Article: Three Doors That Changed Everything: The Soul-Driven Journey Behind Salt Creek Silver
Three Doors That Changed Everything: The Soul-Driven Journey Behind Salt Creek Silver
I feel change in the air. When that sense comes to me, I know there will be a leap, a blind step into a new future. Something different than I knew before, something uncommon to the norm. Something so magical, I don't even know how good it will be.
I've always been someone who leans into wonder, who peeks around corners just to see what magic might be hiding there. When doors open easily in front of me, I don't hesitate—I walk through to see what wonders are on the other side.
This is the story of three such doors. Three adventures that didn't just shape Salt Creek Silver, but shaped the woman I am today. Three times when I chose magic over comfortable, when I became a feather in the wind and trusted I'd land exactly where I needed to be.
Chapter One: When the Desert Called My Name
New Mexico started calling my name in whispers I couldn't ignore.
Picture this: I'm sitting in my urban office on the East Coast, promotion papers spread across my desk, everything looking absolutely perfect on paper. Sustainable architecture firm, meaningful work, climbing the ladder everyone said I should want to climb.
And I did love it. Truly. There's something so fascinating about designing spaces where people will live their most intimate lives. But lately, I'd been feeling this... restlessness. Not the kind that makes you want to escape, but the kind that makes you wonder "what else is possible?"
While I designed sustainable buildings, I never got my hands dirty to truly understand the process of physically building. I searched high and low at ways to get my hands dirty building sustainable buildings. I landed on pro bono work in New Mexico, designing off-grid homes in the high desert.
So I applied and waited to see if it was my fate. The moment I received word saying I was accepted, the thought of New Mexico made my chest light up like Christmas morning. I'd never even been there, but suddenly I could see it so clearly—endless red earth stretching toward horizons that looked like invitations. Star-drunk skies that made the city lights feel like costume jewelry.
The door wasn't just open—it was practically glowing with invitation.
Even after collecting advice that swung towards the great opportunity of the job promotion, I did what my heart had been begging me to do. I walked into my boss's office and gave my notice. Not because I was running from something, but because I was running toward magic.
Three weeks later, I was loading my Jeep, GPS pointed toward a place that felt like magic before I'd ever touched its soil.
Desert Mornings and Hidden Springs
The first morning I woke up in New Mexico, I understood why people write songs about the desert. The light there isn't just light—it's liquid gold poured over red earth that's been dreaming for centuries. It rises slow and ceremonial, painting the mesas in colors that don't have names.
I'd set my alarm for 5 AM every morning just to witness the magic of the morning, watching the world wake up in shades of coral and amber and rose gold that made my heart hurt in the most beautiful way.
Those desert mornings taught me my first real lesson about soul-driven living: sometimes the most profound adventures happen when you finally give yourself permission to just... be. Not always doing...but being.
Three weeks into my New Mexico adventure, one of the off-grid homeowners I was working with, mentioned these hot springs that "nobody really knows about." Following his cryptic directions led me to a natural pool surrounded by large black rocks. So clear, so warm it soothed my soul.
The desert wasn't just teaching me how to live differently—it was teaching me how to BE differently.
Chapter Two: Mountain Mornings and Silver Dreams
After my time in the desert, Colorado was calling. I thought I knew what that meant—mountains, adventure sports, that high-altitude life.
And for a while, it was everything I thought I wanted. I threw myself into that life completely—work hard, play harder became my motto. From the outside, I was absolutely crushing it. I was back in the office game dominating my 9-5 role. This is a time I considered to be my checks and balances. Did I really want to conform back into society's norms?
Something was stirring underneath all that achievement. My hands felt empty when they weren't holding something I was creating. I'd catch myself sketching in meeting margins, doodling patterns that seemed to come from somewhere deeper than conscious thought.
I decided it was time to add some creativity to my daily office lifestyle. I started with a simple metalsmithing class that was one night per week for a month. Soon after getting some of my creative juices flowing, I remembered the lesson New Mexico gave me- the lifestyle I wanted to live.
Knocking on a Stranger's Door
So I made another leap into the unknkown. Moving outside of Yellowstone National Park, in a small Wyoming town. Still wanting to learn metalsmithing, I knocked on a local's goldsmith's door. Little did I know, at that moment I'd meet a lifelong friend and mentor, Greg Koschtial.
I sat in my car for ten minutes, gathering courage. What was I even going to say? "Hi, I'm a random girl from Colorado who saw your work and think I want to learn metalsmithing but have no idea what I'm doing?"
Greg opened the door—this weathered man with kind eyes and silver hair, wearing a leather apron stained with decades of creation. I started babbling about how I'd seen his work and felt called to learn...
He listened with the patience of someone who understands that the best adventures often start with stammering strangers on doorsteps.
"Well," he said finally, "I usually start work at 5 AM. If you're serious about learning, you can join me tomorrow morning. Bring coffee and an open mind."
That was it. No application process, no portfolio review. Just an invitation into magic.
5 AM Lessons in Silver and Soul
Those morning sessions became my favorite part of the day. Watching Greg's hands—scarred and strong from decades of creation—guide silver and gold into curves that seemed impossible. Learning that metalsmithing isn't just craft, it's conversation. The metal tells you what it wants to become; your job is to listen.
"Silver remembers everything you do to it," he'd say, handing me pieces of raw metal. "So treat it with respect, and it'll hold your intentions forever."
We'd work in comfortable silence punctuated by stories and philosophy and 70s music. Greg taught me about annealing, about how heat makes metal malleable, how hammer strikes leave memories in silver that last forever.
But mostly, he taught me about patience. About how the most beautiful things can't be rushed, only coaxed into existence with love and respect and time.
Every Salt Creek Silver piece still carries whispers of those mountain mornings, Greg's gentle wisdom, and the understanding that jewelry isn't just decoration—it's intention made tangible.
Chapter Three: Where Mountains Greet the Sea
One memorable summer of mountain mornings with Greg had filled my soul with silver wisdom. But something else was stirring. A different kind of calling that painted itself in dreams I couldn't quite remember when I woke up.
Water dreams. Forest dreams. Dreams of mountains that touched the sea in ways that seemed mythical.
I'd catch myself dreaming about a place I'd been before, Vancouver Island and coastal Washington, about temperate rainforests and glacial lakes. When friends asked what I was looking for, I couldn't explain it.
"I'll know when I find it," became my standard answer.
The dreams became more vivid—ancient cedars so massive they made me dizzy, lakes so clear I could see the bottom twenty feet down, mountains rising like prayers. My soul was painting me a map to somewhere I'd never been.
Sight Unseen and Soul-Deep Knowing
Then one random Tuesday, browsing real estate listings for places I had no intention of buying, I saw it. This little house on the Olympic Peninsula, tucked between ancient cedars and within a short distance to a lake that looked like liquid sapphire and a beach that was sheltered by a wall of ferns and waterfalls.
The photos took my breath away. Not because it was fancy—it wasn't. But because something about it whispered "home" in a language my soul recognized immediately.
I bought my house sight unseen. My mom thought I'd lost my mind, but I knew better. I was finally listening to my heart's GPS.
Paradise Found
Moving day was so exciting —driving across three states with everything I owned, arriving at my sight-unseen house in the dark, too tired to do anything but collapse on an air mattress and trust that morning would reveal whether I'd made magic or madness.
I woke to the smell of a wood fire along with a symphony of birds out my door. Stumbled outside in yesterday's clothes and bare feet, coffee mug in hand, not sure what I'd find.
What I found was paradise wearing hiking boots.
Ancient cedars so massive they made me dizzy looking up. A lake that was so clear I could see the bottom twenty feet down, so cold it shocked every cell awake when I finally worked up courage for that first swim. Mountains guiding the skyline and an ocean crashing at my feet.
But it wasn't just the beauty that made me cry (though I absolutely did). It was the feeling of coming home to myself. Like every adventure before this had been leading me here, to this place where mountains greet the sea and dreams feel not just possible but inevitable.
The water here moves differently than anywhere else. Patient. Persistent. Carving coastline wave by wave, shaping stones with gentle determination. It taught me something profound about building dreams: the most lasting beauty comes not from force, but from flowing steadily toward what calls you.
Where Salt Creek Silver Was Born
This became the place where I finally poured my whole heart into Salt Creek Silver. Where I learned that "home" isn't just where you are from—it's where your soul feels most vibrantly alive, where your dreams have room to breathe and grow.
Every piece I create carries echoes of all three adventures. The desert's infinite patience, teaching me that slow time is sacred time. The mountain mentor's wisdom, showing me that silver remembers everything and should be treated with respect. The peninsula's healing waters, demonstrating that the most beautiful transformations happen when you stop forcing and start flowing.
Salt Creek Silver was born in the space between desert courage, mountain wisdom, and ocean healing. When you wear these pieces, you're wearing a reminder that magic is always waiting around the next bend. That doors open easily when you're ready to walk through them. That being a feather in the wind isn't about being lost—it's about being free to discover exactly where you belong.
The soul-driven life isn't about escaping anything—it's about embracing everything. It's about staying curious, staying open, staying ready for the next beautiful adventure your heart whispers about.
Because here's what I know for certain: your most magical chapter is always just beginning.
The jewelry we choose should remind us that we're brave enough to follow wonder wherever it leads. That our souls know things our minds haven't figured out yet. That when change comes calling, we can choose to dance with it rather than resist it.
What door is standing ajar in your life right now? What whisper is your soul trying to get you to hear?
Trust me—you're braver than you think. And the universe is conspiring to help you land exactly where you need to be.
Ready to wear your reminder that magic awaits? Explore the Northstar Collection - jewelry crafted to honor your soul's compass and celebrate the courage it takes to follow your dreams.
