We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarah Coppola a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

It took over 25 years of work to realize what I wanted to do with my life that would soften the struggle of the “starving” artist life but still allow time for making art, and help other artists in the process. I have been an artist for my entire life but I’ve always loved organization as well. I’ve worked various jobs throughout my life in and around the arts, but often in an operations capacity and always working for someone else and wanting more.

After a particularly brutal 4 years as operations manager in a biotech startup, I realized that my love of organization and my involvement in different financial roles in a variety of small businesses set me up perfectly to go out on my own as a bookkeeper. Thus Indigo Bookkeeping (to tie in with my art business, Indigo Arts) was born in early 2024.

I love working with artists and creatives, and most of us are pretty bad at the numbers part of our businesses. I realized that we are an under-served market and that I wanted my bookkeeping business to focus on helping creatives build their businesses on a strong foundation with good, solid information about their finances. I received a BFA in art and we are not taught marketing, finance, or anything else about running a business in most colleges. So I knew with my experience helping run a handful of small businesses that I could help!

Sarah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in my mother’s pottery studio and began selling my artwork when I was about 5. Art has always been an important part of my life and I’ve officially had my art business, Indigo Arts, since 2007. I make ceramic sculpture, jewelry, & handbuilt pieces, and well as being a photographer, painter, and maker of other small items like soap and moss art. I have been around professional artists forever and belonged to a clay guild for years along with spending time with my mom’s clay friends, and going to workshops and shows multiple times a year.

Professionally I worked full time in an art gallery for 4 years, was the studio director for an internationally renowned portrait photographer for 8 years, and was the office manager and bookkeeper for a national candle and soap making supply company for a year as well. All in addition to having my own art business. So I am uniquely situated to help other artists make sense of their financial chaos!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I really wish YouTube had been around when I was first starting! There is so much good business/marketing info to be found online. It’s true that you have to wade through a lot and figure out what makes sense to you, but there’s so much free info that can help you get started!

I also wish I had had my Excel bookkeeping worksheet (available on my website) early on. I created it for artists and it’s so helpful for micro-businesses to help keep things straight and see your numbers simply in one place.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal in my bookkeeping business is to help creatives see their costs so they can price their works accordingly, see their income so they can know what products are most profitable, see where their time is being spent so they can know when to hire out certain things, and have a good overall feel for their finances so they can grow responsibly. My entire life I’ve been told I couldn’t make it as a full time artist. But I think with the right planning, marketing, organization, and attention to finances that that’s not necessarily the case. I want to help people be successful at what they are passionate about!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://indigobookkeepingnc.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Indigo-Bookkeeping-LLC/61555936688494/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indigo-bookkeeping-llc-nc