Who is responsible for first saying, “Behind every great man is a great woman”? I suspect a man.

As much as the feminist movement in the early 1970’s repeated this phrase as if it were one of an iconic mantra, men have stood behind great women and have fathered little girls who with their guidance, have grown up to be amazing women—successful entrepreneurs, extraordinary mothers, world leaders, teachers who we will never forget, renown athletes and the girlfriends we treasure.

With this being the cusp of Father’s Day weekend, I think I can speak for all the women at Charles & Colvard and say to all dads, everywhere, thank you! We daughters might not always express our gratitude for all that you have done for us, but we will forever hold you dear in our hearts.

Now, here are a few snippets of moissanite-related activity on the Charles & Colvard radar screen from this week:

The moissanite team had an opportunity at the JCK Las Vegas Show to meet Ms. Julie Wright, a creative and talented jewelry designer who won the Charles & Colvard created Moissanite™ jewelry design competition held in the UK. As part of Ms. Wright’s prize for creating an 18Kt. white gold contemporary pendant set with round brilliant cut moissanite, she was awarded an all inclusive trip to the JCK Las Vegas Show and celebratory dinner. It was delightful to meet Julie and hear her perspective about her first trip to America, the U.S. jewelry industry and Las Vegas in general.

A few men at Charles & Colvard talked about the busy weekend schedule they had planned with June graduations to attend, outdoor barbeques and Dad’s Day activities and the hopes of squeezing in a round of golf. And speaking of graduations, many of we moissanite loyalists, gave graduates gifts of moissanite jewelry—especially pendants!

Shea Curry, the multi-talented moissanite jewelry designer who co-hosted the charity, Safe Passage Home, fundraising luncheon in Beverly Hills last weekend reported the event was an overwhelming success. The founder and CEO of Safe Passage Home, Trish Steele was moved by the turnout in attendance and thankful for Charles & Colvard’s publicity assistance. You’ll continue to hear more about Shea, her moissanite jewelry collection called Aspire, Trish and Safe Passage Home in the future. If you haven’t checked out the charity, please do so at www.SafePassageHome.org. The men and women involved with Safe Passage Home are truly committed to help transform the lives of battered women and child victims of domestic violence. We at Charles & Colvard are proud of Shea’s commitment to this charity and we are honored to be involved through her moissanite jewelry designs.

Peggy Fleming 1968 U.S. Nationals

In the next week, keep your eyes on the Women of Brilliant Achievement. Another amazing woman, Ms. Peggy Fleming, will join the other honorees. Our team is finalizing all the details of our interview with Ms. Fleming and I think you will be inspired by her wisdom, accomplishments her perspective on health, challenges and family. As one father at Charles & Colvard commented earlier in the week, maybe we are put on Earth to learn, expand our capacity to love and expand our capacity to cope. I think Christy, Ping and Peggy all can talk about those aspects of life and share their personal account, experience and perspectives.

Have a great weekend…Barbara

P.S. A quote from Anne Sexton: “It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.”

The last of the Charles & Colvard “team moissanite” has returned from participating in the 5-day Las Vegas JCK (Jewelers Circular Keystone) Show. We met with our U.S. manufacturing customers as well as our international customers and we talked with many retailers who are interested in carrying moissanite jewelry. We all left Las Vegas with stories and as promised, some of these tales aren’t staying in the “City of Lost Wages”.

From the perspective of jewelry and fashion trends, here are a few observations from the show floor. And, I’d like to share some “new” news in general.

While the price of gold has dropped a bit from its earlier high of $1000 an ounce in March and platinum being nearly $2000 an ounce, we noticed a lot of jewelry manufactured using alternative metals such as titanium, tungsten, copper and silver. Plus some manufacturers have turned to designing lighter weight styles for necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings. One of our Hong Kong customers who exhibited at JCK launched a new collection of moissanite jewelry set in chocolate-colored titanium, a tri-colored combination of titanium in yellow, pink, and white and other moissanite jewels set in black titanium. Another Charles & Colvard customer revealed a stunning collection of moissanite bracelets and rings designed with an open, lace-like motif. And, we noticed a lot of color in jewelry this summer featuring the use of colored gemstones as well as colored diamonds.

We unveiled the Charles & Colvard Authorized Internet Retailer (AIR) Program. You might wonder what that is. Simply put, this program has been designed to build consumer confidence when shopping for moissanite jewelry on the Internet. The C&C Authorized Internet Retailer is a special designation earned by Internet retailers who are committed to moissanite and who qualify for the status after meeting a set of requirements. As the program unfolds and our manufacturers sponsor online retailers, you will see the special AIR designation as you shop for moissanite jewelry online.

We met with a brilliant young woman, actress and jewelry designer, Ms. Shea Curry at the show. If you are a film and movie fan, perhaps you might have seen her on an episode of CSI: Miami or in: Princess Diaries 2, and Georgia Rule (just to name a few she’s appeared in).

In addition to her successful acting career, Shea is launching Aspire,–her collection of moissanite jewelry exclusively available online. Aside from being a talented actress and jewelry designer, Shea is a woman with a big heart…and she has tremendous passion for her favorite charity, Safe Passage Home. In weeks to come, you will hear more about this charity as it supports the transitioning of women and their children from a life of domestic abuse to one that is safe from violence. Shea has pledged 10% of all her moissanite jewelry sales to support Safe Passage.

So if you are in the Los Angeles area this weekend please don’t miss, a special Safe Passage fundraising luncheon, “Light Up a Life” starring Grammy Award winning recording artist, Debby Boone. Don’t miss this special opportunity on Saturday, June 7 at 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Shea will be the guest emcee–unveiling her moissanite jewelry collection and there will be both a live and silent auction with proceeds going to this noble charity. Make a difference with Moissanite this weekend!

When we launched of BrillianceofMe.com several months ago, we created “Behind the Scenes Blog” and it was designed as an insider’s look at what’s happening in the world of jewelry, the land of moissanite and with Charles & Colvard. You probably have noticed from blog entry to blog entry, that the topics vary based on the news of the week, stories shared and events on the Charles & Colvard calendar. And, from time to time we’ll feature guest bloggers with their own perspective on a woman’s life. The blog itself will evolve and in the future you’ll have an opportunity to share and write your thoughts on topics we discuss.

Now with the annual shareholders meeting over, the Charles & Colvard sales team will be participating in the JCK Las Vegas jewelry trade show. Considered by many in our industry as the most important (definitely the largest in the U.S.), the show begins on May 30 and is attended by jewelry retailers and buyers from across the country. While we aren’t certain to how many buyers will attend, last year over 20,000 attended the show held at the Las Vegas Sands Expo and Convention Center.

The show provides Charles & Colvard with an opportunity to discuss sales plans and marketing initiatives with our U.S. distributors and manufacturers. Plus, this is an excellent opportunity to speak with retailers who currently sell moissanite jewelry and new retailers who are interested in adding a collection of moissanite jewelry. While our main clients are distributors and manufacturers, this trade show environment provides our sales team with a unique opportunity to maximize a limited amount of days to meet with many manufacturers and their retailers. In addition, the JCK Show provides our marketing department with an opportunity to visit with editorial staffs from various fashion, women’s lifestyle and general consumer interest publications.

On the fun and business side of Las Vegas, I understand the Plumb Club (an organization of large jewelry manufacturers) is hosting a night of glitz and glamour with special entertainment by Cher. And, a trade publication group hosted a private concert by Seal. I’ve heard several talking about Seal and some of the men in the industry were hoping that Heidi Klum would be present!

Nevertheless, I’ll sign off now as I am somewhere over the nation flying between Raleigh and Las Vegas.

You’ll hear more from the road in a few days…as with this blog, “What goes on in Vegas, won’t stay in Vegas!”

As many Los Angelinos passed through the 20 foot bronze doors of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, to attend Mother’s Day mass last weekend, I don’t know if they were aware of the connectedness they shared with a mother living in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina.

That mother is an amazing woman named Ping Fu. Aside from juggling all the responsibilities of being a mom to an active teenager, Ms. Fu is well-known and respected in the business world as the founder, CEO and president of Geomagic, a high-tech company that created a unique 3-D digital scanning software for design, manufacturing and engineering applications. It is this incredible software that allows sculptors like Robert Graham (who designed the cathedral doors and Virgin Mary sculpture that is positioned above the doors) to create such majestic works.

And for all of us who might not know about the cathedral in LA, you might know of another product created with the aid of Geomagic software which has resulted in a lot of beautiful smiles. Ping’s software was instrumental in the design and production of Invisalign, a series of clear tooth alignment adjusters that provide an orthodontic alternative to adults who need braces.

Ms. Fu was also selected as one of Charles & Colvard’s Women of Brilliant Achievement honorees. If you don’t know who she is or haven’t already read about Ping, please check out her story featured in our Women of Brilliant Achievement section. I think you will be as touched, amazed and inspired as I was when I first learned about her.

Her journey from enduring the torturous treatment by the Red Guard during the reign of Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution to coming to America, experiencing freedom and discovering a land of opportunities–Ms. Fu’s story isn’t the typical story about overcoming adversity. Charles & Colvard is not the only organization who has honored Ms. Fu. She received Inc. Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2005 and has been honored with a host of acknowledgements.

Congratulations Ping! You are not only an inspiration to women, but to all Americans and people around the world!

When asked, “What are you doing for mom this year?” the women of Charles & Colvard had many responses: chocolates, flowers, a pajama-gram, 2 dozen roses, Barbara Walter’s newest book, Audition: A Memoir, a UNC garden gnome, a digital photo frame loaded with memories, a Notre Dame corn sack game and of course several women mentioned MOISSANITE with enthusiasm!

Well, what woman doesn’t love moissanite?

Frankly, I haven’t met one!

And, although I wanted to write this blog about mothers—I was a little torn about the message as I wanted to talk more about all those feelings and emotions behind Mother’s Day gifts.

Last night my friend Sande called to catch up. She filled me in about her family’s Passover, we talked about the passing of our friend Myra and she gave me the update on her daughter, Dana, being a “fantastic” new mom. She just couldn’t stop referring to her grandson, Max as “delicious”. Last week, another friend e-mailed me about her daughter being selected for a lead role in a middle school play and her cheerleader tryouts. And, yet another friend e-mailed me about her 14 year-old son being a star in lacrosse and he was selected (with 19 other students) to run the government of Beverly Hills for a day!

As we approach or pass 50 (not the speed limit but age) life appears differently, as if we were looking through new lenses than those that we used when we were 25 or 30.

While not all women are mothers, we all are daughters.

That commonality is undeniable. We daughters have many similar “mom” stories. Thinking about all the women at Charles & Colvard—some are only daughters as I am, others are mothers and we also have a few nanas or grandmothers and even great-grandmothers amongst us.

Mommies, mamas, moms, mothers or whatever you call them–are incredible individuals. Scanning for mommy stories as you walk the halls of Charles & Colvard is a heart-warming experience. One single mom lights up when she proudly speaks of her 5 year-old daughter. We have our own C&C marathon-running mother with 3 sons—all under the age of 7! I wonder if she gave birth while wearing sneakers? One C&C woman director baffles me with all the activities she does for her sons, after office hours (Boy Scouts, piano lessons, baseball, football and basketball games and school plays). And another woman can delight you with her stories of her 91 year-old mom who runs circles around everyone, is a pro with a Swiffer and never misses an appointment with her hair colorist!

Plus there are some incredible women who are moms and are married to men at C&C. Let’s see: there is a soccer mom/coach who is a tireless volunteer at her children’s school and schleps her sons between baseball, basketball and football games. You’d really believe that she has the black belt in motherhood, rather than her 10-year old Tai Kwon Do son! Another mother clocks 75 miles on the family car, each day, just driving their son to and from a school that addresses his special needs! And there is another mom who left her husband specific instructions about the Easter baskets that he needed to assemble in her absence…as she was spending the holiday weekend with their eldest daughter who lives in New York.

Mother’s Day is the perfect occasion to tell your mom how valuable and respected she is. Several years ago while I was taking a seminar, the instructor told a story about giving his mother the ultimate gift, a letter of thanks for everything he could remember that his mom did for him over the years.

In 2000 that’s what I did and the letter was 7 pages, typed and filled with all the “thank you’s” I wanted to repeat or say for the first time. As I share a few points in my letter to my mom, I want to say “Happy Mother’s Day!” to all women as you are as incredible as moissanite is unique and you are every bit as brilliant!

…you have influenced me, helped to form my values and shape my outlook on life. You’ve been a role model as to what it means to be a contributing citizen, a thoughtful neighbor, friend, a loving human being and a person who wants to make a difference in this world.

You have encouraged me, dried my tears, applied band-aids to my “owies” and “ouchies”, and kissed away the pain.

Thank you for the many times you laced up my ice skates after walking me to the skating rink. You were there to encourage me and dust the snow off when I fell.

Thank for always being the taxi driver carting me to slumber parties and school activities. Even during my teen years when I “knew” everything and didn’t “need” you anymore (I thought) —you were there for me.

So for all the times when you hugged me—over the years, and I didn’t seem to appreciate your hug—please forgive me. Your hugs are priceless! Although I am miles away as I write this—I can close my eyes and feel the sensation of one of your hugs.

Thank you for being the best Brownie Girl Scout leader and caring about what your daughters were doing in school and after school.

For all those times during the past years when I hurt your feelings—please know I am truly sorry and forgive me.

Thank you for reassuring me about not being a failure when I got a divorce.

Thank you for teaching me to respect someone else’s property and making me scrub clean the playroom walls after I wrote all over them with colored chalk!

So, to all women, Happy Mother’s Day!