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Danielle Williams | Episode 853
“Hello Strong Human”, is the message from Danielle Williams. Danielle is the face, hands, and heart behind Strong Roots Pottery. Graphic Designer by day and potter by night, Danielle resides in Dallas, TX, where she makes small batch ceramics as strong as Danielle’s roots.
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Why do you want to be a full-time potter?
I want to be a full-time potter because I know the feeling pottery gives me. I feel fulfilled, it’s something that has helped center my life and it was also with me in a dark period of time. I just want to be able to do something that gives me value and hopefully I will be able to spread that to other people with future classes and all that and just show them what pottery can do for them.
How will you know when you are ready?
That’s such a good question. I think me personally, I am holding myself back I think. Because I hear from my family and friends that, I feel like they believe in me more than I believe in myself. They are saying, You should go for it, you are ready. I think it’s more so me that I’m just like, Man, am I ready to take that step? It’s a little scary. So I think when I am able to trust myself and take that leap of faith. I just got to do it.
Do you have a financial cushion that you have been building for you to make this transition?
I am in the process of building that just because I know starting your own business and all that is pretty costly and I want to set myself up for success. So I want to have a little bit of cushion money to fall back on so right now I feel like I am just at that growth faze and just trying to put away savings monthly so whenever I do take that plunge I will have a little safety net.
Do you see yourself having multiple streams of income from your art? For instance, teaching, gallery representation so on and so forth? Do you have that as part of the vision for your business?
I do. I think teaching could be also. It’s funny because it’s hard for me to think of myself as the teacher when I have been the student for so long. But there have been a lot of people that have been reaching out to me and asking me if I do do classes. And I am just like, Man, people would really want to learn from me. That’s pretty awesome. So I do see that in my future and hopefully I will just be able to give to people what my teachers have given to me.
Does it take courage to promote yourself?
Oh my gosh, yes. Because I am not the one for attention and I have always been an introverted kind of person so social media can be a little scary because you are putting yourself out there and people are either going to like it or not. And I think you just have to have that courage to do so. It’s hard to put yourself out there , I try to go with the mindset of I’m doing this for me, it’s fun. If I am having fun then I am doing something right.
Does it take courage to promote yourself?
Oh my gosh, yes. Because I am not the one for attention and I have always been an introverted kind of person so social media can be a little scary because you are putting yourself out there and people are either going to like it or not. And I think you just have to have that courage to do so. It’s hard to put yourself out there , I try to go with the mindset of I’m doing this for me, it’s fun. If I am having fun then I am doing something right.
How important do you think brand identity is key to your success?
That’s a great question because I feel like your brand is a part of you so whatever your brand is that’s the message that trying to portray to people. And for me Strong Roots Pottery it’s more of a celebration of me and my authentic self just because growing up as a black woman, I’ve had some insecurities about my hair and all of that stuff so me coming up with this name it’s almost like I am shutting out those insecurities and just putting my best self forward and that’s all I can do at the end of the day.
Book
Practical Pottery by John Schmidt
Contact
strongrootspottery.com
Instagram: @strongrootspottery