We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nate & Antonia Cotterman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nate & Antonia, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

Nate- My father instilled fiscal responsibility and a strong work ethic at a young age. He was a shop teacher, so very handy, and passed on those skills to my brothers and me. Being able to problem solve and fix things, be it our cars, bikes, things that needed fixed around the house. These skills helped me rely on myself when building my studio, instead of needed to outsource everything.

Antonia- My parents always worked for themselves, my parents worked together their whole marriage, running their business and raising their family. Seeing this growing up, a Mother that had a career and was present in her children’s life, showed me it was possible. My Father never stopped working, he taught me the value in connecting with people.Their combined skills gave me confidence and desire to work for myself.

Nate & Antonia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Nate Cotterman is known for his modern interpretation of glass objects, using traditional Venetian glass blowing techniques, he challenges low-end production with innovative design and handmade quality. Nate Cotterman has created a line of bar ware, lighting, & home décor that is both subtle and powerful. His simple forms highlight the natural beauty of the material.

Nate Cotterman Glass is made up of- Nate Cotterman, Designer, Maker, CFO and his wife, Antonia Campanella, Marketing, Design & Sales.

Nate graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Glass. He has worked as a gaffer for some of today’s top designers and makers. He is a sought after instructor in the field, having demonstrated across the US at institutions such as the University of Montana, Cleveland Institute of Art, Pittsburgh Glass Center, and Pilchuck School of Glass. He was a 3 Year Artist in Residence at Penland School of Craft.

Antonia Campanella

Antonia is a Maker, Mother of 2 & leads Marketing + Sales for Nate Cotterman Glass. Antonia graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics. Antonia brings over 10 years experience in consulting & sales for successful small creative businesses, making & connecting creative people.

Antonia is founder of Olra Creative, consulting artists & creative small businesses through encouraging authenticity, while implementing organizational systems.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Our reputation has been built on quality and reliability. Any piece that Nate makes is of high quality, it speaks for itself. Whether barware, lighting, vases or designs made to specifications for other makers- it always exceeds expectations with his exceptional skill.

The reliability and availability in communication also sets us a part and has built our reputation of being good and reliable to work with. I think it is extremely important to have timely responses with quotes, drawings, invoices, samples, any questions or concerns the client may have- we strive to be timely with our responses.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

A few years ago we were approached by the experiential marketing company for NBC Sports. They were put in touch with Nate via a school he was a Visiting Artist at, as they contacted them about making a glass that looked like there was a golf green floating in it. Once connected with the marketing team, we developed a one of a kind glass based off of the 17th island green at Sawgrass for the Player’s Championship. The school thought of us for this project because of our signature Cube Glass. NBC sent a film crew to our then, North Carolina studio, a specialty box was made that had a picture of Nate and bio, it was featured on the Golf channel and all across social media platforms.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.natecotterman.com
• Instagram: @natecotterman