The Maker's Playbook

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Many of us assume that when demand for our work finally arrives, we're supposed to rise to meet all of it — that suddenly the rules of supply and demand apply to us the same way they apply to everyone else. What if deliberately not scaling up isn't leaving opportunity on the table, but is actually the thing that makes the work worth wanting in the first place? In her conversation with Debi Stoliar of Curiosibee Ceramics,, we explore what it looks like to hold two seemingly contradictory truths at once: taking your craft seriously as a future business while protecting the joy that makes it worth making at all. The most powerful business decision you might ever make could simply be deciding not to grow beyond what you genuinely love doing.
Check out Debi's work at: https://www.curiosibee.com/
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We spend so much energy measuring success by how visible or "full time" our craft looks from the outside, but the version of making that actually sustains you might look completely different from what you think it should. Over the last 5 years, since we first interviewed Camille Beckles (of Camille at the Wheel), on our debut episode here at the Maker’s Playbook, Camille has had the opportunity to say yes to the most exciting, challenging, and community-driven ceramics opportunities of her career. And it's her full-time job that gave her the freedom to do it. When survival isn't on the line, your art gets to be whatever you want it to be. Could releasing the pressure to monetize everything (and leaning into what genuinely sustains you) actually be the most serious thing you can do for your creative practice?
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For fifteen years, the first piece of advice out of my mouth to anyone asking about self-employment has been the same: keep the outside income as long as you possibly can. And for fifteen years, I wasn't doing it.
Until now.
In this solo episode, I'm sharing a significant personal update — what led me to take an outside job after fifteen years of running my own businesses, what burnout actually feels like versus just being really tired, and the surprising freedom that comes from detaching your creativity from your ability to pay the bills.
Plus the one question every maker should ask themselves before they spend another minute stressing about Instagram.
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Have questions about the show or want to say Hi? Email us at: podcast (at) makers-playbook (dot) com

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Most of us have been told — implicitly or explicitly — that success as a maker means growth: more followers, more orders, more revenue. But what if the real question isn't how big can this get, but what do I actually want from this? Taylor Friese of Maker Bakery built a waitlist that stretches years into the future not by chasing a bigger audience, but by getting radically clear about who she makes work for and why — and letting that clarity do the marketing for her. And when you get clear on what you actually want — not what success is supposed to look like, but what you want — the right people tend to show up, ready to wait in line for it.

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Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Have questions about the show or want to say Hi? Email us at: podcast (at) makers-playbook (dot) com

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If you've ever Googled "how to price my art" or "how to grow a creative business" hoping someone would just hand you the right answer — this episode is for you. Rebecca digs into why making confident business decisions as an artist or maker isn't about finding the perfect formula. It's about treating your art business like a science experiment: forming a hypothesis, testing it, analyzing what actually happens, and adjusting from there. Whether you're a full-time maker relying on your craft sales to pay the bills, or a side-hustle artist still holding onto that day job, this episode will help you stop waiting for permission and start making decisions that actually move your creative business forward.

Love this podcast? Support an episode! Click here to learn more.

Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Have questions about the show or want to say Hi? Email us at: podcast (at) makers-playbook (dot) com