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The drive, which made her days unbearably long. combined with the stress of She quickly got dressed and headed out the door of her Waterloo home for her daily commute to Burlingâ€" ton, where she worked for an advertising agency. the week Pottery painting business is fun art, not fine art By Jennirer Ormston For The Chronicle ntil September 2005, Charlene Radter got up early every day of She knew something had to change. "I really wanted to do something from home," Radler said. So she used her materniâ€" ty leave productively and By the time she returned home from work late each night, her husband, Jim, and their two young sons had already eaten dinner, so she ate by herself. her fastâ€"paced job was becoming too much for the 36â€"yearâ€"old. "When the opportunity to purchase the franchise came up in Kitchenerâ€" Waterloo, it was a noâ€"brainâ€" er for my husband and me," But then she discovered Crock A Doodle Inc. â€" a company that hosts potteryâ€" painting events. Many of them were too expensive for Radler, who did not want to take on a huge debt while she had a young family to raise. began looking for an estabâ€" lished franchise to purchase Crock A Doodle "doers" attend "dos," from girls‘ nights out and corporate team builders to fundraisers and children‘s birthday parâ€" ties, bearing pieces of potâ€" tery â€" like cocoa mugs, wine goblets and popcorn bowls â€" which are painted by the event‘s participants. The cost to host an event depends on which pieces of "It fits with our lifestyle. It fits with our family. And it was highly affordable." she said "So that‘s where it comes to life and turns into a funcâ€" tional serving piece or a lastâ€" ing keepsake," said Annette Brennan, who founded Crock A Doodle in 2002. Prices range from $10 for a tile to $58 for a large bowl. And each person can design their piece how they want, using paintbrushes, sponges and even handâ€" prints. pottery the participants choose to decorate. The pottery is later Radler can attest to the dramatic change owning a Crock A Doodle franchise Crock A Doodle currently has five franchises, but Brennan hopes that number will increase as more and more women decide to leave the corporate grind for the selfâ€"employment and fexibility her company proâ€" vides. returned to the event‘s host for distribution. Continued on page 29