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Nicole Kluba | Episode 1249
Nicole Kluba is the owner of Kluba Ceramics and lives in the town of Seagrove, North Carolina. Seagrove is a small, rural town which also happens to be the pottery capital of the US. Nicole has grown up in Seagrove and has been exposed to pottery not only in the community, but in her family as well. Before Nicole began creating pottery full time in March 2024, she worked in emergency services for four and a half years until she left at age 23 to pursue pottery as a career.
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Do you feel like that pottery became a real job on the day that you started to treat it like it was a real job?
I think so, absolutely. I think it definitely took me some time to, like I said, I feel like I was raised not really having that as an option to be a business owner. Like it never really was presented to me. So I feel like I kind of had to not really talk myself into it, but kind of train my brain to think like, okay, I can do this, you know, as a real job, so to speak. And so I definitely think it took me some time. But, you know, obviously, I mean, like you said, I mean, it is a real job. I mean, I’m doing it full time. I’m putting in my hours. I have a shop, we have customers come out. I mean, it’s definitely a real job. Like I said, I think it definitely just kind of took me some time to change my mindset on it, if that makes sense. I think I kind of didn’t really, I don’t want to say that I didn’t believe it, but I kind of didn’t believe it. I didn’t think that it was possible. And so when it actually became real, I think I just had to see it to believe it.
Would it be safe to say that the commitment defines it as a job?
I think so. I think it was all the mindset. I definitely don’t think it was the the paycheck side of it. Um, I definitely think it was, I mean, like you said, treating it as a real job. And, you know, I feel like going from, you know, having like a, so to speak, a normal job and having to transition, um, cause it was a very big transition into being a business owner, into being an artist. And so I feel like I really, I mean, like I said before, I had to train my brain. and figure out that transition and really figure out, for one was, I guess, since there wasn’t anybody to make me do things, I did have a problem at first, I guess, holding myself accountable for like, what I needed to get done if that makes sense. And so I feel like once I got past that and, I started planning my days and I guess actually seeing the progress being made, Then it really started to click like, okay, you know, this is a full-time job. This is what I’m doing. This is working And we went from there, but I think it definitely was all I guess the mental aspect of it.
There are some that say that a professional doesn’t doesn’t wait for inspiration, they clock in. It sounds like that’s what you kind of did. Did you have to ask yourself, would you hire yourself based on how your work ethic was?
I would say, well, I mean, I would say yes and no, if that makes sense. Because, you know, like I said, when I was in the workforce, I had people telling me where to be, when to be there and what to do. And absolutely I would hire myself then because I would show up and do what I was told and then go home. But when I, guess had to start listening to myself, obviously that is a very, very big change. At the beginning when I was first starting my business, I don’t think I would hire myself then. Like I said, I had such a very hard time with that transition. I guess just staying, not really staying motivated, but figuring out how to get things done, I guess, and keep myself from getting distracted. Because that was, I mean, that was my biggest problem for months was just getting things done. And I don’t really know what it was, but I guess because I didn’t have anybody there to tell me what I needed to be doing and when I needed to be doing it. I had a really, really hard time with that for some reason.
Some people say if you want to be a working artist, that you have to stop thinking like an artist. Not all the time, because obviously you have to create like an artist. But there’s times when you have to think more like an entrepreneur, which means asking questions like, Who’s my customer? Who buys the work? Why do they buy it? Is it hard for you to do that transition from turning off the artist think and turning on the entrepreneur think?
Now, I do not think so at all. I actually, I mean, I really enjoy the entrepreneur side of it. I love like trying to figure out, you know, because I feel like my pottery is very niche in a way. And so I love thinking like, okay, what is the next thing that I could do that this very specific group of people would like. I love thinking like that. I love planning the business parts of it. I love thinking about what events I should plan that, you know, the community that I’ve created would enjoy. I love that aspect of it. I love running the business. I love all of that. And I feel like it’s gotten very easy for me, especially, I would say, I would say probably the last six months. to where it doesn’t really feel like switching back and forth between being an artist and I guess a business owner, it kind of feels like they kind of coexist together, if that makes sense. It feels very, very normal for some reason, which is good. But yeah, I haven’t really had a problem with it. Thank goodness.
There is that idea also is that at some point as a business, you have to make pots people want. And if you’re not making pots people want, that’s okay too, but you won’t have a business. So how much do you have to compromise your creativity to be able to make the pots that people want?
Oh, well, surprisingly, I really don’t feel like I’m having to compromise at all, which has been amazing because my first year when I was making pottery full time, I kind of made a little bit of everything because I really wasn’t sure, I guess what I wanted to stick with, like what my style was, what I wanted to do. And things sold, but I felt like I really didn’t have like a set customer base, if that makes sense. Like I kind of feel like I was just making whatever. And I mean, I feel like I always hear people say like, people will buy, you know, what you love or like what you enjoy making. And I feel like when I actually started making what I wanted, which is more of the alternative style, like scraffito pieces, I mean, that’s what I love to do. And I feel like when I did start going that direction, I feel like people could definitely see that that was what I enjoyed. Because ever since I started doing this graffito, I mean, that’s really when I felt like my business did start to take off. And I felt like I have found a very niche community that really enjoys it and really loves it. And it’s what I enjoy making and what I love to make. And so I feel like people can see that. And that definitely helps A lot. So I really don’t feel like I’m having to compromise, which is amazing.
Somebody said that that in order to become an overnight success, all you need is 10 years of effort. And I kind of really love that perspective because it really means it takes patience. How much does patience come into play for your building a successful job, real job?
Oh, yeah. I have definitely had to learn how to be patient. because I am unfortunately not a very patient person. And so I’ve definitely had to learn patience because obviously, you can’t start a business and it just blow up overnight. I already made for some people, but it definitely has not for me. Obviously, it takes a very long time. And like I said before, with being able to make a clay body of 100% wild clay, I mean, it’s two years in the making. almost two years and I’m still working on it. So I mean, I definitely have to be patient in a lot of ways. I mean, the same thing for getting my forever shop built. We started off selling pots out of a little shed in our backyard. So that whole year we’re working on fixing this place up. So I had to have patience then with resting the process and getting everything situated just how we needed it. fixing this place up and now we are in the forever home of my business and so I definitely I’ve had to learn patience and I think it comes in pretty much all aspects of pottery you know pottery the whole process of everything but then also the business side of it so I feel like it’s definitely definitely been a very big part I’ve definitely had to learn how to deal with, I think.
Book
Jugtown Pottery by Stephen C Compton
Contact
Instagram: @klubaceramics