My name is Joshua Taylor. I am technically the founder of potsnsilver, but by no means take sole credit for building potsnsilver. We are who we are today as a result of many hands. The idea of potsnsilver came to me nearly a year before I started it, just before leaving home for Japan. Watching my close friends start clothing brands and take on other interesting endeavors, I got the sense that there was an inspiring world of untapped possibility. The potsnsilver journey began with me wanting to find these people. I wanted to buy and wear what they were making, not only because I loved their products, but because I wanted to wear something that had a story. Even more, I wanted to be apart of their story. Arriving in Japan, I found it difficult to find these smaller artists, who’s own stories were just starting. I knew in such a culturally and artistically rich country there must be many extremely talented people out there with amazing products to share, but maybe they had no way of marketing themselves, so they remained unseen. It gave me an idea. What if I built a platform that allowed an intimate community of small artists to grow their own brands. A place where people can find artists who make unique products with inspiring stories without having to sift through 1000s of Etsy and Instagram accounts. A place where artists can help each other to accelerate their exposure and be apart of a community of like-minded people, engaging with an audience that shared their artistic enthusiasm. But, like many ideas, they burn out, you get busy. I moved to a new country, embarked on a new journey, and forgot about it. Despite considering myself a very uncreative person who affiliates more as a science nerd, I ventured into the creative world. Firstly, I dabbled in crochet, before moving on to a pottery club on exchange in Japan, and only a few months later I joined a jewelry school. The name potsnsilver came from an Instagram I made for pottery and jewelry that inspired me. I quickly realized that despite my mediocrity in traditionally creative avenues, I loved making things and working with my hands. I enjoyed the process of making pottery and spent a lot of time honing my skills, however once I began making rings, it was all over for me. It soon became an obsession, spending the better half of a year studying at a local Jewelry school in Tokyo, designing and making everyday. It didn’t take me long to have the idea of starting my own jewelry brand, but right as I was getting started, my original idea from almost a year beforehand came flooding back. As someone now beginning the grueling process of starting their own brand, I could see the value of being apart of a community and using a platform that can bypass many of the headaches of marketing and promotion. If the music industry does it with record labels, why doesn’t it exist in other creative fields? Why do creatives today have to be talented in so many areas outside of their core passion? The idea burned so hot that I forgot about my own brand and just wanted to build this platform. I had the vision and I wanted to make it a reality, but in the heat of the moment it became blinding obvious to me that I had never built a brand. I’m basically a nobody, a nobody who doesn’t even own a personal Instagram. How was I supposed to approach these talented artists and convince them to join me with the promise that I will be able to help them with this platform and community that I haven’t even started building yet? So I decided that I needed to build my own brand first. I needed to build a platform that already had traffic and something to offer. I started potsnsilver as a jewelry brand with the hopes of one day becoming something much more. I knew that with my limited experience I couldn’t build potsnsilver alone nor was I great at wearing all the hats that came with starting a brand. I built a team of predominantly old friends who shared my dream as soon as they jumped on board and to my disbelief, believed in it as well. Only a few months in and the team had grown to 7. Now, from various places across the world we are working together to make potsnsilver a reality.