Johnson Tiles in Conversation with… Women in Ceramics

To celebrate the end of Women’s History Month, we sat down with women from 3 companies across the ceramics industry in Stoke-on-Trent to talk about issues of gender within the workplace, alongside notions of the perception of the ceramics industry within recent years.

30th March 2021

The panel was moderated by Malini Pashley, Marketing Director of Camal Enterprises Ltd, with panellists Hannah Ault, Director of Valentine Clays; Steph Woodhouse, PR & Marketing Manager at Emma Bridgewater; and Maria Wemyss, Product Manager at Johnson Tiles. With different backgrounds within industry and ceramics itself, these women brought four different perspectives to the table.

The panellists confronted issues such as gender-based harassment within the workplace, examining how power dynamics can play into inappropriate behaviour in a professional setting. Whilst the challenges that face women in the workplace and in society as a whole are still pervasive, and gender parity is reportedly still a century away (!), the panellists suggest the steps we each can take to contribute to the development of women in a professional context.

Alongside this, the panellists addressed perceptions of the ceramics industry within Stoke-on-Trent, and how it can incorrectly be perceived as a dying industry. Instead, the panellists suggest we need to celebrate the true success and growing potential of the Potteries.

View the discussion in full below!

As part of Women’s History Month, here at Johnson Tiles we wanted to meet (virtually!) with women in industry to hear their thoughts about women in the workplace, with a focus on ceramics and the Potteries.

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