Built on Passion, Fired with Purpose

Nestled in the heart of Opelika, Alabama, there’s a space where childhood is preserved in clay, where budding artists find their voice, and where heartbreak is gently molded into healing. Fired Fox Art Studio isn’t just a paint-your-own pottery business. It’s a place of purpose: a beautifully curated studio built on intention, community, and the unwavering belief that creativity can change lives.

At the center of it all is Crysten Conner, the studio’s founder and firestarter – literally, she fires thousands of pottery pieces every year. What began nearly two decades ago as a way to fill the quiet weekends when her young son was away with his dad has blossomed into a thriving business and community movement. Today, Fired Fox produces between 12,000 and 15,000 pieces of handprint and footprint pottery annually, each one preserving a memory frozen in time.

“I don’t hobby well,” Crysten says with a laugh. “But I knew I needed to do something that would fill my soul. I started Fired Fox to cultivate creative confidence in people of all ages, and to remind them they can create. There’s something beautiful and unique in each of us just waiting to come out.”

That heart-centered mission is what started the studio all those years ago, and what keeps Crysten going today. What began with hand and footprint keepsakes created at her kitchen table has grown into something much bigger. Today, Fired Fox is a paint-your-own pottery studio where anyone can walk in, pick up a brush, and create. Walk-in hours are open to artists of all ages, offering a relaxed, family-friendly space to paint pre-made pottery pieces at your own pace.

Each month, the studio hosts 8 to 12 instructor-led, project-based classes designed for adults. These ticketed experiences – like resin tray making or glass painting – offer artistic opportunities you just won’t find anywhere else and make perfect outings for date nights, girls’ nights, church groups, and more.

Fired Fox is where summer art camp becomes a launchpad for kid entrepreneurs. It’s where local artists are given space to show and sell their work. It’s where creativity isn’t confined to gallery walls or museum labels; it flows freely in paint-splattered aprons, alley art walks, and the hands of children learning to trust their imaginations.

Creativity with a Cause

Since it’s humble beginnings at Crysten’s kitchen table, Fired Fox has evolved into a hub of creativity, compassion, and community connection – all because Crysten made it so. Every third Friday during each calendar month, Crysten hosts Opelika’s Alley Art Walk, where she transforms the breezeway beside her studio into a vibrant street market with 24 local vendors. But Crysten doesn’t stop at providing a space for local artists; she also reserves a spot for a community nonprofit and donates 100% of the vendor fees to the cause. It’s her way of giving local makers and mission-driven organizations a platform to shine.

And then there’s Angel Prints, Crysten’s nonprofit, where her heart shows up in quieter, more intimate ways. It was born quietly, tenderly, from a moment of unimaginable loss. When a friend’s cousin lost her baby at 28 weeks, Crysten stepped in, not as an artist, but as a mother. She made a plate with the baby’s footprints. “At the time, I didn’t know if it would help,” she says. “But I knew she was a mom, and I knew she needed something to hold.”

That one gesture changed everything. Today, Crysten has her own room at the local hospital. She provides bereaved families with handmade ceramic keepsakes of their child’s prints – completely free of charge. The only rule? The hospital never tells families who she is.

“This isn’t about being a good person,” Crysten says. “It’s about being a mom with the ability to do something and choosing to do it. If I had the ability to help someone and didn’t, that’s what would make me a bad person.”

She now pairs each Angel Print with a handwritten letter from another grieving parent who knows that pain, and who offers their story as a lifeline to someone just beginning theirs. “It’s one of the most powerful things I’ve ever been a part of,” she says humbly.

No Fuss, All Function

For Crysten, the right banking partner isn’t about hand-holding, it’s about having the right tools, delivered with dependability. That’s why she banks with SouthState.

As a former banker herself, Crysten is self-sufficient and realistic in her expectations. She manages her finances on her own, relying daily on SouthState’s mobile app to transfer funds, make deposits, and ensure her revenue streams are flowing the way they need to: accurately and efficiently. “I don’t have time to wonder if my deposits are working,” she says. “And with SouthState, I never have to.”

She doesn’t have a dedicated banker – and she doesn’t need one – because SouthState anticipates the needs of small business owners and builds solutions around those needs before they even arise. “I just use the tools SouthState has already perfected,” she says. That quiet confidence gives Crysten the freedom to focus on what fills her cup: growing her business, pouring into her community, and creating space for art to thrive.

What first drew her to the bank were the Saturday hours, but as the industry evolved and banking became more digital-forward, Crysten stayed because SouthState didn’t just keep up, they stayed a step ahead. “They’ve always had their ducks in a row before rolling out something new,” she says. “They’re always in tune with what I need as a small business owner, even before I know I need it.”

Art That Echos

Fired Fox has become more than a business. It’s a ripple in the community. From art camps where children find their spark, to kids-turned-entrepreneurs selling bracelets and crochet animals at vendor nights, to moms who cherish tiny handprints glazed in soft pinks and blues, Crysten’s work is woven into the lives and stories of her town.

“There’s no better feeling than seeing one of my art camp kids come full circle – finding their thing and turning it into something more,” she says. “They’re not doing it because they have to, they do it out of pure joy.”

Whether it’s creating keepsakes that capture a fleeting moment, empowering kids to believe in their ideas, or holding space for families in grief, Crysten’s story is a reminder that when creativity is nurtured with love and supported with the right partners, it becomes something lasting. Something real. Something fired into forever.