Last month, I sat down with Kate from Twice Fired to hear all about the making of her business!
What first got you into glass making?
I’ve always been creative. I came to Leeds to do a fine art degree and then I did 16 years of secondary school teaching. I taught ceramics and all sorts of different things. I hadn’t done glass on my degree, but it actually came from an A-level student of mine. She was planning her final piece, and I asked her what she was going to make it out of, and she had said plastics, but someone had done that the year before. So I suggested glass, although I knew nothing about it. I came home, started researching glass and that’s the end of it. As soon as I used glass I just fell in love with it as a medium.
How did you go from that to then starting a business from it?
I started at my kitchen table by making things in my spare time and then started with a local fair at Sunny Bank Mills. It was my first event, it was outside and the whole table blew over. Talk about an amazing first event. It put me off for a bit, but I learned a lot about outdoor events and glass. As I started to do more markets, the demand just grew. I went to a trade fair, got a contact with The National Trust and I had an out building at ours that I did up as a studio. It became so busy it needed to become my full-time job.
Bonus question: Were you still teaching when you started making?
Yes. I was full-time as a head of year as well and then I got it down to three days a week so I could do my own thing in those two days. That’s how I was going to continue it, but then this got really busy and I decided I had to go all in. I’ve been full-time for seven years now.
What has been your favourite product or collection that you’ve created?
That would be the flower plates and dishes that I’ve made. I’m massively into gardening. If I’m not doing glass then I’ll be in the garden. So I would say it’s that range definitely.
Bonus question: What’s the process behind making those plates?
You use clay and plaster to make moulds and carve them. Then several different firing schedules where you put the glass in. You have to cut all the glass by hand. Then you fuse them into the moulds and then once the texture and shapes are fused into it, you can then shape them in the kiln.
You’ve mentioned the trials of outdoor markets and glass, but what would you say has been the biggest challenge in running your business?
It’s costs costs costs. This has been a steep learning curve and I’d say still a steep learning curve as you’ve really got to learn your things. Hitting VAT thresholds, accountants, tax. Yeah, there’s a lot to learn on that side of it. When you’re designing something, you design it from the heart and you design because you love it. But then when you reach certain thresholds, you have to break every single product down to how long it takes and how much the materials are. There’s so many different things you’ve got to factor in and especially when you start selling to retail.
What do you love about running your business? Is it that creative side?
Yeah, the creative side and the fact that teaching’s in my blood. So running the workshops for me is amazing. I love it when new people come in and I’m showing them the glass and they get that buzz that I get from it. Opening the kiln when everyone’s made their pieces or when I’ve done something new. So, the creative side and workshops definitely.
What have you got coming up in your business that you can tell us about?
We’re expanding the workshop offerings with lots of new ones coming. We’re about to offer stained glass workshops as well. So we’re really excited about that. And then we’ve got lots of new ranges like the cactuses and flowers, in the making which we’re just about to release to our trade customers as well.
And why do you get involved with Super Seconds Festival?
I love them. I love getting to know loads of new makers. I’ve met people that are in my area because I work from home. So, it’s my yearly creative catchup to see who’s around and even with people that don’t live in Leeds, we can still message on Instagram. So the social side of it definitely and finding new makers as I love a good shop. Then work-wise, obviously it’s a brilliant opportunity. We’ve always done so well, it amazes me every single time.
Thank you Kate for taking the time to chat with us! You can shop Twice Fired here.