Episodes

  • Building a New Jewelry Store | CarterCast Ep18 – What it Takes to Create the Future
    Jan 7 2025

    If you haven’t heard, we’re building a brand new jewelry store. The groundbreaking was back in June, and over the past six months, the new Jack Lewis Jewelers has been taking shape on Bloomington’s east side next to Biaggi’s, Ancho & Agave, and Crafted.

    Now that the calendar has flipped to 2025, we’re excited to share increasingly more details and updates about the new store as we charge full speed ahead toward the grand opening later this Summer. That starts with a new episode of the CarterCast, filmed outside, on-location from the construction site!

    From the comfort of his heated jacket on a magical 55-degree day in winter, Carter shares big picture thoughts on why he decided to build a new store, how he chose the location, who’s been involved in the project, and which parts of the design he can’t wait for you to experience yourself.

    Everyone loves an origin story, and this episode of the CarterCast is where a whole new era begins. Join us this year as we journey from the dust and dirt of the ground floor …to the eventual glass of champagne on the rooftop terrace of the new Jack Lewis Jewelers.

    [Premiere Date: Monday, January 6, 2025]

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    38 mins
  • Carter Turns 50 | CarterCast Ep17 – Reflections on Running a Jewelry Store
    Sep 30 2024

    Hear ye, hear ye, it’s a monumental occasion: on October 22, 2024, Carter turns 50. Yes, he’s officially entering his George Clooney handsome gentleman era, aging with flavor like fine bourbon in a barrel. So we’re using this round milestone as an opportunity to zoom out and reflect back on 50 years of wisdom. What has Carter learned in 50 years? What’s it like running a jewelry store? Life lessons, best advice, biggest challenges, managing relationships.

    The Season 2 finale is a big picture, high level, surprisingly emotional conversation as Carter shares what’s made him the Shipley award-winning leader and business owner he is today. It’s the CarterCast, the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun.

    Filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

    [Premiere Date: Monday, September 30, 2024]

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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • How Jewelry Stores Get Diamonds | CarterCast Ep16 – The Journey from Soil to Showcase
    Jul 22 2024

    We’ve done lots of shows about diamonds, covering almost every facet (heh) of them from the 4Cs to buying them online to lab growns, but we haven’t talked much about how we get our diamonds. How does your local jeweler acquire the diamonds that you see in the case? What’s that process, start to finish? How might international conflicts such as wars, tariffs, and geopolitics have an impact? And what’s it like going to Antwerp surrounded by armed guards and seeing briefcases handcuffed to people’s wrists? How do you know who to trust in this wild, crazy world? They say it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, and that’s what we’re exploring today: the journey of a diamond from the soil to the showroom. It’s the CarterCast, the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. Filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

    [Premiere Date: Monday, July 22, 2024]

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    39 mins
  • More Talk About Lab Grown Diamonds | CarterCast Ep15 – Revisiting LGD’s in 2024
    Feb 19 2024

    Today, we're revisiting a topic from a previous show, because a sequel is always better than the original. Wait, right? It’s been about 2.5 years since we last talked about…*gasp*… lab grown diamonds. Given the ever-changing landscape of that controversial, salacious, contentious, quarrelsome topic, we decided to check back in and see how things are going in the land of LGD’s. We bring out charts, and we play clips of Carter’s predictions from the previous episode right to his face, forcing him to respond. Was he right? Was he wrong? It’s Lab Grown Diamonds 2. Too Vast, Too Spurious. Let’s charge headfirst into controversy, on the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

    [Premiere Date: Monday, February 19, 2024]

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    52 mins
  • Designer Engagement Rings | CarterCast Ep14 – New Trends w/LegitiMissy
    Sep 25 2023

    After much cajoling, bribery, and lofty promises, we’ve finally convinced our first guest to join us on the show. And it’s none other than the Queen of Style herself, Jack Lewis Jewelers VP and co-owner, Missy Ranney…aka, LegitiMissy. We wanted to explore the world of designer engagement rings, and there’s no one better, probably in the whole country, to navigate us through the latest and hottest trends than Missy. She did bring some rings with her to show-off during this episode, so you might want to eventually check out the video version to see the sparkly show-and-tell for yourself. Either way, you’re in for a treat, because this show has never been smarter. Step into the high fashion world of designer jewelry on the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

    [Premiere Date: Monday, September 25, 2023]

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    31 mins
  • How to Buy an Engagement Ring | CarterCast Ep13 - A Step by Step Explainer
    Jul 17 2023

    Buying an engagement ring is something you (probably) only do once, and since you’ve never done it before, it’s not really something you’re expected to know how to do. Sure you could Google it. But that’s what we’re here for: to be the resource that helps you navigate this once-in-a-lifetime process of buying an engagement ring. Where do you start? Then what? And then what? Wouldn’t it be super helpful if you had a step-by-step explainer? You’re in luck. This is the definitive start-to-finish tutorial for how to buy an engagement ring, on the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

    [Premiere Date: Monday, July 17, 2023]

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    57 mins
  • The Most Searched Questions About Diamonds | CarterCast Ep12 – Google AutoFill Q&A
    Jan 2 2023

    It's early 2023 at the time of this premiere! So if you're listening to this in the distant future, hello from the past. Hope things are going well. In this episode, we revisit the Google machine for another Search AutoFill show, this time about Diamonds. So when you go to Google and start typing, "Do Diamonds...", what AutoFill options does Google start to populate? Those are allegedly the questions you care about most, so we wrote 10 of them down and asked Carter for the answers. It's another fun episode with lots of great diamond tips and tricks, so let's get this new year started bright and blingy with the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, filmed on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

    [Premiere Date: Monday, January 2, 2023]

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    36 mins
  • The Most Searched Questions About Engagement Rings | CarterCast Ep11 – Google AutoFill Q&A
    Oct 10 2022

    After a long hiatus, the show returns in a new studio with new lights, new mics, new decor, and a google of new topics. That's because we're doing a classic Search AutoFill episode about Engagement Rings. When you go to Google and start typing, "Do Engagement Rings...", what AutoFill options does Google start to populate? Those are apparently the questions people are asking, so we picked our favorite 10 and asked Carter for the answers. It's a fun, rapid-fire episode with lots of great engagement ring tips and tricks, so let's shake off the rust and dive back into the pre-proposal show for dating couples designed to make engagement ring shopping easy, understandable, and fun. This is the CarterCast, recorded on location at JoshuaOneNine in Downtown Bloomington, IL.

    [Premiere Date: Monday, October 10, 2022]

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    44 mins