From Strategy Consultant to Studio Owner: How One Client Started Her Dream Business
Scared to Start Your Own Business? How One Client Turned a "Never Going to Happen" Dream Into a Ceramics Studio
Very often, especially in this tricky job market, clients come to me in the early days of our work and say, “My crazy, never going to happen dream is to do my own thing, but I’m not going to pursue it because I won’t make enough money.”
And my response is always, “Let’s open that door just a smidge so we can explore ways it might be possible.”
I don’t say - “Quit your day job today to start your dream business.”
Or - “You’re right, you live in New York City. Good luck making a salary in year one that can pay the bills.”
Instead, we experiment. We play.
This is exactly what happened with my client, Mary who generously shared her story here…
I started having some conversations with Rachel in October of last year. I was desperately depressed and stressed in my strategy consulting role, where I felt overstimulated, undervalued, and completely out of place (even though I had been in the industry 8+ years at that point).
But I was in the middle of some pretty big life changes and I knew I couldn’t just keep going on like this. After Rachel and I set out three possible paths to explore, I decided on one that felt radical - find a part time role that works for me and open my own business.
Somehow in the last year, I managed to find a business partner, raise seed funding for my business, find a kick ass commercial space in the heart of Bed Stuy, renovate the space in 3 months with no construction experience, and open the doors to our brand new ceramics studio, Pyra, in June.
So much of Pyra has been waiting inside me, dormant, for decades. I’ve been practicing ceramics on and off for more than 20 years now, so opening a studio had always been something in the back of my mind, but I never felt it could be a reality for me.
But all the cliches are true…
Do it now, or you never will.
Do it scared.
Today will be yesterday tomorrow.
The response has been overwhelming and extremely gratifying - from being profitable within our first month, to our last round of classes selling out within a single day - the biggest take away I have from this experience is, “I am so much more capable than I thought.”
In October 2025, I was terrified of change, but knew it was necessary.
In September 2026, I would say change - is worth it.
You can check out Pyra here.
And on IG here.
Here for you and the business you want to bring to life.
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