We had the good fortune of connecting with Sasha Kai and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sasha, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
It’s a weird thing, but I approach pottery the same way I approach playing an instrument. I was a musician for a long time, and still play a number of instruments. When I was younger, I regularly played in orchestras and jazz ensembles. So when I started pottery, I brought a lot of those habits along with me. When I first started wheel-throwing, I spent a lot of time just learning mechanics and fundamentals, similar to the way you practice embouchure and musical scales when learning a new instrument. In the beginning, I wasn’t so much focused on making anything, but more on getting the muscle memory and form locked in. Doing that really helped me grow my pottery skills very quickly, and helped me learn the rules so I can also know when to bend and break them, kind of like how you improvise in jazz.

Even know, when I sit down at the wheel, I usually throw a couple cylinders to warm-up and get familiar with the clay before moving on to the forms I intend to make, the same way you do a few scales and tune your instrument before you start playing. I think approaching it this way has really helped me stay consistent in my practice and grow my skills as a potter.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve worked in Corporate America for over a decade but have always been a creative at heart. In my free time, I was always writing and producing things (short films, digital content, podcasts, etc), but found my creative projects were always taking a backseat to the growing demands of my job. For a long time, I felt a lot of pressure to keep going after that next promotion or the bigger title, but the higher I climbed on that ladder, the more unhappy I was, and the less time I had for the things I actually loved. And then I got injured and ended up with a concussion, and it forced me to slow down in a way that I hadn’t been able to do on my own. Being forced to take the time to rest and recover allowed me to have the space to re-evaluate where I was in my life and where I wanted to go. I realized I’d become really misaligned in what I wanted and how I was spending my time.

During my initial recovery, I couldn’t be in front of screens or do a lot of the things I enjoyed previously, so I was really forced to step outside of my comfort zone and explore new hobbies. So when this new pottery studio opened up near where I live, I thought it might be a fun thing to try. I roped my husband into doing a one-time wheel class, and I pretty much fell in love with it on the spot. I ended up signing up for a 4-week class and never looked back.

Pottery is really hard, but I was never deterred. During my recovery, I was dealing with a lot of depression and anxiety and pottery turned into a form of active meditation, allowing me to be present with my emotions without getting swallowed up by them. It’s been really amazing as a therapeutic practice in that way, and it also helped me reclaim my voice as a creative and artist.

Being a Black woman in tech in Corporate America took a toll on my confidence in ways that I’m still recovering from. The further I went in my career, the more I was pressured to conform to certain perceptions and expectations of what an executive looked like or what a technologist should be, but I was never going to be those things no matter how hard I tried. Instead, I was just always myself and also good at my job. It was exhausting constantly being made to feel like, or in some instances being directly told, I had to choose between the two. And when I was forced to step away to focus on my health, I felt silly for falling into the trap that those two things couldn’t co-exist.

That concept has become the ethos behind Wyld Heart Ceramics. Everything I make is fly and functional. My pieces are bold and meant to stand out in your kitchen, on your countertop or your dining table, but they still serve their purpose and serve it well because I don’t believe you should have to choose between style and form. They can co-exist and it’s healing when they do.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love to eat, and this is hard because a lot of my favorite places in the city are gone now, but we’d definitely start the week out close to home with breakfast at Cafe de Olla in Old Town Monrovia, then a hike in the hills above Old Town. take a pottery class at Makers & Clay Studio, grab dinner at Sushi Nakata, then head to The State for a nightcap — they have the best whiskey selection.

We’d have to spend a day or two near the water — go rollerskating along the bike path in Venice, grab some food at Tangaroa Fish Market, and have a bonfire at Dockweiler Beach.

Spend an afternoon in DTLA to check out Black Market Flea, then dinner at Joyce, followed by some rooftop drinks and views at Cara Cara.

Hit the lounge at the Woods in WeHo, grab dinner at Irie, then check out the best dance floor in the city at Good Times at Davey Wayne’s.

Do the Bridge to Nowhere hike in Azusa, then swing through GS Cafe in Covina for some Ethiopian food.

Then probably end the week with some relaxation — perhaps some acupuncture & reiki at Highland Holistic, a good massage at The Salt Studio in Pasadena and stroll through the LA Arboretum .

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I definitely want to shoutout Marcus Mam, Kyle Hart and the amazing community at Makers & Clay Studio in Monrovia for introducing me to the wheel, teaching me everything I know about clay and encouraging me to put my work out here. My husband Josiah for supporting me on this new creative journey and encouraging me to march to the beat of my wild heart. My nail artist Susi Gonzalez at Susi’s Nail Boutique for being my first sale and keeping my hands looking fly even when they’re covered in clay. And my homie Cielestia Calbay for nominating me for this opportunity and always reminding me to reach for the stars.

Website: https://www.wyldheartla.com

Instagram: instagram.com/theepolishedpotter & instagram.com/wyldheartla

Other: https://tiktok.com/theepolishedpotter

Image Credits
Profile photo – Marcus Mam

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.