Ep 123: Alex Matisse of Eastfork Pottery on the Importance of Vision

What you'll get

Alex Matisse, founder of East Fork, tells host Rebecca Ickes Carra how he went from apprenticeships to a wood-fired kiln on an old tobacco farm in Madison County, then with two partners switched to a uniform gas-fired line that meant finding new customers, and grew it into an Asheville tableware factory. He is frank about the costs of growth, including years without a profit, outside investment and no longer making pots, and about habits that helped, like a written ten-year vision and partners with different strengths; it was recorded in 2021 and replayed after Hurricane Helene, so its company details are dated.