Faith Charlotte has mastered the art of turning tiny culinary treats into art, creating whimsical handmade ceramic sculptures for her business, Ceramic Charlie, based in the Tri-Cities. What makes her story essential for creatives? She's cracked the code on balancing admin work with artistic flow, and she's not afraid to stop and assess what went wrong when a product doesn't find its audience. In our conversation, Faith reveals how she built a sustainable creative business without sacrificing the joy that started it all.

Tell me how your business started.

I actually started making and selling my art when I was 13 on Etsy. I made little polymer clay earrings and keychains and things like that. For Christmas I got this jumbo pack of Sculpey Clay when I was 11 or 12 and it had all the colors. It was so much fun! I could make whatever I wanted. The first thing I ever made was a little penguin. I remember thinking that it was the funnest medium and I started watching all these videos of people making little polymer clay food for dollhouses. They made it look so realistic, it was amazing. I wanted to try all the techniques so I bought toothbrushes so I could texture the clay, and all these random things.

I made enough pieces where I was like “what do I do with all these?” I had all these burger earrings and they weren’t bad looking so I was like, well I guess I could sell these. It was one of those things where most 13-year olds aren’t thinking “I really want to start an Etsy shop,” but I wanted to so I did.

How did you decide to go from a small Etsy shop to a full blown business? What did that process look like?

Trial and error—so much trial and error! And, one scary letter from the WA Department of Revenue and I am a changed woman—I was never late again!

I ran my business on Etsy for years. Then, in 2023, I went to do my taxes, because I turned 18. My accountant said I needed to be operating as some business classification. We initially did an LLC and then we got that to an S Corp because it was just a lot better suited. I learned how to do payroll and quarterly taxes. I have to pay my taxes earlier because I’m an S Corporation.

I started writing down everything, constantly Googling “when is this due,” “in Washington State do you…when is the…” you know? Thankfully, I think I’ve done everything right so far. But, I just had to pretty much go in headfirst and try to learn everything I could to legally keep up with everything.

What’s the most challenging side of the business for you and how do you stay on top of it versus just avoiding it?

My least favorite part of the business side is just feeling like I can’t commit myself completely to the creative part. There’s always stuff that has to be done…shipping things, answering emails, logging on to all the websites to pay all the things, and it sometimes feels like it’s this interruption to the creative flow. I feel like it just takes me out of it completely. So, I try to dedicate a day of a week to catch up on everything, do all the not-fun stuff. You know, work before you play.

Where do you sell your stuff AND how do you find your customers?

It’s mostly social media, which is great. I spend maybe $200 a year total on advertising. The rest of it is just mostly Instagram. I have a pretty big following on there, all things considered, for being an artist that sells food ceramics. So, it’s this amazing opportunity. You have to deal with the algorithm changes. And, maybe things you’re really excited about posting, they don’t do well with an audience, which can be a little crushing.

How do you deal with that, when something doesn’t do well?

Well, the initial feeling is, it just didn’t find the right audience, maybe I’ll have to post it again. And, if I do, and I keep finding it’s not doing right, then I usually look at it like this is a perfect opportunity for me to examine why my audience doesn’t like this. Especially if it’s food themed, which I know usually my audience likes. So, there’s something about this you guys are not vibing with. Ok!

Sometimes I’ll make a new version that’s a little more realistic, or a little more cartony, and see where it aligns with people. Sometimes I’ll try to make a smaller version of it that’s more affordable or something that’s more functional. So, instead of just selling a box, I would make a keychain or magnet and see how that does.

What’s something you’ve learned the hard way as an entrepreneur?

Probably never expecting something to go the way you want it to. I never go into a month with a launch without a backup plan. Like I said, you think you’ve made something that people will like and you put it out there, and no one likes it. All of a sudden, I have to make another couple thousand dollars this month to pay my payroll and my expenses…what do I do? So, that has been learned the hard way, that there always has to be a backup plan. Even if it’s just a pre-order that I open up that I know people will enjoy. Or if it’s creating a new item really quickly, then being at work for super long hours and days to get it to happen, then I’ll do it.

What does success look like for you personally, professionally, and creatively?

Professionally, success for me is continuing to run this business and hopefully have an employee someday. What I’m really, really looking forward to is being able to get my own larger space to work out of, because right now, it’s really cramped. Creatively, I think just continuing to make art that makes me smile when I see it. Or when I open up the kiln, I go “Oh my gosh, that turned out exactly how I wanted it to!” For me, it’s just so important that I still find fulfillment from it and it doesn’t feel like “ugh, it’s my business and I have to make all these pancake boxes.” I never want it to get to a point where it feels like it’s not about the art, because that’s all it’s about. My art is so linked to nostalgia, and my childhood, and loving food so much, I just want to always keep that excitement.

Faith Charlotte Cooks Up Ceramic Treats In The Tri-Cities