I Quit My Job to become a Potter

I had reached a point in my nursing career where I wasn’t getting anything out of it anymore. I felt trapped and unhappy in this area of my life.

I had been feeling this way for years but kept powering through my job because I believed that was the only thing I could do at my age. How could I make a career change at 50? What would I do?

I knew I wasn’t cut out for patient care anymore. The stress and long hours of working at a hospital or other health care facility didn’t appeal to me. I had done my time in the trenches and decided when I moved to Florida in 2006 that I wouldn’t work as a registered nurse delivering direct patient care.

I took some time off after first moving here and later accepted a position at a law firm as a legal nurse consultant. I loved the banker’s hours and my job. No weekends or holidays and the firm was really good to me.

After 10 years of working insurance defense I grew weary. I typed medical chronologies for eight hours a day at my desk. I was at a point that I simply wanted to get up and run away from my desk. The hours dragged on.

A feeling gnawed at me like I was missing something but I had no idea what.

It was a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in late summer of 2018 that changed the trajectory of my life. I had discovered a love for pottery on that trip. I became fascinated with it upon returning home.

I remember sitting on my patio daydreaming of making pottery and giving my two weeks notice. Googling articles about people who quit their jobs to become potters.

Terry, my partner, came home from work and opened the patio door and I looked at him and said, “I want to quit my job and make pottery.” He probably had the same look on his face as you do right now, reading this.

I purchased a portable pottery wheel and took a class at a local pottery studio.

Needless to say, it didn’t quite happen so fast. There was a lot of learning in between that next year. In November of 2019 I gave my two weeks notice. My boss asked me what I was going to do. I looked at him and said, “I don’t exactly have a plan, but I’m going to figure it out.”

I was nervous as hell to give up the security blanket I had wrapped around me tightly the last 11 years. I didn’t have any debt so I was in a really good financial position to quit, but it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. It was also one of the most liberating things I’ve ever done.

I don’t recommend that you just up and quit your day job to pursue your dream. Especially without a plan. Everyone’s journey will be different. The way I did it may not be right for you.

You can read more about how to start a small batch pottery business here.

I sort of had a plan in my head, and sort of didn’t. Some of it went the way I had hoped and some of it didn’t. All I know, is that if I hadn’t taken that risk, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Over the last 4 years I’ve been working on honing my pottery skills both on the wheel and hand building pottery. I purchased a new electric kiln in spring 2021 and that helped to open more doors for me. Business wise that is.

It’s a bit difficult to have a pottery/ceramics business if you don’t have a way to fire your pieces. Difficult, but not impossible.

Many potters rent out kilns to fire their pottery from local potters or pottery studios. There are other options if you can’t afford or don’t have space for a kiln right away.

I began selling my ceramic pieces on Etsy and have even surprised myself by doing that. It’s nothing lucrative, (I’m an artist) but I’m still learning the ropes of running a small pottery business. I’m basically doing it as I go.

I spend a lot of time researching and honing my skills. Ceramics is as much trial and error as it is skill. Things don’t always go as planned and that’s okay, because each mistake or mishap is a learning experience.

I also took a leap and decided to build my own e-commerce website trough Squarespace. That was another learning experience in and of itself.

I spent hours researching and learning about the tax laws for e-commerce sites. Nobody likes to collect and remit sales tax to the state, but it’s the dirty little secret of the other side of the business. And it has to be done.

I ended up taking a part time job at a vitamin injection and IV infusion store and I love it. It gives me a chance to make some money and still pursue my pottery dream.

Maybe one day I’ll be able to work this business and sell my pottery full time. I’m okay either way if it happens or it doesn’t. I don’t wake up every morning anymore with a nagging pit in my stomach about having to go to a job I just didn’t enjoy.

I gave up a large part of salary. I look at is a a generous trade for happiness and fulfillment in my career now. I didn’t like something, so I had the courage to change it.

Looking back over the last four years, I have come a really long way. While it was scary leaving my job, it has also been an exciting adventure. I love creating art with my hands and sharing it with others.

It gives me satisfaction to know that others appreciate my work and see value in my pieces and are willing to pay me for my skills and functional art.