first,” he adds, laughing, as Tiffany hides her face. “Tiff couldn’t believe that the texts I was getting in the middle of the night were from clients! Now, it’s more of a usual thing, so she expects it.”
Like any small business, Indy Facets has its good days and bad days. Shaun and Tiffany count themselves blessed to have a great team to persevere through the bad ones. Counting the Goodyears, Indy Facets has four people on staff. “We’d be devastated if they [the other two] left us,” Shaun says. “We couldn’t do it without them.” They might expand to another location in the future, but it isn’t a concrete vision. Shaun and Tiffany agree that their new addition would need to have the same passion for sharing their customers’ moments that they do.
When I ask them what’s next for Indy Facets, they both agree that they want to get more deeply involved in Carmel and with local causes; both through Synergize, and on their own. “This is something we wanted since the beginning, but it’s been tough for plenty of reasons. But now, it’s time,” Shaun says, as Tiffany nods in agreement.
No matter what the future holds for Indy Facets, or for the Goodyears as a family, they’re looking forward to meeting it. 2022 was a pivotal year for Indy Facets’ growth, and the Goodyears’ personal community. “I go back and forth. With our personal health journey, some days it’s a season of hope, some days it’s a season of uncertainty” Tiffany admits. “But we have a huge support team and a great family.”
Their support system is well-deserved. The Goodyears are the type of friends everyone needs in their lives; people who pour out what they want to see in the world. As Shaun explains, “I think all people are inherently good. It’s in them. If they’re not acting that way, it’s only because their circumstances and their path of life have not allowed them to see it themselves.”