#49: The Power of Letting Go: Trust Yourself & Find Your Flow

What if the very thing holding you back isn’t fear  but control?

In this episode of The Jeweler’s View, host Courtney Gray shares a powerful real-life story about the morning she trusted her intuition and how that moment changed everything. Through that story and lessons from her own creative journey, Courtney explores how artists and jewelers can learn to let go, trust their instincts, and find flow in both business and life.

If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “I’ll do it later,” or pushing harder when things don’t go to plan, this episode will help you reframe what flow really looks like. Spoiler: it’s not ease, it’s rhythm, awareness, and the courage to listen when life nudges you in a new direction.

Courtney also shares how this same principle is woven throughout her Transform course  guiding jewelers and creative entrepreneurs to build businesses rooted in purpose, sustainability, and confidence.

🎧 You’ll learn:

• Why resistance often turns into control
• How to recognize when to let go and pivot
• Why trusting yourself is key to creative growth
• What “flow” actually feels like for makers
• How small, aligned steps lead to big transformation

✨ Sponsor:
This episode is proudly supported by Gesswein, helping jewelers, metalsmiths, and manufacturers stay ahead of the curve since 1914. Gesswein doesn’t just sell tools  they help you use them better. Visit www.gesswein.com
to explore tools, training, and resources that keep your craft sharp and your creativity flowing.

🔗 Connect & Learn More:
Find tools, coaching, and the Transform course at courtneygrayarts.com
.
Follow @courtneygrayarts on Instagram and share what part of this episode resonated most.

Because growth doesn’t come from perfection it comes from trust.

Transcript

 Episode 49 – The Power of Letting Go: Trust Yourself & Find Your Flow

[00:00:00] Welcome to The Jeweler's View. I'm Courtney Gray, metalsmith educator and creative business strategist. After 25 years in the jewelry industry, running one of the country's top metalsmithing schools, coaching artists, advising companies and organizations, and hosting interviews with some of the best in the craft.

I finally created the kind of support I wish I'd had from the start. This podcast is a part of that. Each week I share the lessons I had to learn the hard way so you can build a rhythm that supports your creative work, your values, and the life and business you actually want. Find tools, coaching and my transform course@courtneygrayarts.com and let's get to work. 

I've always said this industry runs on connection and good partnerships. That's why I'm proud to partner with Guest Wine because they show up for [00:01:00] Makers, stores and manufacturers every single day. They don't just sell tools. They help you use them better. Visit guest wine.com to see what's possible.

Courtney Gray: hello my friend. Welcome back to The Jewelers View. Last week we talked about resistance, how it shows up, why it's there, and how to move through it. If you remember one thing from that episode, let it be this later is now, this week we're taking the next. Once you move through resistance, you hit a new threshold, that place where you have to trust yourself, let go of control.

This is a struggle for me and allow things to unfold. Trust the process for artists. That's not always easy. We're planners. We're perfectionists, and we're protectors of our craft, but flow only happens when we loosen our grip a little bit. A few [00:02:00] years ago I learned this lesson in a way I will never forget. It was the morning of the open house for my second school creative side, metalworks, the welding and blacksmithing space. I'd planned for my staff to handle setups so that I could save my energy and be on and greet people later.

It was one of those mornings packed with details, banners, torches, snacks, and a hundred small things to do. Before heading in, I decided I needed to go and exercise. I needed to move my body first. The plan was to go to the YMCA but as I got in the car, the air outside was so crisp.

That first cool Texas morning after a long, painful stretch of heat. Something in me said, it's too nice out to go inside. Go outside instead. So I turned right instead of left at the very last minute, and I decided to drive down to the Barton Creek Green Belt area's. A beautiful little, [00:03:00] stretch that goes through Austin

so I parked, I stepped out and for a split second, again, I thought maybe I should just leave my phone truly unplug for once, right? But something in me, call it intuition, call it whatever, said, take it with you. So I did, I followed this trail until it opened into this quiet stretch of creek bed, one of those rare mornings when there's actually like water running through it.

The air smelled like limestone and I could see this water, I had to follow it. Something in me was like, follow, figure out where this water is coming from. So I hiked down way further than I normally would. This was not my normal routine. There was nobody else around. It was kind of lovely, right? I thought, just keep going.

And then out of nowhere, I'll never forget it, I heard a woman scream. Branches started snapping. I could hear the sound of someone unmistakably falling. [00:04:00] I ran toward the sound. It was just a few feet up from where I was, and at the bottom of the ravine, covered in dirt and blood.

Her hand twisted, obviously hurt. She couldn't move. I called EMS and waited with her while they hiked in. We were in the middle of nowhere. They could not find us until they actually were able to locate my phone. They hiked in, loaded her onto a stretcher and airlifted her out in a helicopter. Later I learned that she'd been walking 30 feet above with her dog.

The dog had slipped and she lunged to save it and fell herself. Miraculously, she survived broken wrists, a few broken fingers, but she was okay. I've replayed that morning so many times. What if I had turned left to go to the YMCA? What if I had left my phone in the car?

Maybe the, sometimes I think I'm not a stranger to emergencies for a reason. [00:05:00] Maybe the universe keeps handing me those moments to build resilience. To remind me that I can stay calm inside a storm. Trust my gut and act when it matters. That morning wasn't about coincidence.

It was a reminder that flow doesn't always look like ease.

Sometimes it looks like listening, pivoting and trusting a small nudge without knowing why yet. That's what creative flow looks like too. It's not a straight river. It's a series of quiet turns. We think flow means everything clicks, and nothing is hard, right? But in real life it's often messy.

Your sketching, answering emails, and still trying to make space to breathe,

flow starts with trust. , Trust that the right turn moments, the gut feelings, the detours, all have purpose. Trust that if you keep showing up, [00:06:00] the work will show you what it wants to become. Letting go isn't about apathy, it's about cooperation with what's real. When I hold too tightly to a design idea, an outcome of a course, a plan, I stop hearing what's actually happening.

You've probably felt that you keep pushing a piece that just won't come together. You redo a bezel five times because it should work and it keeps cracking. Sometimes the metal's telling you to start over letting go is listening. It's asking, what's trying to move here, what wants to change?

And that's hard, especially if you've built your identity around control or perfection. But every time you unc unclench a little, you make space for something better to show up.

Last week, I said, resistance isn't proof that you're failing. It's proof that you're growing. Flow is the next part of [00:07:00] that growth. Resistance is the break. Flow is the release. It's that exhale after the fight, and sometimes the simplest way to find it is to stop micromanaging every outcome and just do the work.

Not because it's perfectly planned, but because you're present for it.

This is also where so much of transform lives, right between intention and trust. The artists who thrive in the program aren't the ones with everything figured out quite the opposite. They're the ones who start, they take action. They noticed what unfolds and learned to course correct with grace.

Patience. If you've been listening and thinking, I'll do it next round. Remember what we said later is now,

the sooner that you begin something that you know you wanna do, the faster you move toward the vision that you've been carrying. You don't need perfect timing. You just [00:08:00] need willingness to trust yourself. So here's what I want you to reflect on this week.

Where in your life are you gripping too tightly? What's one place that you could loosen your hold and trust the process instead of trying to force it or push it Flow doesn't mean it's easy, it means you're in rhythm with what's real, what's working. Whether that's in your studio, in your business, or your next big decision, try taking that right turn instead of the left.

Even if it's unpredictable, you never know what might be waiting there. Until next time, trust. Let go and believe onward and upward, my friend. I'll see you next time.

This episode is supported by guest wine helping jewelers and manufacturers stay ahead of the curve since 1914.

Thanks for listening to The Jeweler's View. [00:09:00] If today's episode gave you something to think about, consider sending it to a friend or share it on social and tag me at Courtney Gray Arts. You'll find tools, coaching resources, and the transform course@courtneygrayarts.com. And if no one's told you this lately, remember you're not behind.

You're becoming exactly the kind of maker your business needs and that kind of depth. It takes time. I'll be back next week, same time, same tough love, onward and upward. I.