Small N.S. ceramic mug business sees big success

Calista Desousa has turned her passion for pottery into a thriving business.

Twenty-four-year-old Calista Desousa started her own at-home pottery business in Nova Scotia just eight months ago and it’s seen an explosion in popularity.

“Just released a little TikTok with 10 tickets in my little apartment social room and it blew up. They sold out instantly and we have been doing events every weekend ever since,” says Desousa, CEO of Beleza Ceramics.

She turned to pottery clear her head and thought others would benefit from the art.

“I was looking for a hobby and just to support my mental health in a way. I would come home from work, try pottery and make things with clay. I found things very inaccessible with clay as well so I wanted to bring that to the public and make it more accessible for everybody and give everybody an experience that they could enjoy,” says Desousa.

She sells her mugs online and offers events like “Mugs and Mocktails.”

“We are still a small business so getting a studio is a little off the moment right now but we are working towards that. Luckily Cafe Marco Polo in Dartmouth reached out and they offered their space for us to host our events at,” says Desousa.

“As a local business, we have to support each other. It’s a small community, it’s a small city, everybody knows each other. We have to lift each other up and we are just trying to support another small business owner in Halifax,” says Anthony Fares, owner of Cafe Marco Polo.

Fares’s partner took part in one of the mug-making events Desousa hosted and wanted to help her out.

“We saw Calista’s pottery classes and thought it could be a good opportunity for someone to use our space and involve Marco Polo in the community. What Calista is doing is really nice and gets people out making art and we thought that aligned with a local coffee shop,” says Fares.

Tickets for the events are released on Beleza’s social media once a month and Desousa says they sell out within 24 hours.

“Everyone seems to be very interested in it. There is such a need, since COVID happened, for people to get together and connect with people. But not only to connect with others but also yourself,” says Desousa.

The events, which run for three hours, start with mingling and mocktails and transitions into making pottery.

“You start with a ball of clay and at the end you create a beautiful mug,” says Desousa.

Desousa says since she started her company, local businesses and community members have stepped up to show their support.

“It’s a dream come true. I wake up every day and I’m, like, ‘Wait, this is my life.’ I’m so grateful and thankful to the community. It wouldn’t be anything without the people that come to the events, obviously. It’s just a complete dream come true and I can’t wait to see where it goes in the future,” says Desousa.

“I wish I had a role model that told me that there isn’t a path in the future that you don’t have to go work in a job you don’t like and go home and do your hobby, you can make your hobby your job.”

The business will soon offer new products that will make her events more accessible worldwide. She is always looking for feedback from those who attend because every little detail matters.

“If we can improve on that and make the experience better for people, it just makes for a better business,” says Desousa.

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