We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erica Cogan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Erica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I first had the idea to start my business when my teaching position was transitioned from full time to part time. Pottery has been a passion of mine since college, but the demands of a full time teaching job prevented me from being able to devote much time to it once I started my career. Having my position made part-time was really a blessing, because it freed up time and energy that I could put towards honing my skills and getting my business launched.

At around the same time, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and this was also a major catalyst in moving my pottery from a hobby to a business. After going through treatment and slowly returning to a normal life, I knew that I wanted to make the most of each day and really take advantage of my health and time to do something that I was really passionate about. All of that came together to push me to start Cozy Cottage Ceramics.

Once I was ready to get started, my major early issues were logistics – I had the skills, the time, and energy to make this happen, but there was still a lot of behind the scenes work that I needed to do. First and foremost was pulling together the equipment that I needed – mainly my wheel and kiln. The wheel was actually fairly easy – I was able to find an affordable but solid starter wheel that I am still using now! And as luck would have it, I was fortunate enough to connect with a retired art teacher who was looking to give away her mother’s old kiln to a good home. With those two issues solved, it was time to start production and figure out the actual logistics of the business itself.

Having spent my professional career as an art teacher, I really didn’t know much about the business world, and especially the small business world. Fortunately, I had friends I could lean on, including a friend from college who also has her own small pottery business. With help from her and from my husband, I was able to navigate the intricacies of selling online and getting properly licensed within our state. I started selling on Etsy, but quickly moved to my own website so that I could have more control over the entire process. Before long, I was also signing up for craft shows and starting to build a following on social media. Since then, I’ve taken great steps in making my business more and more successful, and I hope that before long I’ll be able to move away from teaching entirely so that I can make this my full-time job!

All in all, it’s about a year since I had the idea to get to where I am now. It’s been crazy and exhausting, but also fun and wonderful, and I’m so happy to have started Cozy Cottage Ceramics!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Cozy Cottage Ceramics is an independent, woman-owned ceramics studio that I founded in 2022. I make hand-thrown, hand-glazed, hand-carved pottery, performing every step of the creative process on my own from start to finish. My aesthetic varies from piece to piece, but can usually be described as drawing from cute, nerdy, natural, and primitive inspirations.

I have been passionate about creating art through my pottery since college, and with my job recently moving to part-time, I’ve had more time and energy to devote to this passion, allowing me to expand it into a business. My favorite thing about pottery is that I can create any form that I can imagine, and this allows me to create unique pieces of art to fulfill the wants and needs of my customers. I always strive for a high degree of quality in my work, and I am very proud of how much my skills have developed over the years. Despite that, I know I still have plenty to learn, and I love that each time I head into the studio, I learn something new or improve my skills.

This is a lifelong journey for me, and I’m so glad that I am able to share my art with others. There is nothing better than filling a custom order or seeing a customer find the perfect piece for them at one of my shows!

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I have found that selling my goods at craft shows has been the most effective way for me to grow my clientele. By attending a number of craft shows all around the area that I live in, I’ve been able to get my business in front of many, many customers. Even if not everyone that visits my booth makes a purchase, I try to make sure that everyone takes a business card that links to my website and various social media platforms. I find that word of mouth is hugely important, especially in the digital space. It seems that the more shows I do, the more interest there is in my products, and that leads to more people checking out my online presence. That feeds back into more people coming to see me at shows, which feeds into the cycle of growth for my clientele.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I don’t have a specific story, but more a recent aspect of my life that I think illustrates my resilience. In spring of 2021, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the next months were spent with many visits to the hospital, treatment sessions, and sleepless nights. As I got through the treatments, came out on the other side, and began to get my life back to normal, I realized that I wanted to make the most of every day that was given to me, and that I wanted to spend more time doing things that really mattered to me. As I’ve said, pottery is a passion for me, and getting through my illness was a driving factor in my spending more time practicing the art.

Now, I feel like my recovery and my art go hand in hand. I am in remission, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have bad days every now and then. My art gives me a way to fight back against the anxiety and worry that comes along with those bad days – through creating art, I feel in control. Beyond that, the physical act of creating pottery is very therapeutic – molding and shaping the clay, carving patterns into more finished products, and the immense satisfaction that comes with opening a freshly-fired kiln. These all help me deal with the lingering effects of my illness, and I don’t think that I would be in as good of a place as I am right now without my art.

So, for better or worse, I think that my cancer diagnosis and my pottery business are tightly coupled at this point. The diagnosis is what eventually pushed me to really invest more time and energy into my art, and in return, my art has given me the drive and resilience to push through the bad days and come out on top.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cozycottageceramics.com
• Instagram: cozycottageceramics