Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Sauer.
Sarah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have always believed in the influence of good design. Guten Co. was started after I finished art school to see if I could use my hard skills to make a living producing well-designed items. I started small with producing lines of ceramics and through many changes, a few different cities, and a handful or workspaces, the business steadily grew. Now, after five years in business, I have been able to scale production, grow my team and reach more people with Guten Co. products. The constant push to create new work while maintaining current demand keeps my design skills, creativity, and level of craftsmanship sharp.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I run into unexpected challenges daily! Since Guten Co. is a multidisciplinary studio, you never know who is going to inquire about a specific project you haven’t tackled before. But beyond daily challenges, the greatest struggle has been scaling a business that was built as a one-woman artist operation. When you’ve built a brand around items that are all made by the designer, it’s difficult to decide how to stretch your production capacity beyond what one person can achieve in one day. I found that bringing on production assistants and training them in the specific techniques I use has opened Guten Co. up to so many more exciting opportunities that I could never have delivered on without those extra hands.
And the most fruitful thing I have done and would recommend to others starting a creative venture is to ask for face time with the leaders in your industry. Tell them your business idea, ask them for feedback, ask them to mentor you. It feels vulnerable, but the best decisions I’ve made for my business have come out of asking for input from the accomplished artists and designers that I admire and am intimidated by. So far, I have never had someone tell me “no” when I ask for 30 minutes of their time.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Guten Co. story. Tell us more about the business.
Guten Co. offers well designed usable ceramic items for the home and wearable ceramic jewelry. We are proud of the consistency of the goods we put out as well as their quality and longevity. The brand is known for a clean, minimal aesthetic with a limited color palette of matte neutrals and pops of blue and terra cotta. We love to use design elements like handles and spouts to create unexpected silhouettes and exaggerated forms on our usable pieces. People usually smile when they see a hairpin mug or earring style that we’ve made because it’s not something they’ve seen before – and that’s such a fulfilling feeling!
For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
The main thing I have seen in the female business community is an eagerness to mentor, support and collaborate. There are so many extremely talented women in business right now and some of my best clients are friends or followers of other female artists that have sent them my way. There’s an amazing cross-pollination that happens when high-caliber artists share resources, clients, and ideas.
Pricing:
- Tabletop Pieces ($28-$118)
- Wearable Pieces/Earrings ($68-$82)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gutenco.com
- Email: sarah@gutenco.com
- Instagram: @gutenco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gutenco/
Image Credit:
Guten Co.
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