The Object Enthusiast opens opportunities for growth with new online store

It was only Emily Reinhardt, her kiln, and a pottery wheel until AltCap stepped in to help grow Reinhardt’s online store and wholesale business, The Object Enthusiast.

Reinhardt had just graduated college and did not have access to a ceramics studio. To stay connected to her art she started a ceramics blog, The Object Enthusiast. When her ceramics professor retired he gave her his small kiln, pottery wheel, and tools because he admired her work ethic and story. Her blog molded into tangible wares that became popular online in her Etsy shop. Her success inspired Etsy to publish a story about her and orders kept rolling in.

She, the kiln, and the wheel moved around the country for the next few years, settling back in Kansas City in 2013. It was time to grow the business and Reinhardt needed to update the website and hire an assistant to keep up with wholesale orders.

That’s when she met AltCap.

“I studied art in school. I didn’t study business. Now I own a business. I’m definitely learning a lot as I go. Having never gotten a loan from a bank or anything, it was refreshing to approach it with someone who understood that I don’t know what I’m doing and make the process easy for me. AltCap was more than willing to sit down and talk with me before I committed to anything.”

Now with an ARTcap microloan and a full-time assistant, she is able to hand off more tasks and focus on the business itself. “That’s been really freeing and eye-opening for me too. I think starting the process with AltCap really illuminated that for me,” she said. “I want my pots to be multifunctional — what one person uses as a planter another may use as a home for tiny treasures.”

As The Object Enthusiast grows, Emily keeps her long-term goals in mind.

“Something that I’m focusing on is not just being a line of ceramics. My ultimate dream is to have a store someday, like a home goods shop, plant shop, gift shop. I think a lot of ceramic artists are really focused on their line of work, and while I am as well, I want my business to become multifaceted."

To learn more about Emily's work, visit www.theobjectenthusiast.com