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Inside a Catalog Startup
By Denny Hatch
It's a rare catalog that is so deeply personal—and deeply felt—as Sacred Silks, the creation of Californian Angela Joy Coppola. Her product: reproductions on silk of stained glass windows and other designs from sacred sites 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.
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