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Renee Zantay | Episode 745
On September 1, 2019 Renee Zantay lost her property, job, and community to Hurricane Dorian- a direct hit to the island that knocked out power on the for 475 days. In the wake of this catastrophe Renee’s husband suggested that she should follow her dream and become a potter. Renee miraculous found gas kiln and wheel. Using the power of social media Renee started selling product before her first firing. As an avid self promoter she started using hashtags like #Notatrainedkilntechnician. to gain traction. Renee now volunteers to teach a homeschool class that she funds with my ceramics.
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When you want to create a destiny is it important to have a preferred future that you are aiming towards?
I believe in dreams. I believe that if you do not have a dream then your dream won’t come true. And I had a dream. I knew when I was nineteen years old that I wanted to be a potter and then life happened and one job after another and in the back of my mind I kept saying , Someday, someday, when I settle down. And it took me loosing everything to finally find what I truly wanted which was to be a potter. The hurricane was the worst experience of my life but it was also the best because it made room for me to prioritize my life and choose how I was going to live the rest of my life. And I believe in second chances and I am so grateful.
Is it important to be realistic?
It is. I remember as a young person being told, You will never make money as a potter. And I remember listening to that person and thinking, No maybe other people won’t make money as a potter, but I will. I just knew. My work was good. I remember in High School teachers wanting to buy my pieces. And the other students asking, Why are you able to make pieces so quickly? It was like a language that I had known but didn’t know I knew until I started. My whole life made sense when I got into clay.
How do you head in a certain direction when the hurricanes of life want to push you in another direction?
Yes, it’s true. I felt like I had a choice, it was like going up or down and I chose to control the narrative in my head and I had a lot of determination and focus and can do attitude. I really believe that if you believe in yourself with all your heart and do everything you can each day. Each day I would do something to help with this dream and one of the things I learned from your podcast was how important it was to be on Instagram. So I made a commitment to post everyday on Instagram and I made a commitment to share my story. I made a commitment to be honest and authentic and to ask for help which is very hard to do for many people. And to create opportunities for people to help me help others. I really believe that if you want it bad enough you can make it happen.
You said it is important to believe in yourself. How important is it to believe in others also?
I think it is important to utilize people who have skills and you but really and truly you can’t depend on other people. You can utilize the talents of your friends and your colleagues but when it comes down to it you need to do the work.
How much of having the people around you cheering you on and how much of you working your tail off…how much would you say between those two percentage wise is the more important?
Wow , that’s a good question. I think that if I hadn’t had the cheerleaders that I had. I f I didn’t have the people that when they would see me make a pot that wasn’t necessarily that nice and telling my how wonderful it was. I mean there was a lot of that. I feel like after the hurricane a lot of people showed up for me that I wouldn’t have expected and made sure that my mental health was okay. Because it was such a tragedy that it is easy to start doing things and ignoring what is really going on. So a lot of people encouraged me but also checked in on me to make sure I was doing okay and I don’tknow if I would have done it all without them.
What does one do on an island for fun?
Oh my goodness. Go fishing. We do a lot of fishing. We go to the beach a lot. We do a lot of beach combing. I like looking for driftwood and seashells. But yeah when we have time off we try to go out and island hop. There are all these deserted islands all around and you can get a picnic and go with your friends and meet up in the turquoise water and hang out. It’s almost like living on Gilligan’s Island here.
Book
An Artist on his Island by Randolph W. Johnston
Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse
Contact
Instagram: @saltwaterstoneware