What inspired you to start your own business?
 I am a stay at home Mom, when our oldest son turned 2, I was looking for a creative outlet – I have a marketing degree – and have always dreamed of owning my own boutique.  A home based business was the perfect match, but I wasn’t passionate about the established consultant home based businesses.  I asked for guidance and was led down the path to pottery.

How did you get involved with Pottery? 
 My husband & I lived in Warsaw, Poland from 2001 – 2003.  Before we left, we each had a list of items we wanted to bring home.  The Polish Pottery was on both of our lists!  We purchased a full set of dinnerware, baking dishes and serving dishes. 
 
When I was aking God for guidance, he led me to Pottery.  Which was perfect, I totally love my dishes and everyone that see’s them loves them.  I found my passion!  I had made a wonderful contact in Warsaw, whom I still work very closely with, she is great at showing me new patterns and new products as soon as they become available.   Then I found a fantastic Christian woman in Ohio who wholesales from another factory, whithout her, I wouldn’t be able to order directly from that factory.  Everything just fell into place!
 
Tell us about the process: Where does it come from, how do you get it and how does it get to your customers, etc.
 The Pottery is made in the town of Boleslawiec, Poland – The Town of Good Clay.  There are approximately 40 factories from around the area that make the beautiful pieces. It is a white clay only avaiable from that area, the clay is free from chemicals, which gives it the perfect white color.  I order from 6 of the factories, which I believe to have the best products and widest variety of patterns. 
I work directly with 2 factories and wholesalers with 4 factories.  I am constantly researching the factories and watching my competitors closely , I always want to have fresh new patterns and products for my customers to choose from, it is always a wonderful compliment to hear from customers that I have patterns and products that they cannot find on other websites.   After I place an order, it can take anywhere from a month to 4 months to arrive.  Because all items are hand made, the factories do not keep large warehouses full of products.  I believe it is part of the charm – I think it is worth the wait to have a piece hand made and handpainted!
 
All items are then shipped directly to our home, where I take the pictures and load all the information onto the website.  Customers order directly from the website, over the phone or if they are local, come  to our home.  We gift wrap all items and ship via UPS ground.
 
At Peacock Pottery, we are passionate about customer service: phone calls and e-mails are returned as soon as possible.  Questions from customers are always answered, even if a sale goes to my competition.  I believe that all good deeds come back to you – I know how I feel when I get excellant service and I want my customers to feel the same way!

 Any great resources to share with other moms interested in starting their own business?
 My only advice is to find what you are passionate about, trust your gut instinct (it is God’s way of talking to you)  and research, research, research.  The SBA is a great source for getting started, I spent time at the library and logged a lot of time on the internet.  Currently, I am really enjoying the social networks and learning all about blogs, etc.  – it is important to stay currentl with the trends – even if it is uncomfortable for you – research and learn to become comfortable. 
 
How do you balance family life and work?
 Like any typical mom, some days are better than others at balancing!  As much as I love my business and want to tell the world all about Polish Pottery, my family will always come first.  I realize that at the end of the day it is more important to spend time playing with my boys, eating dinner together as a family and talking with my husband.  The website or pictures, updates etc. can wait for another day.  I try not to stress over the little things and go with the flow.

Note from MariLee: I recently won a contest on Leah’s blog! I received a very special treasure in the mail. I am so excited to use my pottery herb garden! It is truly breathtaking, sitting on my windowsill in the kitchen!! Here are some photos:

herb pot

even the packaging is wonderful and wrapped with care

Visit Peacock Pottery: beautiful, handmade pottery for everyday or special occasion use!

www.peacockpottery.com