Edel Rzepka

I am a potter and plastic artist with experience in art exhibitions, in teaching classes and workshops on ceramics, art and creativity. I am in Cudillero, Asturias, in the north of Spain. My business has just started, one year ago.

It has been by vocation and an inner need to change life and start over, change the environment, and work to make ceramics and art. I studied two years in Talavera de la Reina, and this influenced me in a way that I needed to do some art forever.

I make ceramics with my hands, and I think them with my heart.

My business objectives are:

I have learned that the craftsman is not born. That entrepreneurship is a path that is done day by day, and that frustration is a feeling shared with all the companions of this beautiful profession.

I am a privileged person because I have taken the step to begin the journey and I am finding support to continue it. Training is nutritious and above all, listening to other stories is essential to not feel isolated and seek solutions to our problems.

I have drastically changed my vision: the pandemic had left the teaching part in the background and I have returned to it with a new vision. My line of work has also changed.

My learnings from the Crafting Business Programme:

• How to correctly carry out a business plan.
• Be aware of my finances and where I should invest my energy.
• How to put a price on my work.
• Which markets are best suited to internationalize my project.
• How can I approach those markets.
• What are the expenses that increase the price of my pieces internationally.
• These would really be the main lessons, there are many, but for me a change in attitude has been very important. Now I feel more professional, more empowered and with more negotiation skills than before.
• This learning has changed my way of working, my destiny, my consciousness as a businesswoman.

My 5 top tips that I have learnt on this journey:

1. The work is not charged for the time it takes to do it, but for the value of doing it with my hands.
2. Being connected between artisans is nutritious.
3. Search for help, sign up for courses, search and not sit still eating your head.
4. Fear destroys you and does not pay the rent, strength, improvement, and knowledge does.