Ideas change everything

How an entrepreneurial potter helped restore beauty to a city

Emma Bridgewater |

TED@BCG London

• June 2015

At 23-years-old, Emma Bridgewater boldly launched her new ceramic company in Stoke-on-Trent, a city with rich ceramic traditions but a present that resembled Detroit. She tapped into the dwindling yet still vibrant reservoir of skills and traditions still residing in the city and is now at the center of an economic and cultural renaissance. Emma shares her tumultuous journey to entrepreneurship in an interview with TED speaker and serial-entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan.

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Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

At 23-years-old, Emma Bridgewater boldly launched her new ceramic company in Stoke-on-Trent, a city with rich ceramic traditions but a present that resembled Detroit. She tapped into the dwindling yet still vibrant reservoir of skills and traditions still residing in the city and is now at the center of an economic and cultural renaissance. Emma shares her tumultuous journey to entrepreneurship in an interview with TED speaker and serial-entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

About the speaker

Emma Bridgewater

Pottery entrepreneur

Emma Bridgewater has become a household name known for her sprightly, family-inspired pottery. Bridgewater studied English at London University, establishing the company in London and Stoke-on-Trent with no formal business training. With a passionate refusal to outsource manufacturing abroad, she has become a champion of British manufacturing, spearheading the revival in traditional craft in Stoke-on-Trent, the historical home of British pottery.

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

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