Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Batory.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hollowed Earth Pottery is owned by Mark and I, a husband and wife duo. Mark took a pottery class on a whim in college and fell in love with the medium. Shortly after we got married, Mark got the opportunity to work at a studio in Wisconsin and we were able to see how to create an actual career in clay and not just a hobby. After we relocated back home in Greenville, SC in 2015, we took all we had learned with us and opened a teaching classroom in our detached home garage. Ten years later, our business has grown into a 6,000 square foot community studio where we have 200 studio members and teach loads of ceramic classes. We also have a staff of fellow potters that are all growing their personal business while also teaching and working for us. Our mission is to pass along our love to clay to as many as we can and to also make working in clay feel like something that anyone can do! We believe and celebrate that everyone is creative in their own way.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Our growth has been very organic and one step at a time. We started with one wheel. Getting a second one felt like a big deal. Growing to four weeks felt enormous (we have 24 now!). We certainly never would have believed our studio would have grown into what it is now!
Covid was obvious a huge challenge for us. We sent wheels home with our members and had them drop off work at the studio for us to fire. We also developed take home projects with really bad you tube tutorials which we prepped daily. It was such a cool thing to see what people created from their homes.
Bringing on staff was such a welcome relief after working exclusively on the business ourselves. However, having staff always creates new challenges and more administrative duties which aren’t aways our favorite tasks.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Mark and I create functional stoneware, designed for every day use. We combine wheel thrown and hand built pieces. Our signature pieces are definitely our mugs.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
We started our business right before Greenville had huge economic growth. The timing was everything and we’ve definitely benefited from the influx of people who have relocated to Greenville in the past five years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hollowedearthpottery.com
- Instagram: @hollowedearth
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Hollowed-Earth-Pottery
