#171 Coppola Creations

 http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2022/10/171-coppola-creations.html

#171 Blog Post - Thursday, 27 October 2022

 

Posted by Denny Hatch

 

A Divinely Inspired Divine Catalog

Guided by a Tiny Voice Deep Inside

 

It's a rare catalog that is so deeply personal—and deeply felt—as Coppola Creations (née Sacred Silks), the creation of Californian Angela Joy Coppola. Her products: reproductions on silk of stained glass windows and other designs from sacred sites and museums around the world.

 

The Beginnings

Born to a Jewish mother and an Italian father, Coppola had two uncles in the garment business who manufactured high-end women's coats and suits and a third uncle who sold fabric. As a girl, she spent hours watching the designers at work, the cutters, the fitters and the models.

 

At age 17, she was the best-dressed secretary in the purchasing department at Revlon, making $73 a week and wearing $500 suits and dresses—all given to her at cost by her uncles.

 

At age 21, she went to work for Fabergé as assistant director of advertising and promotion and was put in charge of buying all print production—from brochures to shipping boxes. In a succession of promotions, Coppola went on to become a brand manager, director of marketing for the Xanadu Division and, finally, at the ripe old age of 28, creative director.

 

Two years later, she moved to San Francisco where she was hired as vice president and creative director for Holiday Magic, a company that sold health and beauty aids direct to consumers.

 

On Her Own

Figuring she had learned everything needed to run a business, Coppola started her own skincare company, Secrets of the Earth.

 

"At big corporations, other people ran the business and coped with the finances," she says. "I got my MBA at Secrets of Earth. I learned how not to run a company." She adds ruefully, "It didn't make it."

 

After taking a year off, Coppola decided the best kind of business was one with no inventory. So she started an advertising agency and quickly landed a number of big-name accounts including Levi's, Jordache men's swimwear, and Celine and Galanos perfumes. After 16 years, she had socked away a stash of cash.

"Working under constant deadlines in a business where other people, such as clients, make decisions and change everything was debilitating," she says. "I was burned out, so I simply closed up shop and spent the next five years getting to know myself and trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life."

 

Divine Serendipity

At a social gathering in San Francisco, the wife of the dean of Grace Cathedral asked Coppola to volunteer some time to help generate revenue for the church gift shop. Since she lived two blocks from the cathedral, she agreed and thought no more about it.

 

Late one evening, Coppola was walking by Grace Cathedral and glanced up. One of the stained glass windows was lighted from behind, the colors glittering like jewels against the inky night sky. It suddenly hit her that the window would make a fabulous silk scarf.

 

"It was a little voice deep within me," she says. "I wasn't thinking about starting a new business. I had not even been to the gift shop to see what they were selling. I feel I was divinely inspired. It was the first of a series of small miracles in my life."

 

The next day she called the dean's wife who loved the idea at once. Coppola called a contact, someone whom she knew had made a scarf for the city of San Francisco. The photograph was taken and as she was watching the strike-off—the first raw silk print of the scarf—that same little voice told her she could do the same thing for sacred sites of all religions around the world. She crafted a business plan and booked a trip to Europe to look at stained glass windows and artworks.

 

One window she wanted to include in the burgeoning collection was the Southern Rose Window of Notre Dame de Paris. Designed in 1260 and known for the radiant pink and crimson tones developed in Paris' famous glass workshops, the window depicts Christ of the Apocalypse, the Twelve Apostles, 24 Martyrs and Martyr Virgins with angels completing the design's outer edge. Coppola called the French consulate in San Francisco, the French embassy in Washington, even the French government in France and got a runaround. France was only interested in promoting French products abroad, not the other way around, she was told.

"But Notre Dame makes money on it from sales in the cathedral," she explained, "and gets a royalty on every scarf sold. Can't you help me?"

 

"Pas du tout," was the response. "Not at all."

 

Coppola recounts her next moves: A couple of weeks before she was to leave on the trip, she got an e-mail from an old friend who was coming to town, a man she had not seen in three years. It turned out his godmother worked in the mayor's office in Paris. Two days later Coppola was in touch with the right person at Notre Dame.

 

"A week before I was leaving, I was invited to a party in my apartment building. I was too busy getting ready for the trip, but something told me to go. I went and saw some people, had a bite to eat and started to leave."

 

But the little voice inside of her told her to go back into the party. In the living room was one empty seat, which she took. A woman turned to her and said, "You should be talking to Alvin."

 

Seems that Alvin had spent five years living in Como, Italy, and was good friends with a retired silk designer who agreed to see Coppola. He wound up designing her first nine scarves.

 

When she got to London, Coppola went to see the merchandiser at Westminster Abby. "What you propose will never work here," he told her. "We sell trinkets to tourists. Go to St. Paul's. They have great mosaics on the ceiling that would be perfect for what you have in mind."

 

Coppola arrived at St. Paul's five minutes before closing. She met the buyer and breathlessly explained her proposition. He said to come back at 10 a.m. the following day. She did; he signed up.

 

On a second trip around the world, Coppola signed the contracts and gave orders to her suppliers in Korea, Japan and China. Her business was on its way.

  

 

Download the Exquisite

Coppola Creations Catalog

https://www.coppolacreations.com

• You are immediately offered Free Priority Shipping and a 10% discount for joining the list.

 

• Click on what you would like to see: SCARVES - WALL HANGINGS - TABLE OVERLAYS - TIES & POCKET SQUARES - PILLOWS - HANGERS - BY MUSEUM - BY LOCATION.

 

• The illustrations are gorgeous.

 

• You'll find a concise history of the museum or sacred site where the original artwork is found and info on the artist so you can dazzle people who ask what the design is.

 

• Finally, the prices are right for these masterpieces of hand-screen printed 100% Silk Twill with Hand-rolled hem. They range from $35 to $125 for scarves. $74.99 to $125 for wall hangings. (This in contrast to up-up-market Hermes scarves that can run as high as $3,000 or more.)

Angela Coppola's Deeply Personal Summation of Her Career

"We hope that the Sacred Art we have chosen to bring you will inspire you. Part of the beauty of owning these gorgeous silks is to use them to create a Sacred Space in the home that is conducive to prayer and contemplation. As you can see from our website, these silks can also be worn in a variety of ways. The box of each silk comes with the history of the Sacred Art and the sacred site from which it was inspired.

​

"As I have traveled the world to visit these Sacred Sites, I have been moved not only by their extraordinary visual beauty, but by the beauty of the heartfelt messages I have heard over and over again from those I met. People throughout the world express a common desire for connection with God – including the qualities of world peace, love, understanding, kindness, service, and love for humanity. The desire to be a reflection of all that Christ stands for is a universal need shared by all humanity. This is truly the “Christian Way.”

P.S. A Fascinating Opportunity When You Google "Angela Coppola":

 

Takeaways to Consider

• Many folks—when they are kids—know intuitively what they want to do when they grow up.

 

• Others — myself and Angel Coppola, for example — stumble into our life's work.

 

• Denny Hatch stumbled into his future.  To find how he achieved oh-so-minor fame and oh-so-modest fortune as an expert in junk mail, check out his story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ww8a-8hyio&t=48s

 

• The saddest sacks in the workplace are the folks who have been suckered into racking up six figures in student loan debt, graduate from top business schools and on graduation you ask, "What do you want to do?"  A not uncommon reply: "Oh, gee, I don't really know. I think maybe I'd like to start some kind of business... "

 

•  The most fascinating people in the world are those who are driven and engaged and passionate about what they do.

 

• "If you love what you do you'll never work a day in your life." —Mark Twain or maybe Ray Bradbury or possibly Confucius

 

•  “If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.  —Joseph Campbell 

 

• If you hear a tiny voice from somewhere deep inside you, don't ignore it! Listen carefully!

 

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