The Maker's Playbook - TopPodcast.com

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Ep 523: Immaterial with The Met Aug 30, 2024

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So what does it mean if the work we’re making isn’t as impermanent as we think? Does it have to be in order to have value? Is there still value when it breaks?

Today, I’m thrilled to partner with the one and only Metropolitan Museum of Art to feature an episode from their own podcast - Immaterial: 5,000 Years of Art, One Material at a Time. Each episode examines a material of art - like clay, stone, or even trash and what they can reveal about history and humanity. On today's episode, you're about to hear the story of Stone I recently listened to from their Season 2 launch. The discussion about what happens when the unbreakable not only breaks but shatters had me constantly thinking about every message I’ve ever sent to someone who’s favorite mug has broken. And I wonder how we all might think a little differently about our less than permanent items after listening to this episode of Immaterial: 5,000 Years of Art, One Material at a Time…

Find more fascinating stories from Immaterial by clicking here.

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Ep 522: The Case for Curiosity {The Launch} Aug 23, 2024

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As I reflected on what we're doing differently for this market season compared to last year's, I realized a trend that I've also seen after teaching over 200 makers inside our MPSS photography course and journeying along side nearly 100 makers inside of The Community for the past 3 years. And while I don't really believe in magic silver bullets to assured success, this one trait just might be the determining factor from those that do continue to find success vs. those that, understandably, give up.
The Launch is our near real-time series that takes you behind-the-scenes on Francesco and I's own ceramics business, Carra Terra. To catch up on all Launch episodes, click here.
I'm working on a new free PDF resource for researching, preparing and attending in-person markets! To be the first to get this handy checklist, be sure you've signed up for our email list by visiting makersplaybook.com/newsletter

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Ep 521: Becoming an Artist with Isaac Scott Aug 09, 2024

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What does it even mean to “be an artist?” Does it mean you are making work you like to make? Is that art? Does it mean someone else considers you to be whatever their definition of “artist” is? Does it mean not having another job? Or can you be an artist and do something else? Does doing something else actually better allow you to be an artist? Putting it more succinctly, how do you become an artist?

On today’s episode I virtually sit down with Isaac Scott, one of NCECA’s 2024 Emerging Artists, to discuss his own journey in becoming an artist - from first discovering clay, making production work, transitioning to fine art, and ultimately, continuing to figure out how to keep showing up. Because, spoiler alert, perhaps the answer to all of those questions is found in simply (or not so simply) to keep showing up.
Guest Resources:
Isaac's Instagram - @this_is_ceramics

Episode Resources:

You can find Isaac's 2024 NCECA Emerging Artist presentation here.

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Ep 520: Embracing the Side-Hustle with Nicole Bernard of NB Makes Aug 02, 2024

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If you’re side-hustling your ceramics, are you anxiously awaiting the day you can quit the day job? But what if the day job was actually providing you with the chance to learn to be better at your craft? And no, I’m not talking about a job associated with what you make. I mean a day job totally different than what you dream about making, a job in an office, in a “traditional” employment structure, absolutely not at all associated with the art world. What if that job was actually helping inform how you might be able to dream even bigger about what you could do with your own making business? It might sound crazy, but that’s exactly what Nicole Bernard of NB Makes has been able to find through her communications career. Nicole is balancing a long list of worlds she moves between - from a communications career to growing NB Makes to sitting on boards that make major decisions about funding and somehow also finding the time to commit to a running group. Nicole is taking what she learns from one space and applying it to another - from business to art and art to business. And I think this holistic approach just might be the breath of fresh air so many of us multi-passionate people have been looking for.

If you are looking for support from fellow makers consider joining us inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

Alternatively, Nicole is also part of an incredible online community called Kaabo Clay. You can learn more about Kaabo by clicking here.
Guest Resources:
Nicole's Instagram - @nb.makes

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Ep 519: The Reset Button with Henrik Van Ryzin Jul 26, 2024

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Do you ever think about completely changing your life? Like literally, everything - Your job, where you live, what your day to day looks like, maybe even your identity in a way… Or maybe you have done that already, and you are living the dream you had 5 or 10 years ago, but now, as it turns out, it’s not actually the dream? Just even thinking about saying that out loud feels crazy because you worked so hard to get where you are right now. How could you ever change that? Why would you? Should you? Well first off, I just want to say. It’s okay. I’ve been there! Or rather, am there, as I make my own pivots through a career change. Which of course, is exactly why I went about to hear from other artists on how the heck they managed to totally and completely shift their own lives. Enter Henrik Van Ryzin - self-proclaimed reset button smasher, 3 times over. And I think Henrik would agree when I say, with all due respect to his hard work, that he’s not actually all that different, as a human, from you and I. So if you are thinking about making a change, big or small, in your life to pursue something you think could be amazing for whatever the next phase of your life might be, then this is the episode for you. That being said, if you are also simply one of the 48 thousand admirers of Henrik’s work online and have been curious to know how the heck his iconic tiki meets monsters style of making even came about, then this is also the episode for you.
Guest Resources:
Henrik's Instagram - @vantiki

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Ep 518: The Economics of Clay with John R Hamilton Jul 12, 2024

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I thought John & I were going to talk mostly about burnout. How it “happened” to him, how he got through it, and perhaps, what he’s doing differently now. But (perhaps rather obviously) it can’t really be broken down that simply. Instead, John and I wound up not only talking about burnout, but also the pursuit of the impossible perfect cylinder, the responsibility we all have to educate others on what we do while also hopefully exciting them, and particularly the realities of the economics of making - whether that be other jobs that help support that reality, but also the internal realities of pricing and finding your market, or rather, finding someone else who has already found your market for you.

If trying to explain your work to others has been feeling hard, if you are tired of explaining why your price is what it is, or if you find yourself in the wrong spaces or shows for the work you are trying to make, then you don’t want to miss out on our next Masterclass inside of The Community. On July 17th, we’ll be learning from Naomi Clement all about Communicating Your Value. As Naomi says, “While the nuts and bolts numbers side of things are sure important, this session will focus more on the marketing side of conveying value and selling your work. Because… Selling is really just storytelling after all.” All of our Quarterly Masterclasses are recorded and included with the cost of Community membership, so you can also binge through the library of ever growing resources to help take the next step in making a living from the things you make. Visit: makersplaybook.com/community to learn more.
Guest Resources:
John's Instagram - @johnrhamilton3ceramics

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Ep 517: Being a Pottery Educator with Ian Childers Jul 05, 2024

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In an internet world where there are seemingly endless “educators” available to learn from, what actually qualifies someone to teach a skill? Is it a traditional piece of paper, or diploma, saying that some institution has decided you can? Is it the number of years you’ve been doing the thing? Frankly, there’s really not a fixed formula we can say where x+ y = qualified educator! However, during this chat with Ian Childers, a potter who, as often happens, fell into education by necessity and yet has found a passion for it, I’ve found a few thru lines and a couple of Ian’s philosophies I wholeheartedly agree with - namely, the fact that he’s not only teaching his students a skill set to hypothetically go make a living at this craft, he is also showing his students what it takes to make a living at this craft. As Ian says during our chat, how can he expect his students to trust him if he’s not out there doing it himself? And that I couldn’t agree more with.
Guest Resources:
Ian Childers Instagram - @ianchilders

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Ep 516: The Cara App - The App for Artists? Jun 28, 2024

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There’s a new social media app in the virtual neighborhood. Will it solve all the frustrations we artists have? Maybe. Maybe not… In this week’s solo episode, I dive into all things social media marketing, why a new app probably won’t solve your problems (but it could!), and why maybe it’s a good thing that it’s hard to get attention on the internet. Plus how everything is changing and yet, nothing is changing. Always. I swear it makes sense once you give a listen.
Need help telling your own story online? Come join us inside of The Community for a Masterclass with Naomi Clement on Communicating Value, the marketing side behind pricing and ultimately selling your work. Learn more by visiting makersplaybook.com/community
The Wired.com article referenced throughout this episode can be found here.

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Ep 515: Stepping Outside Our Comfort Zone with Dave Conrey Jun 14, 2024

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A rare non-potter conversation today on the podcast with Dave Conrey, graphic designer turned email newsletter educator. We talk about the realities of making art and trying to sell that art, approaches to marketing our work without needing to be a part of the hustle-bro culture, and eventually get around to the notion that really piqued my interest when I first met Dave online - committing to one project and one project only for a set period of time in order to focus. It’s a rare conversation without mention of kiln gods or reclaim, but enlightening to see the cross over of similarities when it comes to making a living from the things you make in whatever medium that might be.
Guest Resources:
Dave's Instagram - @daveconrey
Today’s episode is brought to you by the following sponsors:
The Rosenfield Collection of Functional Ceramic Art
Bray Clay by the Archie Bray

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Ep 514 - Defining Your Own Success with Joy Hanford Jun 07, 2024

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We’re back for part two! In this continued conversation with Joy Hanford - a Midwest gal, much like myself, who now lives in Portugal - we get into the topics of the complexities of learning about and navigating bureaucracies in other countries, art as a form of grieving and processing world events like the lockdown and the experience of a global pandemic in another country, starting a business amidst covid, and most of all, defining success for ourselves. Yes, it’s a heavy one my friends. But once again, it’s interwoven with a healthy dose of dry humor and sarcasm because apparently, that’s a Midwestern trait we both have - making jokes amidst heavy subjects to help get you through. Once again, there’s a bit of adult language, so hit pause and grab the headphones if you need to before your hands are covered in mud.

Big Announcement!
The 4 Most Common Instagram Photography Mistakes (and how to avoid them) is coming BACK! This is by far our most popular FREE photographic resource, specific for makers & potters and it's happening again on June 11th and 12th. Learn more and save your spot by visiting: makersplaybook.com/instagram-photography
Guest Resources:
Joy Hanford's Instagram - @joyhanford
Today’s episode is brought to you by the following sponsors:
The Rosenfield Collection of Functional Ceramic Art
Bray Clay by the Archie Bray

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

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