JANET STERLING SILVER DESIGN

janetjewelry.com could not exist without....
Janet Sterling Silver Design could not have come into fruition without the support and encouragement from a whole lot of people, especially my "regular" customers, who have written so many really nice emails to me, and who have helped to spread the word! However, the following people have gone out of their way to make my work a little less overwhelming, and to make the impossible feel that much more achievable, and I wanted to tell the entire planet and beyond what amazing people they are, especially to me.

***note: of course these people have REAL jobs. the job descriptions below are just in relation to janetjewelry.com!

Merv
• Job Description: Web Guy (oversees overall graphics design of website, layout design, online boutique conversion; in-house troubleshooter, and Photoshop & Go Live Tutor); Ad Guy (designs and coordinates everything to get the ads done, like working with the illustrator, colorist, photographers, printers, and dealing with various magazine ad people); Catalog Designer; In-studio Counselor/Therapist (includes hearing all the woes about owning one’s own business, etc.); Husband (includes doing at least a third of the chores around the house, esp. the stinky ones, like getting rid of the trash & kitty litter, etc); Photoshop God (that’s his own title he made for himself, and he can call himself whatever he wants for all the work he does).
• If aliens abducted Merv, janetjewelry.com would be catapulted into complete chaos, the design of the website would be the same forever, and it would be a dark, dark world. Merv is my very own big, happy clown, who makes sure that I’m not completely consumed by my work, makes me laugh when I need to, and reminds me daily that life should be enjoyed.
• How do you like this redesign? Merv did it! Yay, Merv!

Jamie Yoshida, owner of The Bead Gallery Honolulu
• Job Description: Motivational Speaker, Positive Thinking Master, and Small Business Startup Guru.
• If Jamie wasn’t an artist, and if she didn’t own her own small business, I would still love her to death because she’s such a fun-loving, generous, kind soul, but she’s the one who made that dream of owning my own jewelry business a reality. She is so busy running her own business, and yet after work (often times, even during work!), she always found/finds the time to give me advice, to pick up my spirits when things aren’t going the way I wanted them to, and put me right back on track again.
• She’s Yoda of janetjewelry.com. "The force is strong with this one."

Liz K, of Elizabeth Kurtzman Studio NYC
• Job Description: Dream maker
• Liz, a designer who "commutes" between NYC and LA all the time, is the one who first made me believe that someone would actually spend money to buy my jewelry. I was in graduate school at the time, and I was making jewelry in my spare time for family and friends just to do something more tangible than pure theory. She mentioned that there was a store in Beverly Hills that she thought might be interested in my jewelry, so she offered to take a few samples to the store owner/buyer for me. When they started selling my jewelry for $50-$150, I was just so amazed! Imagine that! People actually BUYING my handiwork! That’s when the "hobby" status was traded in for "dream vocation."
• If Liz didn’t have faith in my jewelry, I would probably be living at home with my parents on a teacher’s salary, wishing I could be in NYC making jewelry.

Rick Parker
• Job description: Life Guidance Counselor
• He probably doesn’t remember me at all, but he changed my life in 5 minutes flat. I met Rick Parker, a comic book illustrator, when I went to pick up a Beavis & Butthead piece he did for Marvel Comics, a piece he had donated for an auction to benefit mentally ill children. At this chance encounter, he said out of nowhere, "Tell me what you do now and what you think you will become. I like to give young people advice."
Startled, I told him I was in grad school and that I thought I wanted to become a teacher.
"Well," he said, "What do you do in your spare time that you LOVE doing?"
"I really enjoy making jewelry. I’ve been making jewelry since high school," I said.
"We spend so much of our adult lives working, is it really worth it if you don’t fully enjoy it? Even if you have to waitress to make ends meet, I highly recommend that you pursue your love of jewelry making and make it become your work." Genius!
• (the above vignette does not contain the proper indendations because it's a total pain in the butt to program a pixel shim [indented paragraph] in HTML; I'm programming late once again, I'm tired and very grumpy, so deal!)

Jason Johnson
• Job Description: Illustrator and Logo Designer Extraordinaire
• Yup, all those amazing illustrations that we’ve featured on our ads and on our postcards to lure people to janetjewlery.com, were done by my friend Jason. His talent is truly amazing, and you should see how fast he cranks out those illustrations. (I can take a whole week, and my illustrations would still look like glorified stick people.) He’s a comic book illustrator by day, doing books for Image, Wildstorm, and DC, and I’ve got to say, I love his work because his drawings are so dynamic, kind of Baroque-esque in form.
• If you’re interested in hiring Jason to do illustrations or logos for you, or if you want to send fan mail, please send it to: janet@janetjewelry.com, and I will reroute it to him!

Rob Ro
• Job Description: Fastest and Most Amazing Colorist in this Galaxy
• Once Jason does an illustration for me, we scan it here in NYC, my husband does a computer "inking" of the piece (make the pencil marks bolder and in black for print) and emails the file to Rob Ro at B@da$$, which is down in San Diego. By next morning, sometimes just a few hours later, I check my emails and it’s already colored and ready to go to print! Amazing!
• And as an added bonus, Rob is the most chill, positive vibe person I’ve ever met (my theory is that he was a Tibetan Monk in his former life), and he just got married to the sweetest person in this solar system, Julie! It’s such a pleasure to work with nice people! Reinforces my belief in good karma.

The Photographers: Britt, Brian, Brendan, Tomi, Jeffery
Britt Carpenter @ Alpha Dog Reps
• Job Description: took all the photos for the first JanetJewelry Catalog.
• Not only is he a fabulous photographer, but he’s a fabulous friend! Britt’s one of those people who invites you to afternoon tea when you really need one, and makes all the bad things in the world seem, well, not so bad.
Brian Inatsuka
• Job Description: took a lot of digital photos for me when I didn’t have myown digital camera; Motivational Speaker; Role Model.
• Brian’s like my big brother in NYC. He’s dependable, funny, and gets stuff done, and makes us (me & my hubby) get stuff done. Brian’s the ideal role model because he leads by example, and with positive reinforcement. He patiently sat through many of my small business startup woes sessions (still does, but we do it over golf now), gave me some great advice and realistic direction, and taught me how to use key computer programs to help me with my business.
Brendan Moran
• Job description: took photos for me on really short notice
• And did a great job with what little equipment I had around the house, too! I’m all for resourceful people, and Brendan certainly did a good job with that, including using his girlfriend as a model for some of the shots! (She’s the blonde model in some of the photos, so thanks to you, too, Jessica!)
Tomi Yum
• Job description: kind soul
• Tomi agreed to take photos for me early on before I really decided on what JanetJewelry was about, and she really didn’t even know me then! She was my sister's friend's friend. How nice is that! I was completely unprepared for what a photo session was going to be like at that time, and she patiently took me through the entire process; she is the queen of props! And, she hooked me up with Lisa Ling, too (she was taking photos of Lisa for a magazine), so she gets the extra two big thumbs up from me!
Jeffrey Apoian
• Job Description: photography pro with a very kind heart
• Jeffrey is a major high end photographer who usually works for people like Calvin Klein. So what possessed him to take a few photos for me? My husband helped to program his website, so Jeffrey was kind enough to offer to take photos of my jewelry for me. To be honest, I was kind of embarrassed to show him my jewelry just because the people who he usually works for are all so famous and have really developed, very expensive products, and my jewelry is more like handcrafted, everyday wear jewelry. But he was totally cool about it and was such a nice person, it reinforced my belief that you don’t have to be a ruthless, coldhearted person to be at the top; you just need talent, vision, and lots of hard work, that's all....

Janne N.
• Job Description: Marketing Realist
• Okay, so I come up with all these kooky ideas about what I want do to with my company and my website, and Janne, without being mean or bursting my bubble, manages to steer me in a realistic direction without crushing my hopes (and my ego!). Also, there are so many marketing things that I am completely unaware about, and she emails me here and there with amazing ideas/strategies and how to get it done with minimal aggravation on my part, and without burning a huge hole in my wallet. Janne has been a true friend for a long time; she’s gotten me out of trouble many a times; picked me up when things came crashing down; listened when I thought no one else cared. Okay, that makes me sound more pathetic than I care to share, but we’ve had a ton of good times, too.
• You know someone’s truly a good friend when you can have fun doing absolutely nothing.

Cibo Matto
Not only am I a HUGE fan of theirs (Stereotype A is one of my all-time favorite albums; I especially love track 3), but they are the coolest chicks on the planet. Totally down to earth and genuine, I have to pinch myself at times to make sure I’m not in some Bizarro World episode. They’ve worn my jewelry on tour, they wore it in a photo shoot, and they even wore it on their TV appearance on PBS’s Sessions at 54th Street! Miho wore the Postmodern Candy Necklace in Icy Blue with Small Rolo and Toggle and the Hearts in Cage Bracelet, and Yuka wore the Starlight jewelry. For more info on the Cibo Matto performance on the PBS special (a MUST-SEE, they are awesome live!), check out: www.sessionsatwest54th.com/artists/cibomatto03/index.html
Or you can check out their official website at: www.cibomatto.com

Lisa Ling & the women of "The View"
Lisa Ling is another very cool, super nice, hot tamale! As mentioned earlier, she had a photo shoot with a friend, Tomi Yum, and so I asked Tomi to pass on some jewelry to Lisa and the women of "The View" for me. After about 2 or 3 weeks, I had completely forgotten about it, when Lisa phones me to give me a heads up on the episode where Meredith Vieira wore the Postmodern Candy Necklace! I totally remember it because it was 2 days before my 29th b-day, so that was very cool of her (and Meredith!). Several months later, I was at an outdoor market, and she happened to see my logo from a distance, and came by to say "Hey!" How thoughtful and nice is that?

My older siblings, Lillian & Stan
• Job Description: to set good examples at being "normal"
• If you haven't noticed by now, I'm a bit of an eccentric, and having two very "normal" older siblings takes a LOT of parental pressure off of me! And there's nothing wrong with a little "friendly sibling rivalry".... My older siblings have both done well for themselves, so they keep me on my toes to succeed, too! I may not be walking the same path they're on, but I'll meet them at the top!

Mom (a.k.a. "Hakase") Masamitsu
• Job Description: Number One Fan; Head of Grass Roots PR in Hawaii; Head Elf during Christmas Season
• Both my parents have been my role models in various ways. My mom, because she’s very resourceful, good with her hands, smart, isn’t satisfied with not having an answer, bullheaded, and on a more superficial level, she’s super stylish when she wants to be, and "comfortable" when she feels like it, and it’s all good! Since I was a child, I was always fascinated by jewelry, and because she loved it, too, she taught me a lot about gems, metals, and what constitutes "good" design in her eyes. I think I’ve definitely got her "no-frills" sense of jewelry, where being "practical" is just as important as being decorative. For example, if I was out shopping with her, I’d be all, "MOM! I love that ring!" and she would say, "Well, it’s pretty to look at, but it’ll snag your sweaters because that little part sticks out too much," or something like that. "It looks nice on the hand, but it’s uncomfortable after a while because of the shape." "Can you make earrings that don’t hang down so low so that I can wear it with my golf shirt?"
• You know those cartoons where there’s a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other shoulder, both telling the person what to do? I swear, my mom sits on my shoulder when I look at jewelry, and especially when I’m looking at my own prototypes, "That one’s too pointy; someone can hurt themselves." "This ring would look a little more ‘gorgeous’ if you did…." I’m not insinuating that she’s a nag because she’s not; I respect her sense of being practical, and I admire her diligence and discipline.

Dad (a.k.a. "Confucius") Masamitsu
• Job Description: Business Guru and Business Role Model
My dad is another person I admire. I hope to find time to eventually write his biography like I promised him a while ago, because he’s had an amazing life that I think needs to be printed on paper. In a nutshell, he was born in CA, the last kid (out of 6) of Asago Masamitsu, a successful potato and onion farmer. When WWII broke out, my grandfather was imprisoned, and the rest of the family was sent to Manzanar, an internment camp in the CA desert, where they were imprisoned for 3 years. They pretty much lost everything they had because of it. He didn’t have any money for college, so he joined the army so he could go under the GI bill, became a Japanese translator for the US Army in Japan and Korea, met my mom, decided he wanted to start his own business to support his new wife and 3 kids, and the rest is history. His first store, Tony Honda in Fujisawa, Japan, was a 6x6 prefab trailor-looking temporary "building" if you can even call it that, and it soon became the top Honda shop in the region. We moved to Hawaii because of my brother’s severe asthma, and he started Tony Honda in Hawaii as well. Of course a lot of other interesting things took place between and beyond all this, but that’s another book.
• Why do I think his background is so necessary in this portion of my website? Because by example, he instilled in me a belief that anyone can make something of themselves, even out of nothing, even if the odds seem to be against you, if you’re willing to work hard, not be afraid to take educated risks, and above all else, if you don’t let the fear of failure stop you from succeeding. Okay, that last part is actually from my grandfather. But it is my driving force: it gives me something to look forward to every day, and it helps me pick myself off the ground when I trip & fall. My dad loved his job (he’s retired now), and that inspired me to find what it was that I loved, and to make that my job, too. (Not to mention, he put me through some very expensive schools because he always told me, "Janet, one day, you might lose everything, whether it's another depression, another war, whatever, but if you have a good education, and you're willing to work hard, you can always make something of yourself." See Dad, I actually DO listen, even if you think it's not getting through my thick head.)
• While my mom sits on one shoulder giving me practical jewelry design advice, my dad sits on my other shoulder, making sure I’m not being lazy: "Go do something productive."

Oba-chan
• Job Description: Number One Fan in Japan; International Snack Supplier
• Last but not least, is Oba-chan, my grandma, who is definitely my number one fan. She’s even allergic to silver, but wears it anyway. That’s dedication! (Don’t worry, I make her special pins to wear instead.)
• My grandma is the ultimate craft-meister. Because of her, I began making things at a really young age, which is how I think I learned to become very dexterous. She and my mom taught me how to crochet, knit, sew, weave baskets, make flowers, etc. Whatever she was making, I’d make, too. In fact, she and my mom bought us some Monchichi dolls and stuff when we were small, but not the accessories; they encouraged us instead to make whatever we wanted, so I remember sewing and crocheting a lot of clothes. I even made this really cool water bed (yup, a ziploc bag makes a fabulous waterbed, folks!) with a very ‘70s diagonally striped quilted duvet and ruffled bedskirt! I couldn’t care less about the "fantasy" aspect of doll playing, but I was completely consumed by making things for the dolls. Growing up, it was all about home-made accessories, and I think that obsession has been transferred onto people?
• And, she sends me the best care packages all the way from Japan, and she writes me a lot of letters, which is, I think, sadly becoming a dying art. When she writes me letters (in Japanese, of course), she knows that my reading skills for kanji isn't what it should be, so she writes in furigana (phonetically) on the sides of the kanjis. I think this is her attempt to educate me through diffusion. She even wrote in furigana on the warning label that came with a Hello Kitty Electronic Card she sent me, which read something like, "Do not place battery in mouth or chew battery. Use card under supervision of adult."
• I think I'll always be 5 in her eyes, and sometimes, I think that kind of unconditional love is good for the soul.

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Copyright © Janet Sterling Silver Design, 2006. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

				janetjewelry.com could not exist without.... Janet Sterling Silver Design could not have come into fruition without the support and encouragement from a whole lot of people, especially my "regular" customers, who have written so many really nice emails to me, and who have helped to spread the word! However, the following people have gone out of their way to make my work a little less overwhelming, and to make the impossible feel that much more achievable, and I wanted to tell the entire planet and beyond what amazing people they are, especially to me. *note: of course these people have REAL jobs. the job descriptions below are just in relation to janetjewelry.com! Merv • Job Description: Web Guy (oversees overall graphics design of website, layout design, online boutique conversion; in-house troubleshooter, and Photoshop & Go Live Tutor); Ad Guy (designs and coordinates everything to get the ads done, like working with the illustrator, colorist, photographers, printers, and dealing with various magazine ad people); Catalog Designer; In-studio Counselor/Therapist (includes hearing all the woes about owning one’s own business, etc.); Husband (includes doing at least a third of the chores around the house, esp. the stinky ones, like getting rid of the trash & kitty litter, etc); Photoshop God (that’s his own title he made for himself, and he can call himself whatever he wants for all the work he does). • If aliens abducted Merv, janetjewelry.com would be catapulted into complete chaos, the design of the website would be the same forever, and it would be a dark, dark world. Merv is my very own big, happy clown, who makes sure that I’m not completely consumed by my work, makes me laugh when I need to, and reminds me daily that life should be enjoyed. • How do you like this redesign? Merv did it! Yay, Merv! Jamie Yoshida, owner of The Bead Gallery Honolulu • Job Description: Motivational Speaker, Positive Thinking Master, and Small Business Startup Guru. • If Jamie wasn’t an artist, and if she didn’t own her own small business, I would still love her to death because she’s such a fun-loving, generous, kind soul, but she’s the one who made that dream of owning my own jewelry business a reality. She is so busy running her own business, and yet after work (often times, even during work!), she always found/finds the time to give me advice, to pick up my spirits when things aren’t going the way I wanted them to, and put me right back on track again. • She’s Yoda of janetjewelry.com. "The force is strong with this one." Liz K, of Elizabeth Kurtzman Studio NYC • Job Description: Dream maker • Liz, a designer who "commutes" between NYC and LA all the time, is the one who first made me believe that someone would actually spend money to buy my jewelry. I was in graduate school at the time, and I was making jewelry in my spare time for family and friends just to do something more tangible than pure theory. She mentioned that there was a store in Beverly Hills that she thought might be interested in my jewelry, so she offered to take a few samples to the store owner/buyer for me. When they started selling my jewelry for $50-$150, I was just so amazed! Imagine that! People actually BUYING my handiwork! That’s when the "hobby" status was traded in for "dream vocation." • If Liz didn’t have faith in my jewelry, I would probably be living at home with my parents on a teacher’s salary, wishing I could be in NYC making jewelry. Rick Parker • Job description: Life Guidance Counselor • He probably doesn’t remember me at all, but he changed my life in 5 minutes flat. I met Rick Parker, a comic book illustrator, when I went to pick up a Beavis & Butthead piece he did for Marvel Comics, a piece he had donated for an auction to benefit mentally ill children. At this chance encounter, he said out of nowhere, "Tell me what you do now and what you think you will become. I like to give young people advice." Startled, I told him I was in grad school and that I thought I wanted to become a teacher. "Well," he said, "What do you do in your spare time that you LOVE doing?" "I really enjoy making jewelry. I’ve been making jewelry since high school," I said. "We spend so much of our adult lives working, is it really worth it if you don’t fully enjoy it? Even if you have to waitress to make ends meet, I highly recommend that you pursue your love of jewelry making and make it become your work." Genius! • (the above vignette does not contain the proper indendations because it's a total pain in the butt to program a pixel shim [indented paragraph] in HTML; I'm programming late once again, I'm tired and very grumpy, so deal!) Jason Johnson • Job Description: Illustrator and Logo Designer Extraordinaire • Yup, all those amazing illustrations that we’ve featured on our ads and on our postcards to lure people to janetjewlery.com, were done by my friend Jason. His talent is truly amazing, and you should see how fast he cranks out those illustrations. (I can take a whole week, and my illustrations would still look like glorified stick people.) He’s a comic book illustrator by day, doing books for Image, Wildstorm, and DC, and I’ve got to say, I love his work because his drawings are so dynamic, kind of Baroque-esque in form. • If you’re interested in hiring Jason to do illustrations or logos for you, or if you want to send fan mail, please send it to: janet@janetjewelry.com, and I will reroute it to him! Rob Ro • Job Description: Fastest and Most Amazing Colorist in this Galaxy • Once Jason does an illustration for me, we scan it here in NYC, my husband does a computer "inking" of the piece (make the pencil marks bolder and in black for print) and emails the file to Rob Ro at B@da$$, which is down in San Diego. By next morning, sometimes just a few hours later, I check my emails and it’s already colored and ready to go to print! Amazing! • And as an added bonus, Rob is the most chill, positive vibe person I’ve ever met (my theory is that he was a Tibetan Monk in his former life), and he just got married to the sweetest person in this solar system, Julie! It’s such a pleasure to work with nice people! Reinforces my belief in good karma. The Photographers: Britt, Brian, Brendan, Tomi, Jeffery Britt Carpenter @ Alpha Dog Reps • Job Description: took all the photos for the first JanetJewelry Catalog. • Not only is he a fabulous photographer, but he’s a fabulous friend! Britt’s one of those people who invites you to afternoon tea when you really need one, and makes all the bad things in the world seem, well, not so bad. Brian Inatsuka • Job Description: took a lot of digital photos for me when I didn’t have myown digital camera; Motivational Speaker; Role Model. • Brian’s like my big brother in NYC. He’s dependable, funny, and gets stuff done, and makes us (me & my hubby) get stuff done. Brian’s the ideal role model because he leads by example, and with positive reinforcement. He patiently sat through many of my small business startup woes sessions (still does, but we do it over golf now), gave me some great advice and realistic direction, and taught me how to use key computer programs to help me with my business. Brendan Moran • Job description: took photos for me on really short notice • And did a great job with what little equipment I had around the house, too! I’m all for resourceful people, and Brendan certainly did a good job with that, including using his girlfriend as a model for some of the shots! (She’s the blonde model in some of the photos, so thanks to you, too, Jessica!) Tomi Yum • Job description: kind soul • Tomi agreed to take photos for me early on before I really decided on what JanetJewelry was about, and she really didn’t even know me then! She was my sister's friend's friend. How nice is that! I was completely unprepared for what a photo session was going to be like at that time, and she patiently took me through the entire process; she is the queen of props! And, she hooked me up with Lisa Ling, too (she was taking photos of Lisa for a magazine), so she gets the extra two big thumbs up from me! Jeffrey Apoian • Job Description: photography pro with a very kind heart • Jeffrey is a major high end photographer who usually works for people like Calvin Klein. So what possessed him to take a few photos for me? My husband helped to program his website, so Jeffrey was kind enough to offer to take photos of my jewelry for me. To be honest, I was kind of embarrassed to show him my jewelry just because the people who he usually works for are all so famous and have really developed, very expensive products, and my jewelry is more like handcrafted, everyday wear jewelry. But he was totally cool about it and was such a nice person, it reinforced my belief that you don’t have to be a ruthless, coldhearted person to be at the top; you just need talent, vision, and lots of hard work, that's all.... Janne N. • Job Description: Marketing Realist • Okay, so I come up with all these kooky ideas about what I want do to with my company and my website, and Janne, without being mean or bursting my bubble, manages to steer me in a realistic direction without crushing my hopes (and my ego!). Also, there are so many marketing things that I am completely unaware about, and she emails me here and there with amazing ideas/strategies and how to get it done with minimal aggravation on my part, and without burning a huge hole in my wallet. Janne has been a true friend for a long time; she’s gotten me out of trouble many a times; picked me up when things came crashing down; listened when I thought no one else cared. Okay, that makes me sound more pathetic than I care to share, but we’ve had a ton of good times, too. • You know someone’s truly a good friend when you can have fun doing absolutely nothing. Cibo Matto Not only am I a HUGE fan of theirs (Stereotype A is one of my all-time favorite albums; I especially love track 3), but they are the coolest chicks on the planet. Totally down to earth and genuine, I have to pinch myself at times to make sure I’m not in some Bizarro World episode. They’ve worn my jewelry on tour, they wore it in a photo shoot, and they even wore it on their TV appearance on PBS’s Sessions at 54th Street! Miho wore the Postmodern Candy Necklace in Icy Blue with Small Rolo and Toggle and the Hearts in Cage Bracelet, and Yuka wore the Starlight jewelry. For more info on the Cibo Matto performance on the PBS special (a MUST-SEE, they are awesome live!), check out: www.sessionsatwest54th.com/artists/cibomatto03/index.html Or you can check out their official website at: www.cibomatto.com Lisa Ling & the women of "The View" Lisa Ling is another very cool, super nice, hot tamale! As mentioned earlier, she had a photo shoot with a friend, Tomi Yum, and so I asked Tomi to pass on some jewelry to Lisa and the women of "The View" for me. After about 2 or 3 weeks, I had completely forgotten about it, when Lisa phones me to give me a heads up on the episode where Meredith Vieira wore the Postmodern Candy Necklace! I totally remember it because it was 2 days before my 29th b-day, so that was very cool of her (and Meredith!). Several months later, I was at an outdoor market, and she happened to see my logo from a distance, and came by to say "Hey!" How thoughtful and nice is that? My older siblings, Lillian & Stan • Job Description: to set good examples at being "normal" • If you haven't noticed by now, I'm a bit of an eccentric, and having two very "normal" older siblings takes a LOT of parental pressure off of me! And there's nothing wrong with a little "friendly sibling rivalry".... My older siblings have both done well for themselves, so they keep me on my toes to succeed, too! I may not be walking the same path they're on, but I'll meet them at the top! Mom (a.k.a. "Hakase") Masamitsu • Job Description: Number One Fan; Head of Grass Roots PR in Hawaii; Head Elf during Christmas Season • Both my parents have been my role models in various ways. My mom, because she’s very resourceful, good with her hands, smart, isn’t satisfied with not having an answer, bullheaded, and on a more superficial level, she’s super stylish when she wants to be, and "comfortable" when she feels like it, and it’s all good! Since I was a child, I was always fascinated by jewelry, and because she loved it, too, she taught me a lot about gems, metals, and what constitutes "good" design in her eyes. I think I’ve definitely got her "no-frills" sense of jewelry, where being "practical" is just as important as being decorative. For example, if I was out shopping with her, I’d be all, "MOM! I love that ring!" and she would say, "Well, it’s pretty to look at, but it’ll snag your sweaters because that little part sticks out too much," or something like that. "It looks nice on the hand, but it’s uncomfortable after a while because of the shape." "Can you make earrings that don’t hang down so low so that I can wear it with my golf shirt?" • You know those cartoons where there’s a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other shoulder, both telling the person what to do? I swear, my mom sits on my shoulder when I look at jewelry, and especially when I’m looking at my own prototypes, "That one’s too pointy; someone can hurt themselves." "This ring would look a little more ‘gorgeous’ if you did…." I’m not insinuating that she’s a nag because she’s not; I respect her sense of being practical, and I admire her diligence and discipline. Dad (a.k.a. "Confucius") Masamitsu • Job Description: Business Guru and Business Role Model My dad is another person I admire. I hope to find time to eventually write his biography like I promised him a while ago, because he’s had an amazing life that I think needs to be printed on paper. In a nutshell, he was born in CA, the last kid (out of 6) of Asago Masamitsu, a successful potato and onion farmer. When WWII broke out, my grandfather was imprisoned, and the rest of the family was sent to Manzanar, an internment camp in the CA desert, where they were imprisoned for 3 years. They pretty much lost everything they had because of it. He didn’t have any money for college, so he joined the army so he could go under the GI bill, became a Japanese translator for the US Army in Japan and Korea, met my mom, decided he wanted to start his own business to support his new wife and 3 kids, and the rest is history. His first store, Tony Honda in Fujisawa, Japan, was a 6x6 prefab trailor-looking temporary "building" if you can even call it that, and it soon became the top Honda shop in the region. We moved to Hawaii because of my brother’s severe asthma, and he started Tony Honda in Hawaii as well. Of course a lot of other interesting things took place between and beyond all this, but that’s another book. • Why do I think his background is so necessary in this portion of my website? Because by example, he instilled in me a belief that anyone can make something of themselves, even out of nothing, even if the odds seem to be against you, if you’re willing to work hard, not be afraid to take educated risks, and above all else, if you don’t let the fear of failure stop you from succeeding. Okay, that last part is actually from my grandfather. But it is my driving force: it gives me something to look forward to every day, and it helps me pick myself off the ground when I trip & fall. My dad loved his job (he’s retired now), and that inspired me to find what it was that I loved, and to make that my job, too. (Not to mention, he put me through some very expensive schools because he always told me, "Janet, one day, you might lose everything, whether it's another depression, another war, whatever, but if you have a good education, and you're willing to work hard, you can always make something of yourself." See Dad, I actually DO listen, even if you think it's not getting through my thick head.) • While my mom sits on one shoulder giving me practical jewelry design advice, my dad sits on my other shoulder, making sure I’m not being lazy: "Go do something productive." Oba-chan** • Job Description: Number One Fan in Japan; International Snack Supplier • Last but not least, is Oba-chan, my grandma, who is definitely my number one fan. She’s even allergic to silver, but wears it anyway. That’s dedication! (Don’t worry, I make her special pins to wear instead.) • My grandma is the ultimate craft-meister. Because of her, I began making things at a really young age, which is how I think I learned to become very dexterous. She and my mom taught me how to crochet, knit, sew, weave baskets, make flowers, etc. Whatever she was making, I’d make, too. In fact, she and my mom bought us some Monchichi dolls and stuff when we were small, but not the accessories; they encouraged us instead to make whatever we wanted, so I remember sewing and crocheting a lot of clothes. I even made this really cool water bed (yup, a ziploc bag makes a fabulous waterbed, folks!) with a very ‘70s diagonally striped quilted duvet and ruffled bedskirt! I couldn’t care less about the "fantasy" aspect of doll playing, but I was completely consumed by making things for the dolls. Growing up, it was all about home-made accessories, and I think that obsession has been transferred onto people? • And, she sends me the best care packages all the way from Japan, and she writes me a lot of letters, which is, I think, sadly becoming a dying art. When she writes me letters (in Japanese, of course), she knows that my reading skills for kanji isn't what it should be, so she writes in furigana (phonetically) on the sides of the kanjis. I think this is her attempt to educate me through diffusion. She even wrote in furigana on the warning label that came with a Hello Kitty Electronic Card she sent me, which read something like, "Do not place battery in mouth or chew battery. Use card under supervision of adult." • I think I'll always be 5 in her eyes, and sometimes, I think that kind of unconditional love is good for the soul.
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