Send us a text I've heard it said more than once by makers of many kinds: Being a self-employed artist isn't a job you turn off. It's more a way of life. There are certain choices we can make that can make life more stressful or more in tune with the kind of business (and making practice!) we want to have. This approach to building a life came up once again in my conversation this week with Bryan Hopkins. Have makers you'd love to hear on the podcast? DM me @themakersplaybook...
Dec 10, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Send us a text It's the holiday season and makers around the world are hustling to get their listings online and take advantage of increased sales during this time of year. But what if your sales aren't going as planned? What if you haven't sold as much as you'd hoped? What if you haven't sold ANYTHING? What does it all mean? On this solo episode of the podcast, I'm talking about 2 words that get a bad reputation in the arts - sales & marketing. If taking photos...
Dec 03, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Send us a text Is there a singular aspect of your craft that you love above every other step of the process? For the ceramicists that are listening, there are SO many steps to our process! Making clay, building or throwing, trimming, glazing, firing... And there's seemingly endless options within any given one of those steps. How are we supposed to become proficient in all of these things?! Well, today's guest on the podcast would argue - Maybe you aren't supposed to try and maste...
Nov 19, 2021•52 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Send us a text When I first started this podcast I wanted to make sure that we had a diverse breadth of stories. In fact, it was paramount to the focus of what this podcast would be. I was looking out onto the internet for how other ceramicists and makers made a living from the things they make, and all I really saw was one example - people hustling on Instagram to grow an audience, push that audience to Etsy or an online store, do a massive shop update, then lose their minds with packaging and ...
Nov 12, 2021•56 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Send us a text Have you ever thought to yourself, "well, if I had that many followers, than I could sell more and quit my full-time job. Getting more followers is the solution to all my small business dreams!" Or perhaps, you've been watching a bit of TV and thought, “Well, if I was on the Great Pottery Throw Down, I could quickly increase my audience size, sell loads of pots, quit my full-time job and all of life's problems would be solved!" So, the question is: Is that...
Oct 29, 2021•51 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Send us a text So often I hear makers talk about what they “should” be doing. How they “should” start posting on Instagram or “should” sell at markets, or “should” sell online. But how many of us have stopped to consider what we prefer? What suits us the best? What is the route in business that is most natural to our personalities and our personal lives? Greta Michelle is crafting a business that not only suits her life, but also beautifully uplifts other local businesses from her home of Trinid...
Oct 22, 2021•51 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Send us a text Season 2 is here! We are kicking things off with the one and only Sunshine Cobb. Sunshine and I dig right into it from the beginning. From sharing, oversharing, and the importance of boundaries as makers and educators, to diversifying income streams, to deciding what you are willing to give up to make these crazy full-time artist lives of ours work. We talk about moving cross country, the importance of mental health, self-care and how to sustain your art practice for the long run....
Oct 15, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Send us a text We're taking a quick Season 1 break here on the podcast. New episodes will be coming back at the start of October, but in the meantime, enjoy the top 4 most played episodes since the start of 2021! In the meantime, be sure you don't miss out on our free monthly photography tips! Click here to download our At-Home Photography Cheat Sheet and be added to our insider's list for free photography tips specifically for ceramicists and independent makers. Details from the ...
Oct 01, 2021•48 min•Ep. 31
Send us a text We're taking a quick Season 1 break here on the podcast. New episodes will be coming back at the start of October, but in the meantime, enjoy the top 4 most played episodes since the start of 2021! In the meantime, be sure you don't miss out on our free monthly photography tips! Click here to download our At-Home Photography Cheat Sheet and be added to our insider's list for free photography tips specifically for ceramicists and independent makers. Details from the ...
Sep 24, 2021•54 min•Ep. 30
Send us a text We're taking a quick Season 1 break here on the podcast. New episodes will be coming back at the start of October, but in the meantime, enjoy the top 4 most played episodes since the start of 2021! In the meantime, be sure you don't miss out on our free monthly photography tips! Click here to download our At-Home Photography Cheat Sheet and be added to our insider's list for free photography tips specifically for ceramicists and independent makers. Details from the ...
Sep 17, 2021•52 min•Ep. 29
Send us a text We're taking a quick Season 1 break here on the podcast. New episodes will be coming back at the start of October, but in the meantime, enjoy the top 4 most-played episodes since the start of 2021! In the meantime, be sure you don't miss out on our free monthly photography tips! Click here to download our At-Home Photography Cheat Sheet and be added to our insider's list for free photography tips specifically for ceramicists and independent makers. Details from the ...
Sep 10, 2021•52 min•Ep. 28
Send us a text Having it all…. Doing it all… it’s the elusive dream. And while I don't think I'm actually doing it all, running 2 photography studios, starting a podcast, and launching an online course all while moving and starting one of the busiest wedding seasons in the history of events, is a lot to manage. In this week's episode I'm sharing the hard-earned tools & tricks I've learned over the last 11 years in business to manage my time running multiple businesse...
Aug 28, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Send us a text This week I’m chatting with Tamara Bryan, who you might know on Instagram as Tamara B Pottery. Tamara studied pottery in college and has been working out of her home studio on and off for the past 20 years. I say on and off because as the primary care giver for her kiddos, while it may look to some that Tamara had the freedoms of a full-time potter, living the dream, the reality for her felt a lot more like the crazed side-hustle grind. It’s been a constant trial and error not onl...
Aug 20, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Send us a text Welcome back to another episode of the Maker’s Playbook! If you’ve been following along real-time, you know this episode is launching a couple of days later than usual, because my friends… woof! It’s August, and I’m still a wedding photographer… life is a weeeee bit crazy. This week, I’m sharing an incredibly candid conversation I had with Katie Meili, who is a resident potter at The Village Potters in Asheville, North Carolina. We chat about the difficulties of mental health and ...
Aug 16, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Send us a text I thought about cutting this episode into 2 parts, but I just didn’t know where to pause this conversation, so settle on in because Sherrod and I just don’t stop. We’re two impassioned Scorpios who didn’t realize we were going to find such a fast connection so needless to say, we got a little carried away. And as two fire signs, we also get fired up, so there is a bit of cursing in this episode. If you have little ones, I suggest saving this episode for later or enjoying the wonde...
Jul 30, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Send us a text How do you go from a farm with a woodfire kiln and two potters to an industrial warehouse that already feels too small? Vision. And a bit of luck. At least, that's what worked for Alex Matisse, founder and chief strategic officer of the one and only Eastfork Pottery. On this episode, Alex shares insights into the pros and cons of growing such a large, successful business and how taking the time to get clear on a vision is the lynchpin of it all. Alex and I chatted a lot about...
Jul 23, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Send us a text This week I'm catching up with one of my first ever potter friends, Angela Venarchik. As I was properly learning ceramics for the first time, Angela was preparing to quit her day job and go full-time with her pottery business. She taught me tricks to be more efficient with my throwing, and I shared business knowledge I'd learned over the last decade of entrepreneurship. And now... She's built a brand that not only provides customers with a consistent experience acro...
Jul 16, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Send us a text When I first started learning photography, what made it so overwhelming was the number of variables. Not just stand-alone variables (like the effect humidity has on my hair) but intersecting variables. If I change my shutter speed, what does that do to the effects of the ISO or the aperture? But at the same time, if I start changing everything at once, then I really have no freakin’ clue what is going on and which variable is getting me the results I do (or do not) want!! Cue - Ov...
Jun 25, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Send us a text Have you ever thought about WHY you're taking the photos you're taking of your pots? Do you pull out your camera and just start shooting because you feel obligated? Or do you start photographing knowing what the photos you're taking are specifically going to be used for? This week, week 3 (out of 4!) of the Photography Extravaganza, I'm talking about the 3 primary purposes of photography for makers and how each requires a very different approach to photography....
Jun 19, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Send us a text “What camera should I buy to have better photos?” It's a question I get asked more times than I can count. And if it's not that question then it's a close version of it: - “Can I take good photos without a real camera? Only with my cell phone?” - "But I don't have a swanky kitchen with marble countertops to make my photos look like that..." All of these questions boil down to one: "Can I take good photos without..." and then insert whatever ...
Jun 11, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Send us a text The other week I asked all of you to tell me what you struggle with the most with photography over on our Instagram stories. One brave person said - “I”m not sure I even know what a good photo is.” I had one of those smack your palm to your head moments as a teacher and coach where you realize after 11 years, there is so much I take for granted and don’t fully break down when teaching. So before we dive into this month-long extravaganza of all things photography and specifically p...
Jun 05, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Send us a text It's a bonus episode! Normally this is our "off" week for publishing the podcast, but I have something very exciting in-store... I'm preparing a month-long series of upcoming episodes specifically about photographing your work. In order to do that, we'll be taking the next 2 weeks off, so I cued up this very special bonus episode with the one and only Ryan Durbin of RD Ceramics to tide you over in the meantime. But most of all, be sure you are on our email...
May 14, 2021•58 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Send us a text Do you ever think about what happened BEFORE the Instagram photos? Or BEFORE your favorite potter hit 25 thousand followers? The years of saving money, the months of trial and error, the delays because of things outside our control, and the sacrifices made because we want this crazy dream - to make a living from the things we make - so freaking badly… Well, that’s exactly what Sophia McEvoy and I sat down to talk about. Looking to take photos as gorgeous as Sophia's? Grab the...
May 07, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Send us a text Have you been dreaming of taking your ceramics work full-time? That’s probably a stupid question, isn’t it? Don’t we all dream of that? I’ve discussed with a number of our past podcast guests about what it took for them to go full-time. Some of their stories were planned transitions and some just kind of happened... But, there’s been a common thread between everyone in all of these various situations: It’s a big scary leap. However, there are some tangible, tactical, finite, speci...
Apr 30, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Send us a text Welcome back my friends. For those of you that are new to our little slice of the podcasting world, I publish this show 3 out of every 4 weeks. And on that 4th week (which was last week) I send out my top photography tips for ceramicists and other makers. This last week was all about how to photography glossy glazes!! One of the most popular questions I get asked. So if you missed it, shoot me an email at rebecca@makers-playbook.com or send me a DM on Instagram @themakersplaybook ...
Apr 23, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Send us a text Ever wonder what it might be like in your very first year of full-time ceramics work? Take a peek behind the curtain of that very moment in time with Rachel Russell of Upper Call! Click here for the full show notes, episode timeline, and links to any resources we discuss on this episode. If you're struggling with the seemingly endless amount of decisions to be made in starting up your own small business (whether that's full-time or a side hustle!!), then be sure to grab ...
Apr 09, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Send us a text At its core, I started this podcast to help the maker’s community with so many of the business struggles I’ve had to learn and overcome over the last 11 years of entrepreneurship. But frankly, my chat today with Soula Pefkaros of Golden Ratio Clayworks feels like exactly what I needed to hear for myself. We talk about managing customers expectations as a one-woman shop and solo maker, the struggle to find the right rhythm for a business that not only needs to provide for your live...
Apr 02, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Send us a text Welcome back friends! For those of you who have just found our little slice of the podcast world, the Maker’s Playbook airs 3 out of every 4 weeks. On that 4th week (which was last week) I share my top photography tips of ceramicists and other makers on my email insiders list. If you missed out on last week’s tips, I shared my top 6 things to consider when buying a camera (or upgrading your existing camera equipment). If you missed out, shoot me an email at rebecca@makers-playbook...
Mar 26, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Send us a text Diana & I dig into the limitations she’s coming up against in trying to balance a full-time job and Sample Haus - which - spoiler alert - Between the time we recorded this conversation and now, Diana has actually put in her notice! She’s going full time! So if you’ve been wondering about that yourself, this episode is definitely for you (and you know I’m already planning to have Diana back this time next year to see how it’s all going). We also talk about how seeing examples o...
Mar 12, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Send us a text I'm catching up with my friend and fellow wedding photographer (who has a pottery side hustle too!) Kate McElwee. We share how COVID made us unemployed for the first time in our lives, how pottery and other mediums bring us the creative exploration that we can’t really take in weddings, and… perhaps of most interest to many… we dish a few secrets on how, as photographers, we absolutely simplify how we photograph our ceramic work so it doesn’t take too much time! Not to mentio...
Mar 05, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 9
