Making Do Emily Kerr-Finell of Wholesale In a Box

Today we’re talking to Angie of Overlap Craft. Angie is a potter living in Yellow Springs Ohio. Her business is newer, but her journey as a maker, creative, and pathfinder is many years old. We talk about her vision of social justice, community, and craft as supporting each other… how COVID was the impetus of getting serious about her business… and get a peek into her communal living setup.

Sean and Kathryn are coaches, consultants, and professors around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Earlier this year, they coached me as we created One Mill School to work on exploring these issues in how we work with members, mentors, and our community. And I will say, my work with them has been transformative, creating subtle and foundational shifts in our work. Although they are not makers in the way many of our guests are, I know that many people in our community are grappling with the conversation around the movement for black lives, navigating the line between business, politics and activism, and wanting to align their business with their values. Sean and Kathryn are joyful, thoughtful, courageous folks who offer a lot of practical, intimidating ways to think about these issues and apply them in the big and small of your business.

Hiut Denim, based in the tiny town of Cardigan in the UK aims to make the best jeans in the world. But their real mission came because the jeans factory in their small town closed in 2002, laying off 400 people. David, along with his wife and co-founder Claire has been on a quest for the past 9 years to get those 400 people their jobs back. His approach to business is powerful, inspiring, and really applicable to any creative business owner who wants to market what they make and tell their story better.

The Rainbow Vision is a line of planners, journals, notebooks that is known for its’ beautiful, soulful designs and for Leela’s open, insightful, and generous spirit. My conversation with Leela ranged wide and went deep. We talk about how The Rainbow Vision has grown, evolved, wavered, and changed over the several years that Leela has been growing the business. And We talk about the huge changes Leela has made, including a rebrand, a shift to outsourcing her package and shipping and then bringing that back in-house, and several moves. Leela shares openly how she balances a need to reinvent and make changes with loyalty to her vision.

Based in Asheville, North Carolina, East Fork designs, manufactures, and sells thoughtful, durable ceramic dishware. We talk about how they’ve grown, Connie’s approach to weaving their values and their business goals, and get fascinating looks behind the scenes of what it takes to run a maker business that has grown to more than 60 employees.

K’era is a Los Angeles-based mixed media artist whose work is based in an intuitive art practice. Her line, K-Apostrophe is focused on the home, with pieces that spring from her artwork, ranging from journals, to woven blankets, to original art and prints. We talk about the practices that have kept her going through big transitions and the surprising ways that COVID has affected her business.