The Pocket Watch

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Why the Pocket Watch is Trembly Law’s Cultural Symbol

After World War II was over and my grandfather, Marvin Trembly, was out of the Air Force, he followed his older brother to Chicago to attend watchmaking school. My grandfather had grown up in rural Kansas, and while not poor, like most middle class folks at the time, they took work where they could find it. My grandfather’s father, Ritter “Mac” Trembly, found an opportunity on the Santa Fe Railroad in the mid-1940’s in a little town called Belen, New Mexico. Belen was nicknamed the “Hub City” because it served as a railroad hub between Santa Fe and many other destinations.

Not long thereafter, a golden opportunity arose for my grandfather, Marvin. A jewelry store owner in Belen offered to mentor my grandfather for a few years and then sell him the store. My grandparents jumped at the opportunity, and moved from Chicago to New Mexico with one young son, and another baby
on the way.

However, as we now know in business, not everyone lives up to their word (hence why we have contracts!). The gentlemen reneged on selling the jewelry store to my grandfather, and so my grandparents did what millions of others did from our greatest generation – they rolled up their sleeves and opened their own business. Thus, in 1947, Trembly’s Jewelry opened its doors, primarily serving… the railroaders.

Back in those days, trains still had to follow a schedule, but their only method of timing was their pocket watches. Those pocket watches needed to be cleaned almost weekly to stay in tip top shape. Imagine the accidents that could occur without pristinely functioning watches. So, my grandfather got his start and built his niche cleaning and fixing pocket watches, before eventually turning into a full-scale gold and diamond store, which my father, Jeff Trembly, purchased from his father in 1982 and continued the family legacy for another 12 years.

So our cultural symbol at the Trembly Law Firm? When you look at a pocket watch, you see the time, the dials, the finish, and perhaps the chain. But what the jeweler sees is all the mechanics inside of the watch which makes it function. The consumer sees the outside of the pocket watch, and never looks to see what’s underneath – the parts that make it run.

The pocket watch is the perfect analogy to a business – a business has a core function to perform in the marketplace, just like a watch keeps time, but only the business owner knows what goes on behind the scenes to keep the business running. That’s where we come in at Trembly Law. We look into the back of your business and inspect, analyze, fix and clean the essential functions, so that you get where you need to go on time. If you’re not inspecting and “cleaning” your business at least annually with a professional, it’s only a matter of time before the train comes off the track. This is true of many aspects in your business, but we’re dedicated to helping business owners with their contracts, intellectual property portfolio, corporate infrastructure, compliance issues, and employment matters, which serves as the foundation of what you need to keep your business functioning properly.

Our mission at the Trembly Law Firm is to protect the economy, one business owner at a time. Everything we do serves that purpose. Just as my grandfather and the generations that followed, today millions of Americans and immigrants alike all comprise the economic backbone of this country. Small business owners provide more jobs than any other sector in the United States. When we can help one business owner avoid trouble (including putting a contract in place that would prevent a business owner from enticing someone to move across the country to buy their business and then reneging), we help that employer and their entire team, from one employee to 500.

Firm Founder Brett Trembly with an original pocket watch from his grandfather’s jewelry store made circa 1955.

We’re proud to serve business owners as Miami’s fastest growing business law firm. Our general counsel program, i.e. the maintenance your business needs, was the first dedicated program in Miami of its kind. Compile that with our first-class litigation team, and it’s no wonder Trembly Law Firm has been named to the Inc. 5000 list and the Law Firm 500 for four years in a row. Just like Trembly’s Jewelry helped thousands of railroaders clean their watches so that the trains never wrecked, we continue to help hundreds of business owners a year avoid their own train crashes. I’d like to think my grandfather smiles at what we’re doing to make a difference in the lives of others, and perhaps even more so and the incredible team members that have joined our mission. Time to get to work.

Thanks for reading,

Outside view of Trembly’s Jewelry, Belen, New Mexico. Circa 1965.

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South Florida Business Attorney Brett Trembly addresses commonly asked business law questions in his Video of the Month series. If you have any questions for us, or if you need immediate legal assistance, please contact us today.

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