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14 www.thejewelrybook.com S U M M E R F U N & F E M A L E V O I C E S P U B L I S H E R ' S L E T T E R Summer Fun & Female Voices NICOLE BROMSTAD Greetings, friends! I hope everyone is enjoying their summers to the fullest, complete with time with families and a few lazy-day afternoons! As usual, all of us at TJB have been working hard to put together a summer issue fi lled with color, holiday trends, and what we think is a super fun cover highlighting three amazing female designers. I am so proud of our unique cover this issue because it features beautiful designs from three amazingly strong women with unique voices and approaches to design. With so much noise in the media about women—how they multitask and balance work and family; the rise of female self-purchasers—we are proud to cast a spotlight on some of the industry's super- stars who make success look easy. Like many of our readers, I too am a mom, wife, and business owner, and I'm reminded of what it means to hustle, especially during the summer. This is a time when it's incredibly challenging to juggle family and the demands of a business! My son Chase is 12 years old, so his days are fi lled with friends, pool parties, and a crazy-hectic baseball schedule. I'm conscious of staying in the moment and enjoying these last few summers when he still wants to hang out with me, but I'm also aware that he's becoming his own person who knows how hard Mom and Dad work to make his life as carefree as possible. It thrills me to watch him grow into such a nice young gentleman, but I'm also proud to show him that a work ethic also plays an important role. This summer issue of TJB also means it's time for us to start working with retailers to put together beautiful custom holiday catalogs and magazines. For sure, summer is relaxing and a time for refl ection, but it's a soft kickoff to the all-important fourth-quarter selling season! To wit, the retailer publication division of Bromstad Communications (publisher of this magazine) is already laying out myriad publications for high-end merchants like you in order to elegantly capture the attention of clients looking for rare and special holiday gifts. So, as we savor the last days of summer and mentally fi le away those precious memories with kids and relatives, remember the important role and responsibility that you and all of the industry have to be involved in customers' milestones. Listen, connect, and keep reinventing ways to stay in touch with clients and stay top of mind and in the role of protector of trea- sured times. After all, you're not selling jewelry—you're selling joy-inducing private refl ections, moments in time, super-emotionally charged connections, relationships enhanced by keepsakes as rare and special as the chemistry between giver and receiver, and self-rewards for achieve- ments or jobs well done. Jewelry is all of that, and you are the gatekeeper. K.MITA Mellisa Kaye

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