As I said earlier, the only source of value in our business is the consumer's desire for the product. That desire is built on emotions ascribed to diamonds, and if they believe the way that diamond has been brought to their finger does anything other than live up to the values they ascribe to it, we would have a major problem.

I was raised in a really unique way, and it gave me a different view on gender and, in some ways, race. I was raised in a commune, and I grew up without mirrors- without vanity. To be without mirrors growing up means that there's no real defined sense of self based on the external. When I came into America however, I was told I was a girl, and this is what you can and can't do… it really is cult like thinking, and gender is a cult, and it's so dull… it's not what we are, it doesn't encompass what we are.

Even when I reached the top, I never forgot where I came from. I wondered about the millions of my fellow countrymen who didn't have the chance I got and continued to languish in poverty.

Caregiving taught me about the dual nature of love—it's both an internal and external commitment. This created a symbiotic and reciprocal relationship; in giving, I received abundantly, and we both were uplifted. Love became an animating force in our lives, guiding us through both dark and light moments.

Have you ever read Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power? One of the laws is 'discover every man's thumbscrew,' which means that every person has something that matters deeply to them. I think you can approach this not from a negative perspective, but a positive one: to understand the 'good guys,' the 'bad guys,' and everyone in between. Why do they do what they do? As a journalist, the best way to uncover that is to listen—authentically.