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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's list at: makersplaybook.com/newsletter

Guest Resources:
Rebecca Harvey's  Instagram - @r.harveythisisatest

Today’s episode is brought to you by the following sponsors:
The Rosenfield Collection of Functional Ceramic Art
Bray Clay by the Archie Bray

The Maker's Playbook is now a part of the Brickyard Network! Find more awesome pottery podcasts by clicking here. 

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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 encouraging moment, especially for those of us that feel like we are getting started in this beautiful journey a bit… well, later than others. 

Note: There is a tiny bit of adult language in the latter half of this episode, so if you are listening around kiddos or are in a community setting, you might want to choose to pop on some headphones.

Page is one of the founding members of The Community, our online home for makers. You can learn more about what all The Community is about by clicking here: makersplaybook.com/community

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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 dream life of being a full-time potter in the 21st century. If you are dreaming that same dream, or even just curious about what it’s actually like to make a living from what you make, this episode is for you.

On January 8th (one week from today!) I'm sharing my entire annual planning process inside of our Community! If you are looking to have 2024 be the year you finally accomplish the projects you dream of at the start of the year, consider joining us for the system that finally changed it all for me. This podcast wouldn't exist without my annual planning system! Learn more about all the Community has to offer by visiting: makersplaybook.com/community
(And if you are reading this after January 8th, 2024 don't worry! All trainings inside of The Community are recorded. Come on over and check it out!)

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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 goals in 2024, consider joining us inside of The Community to kick off the year with a deep dive on my entire planning process. We'll start off with the big annual plan, and then dig into how to actually get things done with quarterly and weekly accountability. Learn more about all The Community has to offer year round and snag our special rate before prices go up in February by visiting: makersplaybook.com/community

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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 finally accomplish big goals that every year you have the best of intentions to do, but never seem to make the time for, consider joining us inside of The Community to kick off the new year with the very planning system Rebecca has used to launch this podcast, write full courses, and build brand new businesses. Best of all, if you join before February you'll receive our 2022 membership rates that are disappearing soon! Learn more at: makersplaybook.com/community

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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

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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 knows this life well, and on today’s episode, she and I are debunking our often lauded ability to do #AllTheThings, and peeling back the curtain a bit on why. If you’ve ever chatted with Gerald, or listened to her own podcast (called Unraveling. Look it up!) it will come as no surprise that we also get into the big philosophical questions around how we make a living from the things we make a bit more than my usual pragmatic. 

If you love this conversation and want to keep diving deeper, come check out The Community. Our virtual membership for fellow makers from all over the world who are trying to figure out how the heck we make a living from the things we make. Learn more (and lock in our current membership rates before they change in 2024) by visiting: makersplaybook.com/community

Guest Resources:
Gerald's  Instagram - @geraldbrownart

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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 of the world’s top chefs, I was reminded that goals, while giving us a hypothetical finish line to work towards, are anything but fixed.

Guest Resources:
Jono's  Instagram - @jonopandolfi
Website - https://www.jonopandolfi.com/?view=sl-E933F878

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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 huge gap between initially trying to sell your work and learning who your ideal people are. Most of us wish we could skip through the awkward pre-teen-like business years of uncomfortable situations and conversations with non-ideal customers. I get it. I’ve been there. 

And while there’s no way to truly avoid those growing pains, a great way to be able to protect your own energy through the process is to know with absolute certainty that what you are doing is taking care of people. Not recommending the most expensive item in your booth because you want to make the big sale, but instead, recommending the item you genuinely think will solve the problem the person has described to you. While I could tell you all about how to define an ideal customer, at the end of the day, what I was reminded of during my chat with Makeda Smith is that all of this making a living from the things we make craziness starts with building relationships. Not only between fellow makers to help us through the unknown (as I talk about so frequently), but also in building relationships with the people we are meeting that may - or may not - buy our work.

Guest Resources:
Makeda's  Instagram - @sioceramics
Website - https://sioceramics.com/

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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 episode - questions that require nuance and trust - you might want to check out The Community and see if it just might be the safe oasis you've been looking for. Learn more at: 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 show or want to say Hi? Email us at: podcast (at) makers-playbook (dot) com