web01.fireside.fm Sun, 05 Apr 2026 18:20:28 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Sustaining Craft - Episodes Tagged with “Fantasy” https://sustainingcraft.fireside.fm/tags/fantasy Fri, 03 Jan 2020 14:00:00 -0500 Sustaining Craft started in 2016, when Elizabeth Silverstein, a writer, found herself discouraged after a move and a divorce. To find a little encouragement for herself and others, she decided to talk to people building businesses in creative fields. en-us episodic The stories of those making a living with their art, craft, or passion. Elizabeth Silverstein Sustaining Craft started in 2016, when Elizabeth Silverstein, a writer, found herself discouraged after a move and a divorce. To find a little encouragement for herself and others, she decided to talk to people building businesses in creative fields. no craft, art, small business, local business, creative business, stories, storytelling, content, marketing, business stories, creative, art business, craft business, passion, passion business, painting, writing, drawing, henna, woodworking, animals, opera, singing, music, welding, metal work, books, novels, flowers, floral arrangement, photography, photos, nonprofit Elizabeth Silverstein hello@hewandweld.com Episode 21: Joshua Kurtz: Socializing through World Building https://sustainingcraft.fireside.fm/21 69f038b9-2b0a-4005-8e45-e8ebd693d304 Fri, 03 Jan 2020 14:00:00 -0500 Elizabeth Silverstein full 2 Elizabeth Silverstein Joshua Kurtz's journey towards professional dungeon master began years ago. He traveled the world with a theater college program, then started his own production nonprofit. He was teaching theater classes when a parent asked him if he provided childcare. He said no, but he had a tabletop game he could play with the kids. Now, he provides professional dungeon master services for Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing table-top games to the greater Philadelphia area, while offering a positive role playing experience for all ages and occasions. Over the past year and a half, he grew his business from part-time to full-time as of January 2020. 50:21 no Joshua Kurtz joins Elizabeth Silverstein of Sustaining Craft for a follow-up interview. Over the years, Joshua has found that simply asking might lead to unexpected results, like when he asked his drama teacher if the school could perform the musical he wrote at age 17. Or when he needed to raise his rates as a professional Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master. “I realized at that point, ‘Huh, I’m a very niche market, this is a very niche market, I’m not charging enough for my services,’” Joshua explained. “And it’s hard, because I’m asking people to come back over and over and over again, and I’m asking an audience and it’s mostly kids. But I did wind up raising my rates, which got very little resistence. Everyone was very supportive, especially when I said why.” As of January 2020, Joshua is a full-time dungeon master, teaching Dungeons & Dragons and other table-top role-playing games to audiences of all ages. Find more of Joshua’s work: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dndforhire/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dndforhire/ Website - https://dndforhire.com/ Email - dndforhire@gmail.com Sustaining Craft is a passion project of Hew&Weld Writing. There are no fees for artists and craftspeople to participate. Music provided by Jim Ciago (Seven Second Chance on iTunes and Spotify & Nomad Neighbors in the Denver area most weekends). Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sustainingcraft/ Facebook - http://facebook.com/sustainingcraft Find more from Hew&Weld: Website - hewandweld.com/news Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hewandweld/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hewandweld/ Special Guest: Joshua Kurtz. art stories, arkansas, little rock, art career, central arkansas, southern new jersey, philadelphia, business, creative business, creative stories, failure, dungeons and dragons, dnd, dungeon master, dnd business Joshua Kurtz joins Elizabeth Silverstein of Sustaining Craft for a follow-up interview.

Over the years, Joshua has found that simply asking might lead to unexpected results, like when he asked his drama teacher if the school could perform the musical he wrote at age 17. Or when he needed to raise his rates as a professional Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master.

“I realized at that point, ‘Huh, I’m a very niche market, this is a very niche market, I’m not charging enough for my services,’” Joshua explained. “And it’s hard, because I’m asking people to come back over and over and over again, and I’m asking an audience and it’s mostly kids. But I did wind up raising my rates, which got very little resistence. Everyone was very supportive, especially when I said why.”

As of January 2020, Joshua is a full-time dungeon master, teaching Dungeons & Dragons and other table-top role-playing games to audiences of all ages.

Find more of Joshua’s work:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dndforhire/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dndforhire/
Website - https://dndforhire.com/
Email - dndforhire@gmail.com

Sustaining Craft is a passion project of Hew&Weld Writing. There are no fees for artists and craftspeople to participate. Music provided by Jim Ciago (Seven Second Chance on iTunes and Spotify & Nomad Neighbors in the Denver area most weekends).
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sustainingcraft/
Facebook - http://facebook.com/sustainingcraft

Find more from Hew&Weld:
Website - hewandweld.com/news
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hewandweld/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hewandweld/

Special Guest: Joshua Kurtz.

]]> Joshua Kurtz joins Elizabeth Silverstein of Sustaining Craft for a follow-up interview.

Over the years, Joshua has found that simply asking might lead to unexpected results, like when he asked his drama teacher if the school could perform the musical he wrote at age 17. Or when he needed to raise his rates as a professional Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master.

“I realized at that point, ‘Huh, I’m a very niche market, this is a very niche market, I’m not charging enough for my services,’” Joshua explained. “And it’s hard, because I’m asking people to come back over and over and over again, and I’m asking an audience and it’s mostly kids. But I did wind up raising my rates, which got very little resistence. Everyone was very supportive, especially when I said why.”

As of January 2020, Joshua is a full-time dungeon master, teaching Dungeons & Dragons and other table-top role-playing games to audiences of all ages.

Find more of Joshua’s work:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dndforhire/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dndforhire/
Website - https://dndforhire.com/
Email - dndforhire@gmail.com

Sustaining Craft is a passion project of Hew&Weld Writing. There are no fees for artists and craftspeople to participate. Music provided by Jim Ciago (Seven Second Chance on iTunes and Spotify & Nomad Neighbors in the Denver area most weekends).
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sustainingcraft/
Facebook - http://facebook.com/sustainingcraft

Find more from Hew&Weld:
Website - hewandweld.com/news
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hewandweld/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hewandweld/

Special Guest: Joshua Kurtz.

]]> Episode 2: Joshua Kurtz: Bringing Dungeons and Dragons to the People https://sustainingcraft.fireside.fm/2 979fd178-0e1b-470a-b890-22631866fdfc Tue, 31 Jul 2018 20:00:00 -0400 Elizabeth Silverstein full Elizabeth Silverstein Joshua Kurtz started building his Dungeon Master skills when he was a homeschooled young Jewish boy in southern New Jersey. After touring all over the world teaching kids how to sing and act with a college group called the Young Americans, he returned to his hometown and started getting paid to play Dungeons and Dragons. He also runs a theater nonprofit called Aftershock Entertainment, works part-time at a comic book store, and teaches people how to throw axes. 28:33 no Kurtz formalized his efforts into D&D For Hire this summer. “The idea of D&D For Hire is to bring Dungeons and Dragons to people who don’t otherwise have the opportunity,” Kurtz explained. “And usually that winds up being children who would want to play but don’t know how or even some adults who just don’t have people to play with. The idea is you can bring them a game and it could be a one-time off, once a week recurring thing. It’s a fun experience for anyone and if you’re a kid and you want to this extracurricular thing, it can be fun and educational at the same time.” As for what a Dungeon Master does, well--Kurtz guides the journey. “I set the questions that they have to answer,” said Kurtz. He knows the rules of the world, the enemies, the setbacks, and the allies. “All I know is how the world is going to respond to them, and all the problems they’re going to face is something that they have to have to deal with,” Kurtz shared. “Everyone handles that in a different way. Some groups of people will just attack every problem head-on and that works for them, and some people want to sit back and think about it first. It’s a world without limits that we are creating together.” Special Guest: Joshua Kurtz. dungeons and dragons, table top roleplaying games, gamer, games, top top gaming, fantasy, local business, small business, creative business Kurtz formalized his efforts into D&D For Hire this summer. “The idea of D&D For Hire is to bring Dungeons and Dragons to people who don’t otherwise have the opportunity,” Kurtz explained. “And usually that winds up being children who would want to play but don’t know how or even some adults who just don’t have people to play with. The idea is you can bring them a game and it could be a one-time off, once a week recurring thing. It’s a fun experience for anyone and if you’re a kid and you want to this extracurricular thing, it can be fun and educational at the same time.”

As for what a Dungeon Master does, well--Kurtz guides the journey. “I set the questions that they have to answer,” said Kurtz.

He knows the rules of the world, the enemies, the setbacks, and the allies. “All I know is how the world is going to respond to them, and all the problems they’re going to face is something that they have to have to deal with,” Kurtz shared. “Everyone handles that in a different way. Some groups of people will just attack every problem head-on and that works for them, and some people want to sit back and think about it first. It’s a world without limits that we are creating together.”

Special Guest: Joshua Kurtz.

]]> Kurtz formalized his efforts into D&D For Hire this summer. “The idea of D&D For Hire is to bring Dungeons and Dragons to people who don’t otherwise have the opportunity,” Kurtz explained. “And usually that winds up being children who would want to play but don’t know how or even some adults who just don’t have people to play with. The idea is you can bring them a game and it could be a one-time off, once a week recurring thing. It’s a fun experience for anyone and if you’re a kid and you want to this extracurricular thing, it can be fun and educational at the same time.”

As for what a Dungeon Master does, well--Kurtz guides the journey. “I set the questions that they have to answer,” said Kurtz.

He knows the rules of the world, the enemies, the setbacks, and the allies. “All I know is how the world is going to respond to them, and all the problems they’re going to face is something that they have to have to deal with,” Kurtz shared. “Everyone handles that in a different way. Some groups of people will just attack every problem head-on and that works for them, and some people want to sit back and think about it first. It’s a world without limits that we are creating together.”

Special Guest: Joshua Kurtz.

]]>