We were lucky to catch up with Jessica Cowan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Our mission can be summed up in one word: community. To expand on that, it is my goal to facilitate an inclusive space where people of all walks of life can gather, make memories, and explore their creativity. It’s my opinion that as a society we have been trending away from creating in-person connections since before the pandemic, which just so happened to accelerate us towards a digitally driven society. I love to see people disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with their friends, family, and community. My heart is most full when we are being a part of birthday, weddings, milestones, and other celebrations; for people to keep coming back to share their lives with me is just the cherry on top. When we treat our customers as who they are – our neighbors – you’ll find yourself to always have a friend who is happy to see you. Together, we can create thriving local economies where we are supporting each other’s dreams and ultimately creating a fantastic place to live and visit.
But community doesn’t start and end inside my little paint your own pottery studio. We participate in outreach programs to bring access to ceramic arts to underserved areas, support local events with donation items and activities, and partner directly with other locally owned businesses to create classes or unique offerings that bring our community together. For example, we have partnered with a local coffee shop to create a mug club where members can paint their own reusable mug to have refilled at any participating location. What we love about this partnership is that on every level it is community driven and is encouraging folks to interact in new ways with the businesses that serve them…in this case by making their mug as a representation of themselves and their interest.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The Pottery Place of Chattanooga is a contemporary ceramics studio featuring walk-in paint your own pottery, mosaic making, to-go project kits, and more. We have been open for over 9 years in the beautiful Northshore area of Chattanooga. Something that always surprises people about me is that I never painted anything in my life until I started working in the creative industry. Prior to that, my background was in restaurant management and development with a focus on small business and local chains. In 2015 I moved from Alabama to Tennessee where I got my start in the creative field by managing and growing a couple of canvas painting franchise locations. While I was there I facilitated a remodel, the opening of an additional location, and a location move. Business management and development has always been a natural interest and skill of mine and while I was working for the franchise, I also started working my way into a small local business – The Pottery Place of Chattanooga – where I took on the role of manager and eventually worked my way and transitioned into ownership. All that said, the connecting thread of everything I have ever done is bringing people together.
Many people think that you need skill or experience to enjoy pottery painting but nothing could be further from the truth. One thing that I feel sets me a part from other businesses in my industry is my willingness to invest time and resources into providing access to skills and tools. We have a dedicated space call the “design center” where we have a huge collection of stamps, stencils, silk screens, and more for you to explore during your visit. Our 12 most popular techniques come with instructions, videos, samples, and live in-person guidance to help you create a masterpiece whether it is your first or one-hundredth time in. Our three most popular painting techniques are silk screens, lace, and bubbly painting as they produce stunning results every time! It’s our goal to make ceramic arts accessible and FUN for everyone.
As a walk-in business, we don’t limit your creative time – just show up and enjoy your time exploring the pottery painting process. You’re even welcome to bring in your own food and drink to enjoy while you paint, making it the perfect date night or celebration activity! Speaking of celebrations, our dedicated party space can be reserved in time blocks for larger groups or you can rent our entire studio for your celebration, team building, or special event.
In the future, I hope to continue to provide a place to gather and create while supporting local business, projects, and events however I can.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
This is my favorite question because I transitioned into the role of studio owner at the very beginning of the pandemic – March 1. 2020. Looking back I can laugh at how incredibly stressed out I was but now I find myself with a story of resilience to tell. As an in-person, experience-based business, y0u can imagine that the pandemic was basically my worst nightmare come true. After a decade of business operations, I was prepared for just about anything but a pandemic. So, we had to switch gears and find a path to success or we’d be straight out of business. Thus, we naturally transitioned to a “to-go” model where we opened up and online store, did video calls, and socially distanced shopping so folks could get their projects to paint at home. I am so glad we did because our customers have shared countless stories with me of how they were able to have a date night, creative break, or fulfill an enrichment requirement because we were willing and able to get people pottery however we could.
From an operations perspective, I had to make many decisions that I was not prepared to make which ultimately impacted our staff and business model. As a solo-entrepreneur, carrying that mental load was tough. Of course, we had additional issues to manage such as staffing and supply chain issues. I found myself bridging the supply-chain gap for myself by introducing a line of products that we make directly in house.
Though I would not want to go through a pandemic again, I can recognize that I came out the other side with more clarity and drive than I went into it with and, for that, I am grateful.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
I view managing people as “growing” people. It’s taken me a lot of years to develop into the service-based leader that I am today. Once upon a time, I thought leading and managing people was all about getting them to do what you want them to do, when and how you want them to do it. The bigger truth is, those are all outcomes of creating a positive business culture. It’s no secret that creating cultures of ownership yields invested employees but HOW we get folks involved and aligned with our vision is the key. I look for people who have a heart for others which includes service, hospitality, and a love of community. It’s always just a bonus that we get to serve through a fun art concept.
For me, I strive to give my staff opportunities to learn skills or gain experience that otherwise might be tough for them to get. We have a running list of marketing, administration, and other higher level projects that they can work directly with me on to learn the skill, which should help in future employment endeavors. Because I invest in my team and put their professional growth first, they reciprocate that by supporting the overall vision and mission. Of course, we love to spend time together and participate in team building activities. At the end of the day, I think it all comes down to putting people first and making sure they feel acknowledged and appreciated in both their individual and group roles.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thepotteryplacechattanooga.com
- Instagram: thepotteryplacechattanooga
- Facebook: ThePotteryPlaceChattanooga
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-cowan-0116888b
Image Credits
Jessica Cowan