Breaking the mold
City Clay owner balances work and play
Randy Bill was tired of waiting around for somebody to open a ceramics studio in Charlottesville, so she decided to do it herself. A Virginia native who moved around a lot but ended up back in Charlottesville in 1980, Bill said she’s had an entrepreneurial spirit and a love for art her whole life, which manifested itself as City Clay.
After graduating from VCU with an art degree in the 1970s, Bill found herself in Washington, D.C., working for Red Cross, resting the artistic side of her brain. But when the opportunity came to relocate to Charlottesville, she jumped on it, and jump started her career as an artist, business owner, and teacher. She ran an arts studio in Starr Hill, opened a banner design company, and taught at Albemarle High School before settling into an 18-year teaching career at St. Anne’s-Belfield School.
“I’ve been teaching clay all that time, and I just love it,” Bill said.
In September 2011, after about two years of planning and consulting a financial counselor (who at first thought she was nuts), Bill gave up her steady paycheck and used part of her retirement fund to open Clay City, a community ceramics business that offers classes, workshops, events, and open studio time for every age and experience level.
Eighteen months in, Bill said she couldn’t be happier with her decision to switch careers.
“It’s been wonderful, and there was so clearly a need for this in this town,” she said.
Her favorite aspect of the job is the variety of artists that walk through her door, and she’s been surprised that her customers are mostly adults, and only a few children. She works with everyone from UVA researchers to stay-at-home moms, and just last summer she watched a 96-year-old woman work on the potter’s wheel.
“I love that when we have classes with kids, we have adults working right alongside them,” Bill said.
Despite her knack for running a business, Bill said the day-to-day duties of updating the calendar, responding to e-mails, and unloading kilns are “less thrilling” than teaching and working with her hands. Sitting down with a class is always the highlight of her day, she said, and if she had it her way, she’d do nothing but work with clay and teach others how to do so.
“If someone wanted to buy this place, I would sell it in a heartbeat, then turn around and be a mentor,” she said.—Laura Ingles
Survey says
A little about you: Of those who took our survey, two-thirds were women and a third were men. About 44 percent were between the ages of 18 and 30, another 44 percent were 31 to 50, and 12 percent were over 51. Most—84 percent—were employed full-time.
48 percent make $20,000-$50,000 a year
72 percent say their job satisfaction is good or great
61 percent have at least an undergraduate degree, and 28 percent have graduate degrees
31 percent said their full-time jobs keeps them at work more than 40 hours a week most of the time