Art company Juo urge people to study for PhD

Feb 24 2010 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

TWO arty entrepreneurs whose postgraduate studies helped develop their business are urging others to follow suit.

Jessamy Kelly and Joanne Mitchell run Juo, which specialises in creating fused glass as artwork, from the National Glass Centre, Sunderland. The young artists both firmly believe that without their postgraduate studies they would never had made such a success of their fledgling business.

And both are backing the University of Sunderland’s Postgraduate Open Day on March 5.

Joanne, from Roker in Sunderland, is studying for her PhD at the university. She says: “Further study was always at the bottom of my ‘to do’ list, due to time and business commitments.

“But it is difficult to find the time to really experiment and develop new techniques when you’re running a business day to day. I thought committing to studying part-time was a good way to do that.”

Jessamy, from Whitley Bay, completed her PhD in December, and she says, has just got used to calling herself “Doctor Kelly”. Jessamy encouraged business partner Joanne to return to study, and believes that studying for a PhD can really help a new business flourish.

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