The Jeweler's View

Send us Fan Mail Planting Seeds: Why Visibility and Relationships Pay Off Later Courtney Gray introduces The Jeweler’s View and explains that many important business results are invisible at first, because relationships and trust often take months or years to turn into sales. She shares a story of meeting a woman at a music show who didn’t follow up until a year later, became a client, and eventua...

Send us Fan Mail The Emotional Experience of Buying Jewelry: Trust, Connection, and Consistency Courtney Gray introduces The Jeweler’s View and explains that while materials, craftsmanship, and price matter, most jewelry purchases begin with emotion: trust, connection, curiosity, and recognition.  She argues makers don’t need sales pressure or persuasion tactics; instead, they should invite client...

Send us Fan Mail Take One Thing Away: Visual Clarity in Jewelry Design and Presentation Courtney Gray, host of The Jeweler’s View with nearly 30 years in the jewelry industry, shares a guiding principle for makers: when something feels unclear, remove one competing element. She applies a style tip about taking off one accessory to jewelry photography, packaging, booth displays, websites, and jewel...

Send us Fan Mail Resourcefulness Over Readiness: Building Momentum and Confidence as a Jeweler Courtney Gray welcomes listeners to The Jeweler’s View and shares lessons from nearly 30 years in the jewelry industry about what moves creative careers forward. She challenges the belief that growth starts after buying better tools, branding, or equipment, noting she has seen creativity stall in fully e...

Send us Fan Mail Let Your Jewelry Leave the Bench: Small Visibility That Builds Confidence Courtney Gray introduces The Jeweler’s View and explains that jewelry gains traction through everyday wear, not just big launches or shows. She argues many makers get stuck waiting to feel “ready,” even though movement and visibility are what build confidence.  By wearing your work—especially experimental pi...

Send us Fan Mail Stop Guessing Your Jewelry Customer: Find the Patterns That Drive Visibility Courtney Gray introduces The Jeweler’s View and explains that many makers assume their customer is “someone like me,” which can become outdated as their work and audience evolve.  She argues that understanding who actually resonates with your jewelry is foundational to visibility and affects messaging, en...

Send us Fan Mail Building a Jewelry Business Without Losing Yourself: Resilience, Team, and Retail Growth with Stacey King Courtney Gray hosts The Jewelers View and continues her conversation with Stacey King about what it takes to build and grow Lulu Designs while staying aligned with the work.  Stacey links her “latchkey kid” upbringing to resilience, learning from tough moments, and putting art...

Send us Fan Mail Staying in the Magic: Stacy King of Lulu Designs on Process, Tools, and Play in the Jewelry Studio In this Jewelers View studio conversation, host interviews Stacy King, founder of Lulu Designs, about staying “in the magic” while building a sustainable jewelry business. King describes creativity as presence and flow, shaped by her background in ceramics, dyslexia, and learning thr...

Send us Fan Mail Imperfect Action and Moving Forward: Building Momentum When Nothing Feels Ready Courtney Gray closes a three-part creative cycle series on The Jeweler’s View by focusing on imperfect action, staying in motion without waiting for ideal conditions, after episodes on resistance and flow.  She shares how her all-or-nothing sprint style led to burnout and how sustainable progress comes...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Jeweler’s View, Courtney Gray revisits a top Transform members’ topic on how urgency can masquerade as productivity while undermining clarity, alignment, and sustainable momentum.  She shares that her burnout came from moving too fast, overcommitting, launching before things were ready, and losing presence and joy, and recounts a painful mistake made while r...

Send us Fan Mail Build a Cohesive Jewelry Collection: The 3–5 Piece Framework Courtney revisits a Transform members’ top pick episode on how to build a cohesive jewelry collection without getting overwhelmed or stuck in endless experimentation.  Using the example of a student whose 40-piece spread looked like multiple different jewelers, she explains that selling and presenting work becomes easier...

Send us Fan Mail  There’s a point in your work where starting from scratch every time just doesn’t make sense anymore.  In this episode, I sit down with Peter Gilroy of Bonny Doon Engineering to talk about how the hydraulic press can shift your process from one-off making into something more repeatable and intentional.  We get into what it actually does beyond cutting discs, how it changes the way...

Send us Fan Mail Let the Work Lead: Choosing Jewelry Tools Without Wasting Money Courtney Gray introduces The Jeweler’s View and explains that many jewelers slowly waste thousands on tools they don’t need, often buying out of aspiration or avoidance rather than necessity. She returns “back to the bench” to argue that a basic setup can produce a wide range of work and that progress comes from skill...

Send us Fan Mail Appraisals, Documentation & Insurance: Protecting Custom Jewelry Before Something Goes Wrong Courtney Gray introduces The Jeweler’s View and explains why jewelers and clients should prioritize appraisals, documentation, and insurance before a loss occurs. She shares a story of a client who lost a custom sapphire ring in a public restroom, but because it was professionally appr...

Send us Fan Mail Sourcing Is Relationships: Building Trust With Gem Dealers The episode argues that successful gemstone sourcing is less about finding vendors and more about building relationships with dealers who will support you when problems arise. The host recounts cracking a ruby during engagement ring sizing and needing to replace it at their own cost; because of an established relationship,...

Send us Fan Mail Courtney Gray, metalsmith educator and host of The Jeweler’s View, shifts into practical jewelry industry guidance, starting with gemstone sourcing and buying stones online. Using a real engagement-ring story about a misrepresented “natural” tanzanite that turned out to be synthetic, she explains that lab-grown gemstones aren’t inherently bad; the real risk is lack of transparency...

Send us Fan Mail  Courtney Gray introduces The Jeweler’s View and shares a past conversation with a student who had six months to make her jewelry business work before returning to a full-time job. Courtney explains that whether six months is enough depends on starting skill level, available hours and focus, pricing and required sales volume, existing audience, comfort with selling and follow-up,...

Send us Fan Mail  Courtney Gray shares the second major crossroads in her business: during COVID, she had to choose between storing and waiting out the shutdown of Creative Side Jewelry Academy or selling it, and she sold after recognizing her real capacity, health, and energy could not sustain that version of the business while building what was next. The transition was messy and painful, involvi...

Send us Fan Mail Courtney Gray  explains that stalled momentum doesn’t mean a maker isn’t talented or worthy, it usually reflects the sustained effort required to build something from scratch and the work needed to restart after interruption. She recounts starting her jewelry business at 24, then dismantling it to complete a welding technology internship in Germany, and returning home to a year-lo...

Send us Fan Mail  Finding Clear Direction in a Changing Jewelry Market Courtney Gray, a metalsmith educator and creative business strategist, introduces The Jeweler’s View and shares guidance for jewelers navigating rising metal prices and broader market shifts. She explains that what many jewelers feel isn’t only financial pressure but “directional pressure,” raising questions about pricing, scal...

Send us Fan Mail Rising Metal Costs: What They’re Revealing (and How to Stay Grounded) Courtney Gray reframes rising metal prices as information, not a reason to panic and shares how cost pressure exposes weak spots in pricing, design choices, and thin margins. She explains why gold and silver behave differently (including silver’s industrial demand), and how constraints can sharpen creativity thr...

Send us Fan Mail Harnessing Constraints to Enhance Your Jewelry Business In this episode of The Jeweler's View, host Courtney Gray, a seasoned metalsmith and business strategist, delves into how rising material costs can actually drive clarity and improvement in the jewelry business. Courtney emphasizes the value of working within limitations to refine design and pricing, shedding light on bu...

Send us Fan Mail Mastering Your Jewelry Business: Pricing, Marketing, and Financial Strategies In this episode of The Jeweler's View, host Courtney Gray draws from her extensive 25-year experience in the jewelry industry to share invaluable insights on transitioning from a hobbyist to a creative business owner. Joined by guest Erin, the discussion covers strategies for pricing handmade jewelr...

Send us Fan Mail #64: How to Find Your Real Number: Financial Clarity for Creatives In this episode of The Jeweler's View, host Courtney Gray speaks with Erin, founder of Hexagon Strategy Group, about the importance of financial planning for creatives. They discuss how to understand and manage personal and business expenses, emphasizing the value of creating a sustainable and fulfilling lifes...

Send us Fan Mail  Navigating Creative Crossroads with Courtney Gray In this unique podcast episode, jewelry educator and tool expert Melissa Muir steps into the interviewer role to explore key questions about focus, direction, and aligning one's work with their life stages. Muir opens up about her journey, struggles with time management, and lack of clear direction in her business. Courtney G...