We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Toles. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.

Sarah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Naming my business was actually one of the easier steps in my journey. My mom has always been my number one supporter, giving me the confidence to go all-in. I wanted to honor her in a lasting and meaningful way, so I decided to name my business after her. Her favorite flowers have always been the cheerful daisy and her name is “Jacki”, so Daisy Jack Studios was born. By naming my business after her, I knew I would do everything and anything I could to succeed.

Sarah, 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?

I originally went to school to be a professional photographer, but it drained me mentally. I was constantly beating myself up and telling myself I wasn’t good enough. After dealing with the constant mental battle for years, I decided to try something new. My best friend asked me if I wanted to attend a six-week pottery class with her in a nearby area and I said yes! She ended up backing out before the class started, but I decided to go anyway. After the six-week class ended, I signed up for another, and then another. Over time, I became more confident, moved into my own studio and now have my mom working with me every day after she retired from a manufacturing job for 30 years.

Now, Daisy Jack Studios is both my pottery studio as well as a Paint Your Own Pottery studio where the public can come and glaze pre-made pottery. The studio is located in my small hometown, so it’s amazing to be able to provide a service that wasn’t around when I was growing up. We take pride in knowing we offer a safe and creative space for kids and adults alike. I also make it a point to offer a wide range in prices so anyone can come in and have fun without feeling like they have to spend excessively.

We have also sold our pottery wholesale across the US and more recently worked on a 400-mug order for Irving Oil to celebrate 100-years of being in business.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

When I first started Daisy Jack Studios, I had no intention of turning it into a full-time business. I was using pottery as a creative outlet and as a way to reset myself after photography. After my first six-week pottery class, my family surprised me on my birthday by buying me a pottery wheel. I spent every day after work on the pottery wheel trying to improve. I watched YouTube videos of pottery, I read pottery books, I became obsessed with all thing’s pottery. Eventually, I worked up to courage to sell my work on Etsy. Several months later I got my first sale that wasn’t a friend or family member! This customer ended up messaging me and asked if I would be willing to sell my pottery in their store. I couldn’t believe it! I started selling out of their store a month later as well as continuing to sell on Etsy. By year two, my mom and I started selling pottery at craft shows every month for a year. This helped me gain a larger customer base, sell more consistently and work up the courage to quit my job to focus on pottery instead.

One day a friend let me know about a pottery studio that was moving and needed to get rid of all their pre-made pottery. I immediately went over and bought their entire stock, thinking I would paint the pottery and then sell the finished work at craft shows. Ultimately, my mom and I decided we should offer “paint your own pottery” at the studio instead since we didn’t make the pottery. We ran a “BOGO” sale for a weekend and made more money than we ever had at one of our best craft shows. With this new development, we decided to pursue this side of the business more. Daisy Jack Studios has sold pottery wholesale, sold in local stores, accepted both small and large commissions, but now it has morphed mostly into a Paint Your Own Pottery studio.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

July 2024, I received an email asking how many mugs we could make in a three-month period, no other details provided. Confused, I reached back out and asked for more details, while also noting the email address had “Irving Oil” in it. They responded and said they needed 900 mugs made in a three-month period but they knew that it was an impossible task for one studio. Being the nervous person that I am, I called Irving Oil and asked if this person was actually a real employee or if the email was a scam. The worker giggled and told me that it was an actual worker. When the shock wore off, I immediately sat down and figured out how we could make it happen. Whether it meant we made 100, 200, 300 mugs, I was determined to get the sale despite never producing that much before. Once I did the math, I confidently stated my mom and I could make 300 mugs in three months. However, my mom and I had never produced more than 50-70 mugs in one month, so this was about to be a massive risk. Irving accepted my offer and we immediately got to work. The order took over the studio and we had to have my sister come in to run the Paint Your Own Pottery section so we could finish. Five hundred pounds of clay, 5 gallons of glaze, and twelve kiln loads later, we finished ahead of schedule! They even ordered an additional 95 mugs a month later. To this day it was one of the best learning experiences I’ve ever had as a business owner, and it taught me that it’s ok to take risks and not be afraid just because you’ve never done something before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.daisyjackstudios.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/daisyjackstudios
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/daisyjackstudios
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@daisyjackstudios