25 Years of Clay
Our Story
We started in 2001 with two brothers, a high school pottery class, and a kiln in the corner of the studio. The first thing we made was a ceramic mushroom — we called it Shroomyz, and it's still our bestseller a quarter-century later. Today our work — handcrafted stoneware and ceramic garden art — ships to homes and gardens nationwide, every piece still wheel-thrown by hand and finished in our Salt Lake City studio. A family pottery affair, three generations deep — and 25 years in the making.
2001 — Shroomyz are Born
JJ Potts began in 2001 in a high school pottery class. Brothers Adam and Jeremy Neff, along with friends Scott and John, threw their first ceramic garden mushrooms on the wheel, named them Shroomyz, and started selling them to garden shops around their hometown.
2001–2003 — The Family Garage
As local demand grew, the brothers converted their parents’ garage into a workshop. Their father Mark invested in a small kiln, and production ran in the off-hours — after school, between sports, between social outings.
With little formal pottery experience, the brothers studied manufacturing techniques and tested them in the garage. Tools were improvised: hardware-store plaster, Super Soaker squirt guns, chicken wire, wet-dry vacuums, anything they could put to use. Soon the studio had filled the garage. Orders were packaged in the driveway, where the occasional escaped packing peanut drifted into a neighbor’s yard.
Jeremy remembers watching the home electricity meter spin and realizing they had outgrown the space.
2004–2008 — Setting Up Shop
In 2004, Bud — an 80-year-old traveling salesman — discovered Shroomyz and began running them up and down the West Coast. Orders piled in. The garage was no longer viable, so the operation moved into an industrial block building down the road, and college friends were recruited as a workforce.
“Those early carefree days and late nights with friends in the Shroomyz studio live on in our memories like they were yesterday.” — Jeremy Neff
The early years brought the usual mix of small-business highs and lows. Adam ran manufacturing while earning a college degree in engineering, like his father. Jeremy led product creation and managed the team — pursuing a part-time geology degree on the side, drawing on a lifelong love of clay and rocks.
2008–2013 — Scaling Up. Dad Joins.
By 2008, off-the-shelf glaze and clay supplies couldn’t keep up with production. Adam and Jeremy began mixing their own — applying their engineering and geology backgrounds to ceramic chemistry. The clay-and-glaze adventure that started here continues today.
Mixers, extruders, blungers, and other industrial equipment came next. Adam took the lead on sourcing, rescuing machines from some of the most iconic American ceramics manufacturers as they closed their doors through the mid-2000s. Jeremy connected with industry veterans, learning glaze and clay development from the people who built it.
Eventually, as the operation grew beyond what two brothers could manage, they convinced their father Mark to close his engineering firm and join JJ Potts full-time.
2014–Today — A Family Operation
With fifteen years of equipment, technique, and know-how behind them, the Neff brothers expanded the line — custom mugs, dinnerware, and a broader range of garden art. The expansion was made possible by younger brothers Zach and Derrik joining the family business.
Zach brought fresh energy and balance, taking over the business side after earning a degree in economics — freeing Adam and Jeremy to focus on making and creative work. Derrik leads the potters team and is a master of the wheel.
JJ Potts is now a true family operation. Every piece is still wheel-thrown by hand and finished in our Salt Lake City studio.
