International Lifestyle Magazine Issue 51 | Page 21

“My father died one week
before my bar mitzvah, so I
left home, lived on street for a
year before going to live on a
kibbutz which saved my life.
I then joined the Israeli army as
a top, top commander, which
really made me what I am
today, strong with no fear.

Now, I have seen other pawn
stores, naming no names but
one is in Vegas, where the
owners of a item come in,
get a valuation of $50,000 to
which they are then offered,
by the owners, something
ridiculous like $2500 taking
full advantage of the sellers
current situation. which actually
leaves me feeling repulsed and
wondering how on earth these
guys sleep at night, yet, with
Yossi, he was the complete
opposite, yes, he was making
money, but everyone needs a
roof over their head and food
on the table, but no one needs
to steal to achieve this, now
here is a man who understands
karma, balance and the very
core of what being a civilised
human being means.

So, I found his email address,
dropped him a line and within 1
minute he came back telling to
call anytime, you have no idea
how refreshing that is!
I organised a time with
Dominique, who was wonderful,
did some basic research as I
wanted to hear it directly from
Yossi, and then placed the call.
He is as charming as he is on
TV and gave me all the time I
needed but the big question
for me was “How do you go
from living on a kibbutz to
Hollywood?”

I then worked in Paris for the
Israeli government as an
intelligent officer for two years
before heading to the US to
go to University to study as a
lawyer. My brother came to
visit me during a break, but our
Mother wanted him to return, at
the time it was very unpatriotic
to leave Israel, so we set off on
a road trip.
We went to New York where,
within 3 months, we had spent
all our money, so we hitch
hiked to Arizona, I sold my
ticket home for $200 to survive
eventually finding himself in LA.
I started out handing out flyers
for a jewellery shop and then
started selling the jewllery door
to door, allowing people to
pay $10 a week, building up to
having my own people working
for me. I ended up with ten guys
selling jewelry for me and then
I opened a store. It became
clear that some people wanted

He buys and sells jewelry and
watches that many of us will
probably only see through a
shop window and there are
occassions when he is with a
client, gives them the price and
without a flicker they agree to
buy which takes your breath
away, but what shines through,
every time, is these people
trust Yossi, not an easy thing to
achieve in Hollywood where
everything appears to be cut
throat, one slip up and you are
out, so what is the story behind
this man, only one way to find
out, speak to him.

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