Send us a text Wholesale… The assumption is there’s no way to reasonably make a living, as a maker, by doing wholesale. But is that true? Since I’m generally pretty skeptical of any sweeping statement that says an entire concept doesn’t work for anyone, at all, I jumped at the opportunity chat with Steve Tubbs, an ex-retailer turned potter, when he mentioned his entire business is wholesale. While it might not work for everyone, it’s definitely working for him and the nothing-short-of-brilliant ...
May 17, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Ep 125•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text You’ve taken a few classes at your local community studio and you know you want to make ceramics a larger part of your life. In fact, you want to build your own studio, but what does that even look like? And what might be all the tasks and overhead that community studio has been handling without you even realizing it? What is it actually like to start and run a community studio? While we’re at it, let’s complicate things a bit and open that community studio in one of the most expe...
May 10, 2024•58 min•Ep 124•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text Having a collector buy our work... It sounds… amazing! Awe-inspiring? Relieving? Luxurious. All of the above really. But how does it even happen? During the 2024 NCECA conference, Coalescence, held in Richmond, VA I sat down with Peter Beasecker and Louise Rosenfield to chat about their perspectives as maker and collector on how building relationships with collectors begins and how we might each be able to consider fostering our own. Today’s episode is brought to you by the follow...
May 03, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep 123•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text “Etsy vs. Your own website. Which is better?” It’s a question I see asked online endlessly. I see the responses fought over just as endlessly. But is it really an either/or? We dig into that on this next installment of our “The Launch” series - where I dig into the firsthand experiences Francesco & I are having in starting our own ceramics business. Spoiler - We’re using both Etsy and our own website, because there are pros and cons to both. And it’s those pros & cons we d...
Apr 19, 2024•39 min•Ep 122•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text I know I'm not the only one who finds social media to be exhausting. The idea of keeping up with trends sounds equivalent to nails on a chalkboard to me. But at the same time, I know there is a huge opportunity on social media. After all, Instagram alone has 2 billion users. Enter Allie Mason. A data-based marketing strategist who understands that us solo-preneurs and small independent businesses don’t necessarily have the time (or the desire) to be spending all of our time k...
Apr 12, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Ep 121•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text On this week’s episode I talk with founding Community member, Connie Cole, about her winding path to becoming a full-time potter. We discuss her battle with imposter syndrome, what finding a “gateway drug” has done for her business and the assault on creativity she’s experienced over time (and of course, how she’s battling against it!) Interested in joining other makers from all over the world in a safe & supportive environment online? Come check out The Community by clicking ...
Apr 05, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Ep 120•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text Feeling the FOMO because you aren't going to NCECA? Come hang out inside of The Community - Learn more & join for 1 month by clicking here . One of my favorite books: Deep Work by Cal Newport (purchasing the book through this link helps support the podcast!) Today’s episode is brought to you by the following sponsors: The Rosenfield Collection of Functional Ceramic Art Bray Clay by the Archie Bray Love this podcast? Support an episode! Click here to learn more. Follow The...
Mar 16, 2024•27 min•Ep 119•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text Do you get overwhelmed at the idea of making your studio practice environmentally friendly? It can seem impossible to figure out where to start and what actually makes an impact. The science of climate change is complicated at best, and more often than not confusing. Which is exactly why I’m so grateful for people like Yuliya Makliuk - a trained ecologist and potter. Yuliya recently wrote the book Potters Save the World: Learn to Make Sustainable Ceramics and Help Protect the Eart...
Mar 13, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep 118•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text The internet can be amazing for connecting us all to resources we wouldn’t otherwise have access to. But it can also be absolutely overwhelming. With so many people teaching online, how can we tell who actually knows what they are doing? How do we know (especially if we decide to pay) that they are actually qualified to teach us? I’m not talking about formal qualifications and diplomas here - obviously, there are plenty of problems with the traditional structures of arts education...
Mar 01, 2024•59 min•Ep 117•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text How often do you look at what other makers are sharing on social media and think to yourself - “How do they have time to make all this CONTENT? Daily reels, stories, thoughtfully designed themes, not to mention the actual pots!” It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. This week on the podcast, we’re going behind-the-scenes with Hope Limyansky-Smith of Limyansky Studios who consistently posts 5 days a week while also teaching full-time to understand what it’s really like to create so much f...
Feb 16, 2024•50 min•Ep 116•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text What were you doing 15 years ago? Were you already making? Had you not even found clay yet? It’s amazing the twists and turns our lives can take, and yet, without them, we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing today. On today’s episode, I sit down with Victoria Brook, who first introduced me to wheel throwing 15 years ago, when I lived in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England for a year. A lifetime has happened since, and yet at the same time, in many ways Victoria and I both are coming full ...
Feb 09, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep 115•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text We’re kicking off Season 5 with a big announcement right at the start of my chat with Rebecca Harvey, the executive director of the Archie Bray. Rebecca and I also chat about the history of the Bray and her vision for the future, along with the pros & cons of traditional academic education and partnering (or not!) with galleries. Never miss an important announcement (or sneak peek) about what's happening with The Maker's Playbook by adding your email to the insider&a...
Feb 02, 2024•57 min•Ep 114•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text Our 4th most popular episode of 2023 was my conversation with Page Kelly of Zephyr Valley Ceramics twists and turns, much like her career paths. A self-proclaimed “late bloomer,” there is this stunning moment in this conversation at about the 46-ish minute marker when Page discusses the narrative body of work she is currently producing, where I hear literally every experience she has had in the last 2 decades - inside and outside of working in clay - come together. It’s an encoura...
Jan 22, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Ep 113•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text When I say “making a living” what do you think I mean? Do you immediately think of income and how much money you make? Or do you think of how you spend your time? Do you think of the balance between working hours and leisure hours? I don’t think there is one particularly correct answer, but on this episode of The Maker’s Playbook, our guest, Danny Meisinger does put this phrase into some very helpful perspective for those of us trying to figure out the financial side alongside the...
Jan 01, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep 112•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text Our second most listened to episode of 2023 was Part One of my chat with Sarah Hussaini of Not Work Related (and Part Two wasn't fair behind, coming in at the 6th most popular!). There's a different reality in making a living from the things you make in an urban center like New York City than just about anywhere else in the world, and on this chat, we talk very candidly about the pros and cons of it all. If you are looking for support on finally accomplishing your big go...
Dec 25, 2023•54 min•Ep 111•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text We're taking a brief season break amidst the craziness of holiday fulfillment season for our own ceramics business (and then hopefully, with a little luck and a lot of planning, a bit of an actual break). New episodes will return at the start of February 2024, but in the meantime enjoy the top episodes of 2023 to finish out the year. You just might catch something you didn't the first time! If you are looking to level up your own small business in 2024 and want to finall...
Dec 18, 2023•2 hr 31 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text A year end recap of our first full year focusing more intentionally on launching our ceramics business, Carra Terra. If you are looking for support in trying to figure out how to make a living from the things you make, come take a look at our online home for makers from all over the world by visiting makersplaybook.com/community Love this podcast? Support an episode! Click here to learn more. Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook Have questions about the...
Dec 09, 2023•39 min•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text Have your friends ever marveled at how much you manage to get done? How you somehow work full-time and then also produce artwork on the side that you sell on the nights and weekends in your side-hustle? How often are we praised for seemingly “doing it all?” In our productivity focused culture, these accolades can feel amazing. But is it healthy? I am most definitely not the only one out there who’s been rewarded for their ability to manage numerous things at once. Gerald Brown kno...
Dec 01, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep 108•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text Goals… Are they something that’s fixed? Or something that’s flexible? I used to think of goals as rather fixed. You choose your goal, then put your head down and work towards that one, singular, (often random?) goal. Right? Hmmmm… Goals do give us guidelines. Without goals, we are constantly chasing the next shiniest thing. Before we ever got any traction on the last, now slightly less shiny thing. This week, as I chatted with Jono Pandolfi who produces ceramic dinnerware for some...
Nov 17, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 107•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text A lot of business advice talks about needing to find your ideal customer. That hypothetical person that you need to understand inside and out - from what stores they shop at to what value system they use to view the world. And while this is important, what most of that business advice does not tell you is that it is nearly impossible to figure out who your ideal customer is without first actually putting yourself out there and trying to sell your work. But of course, there’s a hug...
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 106•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text As much as I talk about analytics, strategic decisions, data, systems and all the very pragmatic things about building a small business… Honestly, a lot of this whole making a living from the things you make thing is still ultimately, emotional decisions. But how can those pesky emotions help guide us in our decisions rather than derail us? We can't possibly trust every fleeting feeling we have, can we? If you are interested in diving deeper on the questions addressed in this...
Oct 27, 2023•24 min•Ep 105•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text In this chat, you are going to hear my unfiltered shock at how little I actually know about Maya’s personal life - proof that you do not have to overshare on the internet in order to use social media for strategic business growth, how Maya has pivoted her audience over the years through drastically different styles of making, and (equally exciting for me), how she changes her business model throughout the year based on what her personal life needs - Hallelujah! Guest Resources: Ma...
Oct 20, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep 104•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text When you dream about going full-time with your craft, what is the real job? Is it really going to be your hands in clay all day, every day? Getting to hit that coveted “flow state” in the studio because you finally have no other interruptions and can simply focus? I mean, that sounds like a dream, but more often than not, the big surprise for any of us starting a small business can be that the bulk of our time isn’t actually spent on the thing we think it will be spent on. Cara St...
Oct 13, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep 103•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text I think it’s a safe assumption to make that most of us enjoy sharing a story about how we made a piece we are particularly proud of. Or heck! We enjoy sharing a funny fail story about a flop on the wheel (once enough time has passed that we can laugh about it, of course). Now what if I told you that storytelling is actually all you need to do in order to sell your ceramics. My chat today with Naomi Clement is going to shed some light on how all sales really is, at least when done ...
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text Sometimes, making art can feel less important as we scroll through the news and battle with all that’s happening in the world. How can the things we make battle racism? How can a pot positively influence the needs of climate change? It sounds a little silly. Until we realize that culture is what changes the world. And art is uniquely linked to affecting culture and thus, change. Today’s guest, Kristina Batiste, creates minimalist ceramics that hold these huge subjects within their...
Sep 15, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text Doors to the Maker's Photography Styling System are once again open! But only for the next week. If taking better photos faster sounds like a dream, come learn how together we can make it a reality by clicking here: makersplaybook.com/mpss Love this podcast? Support an episode! Click here to learn more. Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook Have questions about the show or want to say Hi? Email us at: podcast (at) makers-playbook (dot) com...
Sep 08, 2023•31 min•Ep 100•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text There are few things in life I find more encouraging than finding colleagues who understand your life. With all do respect to our supportive loved ones, there’s just something different about the depth of conversation you can have with another person who understands how heartbreaking it can be when you bump that perfectly trimmed bowl you’ve been working on for days off the shelf or how thrilling it can be to sell your first pot. Only the people doing these same things really feel...
Aug 25, 2023•50 min•Ep 99•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text When I hear people talk about boundaries and cutting back on work hours and all of that beautiful sounding work/life balance stuff, I assume the person preaching this has already reached a certain point of success. I think to myself, “Well, of course you can cut back on your work hours now . You already have -insert whatever- going for you, so it's safe to slow down." But what if the very reason for launching your small business in the first place was in service of build...
Aug 18, 2023•55 min•Ep 98•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text A lot of the time, we think about the benefits of in-person markets solely related to the sales we do on the specific day(s) of the market. But what if you thought a little bit more strategically? This week’s guest shares how she’s approaching selling at markets as a means of direct market research for who her ideal customer just might be… or not be. Guest Resources: Yvonne's Instagram - @_yvonnerausch Love this podcast? Support an episode! Click here to learn more. Follow Th...
Aug 12, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep 97•Transcript available on Metacast Send us a text In this 3rd installment of "The Launch" series, I'm comparing the dynamics between small markets and multi-day art fairs, shedding light on the energy and small bit of acting skills needed for face-to-face sales. As made clear by so many past interviews here on the podcast, there is a huge value to the direct conversations we can have at markets for understanding our potential customers' interests, but the thing that might come as a massive surprise to everyone...
Aug 04, 2023•39 min•Ep 96•Transcript available on Metacast 
