BBC Warley - Site Administrator

     At 19 Warley had no idea what he wanted to do, but he did know that he wanted to serve his country and signed up for the U.S. Navy. Although he had hoped to make the Navy his career, he was injured in service and honorably discharged under medical conditions. While doing yard clean ups, he discovered that he could make a good living in the scrapping business. The slogan of his successful scrap business was, “One man’s junk, is another man’s treasure.”

     Unfortunately, complications from his naval injuries forced him to sell the business. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Warley was smart enough to realize that to get anywhere you needed a good education. He then used the proceeds from the business sale to go to college. He started by seeking a degree in business management, but half-way through the curriculum discovered that he had a knack for architectural drafting, and changed his course of study. He earned an Associate’s Degree of Applied Science for Architectural Drafting at New Mexico State University and has been drafting for over 10 years, drafting for numerous firms, including his own.

     In 2002, due to a slump in demand for drafting, he and a friend hit the road going to gun shows where he sold toy guns, and custom mirror etchings which had been a childhood passion. He realized that he had a knack for selling things and opened an E-Bay store which he has maintained since 2004.

     This led to the opening of a store in Peddler’s Pavilion in Las Cruces, NM in 2007, and since that time he has expanded to 3 stores. It was there that he met Grant Taggart and they partnered together, utilizing Taggart’s expert knowledge of Mata Ortiz Pottery and Warley’s knowledge of E-Bay and the internet to sell on E-Bay. Due to the high demand for Mata Ortiz Pottery, they decided to expand, and that led to the opening of this website, www.mataortiz4u.com.

Grant Taggart

     Grant Taggart has an M. B. A. in Finance from the University of Southern California. In his first career as a stockbroker and research analyst, he was an advisor and confidante to such titans of business as Jack Massey, the founding Chairman of Kentucky Fried Chicken who bought the recipe from Col. Sanders, and one of America"s first billionaires, Harry Weinberg, who had owned the bus companies in New York City, Baltimore, Dallas and Honolulu. When he died, Weinberg and his wife left a billion dollars in cash to charity. Their foundation at the founding was 11th in size behind the Rockefeller Foundation.

     Later, Taggart ran his own wholesale jewelry and supply business in Albuquerque, supplying Native Americans and jewelry manufacturers with their materials. Mr. Taggart also had booths at the annual Tucson Gem and Mineral event for 20 years, and is known to many manufacturers and wholesalers in the jewelry trade. He has traveled to Asia more than 30 times over the years, sourcing supplies in Hong Kong, Thailand, China, and Taiwan. A couple of years ago, he spent 3 months in China visiting friends, touring 25-30 jewelry factories and meeting with government officials, getting a close-up view of how business really works in China.

     Grant's involvement with Mata Ortiz pottery began about 6 years ago when a long-time friend became a trader in the pottery. Exposure to the fantastic art of Mata Ortiz became an addiction and he began collecting it. It turned out that his trader friend, Jaime Arellano, had the ultimate passion for Mata Ortiz and the wonderful, friendly artists there. Though he had lived in Texas at the time of his death, Jaime desired to be buried in Mata Ortiz, and the villagers granted his request. Additionally, Jaime's daughter saved some of the ashes and spread them out throughout his grave and cemetary while facing the mountains that he loved. Taggart says that in his third career, he has found something he truly loves doing and being in involved with, and is lucky to have found this passion late in life.