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

Kristina , appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success is defined in many ways, and being successful looks different for everyone. For me, success has been fluid. In 2019 when I opened Seagrass Pottery, success meant building a community around clay and designing handmade pieces inspired by the sea. Today, we have build an amazing clay community, one that shares and inspires. I design and create work that I love to share. Yet, I feel that success remains elusive, as there is always a new goal and new idea to persue. I believe that to be successful one must be focused, creative, and willing to keep moving the success marker.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Seagrass Pottery was established in 2019 with the mission to encourage, inspire and enhance our community through clay.

We accomplish this by using a multifaceted approach. We begin by offering high-end handmade pieces that are artfully designed, sustainably produced, and skillfully crafted. Each piece is made by hand and inspired by the sea (we aren’t your grandma’s pottery). We recycle and reclaim our unused materials, creating zero waste production in our studio. We consider out work to be art that is meant to be held, used and enjoyed. All our work is dishwasher and microwave safe (because no one really enjoys hand washing).

We also provide a space for creativity through exploration and experimentation in the ceramics arts. We offer expertly designed classes and workshops. We also offer community studio space. Young, old, experienced, or novice, all are welcome. What really sets us apart is our classes are designed by art educators who also happen to be ceramic artists. We really strive to create an environment where people feel encouraged to experiment in a fun and relaxing environment.

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

We opened Seagrass Pottery in 2019, by early 2020, the pandemic had hit and our doors were closed. We were able to creativity pivot our business to support interior designers & individuals at home. We designed and created functional dinnerware and serving vessels, inspired by the sea. Our work was sought after for exposed shelving, unique spaces and by home chefs looking to serve food to those they love in handmade vessels. There is truly something magical about handmade pottery on the dinner table.

We also supported the creative community by sharing our love of creating with clay, by creating Clay To-Go Kits (over 800). Our Clay Kits could be ordered online and picked up at our studio. We included materials, tools, directions and an online video tutorial for those looking to create at home. Once the projects were complete, they would drop them back off (contact free) for firing and glazing. While we missed having people in the studio, we feel we brought so much joy to those at home.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

We are a unique industry as we not only design but also manufacture everything, from start to finish. We began by creating small batch coastal pottery and we have continued to do so. We never imagined how difficult it would be to scale while having our hand (literally) on everything. There were so many times we thought about using molds or outsourcing manufacturing, but we have stayed true to our mission, creating handmade pottery, inspired by the sea and made by hand. Each week we produce hundreds of pieces, each begins as a ball of clay and ends as as functional vessel- touched countless times by our team of ceramic artists. We have learned that staying true to our mission creates brand loyalty, we have so many that collect our work and return for unique pieces to enhance their home. Part of our heart goes into every piece but this also makes it difficult to share because so much of who we goes are into each handmade piece of pottery.

In 2019 we opened our original location, just steps away from the sea in Indialantic, Florida. One year later, we had realized we had outgrown our coastal cottage studio and we expanded to a second location. Our second location in Palm Shores, Florida as enabled us to increate production and operate 3 large kilns. We currently operate retail, manufacturing and classes out of both our studios. We are grateful for each person who comes through our doors and have created (no pun intended) so many friendships.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.seagraasspottery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seagrasspottery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seagrasspottery/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-latraverse-178b746/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuDx8QeWNxiJIp4_LuTZOIw
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/seagrass-pottery-indialantic