18 year-old Tom Shofner could not imagine himself as a nuclear engineer or successful jewelry store owner.

Shofner grew up in Burlington, NC, interested in science, gems and collecting rocks.

After a year at NC State, he dropped out and joined the Navy. Shofner’s father, a Navy Pilot in WWII, died when Tom was 15. His mother was supportive of her son’s choice.

His goal was to be a Navy Seal, but he scored high on the nuclear aptitude test, and was offered a place in their program.

Navy training was tough. In Hawaii, they were required to swim underwater through a half-mile compass course in murky, shark-infested waters.

Your imagination will run wild with every “shadow” you see in those murky waters, he said.

The final step was to put your gear together while it was scattered at the bottom of a pool. “All the while, the instructors were swimming around continuously ripping your mask off, turning your air off, unbuckling your tank, pulling your regulator out of your mouth, and other harassment. If your head broke the surface during this time, you washed out of the course and did not qualify.”

He spent 6 years as a Navy Nuclear Machinist mate and 4 of those years on the USS Hawkbill, a fast attack submarine.

After the Navy, he worked as a commercial diver in Hawaii, inspecting and cleaning large ship hulls.

He had to clean barnacles off of ship bottoms with a large machine fitted with wire brushes.

After Shofner returned home, he found out that SC Electric & Gas was hiring at the V.C. Summer nuclear station. Navy-trained Nuclear Machinists were in high demand. He and his family moved to Chapin.

While at VC Summer in 2001, he started his Graduate Gemologist degree.

“I yielded to my passion for colored stones and diamonds and earned my Graduate Gemologist degree from the American Gem Society. Only a small percentage of jewelers become Graduate Gemologists. Even less go on to become a Certified Gemologist,” he said.

He is 1 of 11 Certified Gemologists in the state and the only 1 in the area.

In 2003, he opened a jewelry business in Irmo by appointment only.

By 2006, the small business had grown enough to present a life-changing challenge.

Shofner resigned from SCE&G to go full-time in the gem and jewelry business and opened Palmetto Gems in Chapin.

“I knew there was no jewelry store within an 8-mile radius, and the demographics of the area were good. I felt like I offered professionalism and good service at a fair price, that Chapin would support a jewelry store.”

It was a big step from a secure job to not knowing what might happen.

His entrepreneurial journey has been a success.

Now, 12 years later, he is ready to retire. One of his concerns about the future of the jewelry business was not so much about money but the relationship between store owners and customers.

“My concern is the viability of the small independent businesses against the big box stores and the many ways the public can be deceived.

“It is now time to spend more quality time with my wife and grandkids, as well as having more time to spend on my other hobbies and interests.”

Shofner and his wife Cheryl are excited about their new season of life.

It has been a real adventure, he said.