Wheel Talk

Ryan and Becca welcome back Aleatha Aiken-Sherrer from Aleathabean to chat on a range of topics. Aletha has some insights on using a cheap Amazon pottery wheel to sustain her business the past few years. We also get to hear more about how Aletha lives with Crohn's disease the past few years and how it impacts her business. Come back next week for the rest of our conversation. ----- Find more...

Ryan & Becca get into an interesting discussion sparked from a human psychology thought experiment Ryan had recently. We get into the weeds about the differences between those who are flexible focusers ("spaghetti brained") and priority focusers ("box brained"). The discussion ensues and provides some context to how both Ryan & Becca manage their businesses, relationshi...

Ryan & Becca tackle a listener question today about the importance of having a cohesive style in pottery. Two Sisters Pottery includes a sibling duo creating work in varying styles today. We discuss the balance between creative freedom and branding, offering insights on how diverse styles can coexist within a single pottery business. Thanks for listening! Listener Questions On this episode: -...

Ryan & Becca discuss some lessons learned after Ryan recently listened to some of The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. They specifically focus on the idea of the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician and dive a little bit into franchising as the author explains as well. We share some insights related to our own businesses as we converse. We plan to have another book recap in our epi...

Ryan & Becca finish up our conversation with Tzipporah from Sipor Ceramics to hear more about packing for a big international move and a big project she's hosting this August. Tzipporah is bringing together 5 artists for Modern Clay: A Live Virtual Summit to help attendees learn a range of topics from wheel throwing, hand building, surface decoration, and small business development. We fi...

Ryan & Becca welcome back Tzipporah from Sipor Ceramics to catch up on what's happening with her virtual workshops since we last talked. Virtual teaching was in it's very early stages the last time we talked in August of 2023 for Tzipporah and she's come a long way since. In the midst of balancing family life and the business, she's moving out of her home & studio with...

Ryan & Becca are back after a long time since their last Q&A episode nearly a year ago. They answer many of your questions related to business, studio practice, and a few random ones. Thanks to everyone who continues to send us questions on Instagram and by email! Listener Questions Send us questions so we can answer anything you've been thinking about on a future episode. Send those...

Ryan and Becca are back with Jordan Kloppe, owner of Bluebird Clay, for part two of our discussion. He shares more about new product development, manufacturing challenges, experiences at pottery conferences (Clay Con West & NCECA), fulfilling orders efficiently, building a small pug mill, and the future of Bluebird. Thanks to Jordan for chatting and the listeners for tuning in! ----- Find more...

Ryan and Becca introduce listeners to Jordan Kloppe, new owner of Bluebird Clay. Bluebird is a name that’s been around our industry for decades and are most known for manufacturing pugmills, clay mixers, and Soldner pottery wheels. Jordan shares his outsider perspective as he recently purchased the business, brings it into a new era of manufacturing, and some speed bumps he’s encountered so far. S...

Ryan & Becca come ready to chat all about what's involved in moving out of a studio, no matter the size. I think we can all agree, moving sucks! Both have experience in moving to larger and smaller studios over the years. With Becca's recent move, she's got a lot to say about selling equipment, tools, clay, etc so someone else can get a second life out them. We also aren't...

Ryan and Becca welcome back Link Henderson, the owner of Kentucky Mudworks and Dirty Girls Pottery Tools, for part two of our conversation from last week. They discuss switching to Shopify as a sales platform, running marketing campaigns/sales throughout the year, online and print resources for staying up-to-date on changes in our industry, and some fun questions to finish things up. Thanks for li...

Ryan and Becca welcome back Link Henderson, the owner of Kentucky Mudworks and Dirty Girls Pottery Tools, for an in-depth conversation. They discuss the significant adjustments Link's businesses have made since their last chat 3 years ago, particularly in response to the uncertainty surrounding raw materials. Link also shares insights into their rigorous product testing process before shippin...

Ryan & Becca are back to chat about Becca's next challenge as she's made her way back east for the summer. She's planning ahead for diving head first into online teaching in clay. It's not something too foreign for her, but she's been planning for months (maybe even years) to get to this point. There's a lot of unknowns still, but the plan is set in motion. Ryan a...

Ryan & Becca are happy to be joined by Bethany Kramer from Bethany Rose Pottery to answer all of our questions about working on orders with restaurants. Bethany has been working with various local and regional restaurants over nearly the last decade, finding success as she's grown. We're happy to get some answers regarding making orders in large quantities, hiring help, working with...

Ryan & Becca discuss how they think about adjusting their business & finances when sales are harder to come by.  We've seen slower sales to start the year online, at shows, and general sentiment around folks having less disposable income. We hope you get some valuable takeaways to get yourself prepared in the case of finances tightening or product being harder to sell. Resources Wheel...

Ryan & Becca go in deep on finding shows early in your selling career. Becca plays interviewer on this one to ask Ryan all about his early shows, what he hopes to get sales-wise these days at a show, and how the progression has evolved year to year. There's also some discussion about where and how to find the shows for you. Thanks for the question Tiffany! Resources Sign up for Becca&apos...

Ryan & Becca are back together once again to discuss risk taking in our businesses. What's the most risk we've taken lately, how do we think through risks we're willing to take, how having a support system influences our decisions, and how do we prepare ourselves when something doesn't go right. We hope you enjoy our discussion today. Resources Sign up for Becca's upco...

Ryan & Becca have the whole crew here today, joined by Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery and Isaac Shue from Gallery Mostaza. They talk a lot more about our hot topic as of late: pricing. Heidi continues where we left off last time to ask Ryan about his approach to pricing and digging into Isaac's pricing philosophy. ----- Find more about Isaac's business below----- Instagram...

Ryan & Becca are proud to share the topic of "Resources for your business" live at the NCECA 2024 clay conference hosted in Richmond, VA. We hope you enjoy the discussion as we share how our friends and peers become some of the best resources for our businesses. Thanks to Ben Carter ( Tales of the Red Clay Rambler ) and NCECA for co-producing the podcast and graciously inviting us ba...

Ryan & Becca chat about preorders today! We cover a few pros and cons of doing a preorder, what we've preordered before, what we'd like to preorder in the future, and customer considerations when receiving an online preorder. Enjoy and good luck if you're planning to preorder anything this year. Resources Join the waitlist for Ryan's future Bookkeeping Workshops Listener Qu...

Ryan & Becca welcome back Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery for third time to chat all things NCECA and catch up on Becca's pricing. They recap how NCECA went for them as demonstrators & presenters, what makes the conference so overwhelming, dig into Becca's pricing and sales since we last met with Heidi, and hunting apparently. Stay tuned for the next appearance when we...

Ryan & Becca are heading home to Cincinnati with Erica & Jessica from Richmond, Virginia after attending NCECA 2024. Enjoy the events that made this week special and some of our key takeaways as we get home, rest up, and get back into our studios soon. We hope to see everyone in Salt Lake City, Utah for 2025 and Detroit, Michigan for 2026! Follow Erica at @erica_irene_k and Jessica at @ove...

Ryan & Becca are getting excited about NCECA, which just concluded at the time of this release, before answering a listener's question about gauging the shows they're selling at. Sandrine's in her second year of selling and wants to make sure the shows she's looking into are good fit for the potential customers out there for her. We get into how you should think about the s...

Ryan & Becca share some stories today about how the podcast started and how it's changed over the years. We also get into how we see it progressing into the future and some dream scenarios we may see come to fruition at some point. Thanks for continuing to listen! Listener Questions On this episode: - How did the podcast start? How did we manage it early on & plan for discussions? Whe...

Ryan & Becca are joined today by Melanie Westheiden from Swell Ceramics. Melanie shares about her business’ evolution from a home studio to brick and mortar, preparing for the holiday season, setting boundaries on Instagram, & shifting her body of work. Thanks so much to Melanie for taking the time to share with all of us. ----- Find more about Melanie’s business below----- Instagram - @sw...