Success stories

New entrepreneur:
Iuliia Protsenko (Ukraine)
Age: 38
Company name: Yulya’s Pottery Ceramic Studio and Shop (Start-up)
Sector of activity: Crafts, art materials and accessories

Host entrepreneur:
Stéphanie Pigaglio (France)
Age: 33
Company name: Clay Atelier Céramique / https://clay-atelier.fr/ (4 years of experience)
Sector of activity: Music, theater, events and related cultural and entertainment services

Iuliia Protsenko is a young entrepreneur passionate about pottery ceramics and art. During the quarantine in 2020 she started looking for a hobby for her soul. She tried her hand at pottery and realised she would never give it up. The idea to start a creative business in Ukraine came to Iuliia when she was practising in various studios with artists. She hoped to find an entrepreneur who was open to her ideas of creative and eco-responsible space and could share her experience of starting a business abroad and give advice on bringing her ideas to life. Stephanie Pigaglio is а founder of the Céramique Clay studio. She was looking for a young and talented artist eager to develop in pottery and ceramics who could bring fresh ideas for the design of products and who could make new designs for production. Also Stephanie wanted to share her experience of developing a network of ceramic studios with someone who also loves ceramics and pottery and intends to open a workshop.

This exchange was valuable for Iuliia and Stephanie. During the first 2 months of the exchange Iuliia learned how to work with materials met local artists and ceramists and visited handmade markets. She worked in the atelier as part of the Clay team participating in the daily life of the atelier and performing different tasks. Iuliia also worked very intensively with Stephanie who helped her improve her techniques and style and told her about running an art business in Europe. Moreover Iuliia and Stephanie had several meetings where they shared their ideas traditions and best practices - Stephanie told Iuliia about French ceramics while Iuliia showed Ukrainian arts traditional symbols and colours.rnDuring the last month of the exchange Stephanie and Iuliia summed up their common work and continued cooperating in the Clay studio already like colleagues as Iuliia started to work for Clay and to give workshops on throwing on the wheel for beginners.

Iuliia learnt marketing tools developed her social media and gave interviews to several media in Ukraine (Creators Matter Design za grani). With Stephanies help Iuliia presented her first line of ceramic vases and tableware in the studio window display and found new regular customers in France. Thanks to Iuliia Stephanie presented an additional collection of ceramic products in her workshop met more Ukrainians in France found new customers and spread her brand on social media. After the programme Iuliia decided to stay in France worked at Clay with Stephanie and taught pottery at the Atelier. Stephanie and Iuliia continue to work together - Iuliia is a resident at Clay studio and holds workshops there. Iuliia also launched her ceramic brand in France sells her ceramics in the shop and online participates in exhibitions and holds pottery and ceramic workshops. Finally Iuliia started her own atelier in the famous pottery village in the South of France.

For more information, please contact the local contact points involved in the exchange:

New entrepreneur's contact point:
LLC "CIVITTA UKRAINE" (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Host entrepreneur's contact point:
Chambre de Commerce Italienne pour la France de Marseille (Marseille, France)

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