Studio Assistant/Key Holder

We're hiring, and we're picky (in the nicest way)

The Pottery Place is a paint-your-own-pottery studio, which means we're in the business of other people's good days. Birthday parties... First dates... Just because days... A grandmother and a six-year-old sharing a table of paint water. Somebody who had a rough week and just wanted to sit somewhere quiet and paint a mug.

Your job is to make those days happen. Then, after everyone goes home, to clean up the paint water. Both halves are real and we're telling you up front.

What you'll actually do all day

You clock in to your regularly scheduled shift, you enjoy the consistency of having the entire month's schedule available at a time.

You check the board for what's coming: how many parties, what time, how many people, and what the special requests say. Peanut allergy at the 4:00. Surprise proposal at the 6:30 — don't say anything to the guest of honor. Reading those notes before the door opens is the difference between a smooth night and a scramble.

Then, you walk the floor. Tables wiped, brushes sorted, paint bottles topped off, shelves faced and full. If a shelf looks picked-over, you restock it from the back before a guest ever sees a gap.

Guests start coming in.

Folks come in without appointments: "Can we paint today?" You get their phone number, find them in the system (or make them a new record), explain the pottery process, get them settled at a table, and get them started. If we're slammed, you put them on the waitlist and they get a text when a table opens up — nobody gets turned away at the door if we can help it.

Then you teach. This is the fun part. Most guests have never done this and are a little nervous about "messing it up." You show them how many coats it takes, how to load a brush, how to use a stencil, why the glaze looks nothing like the fired color. You talk somebody out of "safe" and into something they'll actually love. You have three go-to techniques in your back pocket that make a beginner feel like an artist in ten minutes.

The party arrives. Twelve nine-year-olds and four adults. You get them seated, get pottery in front of them, explain the rules in a voice that carries, keep the paint from becoming a weapon, cue the cake at the right moment, and take pictures the parents will actually want. You are — for ninety minutes — the host, the teacher, the director, and the calm one...then you flip that room for the next party in twenty minutes.

Phones and email don't stop

Between all of that: "Do you have availability Saturday?" "Is my mug ready?" "What's included in the party package?" You take bookings, look up orders, and answer honestly. You'll never guess at an answer just to end a call faster.

Pottery has a whole second life. Everything painted has to be glazed, loaded into a kiln, fired, unloaded, inspected, matched back to its owner, and shelved for pickup. You'll help with all of it: loading and unloading kilns (they're hot, they're heavy, they're the heart of the place), checking pieces for chips and cracks, flagging anything questionable instead of quietly hoping nobody notices, and moving orders forward so nothing gets stuck on a shelf for three weeks.

Careful hands matter here. Somebody made that with their own heart and hands.

And then you close...Sweep. Mop. Wipe. Sort brushes. Wash out paint trays. Restock. Reset every table so the next crew walks into a studio that's ready, not a mess with a note attached.

Cleaning is not the part of the job that happens after the job. It is a large part of the job, every single shift. If that's a dealbreaker, this isn't the fit and that's genuinely okay.

Plus, all year long -Basic social media photography — good light, clean background, no clutter in frame -Receiving and stocking shipments of bisque -Field trips, camps, and events (extra hours, different energy, very fun) -Whatever the day hands you, because retail is like that

Who we're looking for

We can teach pottery. We can't teach most of this.

You're genuinely warm to strangers. Not customer-service-voice warm. Actually glad someone walked in. Kids, grandparents, awkward first dates, the mom who's clearly running on four hours of sleep — all of them should feel like you're happy they came. We take our mission to build community through art seriously around here and it starts with friendly, hospitable people.

You show up. This is the big one. We're a small team, and the schedule is set a month at a time with very little wiggle room. When you're scheduled, we are counting on you specifically. Reliability isn't a bonus trait here; it's the whole foundation.

You see the thing that needs doing. Nobody is going to tell you the brushes are a disaster or the shelf is half-empty. You notice, and you handle it, without being asked and without making it a whole thing.

You can work alone and with people. Some shifts you're side by side; some shifts it's you, the floor, and a to-do list. You need to be good at both, and you need to communicate clearly with whoever comes on next — what's done, what isn't, what to watch out for.

You're honest when something goes wrong. You'll drop something. You'll miscount a party. You'll open a kiln to a cracked piece. What we care about is that you say so immediately instead of hiding it. "I'm not sure, let me find out" is always the right answer. Quietly guessing never is.

You want to get better. Not just "willing to learn" You're actually interested in leveling up your skills, your technique, your speed, your product knowledge. That's how you earn more here (more on that below). Just in general, you're a curious person.

You're steady when it gets loud. Saturday afternoon with two parties, a full floor, a ringing phone, and a spill is normal. We need somebody who slows down instead of speeding up.

This might not be your job if…

We'd rather be direct than waste your time: -You want a quiet desk job — this is on your feet, hands wet, all shift -You need a schedule that changes week to week or even month to month. -You'd rather be told exactly what to do at every moment -Cleaning up after other people bothers you -You hate fun times and shenanigans

What we give you

Real training, not "shadow somebody for a day." We built our own certification program — Studio School — that walks you through the studio's systems step by step, with checkpoints, cheat sheets, and actual certifications when you finish a track. You'll learn the floor, the front desk, the production side, and inventory. Every station in this studio is documented and teachable, and you'll never be left to figure it out by guessing.

Pay that you control. Starting pay reflects your previous experience. From there, you earn more by completing training certifications and improving your performance. There's no mystery about how to get a raise — the path is written down and it's up to you how fast you walk it.

A studio that runs on real systems. Digital tables, live floor board, phone-lookup check-in, an order-tracking pipeline from kiln to pickup. You will not be hunting through a paper binder to find someone's mug. (If you're a little tech-comfortable, you'll love it. If you're not yet, we'll teach you that too.)

A great discount, staff perks, extra hours if you want them, and coworkers who are actually fun to spend a Saturday night with.

The particulars

Shifts we're covering right now:

Wednesday, 1:00 – 8:30 p.m. Thursday, 1:00 – 8:30 p.m. Friday, 1:00 – 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 1:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Off Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Additional hours available for the right candidate.

Job type: Part-time, 24–32 hrs/week Work environment: On-site, in studio

Physical requirements:

-Standing for extended periods -loading and unloading kilns -lifting up to 50 lbs -repeated bending and reaching.

Experience:

-Customer service (retail, restaurant, service industry): 1 year — required -Other relevant experience: 1 year — preferred

Education:

-High school or equivalent — required

-No ceramic or art experience required. Truly. Training is provided in every area. Some of our best staff had never touched a paintbrush before their first shift.

-We're hiring with the goal of being fully staffed before the holiday season, so priority goes to candidates with permanent Chattanooga residence.

How to apply

-Submit your application here online

-Come see us. Stop by the studio and introduce yourself. We'd love to put a face to a name, and a good first impression in person goes a long way.

-Or email us your resume with a short note about why you'd be a great addition to our team. Not a form-letter cover letter, just tell us something true about yourself.

One small thing: somewhere in your note, tell us what you'd paint first if we handed you a blank piece and an afternoon. There's no wrong answer, and yes, we read every one.

We're interviewing and hiring soon. Come make something with us! 🏺