Meet Jordan Nunez | Ceramicist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jordan Nunez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jordan, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The success of my creative business can be largely attributed to one thing: consistently showing up. I don’t mean posting daily to social media just to have posted something. Though social media certainly plays a part in running a business, showing up for yourself is bigger than that. Showing up for yourself means prioritizing your goals. It means taking the time to identify what you want out of your business, your life, and what messages you want to convey. It means taking quality photos and displaying your work in an elevated way. It means taking the time to get to know your audience and not devolving into a product shilling machine. People are naturally attracted to those who are passionate about their work and who care about the folks they work with. By showing up for yourself every single day, you’re proving to your audience that your business is worth showing up for. By adopting the mindset of showing up, you create sustainable growth, mitigate burn-out, and pave the way for your continued success.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I didn’t take my first formal ceramics class until January of 2019. I remember sitting down on a hard stool, opening my first bag of clay, and looking in awe at the work some of my advanced classmates. I don’t know if I fully realized it then, but that was the moment my life suddenly made sense. I don’t mean to sound dramatic or anything, but it’s true. Growing up I’ve always had a creative disposition- I wanted to draw, paint, write poetry, embroider… anything that I could use as a form of self-expression, I wanted to try. So I did. I hopped from hobby to hobby, enjoying each craft but not feeling truly part of the craft. It never felt mine; it felt like it belonged to other people and I was simply a creative tourist. It was not until January 2019 that I felt a true coming home, so to speak. Working with clay made sense. It felt like something I had to do- not because I was enrolled in a class that took attendance, but instead because I had discovered something within myself that I would never be able to turn away from. I knew in that moment that clay was always going to be part of my life. In a professional sense, my growth has not always been linear. I spent many years of my life working in medicine and then finance. I was absolutely miserable at both jobs, but it wasn’t until I left my job in finance that I started to actually ask myself the big questions- what do I want out of my life, and how can I get there? I feel that I was extremely lucky with the timing of my life. I had discovered clay about 6 months prior and felt a true calling to it. I took a major risk and decided to stop searching for a new career, and started to work on building the life I wanted. One of my mentors, Emily Jeffords, has said before that “progress is quiet and slow”. This is such a powerful mantra, and one that I think succinctly describes the biggest lesson I’ve learned from all of this. Progress is many years nurturing my love of art and creativity. Progress is working the jobs I felt I had to. Progress is being open to new experiences and giving clay a try. Progress is quitting a job that felt unfulfilling and building something bigger. Progress is quiet and slow.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would absolutely take them outdoors first and foremost. You can’t come to one of the most scenic landscapes and not enjoy it! We would absolutely go to Sedona, Horseshoe Bend, the Petrified Forest, and the Grand Canyon. While we were there, I would insist on grabbing a coffee from Macy’s Coffee in Flagstaff. I would take them down south to see Kartchner Caverns, and Chiricahua National Monument. We would enjoy Tombstone, Bisbee, and Tucson. Before heading back up to the valley, we would have find a Sonoran Dog stand for an iconic Tucson meal. For their last day, we would spend an afternoon where I call home- Downtown Mesa. We would pop in and out of the most incredible vintage stores (looking at you, Buckhorn Vintage!) and grab lunch at Worth Takeaway.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I owe much of my creative business savvy to Emily Jeffords and her course Making Art Work. Most importantly, I could never be where I am without the complete love and support of my husband, Derek Nunez.

Website: https://www.goodmudceramics.com

Instagram: @good.mud