please help the owner of cry baby clay

Everything feels like it's crumbling around me (a sentiment I'm sure many of us can relate to). But the massive waves of challenges keep hitting me in my business & personal life & they're hitting hard. If you're sensitive to hearing other people's struggles, I don't recommend reading further, as I intend to be incredibly transparent about what I've gone through these past 3 years, all while trying to bring a fun & accessible craft to the neighborhood.

I started my business in 2020 from my front porch, selling take home clay kits to community members during the pandemic.

The popularity of those kits snowballed & required & enabled me to start a pottery studio.

This entire business journey has been a cycle of me sprinting trying to keep up with the growth of my business, feeling like I'm almost close enough to rest for a moment, only to have more major obstacles (huge home bills, car break downs, big health issues, pet bills, injuries, kiln malfunctions, mental health emergencies, massive tax bills, even a stalker who makes me feel unsafe at my studio) get in the way and knock me back to what feels like the start.

I've had to sell my car to afford keeping this business afloat. I have a 10 year old laptop that hums when I type & I know it'll crap out anyway now. My kiln has malfunctioned 4 times this year, which causes me to work triple time & sets me back about 6 weeks every time it happens, because I can't afford to stop classes or production to troubleshoot. My partner's car has already broken down on the highway but we can't afford to get a new one at this time so we just drive with our hazards on. I now have to lock my door during business hours because some creepy old man won't leave me alone.

Last week we took some time away to visit family & go to a friends wedding, only to cut the trip short 1/2 way through to suddenly put my dog down. The same day she died, our water heater did too. And then my kiln had another error code on my first day back in the studio since putting her down. I'm tired, I'm grieving, and I keep getting slammed with massive expenses that I cannot afford.

I know I've built something special here & I've worked so hard. I'm tired, and I'll be closing my business at the end of the year- but I still need help.

If you've found joy in my services, or laughed at my silly little jokes, shared posts with your friends, find joy in my clay forms, or just want to help a stranger trying their hardest & struggling every step of the way, please consider donating to &/or sharing this gofundme.

I really hate having to ask for help again- but my wellbeing is more important than my pride. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope to overcome all of this & spend the last few months of being in business healing & celebrating with the community. I just can't do this alone.

The funds from this will be used to cover the expense of getting a new flight to put my injured dog down, vet visits, putting my dog down, stopgap replacement parts for a kiln so I can maintain a regular firing schedule, replacing our water heater & fixing a gas leak in our home, & getting a new kiln to avoid this recurring issue in the future.