Exploring the Experience Economy Through Freba Pottery's Unique Business

Beginning of November, I was invited to present at Saskatchewan Economic Development Alliance Summit about Experience Economy, because it has become so integrated in all that I do.  I would like to ask you all to think back through today and think of one “experience” that you will tell someone about, positive or negative…but something that you will tell a story about.  The story doesn’t have to be a long story but usually we each share a story about an experience.   Every day as we navigate through life we have experiences that are memorable and not so memorable.  Where I am today in my career stems back to a 15minute moment in my life in 2003.  I was traveling the Gulf Islands in British Columbia and found myself on Denman Island visiting all the pottery studios.  I was with my two cousins and we were following a map of studios on the island. We turned down a driveway that weaved through a heavily forested area, drove past a VW van in the trees that was more environment than van and stopped in front of this building with a deck.  We walked into the building and there was a large room to the left and a smaller room to the right.  There were a few people in the building as well. We wandered through the small room and then went into the larger room and chatting with the people thinking one was the artist when we realized we were in an honour system store…off the large room there was a smaller room that had a counter with a bowl of cash that you could make change from, instructions on how to use credit card with the old credit card machine with a lock box.  Paper, bags and a trust in humanity.  I HAD to buy a piece of pottery - pull out plate.  I purchased this as a gift to my mom from my trip.  Now pull out a dollar store plate.  This plate was purchased from the dollar store.  Most people have been in a dollar store. This plate was $1 and this plate in 2003 was $40.  Both have the same function, but the shopping experience is significantly different.    I did not hesitate to buy the $40 plate because of the experience.  

Ten years later, we moved home to buy my Amma’s house on an acreage between Dafoe and Kandahar from Eston, where I had been an art and history teacher.  I had begun taking wheel throwing pottery lessons in 2003 and was at this point making enough to sell and with moving home, not knowing if I would get a permanent teacher contract had the “worst case scenario” plan to have  a pottery store and substitute teach.  I did get a teaching contract and had built my little pottery store out of the wood from a machine shed in the yard, the stainglass windows that were my grandmas that needed a home and reclaimed windows and doors.   

I had three goals… 1. To sell to someone when I wasn’t home 2. Sell to a semi driver who stopped 3. Sell to someone driving a motorbike.  I accomplished both in my first summer and put a sign out in the store inviting the honour system to function.  I am in the perfect location right on the side of the Yellowhead Highway for people to stop at all hours.  I wanted others to experience what I experienced on Denman Island ten years before but right in the middle of Saskatchewan. I don’t have a lock box for the credit cards, because I have a QR code for people to go to my secure website checkout and use etransfers.

Over the years, more and more people found out how this worked when they stopped and they shared the story.   I was on CBC radio, Ashlyn George stopped when she was the Saskatchewander, CAA magazine, CTV, and various other channels have done stories about the honour system pottery store. In 2017, the traffic stopping at my store had increased so much I went to 50% teaching and 50% pottery. 

Covid shut down happened and I was made for the shutdown because people could stop in a carload at a time and shop safely.  People were driving out from the city, just to come shop at Freba Pottery.  I realized that I could no longer keep teaching and needed to do pottery full time.    The exposure was so great that I was pulled into artist life full time. In the fall of 2021, I left teaching to do pottery full time.  How I had the honour store set up changed over the years, but it is still very rustic, no heat, no power and I sell my pottery on the honour system.  I have a few other people who sell their stuff in my pottery shop to add to the experience. 

People will ask “have you had problems with people stealing?”  I usually say “would you steal from it”  Well No!  The experience of being trusted to stop and pay is so significantly different and it gives you the feeling of hope in humanity just like it did when I was on Denman Island.  And if something happens, they really really need it and they have good taste.  My other tag line is “Organized Crime is still too busy with pot, they haven't got into pottery…but if that changes and my pottery is being traded on the black market then our society has shifted. 

In May 2024, my business had an experience with the Saskatchewander stopping and doing a reel, which went viral with 1.5 million views. Watch the reel. I am now having in the summer season 25 vehicles stopping a day and the winter season 5 vehicles a day.  I just keep making pottery and let people have an experience.  Now when you stop at my store there are maps where you can pin where you are from and leave a note.  I have to take the notes down every few years as there is no space for more notes.  I love looking on the maps to see where people are from and their little notes they leave. 

When I left teaching in the system, I was encouraged to apply to be a part of the Achieving Awesome course put on by Tourism Sask to develop another experience.  I was a little in awe that I had become a tourist destination with my little store.  In the fall of 2022, I participated in Achieving Awesome to develop Elemental Claycation; an immersive pottery experience.  

Where did I get the idea? Now back it up to before Covid, I would teach pottery classes in my studio once a week for 8 weeks and people in the area would come and learn.  I would have to shut down my production in my studio for the evening class.  By the 5th week, I was not liking that experience because it interrupted my production weekly.   So Elemental Claycation was born out of a way to change my experience of teaching pottery.  Also if people have to drive weekly my target market is very small.  I wanted to create a pottery experience where people could stay in my heritage house and work in my studio for a weekend and then I would only have to shut down my studio monthly for the weekend.  We had a third floor attic in our 1919 heritage house that was unfinished that would be a unique space for guests to stay.   

April 2023 my dad and I began renovations on the unfinished space and created a beautiful space for people to sleep for the weekend.  I can sleep 6 people in the attic, which is the largest that I can handle teaching wheel throwing one on one for the weekend.  There is a half bathroom in the attic, with the full bathroom down one level for guests to use.

I worked VERY VERY hard to curate the weekend experience to be memorable and more than just a pottery class. It is the only experience of this kind in Canada, with something similar on FOGO island in Newfoundland but a week long experience.  

I launched in December 2023 and have now hosted 23 Claycations and last fall realized that I needed to pivot again because of the traffic stopping at the highway store and the space of my basement studio.  It was not very practical anymore to shut down my studio of production; which means clearing everything away so people can work in the space. And I had started with the plan to do 10 a year, but in 2024 I did 12 and I keep increasing how many I am offering as people are wanting to book. 

The School House Studio was dreamt up.  I wanted to move an original School House that is about 7 miles east of our house to our acreage, but to remediate the basement and the move of the building would be the same cost of a new build.  I wanted to keep with the heritage of the acreage with the house being built in 1919 I wanted a heritage space.  My Amma, actually boarded in this house prior to 1938 as she taught in a one room school house south of our property a mile.  I thought that it would be such a cool thing for a former teacher to have a one room school house.   So this summer I built a one room “school house” that will be the space that I can host claycations and teach pottery workshops to groups that just want a “class” 

Last fall, I was put in touch with CECS and Economusee.  And I am presently in the process to become an Economussee next spring.  Economusee is a network of Artisans at Work.  This is the plan for that phase.  This will allow me to connect the experiences of the honour system store and the school house studio.  Working with Serge and Mirreille has been so interesting as it pushes me to think of my experiences and how to elevate them. 

I want people to have experiences that are different from what is out there anywhere.  I love to travel and collect experiences and so many of the tiny touches I have for the Elemental Claycation come from pushing the limits on hosting.  I have drinks, snacks, products that the customer engages with that is  Women Owned first, Saskatchewan second, and Canada third.  In the bathroom of the attic space is a wall that has a little frame of all the elements that makes the claycation what it is so that others can connect with these products.  

For example: The duvets on the beds are wool duvets made right here in Saskatchewan, rather than going to home Sense and finding a blanket for the bed. 

I am honoured to live in a family house that has its own presence and allows me to provide experiences for people that they talk about.  The honour store pottery store gives you a trust in humanity and when you use a piece of pottery that I made know that we are connected.  To open my house and studio to people to experience Saskatchewan hospitality and products with incredible Saskatchewan views through learning pottery techniques fills my soul.   I could not have created the business that I have now without the support of  Tourism Sask with their Achieving Awesome training,  the Diversification and Development grants that help me bring to life the experiences of the attic renovation and the school house experience.   

The businesses that pay attention to the experience are the ones people talk about.  I know that I don’t get it right 100% of the time, but I will keep growing and elevating my experiences to do things different than how it has always been done.  I want people to choose my “mug” over the mass produced Mug because of their experience!