Wheel Talk

Apr 20 2024 64
Wheel Talk Podcast artwork

Ryan Durbin (@rdceramics) & Becca Otis (@5linespottery) share their experiences as potters, makers, small business owners, and creatives. Becca is a full time studio potter, while Ryan is a full time website developer and part time potter. We'd love to share our ups and downs along the way as we build our skills as makers and small business owners in an honest, informal manner. We hope to bring you helpful tips we've learned over the years, learn from each other, and share expertise from a number of guests with you also. Please join us for some Wheel Talk!

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#247 - "Resources for your business" at NCECA 2024

Apr 20 2024 67 mins  
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

#246 - Let's talk preorders

Apr 13 2024 91 mins  
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. ResourcesJoin the waitlist for Ryan's future Bookkeeping Worksh

#245 - Pricing your work pt 2 & presenting at NCECA with Heidi Fahrenbacher from Bella Joy Pottery

Apr 06 2024 138 mins  
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 app

#244 - Road trip home from NCECA!

Mar 30 2024 149 mins  
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

#243 - Getting better at in-person shows

Mar 23 2024 98 mins  
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 t

#242 - How we started & where we're going

Mar 16 2024 91 mins  
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 QuestionsOn this episode:- How did the podcast start? How did we manage it early on & plan for dis

#241 - Setting boundaries on social media with Melanie Westheiden from Swell Ceramics

Mar 09 2024 112 mins  
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---

#240 - Mobile studios

Mar 02 2024 84 mins  
Ryan & Becca are back together once again and this week we're talking mobile studios! We received a question about the viability of using a mobile studio in a trailer, van, etc to assist in teaching small kid classes and selling at shows from it. Becca's insights may surprise you on this one. Thanks for the question Lilly!Listener QuestionsOn this episode:- I have bee

#239 - Custom wholesale & clay buttons with Sara Davis from Golden Earth Designs

Feb 24 2024 127 mins  
Ryan & Becca are joined today by Sara Davis from Golden Earth Designs. Sara shares about her process of making custom wholesale mugs, selling full time the past year, getting back to production after the holidays, and clay buttons! Thanks so much to Sara for sharing some time to chat about her work and business.-----Find more about Sara's business below-----Instagram - @go

#238 - A path to full time ceramic artist with Em (Paz) Stevens (Pt 2)

Feb 17 2024 108 mins  
Ryan & Becca welcome Em (Paz) Stevens to the show to discuss balancing a full time job in the service industry and part time pottery. We get into how her business did in 2023, how she's building out her home studio, funding the build through Kickstarter, setting realistic business goals, and digging into Etsy shop advice. Thanks again to Em for sharing her time with us.---