How East Fork Is Using Social Media in the Aftermath of Helene
I spoke with Mallory Schwartz, Senior Content Strategist at East Fork Pottery, about how the brand is "centering humanity" on their feed.
On October 1st, just a few days after Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, the Asheville-based company East Fork Pottery posted a letter from their co-founder Alex Matisse. In it he let followers know that all of the team members were “accounted for” and that what’s been lost is being “revealed slowly as the waters recede”.
A lot of brands have social media crisis plans, none could have prepared the East Fork team for writing a post like this.
Across Asheville, more businesses used their Instagram accounts to keep followers updated. Neng Jr.'s, a restaurant in Asheville, posted photos of the damage with a long caption—“We’ve been busy trying to problem solve, save what we can and feed as many people as possible.” The restaurant’s GoFundMe has raised over $22,000. DayTrip, a bar in Asheville, has been posting about donations and rebuilding on their Instagram account almost daily. The New York Times featured their story here.
In the past few weeks we’ve seen a lot of negative headlines about social media and Hurricane Helene, like the rise of weather-related disinformation and influencers not evacuating for views. I think it’s important to remember there is good that can come from posting. It’s been incredible to see how local businesses have used their Instagram accounts to build community. No, not the fluffy word of “community” that gets thrown around. Real community. Raising money, supporting neighboring businesses, and keeping customers updated on how they can help.
That’s why, for today’s newsletter, I wanted to talk to Mallory Schwartz, Senior Content Strategist at East Fork. On October 8th, I watched a video of Mallory on the East Fork Instagram account—it was the first in their series called “Clay Crew Check-Ins”, where East Fork employees share video updates on the state of the company. Mallory spoke a bit about how the team has been using social media during this difficult time and I wanted to learn more about what the past few weeks have been like for her.
Before we get to the interview, Western North Carolina communities still need critical necessities like food, water, and healthcare for survival and stability. As winter approaches, it’s going to be vital to secure warm and safe housing for the displaced. The below organizations are all working towards rebuilding a community that embodies home, health, equity, and opportunity for all.
If you are able to, please join me in donating to BeLoved Asheville, Poder Emma and La Milpa, and Equal Plates Project. A portion of September’s Link in Bio subscription revenue has gone to all three organizations.
Rachel Karten: First of all, how are you and the team doing?
Mallory Schwartz: We’re doing okay. Our first order of business after the storm was checking in on each other, and fortunately the whole team was safe and accounted for. It’s been a hard few weeks for the entire team as many of us have navigated dealing with no power, running water, or cell reception, and some experienced damage to their homes. Luckily power, water, and cell reception are returning in most areas, and the team was able to resume work in our facilities on Monday. We’re incredibly grateful for that.
RK: For context, how would you describe East Fork's social media strategy before Helene?
MS: I actually just joined East Fork and took over social management in May of this year, so I was still developing our social strategy when Helene hit.
Prior to the storm, we used social media mainly to showcase our product offerings through beautiful, colorful images of our pottery and home goods and share peeks into the process of making pottery in our Asheville factories.
We relied on Instagram to announce new product launches, share information on events like our traveling Seconds Sales, and to amplify the work of our quarterly Community Partners. We have a loyal fanbase with impressive pottery collections, and we love sharing images from our collectors with our followers.
RK: And how would you describe how you and the team are using the brand's social media in the aftermath of Helene?
MS: In the immediate aftermath of the storm, our focus was using our platform to share vital relief resources with the local community affected by the storm—where to find water, hot meals, and cell reception, and daily updates on the damage we were seeing.
As Asheville began receiving the aid and resources it needed, we directed our content at our larger follower base outside of Western North Carolina that was looking for ways to help, so we amplified the work of our local Community Partners and their needs for donations and volunteers.
In addition, Connie Matisse (an East Fork co-founder and the wife of our current CEO and co-founder, Alex) is compiling stories and images of other potter and maker friends of the brand who were affected by the storm to amplify their rebuilding efforts. Community is the most important thing getting all of us through the aftermath of the storm, so we want to share as many voices of our community on our Instagram as possible.
To center humanity on our feed, we started a new series called Clay Crew Check-Ins to hear updates directly from members of the team across departments about the state of East Fork, instead of funneling it all through me in a general brand voice that will continue through the year. We had a number of launches and initiatives planned for Q4, so we have worked on getting those back on our updated content calendars and will begin sharing some launch content next week in addition to ongoing community content.
RK: A lot of social managers have "crisis plans" but I don't think many account for something as devastating as what you and your team went through. Can you talk me through some of those decisions of contemplating when and how to communicate what had happened via Instagram to your followers?
MS: We never imagined a hurricane and flooding of this magnitude being a crisis we would have to navigate in Asheville, NC. We’re lucky to have a number of remote team members on the marketing and sales teams who were able to step in and lead the business in the first days after the storm when the Asheville team was without any cell reception or wifi to be able to work.
There was so much important content being shared out of Western North Carolina that we knew we only wanted to share the most important updates and resources. Alex led most of the messaging in the days after the storm with a series of letters and video updates on the state of the community and business. It felt important to have consistent messaging coming from one voice, and as the leader of the brand and a long-time WNC resident, it made sense for Alex to lead our communications.
RK: In this video you mentioned that you went to Mississippi so that you could "hop on and help the East Fork team keep things moving". I know Asheville was without internet for a long time. As the person who manages social, was it important for you to go somewhere that had internet and service so you could keep your audience updated?
MS: I was without cell reception and wifi for days following the storm unless I walked to a nearby fire station to use their very spotty wifi network. We decided to evacuate for a number of reasons, one being that I was on day four of not being able to shower, but I definitely wanted to get back online quickly to help the brand navigate the crisis.
I’m so grateful to our Nashville-based Brand Design Manager, Drew, who had taken over posting on our Instagram while I was without service. I was able to take our Instagram back over five days after the storm once I had made it to my mom’s house in Mississippi.
RK: You've also been posting a lot of resources and GoFundMe accounts for people and other businesses in Asheville. As a business in the area with quite a significant following, do you feel a responsibility to show people what's happening and use your following to raise money?
MS: East Fork is still a small business, but with over 100 employees and more than 240k IG followers, we’re larger than many of the independent makers and businesses in the region. We were also very, very lucky compared to many local businesses—our smallest facility that housed our product library, creative studio, and hand-throwing workshop was destroyed, but our two larger production facilities were unharmed. Unlike many other businesses, we’ve already been able to return to work to resume production and keep our payroll going.
We realize that many businesses in Asheville have nowhere to return to, so we want to direct our followers to support them as much as possible. There are so many irreplaceable makers and brands in Asheville who need help rebuilding and so many nonprofits and organizations in the area working to help individuals and businesses recover. Our community of followers is incredibly generous, so we’ll continue to share opportunities to help others in WNC.
RK: Reading the comments, your community and audience has really showed up for you and asked what they can do. How has that felt?
MS: It has really been such a bright spot in a dark few weeks. As an individual, I was extremely lucky and as a brand we’ve been extremely lucky, but regardless Hurricane Helene has been a traumatizing, dark experience for all of us in different ways. The words of support and coming together of the community–online and in Asheville–has gotten all of us through, and some of the sweet messages have brought me to tears.
We already knew we had a loyal East Fork fanbase, but seeing how they stepped up to support us and our whole community has made it even more visible to us. We’re so grateful to all of those who purchased pottery to help us keep payroll going, donated to our Community Partners, and reached out on social media to share supportive words.
RK: How can people reading this support East Fork right now, along with the broader Western North Carolina community?
MS: The best way to support East Fork right now is by continuing to shop with us.
5% of all sales are going to our grassroots Community Partners through the end of the year, so your purchases will help our team continue working and help us do our part in giving back to the community. The holiday season is the biggest sales time of the year for most businesses, so we hope you’ll choose to support Western North Carolina businesses for your holiday shopping this year.
If you’re considering buying something from East Fork, I have these bowls and they are great.
Thanks so much for reading today’s interview and donating to BeLoved Asheville, Poder Emma and La Milpa, and Equal Plates Project. You can also support local businesses in Western North Carolina here.
Thank you for featuring this - I'm based in Asheville as well and appreciate our community getting some shout outs here!
Such a powerful way to use their social platform. And a good reminder to grab some extra bowls <3