Wheel Talk

Ryan & Becca have some thoughts today about how to handle negative feedback, whether it's a customer, fellow business owner, business you partner with, or otherwise. Handling these situations can be pretty tricky and we hope you get some good insight from today's discussion. Thanks for listening! Listener Questions On this episode: - What's the best way to ship out 60 or more pa...

Ryan & Becca welcome Henrik Van Ryzin today from VanTiki Studios. He shares a wealth of knowledge about his evolution from a special effects artist to a full time ceramic artist focused in mold making & slip casting. Henrik and his wife Denise focus on producing ceramic tiki mugs and other goods that share their love of tiki with customers all over the world. Check out his YouTube channel...

Ryan & Becca get deep into kilns on today's episode to give some insight into how you may choose your next kiln based on your studio production. They cover a range of kiln body sizes from the L&L & Skutt lines, as well as a few others along the way. Good luck if you're in the market for a kiln and let us know if you have any questions to help you make the decision a little ea...

Ryan & Becca are back together this week to recap some of the points discussed last week on Becca's solo episode about her shows. To relate back to a more broad topic, Ryan get's into what he feels influences buyers to purchase from you at shows. Hopefully you were able to reflect on your booth set-up and interactions at shows to see where you're doing well and maybe some areas...

Becca shares some thoughts on her drive back to Indianapolis after a show weekend in Louisville, KY. She covers some thoughts around what a positive show looks like for her, how she's feeling about shows this year, and how she plans to move forward. We hope you enjoy this raw solo episode with Becca and stick around next week when Ryan shares some thoughts about it. Listener Questions Send us...

Ryan & Becca answer a frequent listener questions about how to keep your studio clean, from handling water usage, clay dust, reclaim, equipment, managing a packing & shipping station, and how we can make the space sustainable for the long term. Enjoy and happy cleaning! Resources For Flux Sake Podcast Safety in the Ceramics Studio by Jeff Zamek Listener Questions On this episode: - How do...

Ryan & Becca share some updates about their lively week together before getting to some listener questions and finally the topic for today: building partnerships with companies. There's no copy and paste message you can send out to the companies you'd like to partner with, but you can certainly be yourself and share how you'd make a great person to talk about their products. Bes...

Ryan & Becca are together in-person today at Ryan's while they chat virtually with Milissa and Eric Beale from Beale Pottery in northwest Indiana. They chat about their recent grand opening celebration, managing the business as a husband & wife team,  balancing multiple styles of work, class/workshop offerings, financial risk of relying only on pottery income for the family, and plent...

Ryan and Becca discuss a heavy topic today: burnout. What’s led to burnout for both Becca & Ryan, how are they feeling in the midst of it, & how do they cope with it? It’s a tough time of year for so many small business owners as the holidays approach, but we can get through this to feel good about the end of our year. Thanks for listening and best of luck to finish out 2023! Listener Ques...

Ryan & Becca welcome back Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery while Becca is visiting her up in Michigan for the week. They cover a number of topics but mainly focus on how Heidi manages many wholesale accounts, the collections most suitable for wholesale, and pricing your work to properly account for your materials, labor, and profit. We hope you enjoy today’s in-depth discussion with H...

Ryan & Becca bring you a special episode discussing all things #potswap2023 , our 6th year hosting this global event. There are a few important changes this year to be aware of and we cover it all today. Follow along with all Pot Swap happenings on Instagram @potswapofficial . Registration is free and open to the first 1,000 entries this year starting on Sunday, October 15th at 12pm EDT. First...

Ryan and Becca compare various ways of teaching: in-person and virtually. They have both taught in community studios settings in-person and virtually on various topics. Enjoy the discussion and let us know how you prefer to teach. Upcoming Workshops from Ryan/Becca Throwing Efficiency with Becca - Sept 25th Jewelry Making with Becca - Sept 27th Cincinnati Coffee Festival - Oct 21-22 Resources Get...

Ryan & Becca are joined today by Juliann Roush while Becca is visiting her in the upper peninsula of Michigan. We discuss how she makes her very time-intensive functional work using various hand-building techniques. Her business and work has shifted a lot over the 30+ years she’s been playing with clay, but she still finds love in what she’s making. We also answer a couple listener questions w...

Ryan welcomes back Curt Hammerly from Hammerly Ceramics near Denver, CO. They discuss how he’s managed a team through a quickly growing business, taking on big projects with staff, & introducing pre-orders and older designs into his workflow. Thanks to Curt for joining us again! ----- Find more about Curt’s business below----- Instagram - @hammerlyceramics Website - hammerlyceramics.com #50 -...

Ryan is joined by Meghan Yarnell & Tony Young as they make the 14 hour drive back from Kansas where they participated in a soda kiln building workshop taught by Kevin Kowalski. Thanks to Isaac & Karina Shue for graciously hosting us at their home/studio in Harper, Kansas for 4 days. It was a great experience and we talk all about what we expected going in, key takeaways, life as high schoo...

Ryan and Becca just celebrated their 4 year anniversary of hosting Wheel Talk on August 22nd. Each of their lives & businesses have shifted so much in the past 4 years! Thanks so much for listening whether you've been here since the beginning or recently found us, sending us questions, leaving reviews, & sharing with friends over the years. Cheers to the next four years! Upcoming Work...

Ryan & Becca are joined by Ashley Ball to discuss an interesting proposal related to trying out a new show to her with potential versus sticking with a tried and true show she's done multiple times. We cover the situation from many different angles to give the best recommendation: financial potential, distance, length of show, interest level to be at the show, customer potential, expenses...

Ryan & Becca welcome Tzipporah from Sipor Ceramics to discuss juggling life as a full time mother of four while making & teaching pottery on the side. She's currently pursuing a new journey into hosting virtual classes to help build community for potters feeling isolated in their studios and also those hoping to learn more about throwing specific forms you may not already have experie...

Ryan & Becca are joined by Caroline Clark to discuss finding your market when your local community may not respond to your work as well as you hoped. We experiment with a few ideas to see what may work for Caroline and hope you enjoy. Thanks to Caroline for joining us! Listener Questions On this episode: -  Do you have any recommendations for finding your people (ie customers) when your work i...

Ryan & Becca are back after a long time since their last Q&A all the way back in episode 155. 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...

Ryan was lucky enough to chat with Deanna Poelsma of Glazed & Confused Creations while they are out of town at the Berea Craft Festival. She shares a range of insights from working in arts council administration, show application processes, jury process, application photos for her ceramic jewelry, art show plans for the future, and more. Thanks to Deanna for sharing her time during an art show...

Ryan & Becca answer a listener question they've gotten a couple times recently related to clay conferences. They share their experiences at NCECA and other regional clay conferences, especially Clay Con West. Consider researching other clay conferences in your area to get to know more of your local clay people, learn a few things, get outside of your comfort zone a bit, & explore a ne...

Ryan & Becca dig into a listener question related to subscription clubs where you offer a new pot each quarter at one price, plus a tangent into mug clubs for breweries. We go into some incentives you may want to consider to get customers to purchase, how to make each quarter’s offering unique, and how to structure payment. Enjoy this new discussion topic for us! What would you do if... all th...

Ryan & Becca are joined by Cindy Chiupka-Jozin from Green Cabin Pottery in Northern Ontario, Canada for another live Q&A segment. Today, we answer a question related to how much work you should take to a show, whether it's a local one day show or you're traveling for a multi-day show. We hope you enjoy and thanks to Cindy for joining us! Listener Questions On this episode: - I wa...

Ryan & Becca try out their new live Q&A segment with Lynne Brander from Grit & Grace Pottery to talk about a new teaching opportunity in collaboration with a local small business. We think this discussion will give you some brainstorm ideas for teaching workshops on your own. Thanks to Lynne for joining us! Listener Questions On this episode: - I have a question about teaching. I have...