Carla García Fernández

I am a ceramist by family tradition with training in fine arts, design, and photography.

After some time working in different areas always linked to creativity, I returned to live near the family home where my mother’s ceramics workshop was, and I decided to start investigating the possibilities that the material offered me, together with my training in design and art.

In 2015, I started my brand, MIYAYA, with the first collection, NO PLASTIC, of ceramic pieces that imitate the shapes of plastic containers, with the implicit criticism of the indiscriminate use of disposable products. From it, I have worked on different lines with points in common; I usually start from elements that surround us to modify their uses, their meanings and extol forms that go unnoticed due to their daily life. Always with values of sustainability, proximity consumption and aesthetics as pillars of my designs.

My business objectives are:

• Increase my sales in the online environment.
• Investigate other more “friendly” markets with crafts and what this implies when selling them.
• Start commercial lines that diversify sales in different periods of the year. Now the bulk is in the Christmas period, and I would like to be able to open lines of business that would diversify the business in different seasons.
• Being able to have more time to organize, design, calmly think about things and rest, sometimes.

My learnings from the Crafting Business Programme:

In these months, I have learned many things about all the aspects of creating a business, and they were quite unknown for those who come from a creative area, and that we always try to avoid; an important base in economic, financial, commercial and organizational fields.
Now, I know the real importance of what this can contribute to my business. And the importance of valuing our work, so others can perceive it.

My 5 top tips that I have learnt on this journey:

1. Leave the workshop and work more on other aspects of the business.
2. Apply creativity in other areas such as marketing.
3. Take care of existing customers before looking for others.
4. Learn to delegate tasks.
5. Professionalize the project as much as possible, with all that is implied: face criticism (which in fact, it has to be sought), invest and investigate.