The Staff

The Staff

If you watch everyone work, you will see precise activities performed repetitiously. If you listen to them work, you will hear distinct personalities. Watching such a diverse group work so well together makes me wonder, which is doing the shaping, the workers or the clay.

Since 1976, I have had four different groups of employees. Relocation has been the main reason for changes. If you took one worker, and put them in a different group, they would feel at home.

The first group was in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania. This twelve year stretch started with my brother, Randy; Gail our stamp designer, and Mary a decorator. The techniques established then are still used today. After the initial four came Charlotte, Ellen, and several others along the way. We never made much money, but we loved working together. I learned, back then, that keeping things casual was the best way to run a business. These were the people who showed me how. The layout was less than ideal, but it was great fun. Even my landlord Darrell and his son Brian helped too. I still enjoy friendships with most of them today.

The second group was a short twenty month stretch in Pennsylvania’s beautiful Amish country. I will always remember getting away from work by driving backroads through the Amish farmlands. The shortness of my stay did not allow me to develop the same kind of working relationships I previously enjoyed. But I did make great friends, like Shu Ping and his wonderful family.

The third group was the first two years in our current location. While I was in Lancaster County, I started selling pots to the Leggett Department Stores. After discussing the state of things with my brother Randy, I moved back to Pittsburgh. Randy found a great building on Pittsburgh’s South Side. Setting up a new studio is a lot of work, especially when you design and build a new kiln. Along with Randy were Judy from Germany, and later Mark.

Judy was our next door neighbor. One day, after months of short hellos, I invited Judy and her friends to visit the pottery. Within minutes I offered her a job. While Judy worked for me, we never stopped laughing. When she decided to move back to Germany, she knew the strain it would have on me and found her own replacement; Mark a potter. Judy was one of the best workers, and more enjoyable people I’ve ever employed. We still miss her today, and look forward to seeing her and meeting her new husband and their daughter, Emily.

Mark had a tough role to fill. He did so, quite exceptionally. He not only learned Judy’s duties fast; he glazed and threw too. Just like me, he learned to love pottery as an Art major in college.

About two years after I moved back to Pittsburgh, Randy returned to real estate. Twice he helped me get things moving. He is the quintessential big brother. Sure we bump heads, but I wouldn’t have him any other way.

Following Randy’s departure, I set up ZTP Inc., and initiated a five year plan to shift from the town commemorative to personalized pieces. Sales at the Leggett stores were up, and I needed help fast. Mark was encouraging me to hire production workers, but I knew I needed a manager first. It’s better to bring new employees to an existing manager, than a new manager to existing employees.

The fourth group started when I hired Jocelyn. I knew her through Judy. I bumped into her one evening, and told her about all the changes in progress. Her questions addressed each issue on my priority list. As I started to leave I asked her if she would like to work for me. After a few meetings, she agreed. I didn’t realize she was an editor for an entrepreneurial publication. Her interest was in start up businesses. This was her opportunity to practice what she preached. I explained the production, and sales systems, and told her to set up the office the way she thought best. Within a few months, the office was revamped, new production workers were trained, and the personalized line was picked up by our first mail order catalog. Everything fell into place nicely. This stretch was hectic, but great fun too.

Group four: Jocelyn, Keith, Scott, Matt, Johanna, and Sarina.

Jocelyn manages operations, and plays a key role in marketing and product development. She was born in the Philippines, raised in Florida, and attended college in Pittsburgh. Her ability to handle several issues at once, and define them into an easily followed chronology, is vital to operations. Her clear devotion to her job, and the staff, makes work a lot easier for all of us. She is the most enjoyable person I have ever worked with. There are a lot of misconceptions about owning a business. This is very clear when you have owned one for over twenty years. How well operations run, is one of the most important issues. Her day-to-day managerial skills enable our long range plans to move ahead smoothly. Giving Jocelyn free reign to organize is one of the smartest decisions I have ever made.

Keith throws. He caught the pottery bug the same way I did, in college. It seems the faster you learn, the easier it is to get hooked. With our recent expansion, we are able to increase production. As we grow, his past duties as an instructor at a local crafts guild will make it easy for him to help me with running the production. He writes and sings songs. Acoustical music, with lyrics that actually tell a story.

Scott was hired shortly after Jocelyn. He was one of our stampers. You can’t miss him. He’s part Sioux, and has the hair and eyes to prove it. He’s a rock and roller. His old songs are loud, wild, and crazy, with his new songs showing sense emerging from it all. He writes songs with lyrics worth hearing and weds them to music that can be plugged in, or unplugged. He’s a painter. If you look at his paintings, you can see the strength of his Catholic beliefs; he’s even led me back. Scott is returning to college, we wish him well.

Matt is an extraterrestrial...er...I mean he handles all the cobalting and shipping. His schooling was in special effects. He spends all year gathering discards, and assembles them into...well this year it was Robot, from the original Lost in Space TV show. It was his Halloween costume. He climbed inside, buzzed around, and kept warning of danger. It won a hot tub in a costume competition. Unlike Jocelyn, Scott, and me, he did not have a large family of loving brothers and sisters. When he first started working for me, he said he had always wondered what a big family was like, he knows now. After years of wondering, Matt found his biological mother and a sister too. He left us, and moved to Texas to know them as family. Since then he has returned to Pennsylvania and helps us as a seasonal worker.

Johanna is a spy from Cuba. If her report on American businesses is based on my business, she’ll be recalled. Actually, she is a stamper with a varied art and art education background. It is fun learning how different cultures can be. They vary in ways you never expect. We can always tell we are too American for her when she puts on her headphones. Johanna is moving to Chicago to continue her education. We wish her well.

Sarina worked in the office as a seasonal worker allowing more time to reorganize.

Walt, that's me. Along with my marketing and website development, I oversee production, throw, handle, glaze and fire. It's to the point that everyone's so productive, my oversight role looks idle. I call it the "invisible work". I keep everything in sync with the clay and kiln clocks.

Wilma, Grendel and now Stella are our "pet me first" dogs who greet everyone entering our buildings. Wilma and Stella are my Jack Russell terriers, they rule. Grendel is Jocelyn's Golden Retriever. He's is big and lovable and lets Wilma and Stella "Jack Russell" him all day long. Wilma, Stella and Grendel fit right in.

Group four changes, especially during the Holiday season. The rush starts every October. We have several people who have helped. Mark, Paige, Elaine, Jamie, and Brian have been big help during past Holidays. It's always fun to welcome back old friends.

Although there have been several other employees, two can not be overlooked, Tom and Michael. Tom was the first person Jocelyn hired. He left three years later to help manage a friend’s talent agency. I’m not big on astrology, but I know enough to see Tom is an Aries. Sometimes you want to hug him, other times you want to hit him with a stick, a big stick. I’ve been lucky in the hiring game. Some truly exceptional people, like Tom, have helped me. Fortunately when he left, his friendship stayed. Tom’s keen eye for design and promotion will always be helpful. He has Wrighteous, an amazing Jack Russell terrier (terrorist is more like it). I loved the dog so much, I got one too. We bred Wilma and Wrighteous and got Stella and Bart. Tom found Bart a good home and I kept Stella!

It is impossible to overlook Michael. He barely spoke the first months he worked for us. At first, he made odd noises, usually of a musical nature. Once he started talking, we realized he’s nuts! After graduating from college, he got a great job as a high school music director, in Las Vegas. We miss him.

Last and by every account not least is Jayne, Jocelyn’s sister. They are sisters in every way. Jayne is a data base whiz for one of the big corporations. She’s helping us with our system. Scott’s song "Joy", about Jocelyn and Jayne, says it all. Working with them, to sell our old fashioned pottery in this high-tech world is a great joy.

Each group developed their own dynamics, and played an important role, especially group four. Switching over to a personalized line was hectic. Jocelyn and the staff made it easy and fun. Group four is Zotter the Potter® .

Online Store | Checkout | E-mail Us | Home

Maintained by Corporate On-Ramp