At 3 years old, Andy Ford of Clinton began collecting rocks.
As his collection grew, Ford turned his bedroom into a mineral museum.
He made cards identifying the rocks, labeled them and arranged them in a particular order.
When he was 12, he went to a mineral show. That, he said, brought his hobby to a whole new level.
“It was much bigger world than I had imagined,’’ Ford said. “I was exposed to what else was out there.’’
Ford, a graduate of Clinton Central School, left his job as a teacher at Waterville Central School this summer.
Since high school Ford had run a business of buying and selling high-end minerals; he said it was time to give that his full-time attention.
As a young teenager, Ford subscribed to magazines about mineral collecting. “Now I have full page ads in them,’’ he said.
The minerals he buys and sells in no way resemble what can be found during a walk in the woods.
What Ford handles more aligns with works of art whose much smaller pieces can be found in jewelry.
Once he was able to get a part-time job while still in high school, Ford began buying the higher-end rocks for his collection.
“When I first saw the pictures I thought how can I own something like that.’’
He started with pieces he could afford, then sold them to buy better quality rocks. “After a couple of years I had a few significant pieces,’’ Ford said.
What’s interesting is that with rare exceptions, the minerals available are known, either on the market or in private collections. Ford said most of the world’s mineral sources have been mined.
Part of being in the mineral market is knowing who else is a buyer and collector.
Ford found he also had an eye for finding an object that he knew would appeal to a collector.
That began his business, Ford Minerals.
He jumped from a social media presence to having a website; the first one cost him $300, a big expense for a college freshman.
Ford attended St. John University, where he competed with much success on the college’s running teams.
Even though he left teaching he remains the coach for the Eagles running teams.
His sophomore year Ford undertook the work of building a website. “It was terrible but it was mine and I was proud of it,’’ he said.
Then he realized, as he said, he hated it. “I wiped it clean. Still hated it. Deleted it again.’’
On the next try he bought a better website development package. “I realized I needed to take this seriously,’’ Ford said.
He was then 20 years old, holding down a full-time load of college courses, a training and competing schedule for running and managing a growing business.
“I was starting to sell specimens,’’ he said, “and had an idea in my head of what the website should look like, the market I wanted to attract.
I spent one session of six hours, got up to eat a bowl of cereal ...
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