We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sandra O’Connell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sandra, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I’ve always had a creative vein running through me. I still remember some of the worlds I created in my head as a little girl. I was perfectly happy playing by myself, with my imagination.
In third grade, my teacher (shout out to Ms. Hilpl at Pound Ridge Elementary School) handed out these little hard-cover books with blank pages so students could write and illustrate a story. I kept going back for more books. I had so many stories I wanted to write. Even then, I was influenced by culture, and some of the stories I wrote were spin-offs of The Baby-Sitters Club and The A-Team.
I was drawn to stories in many forms… books, magazines, television, film. I yearned to write for Hollywood and publish books and interview people for magazines. As a teenager, I recorded My-So-Called Life from the TV onto VHS tapes, and would pause and rewind as I wrote out the dialogue from every episode. I still wrote my own stories, typed up in Word documents on 90s computers that have long been lost. And my diaries! I documented everything. I have dozens of diaries spanning thirty years.
My creativity spilled into fashion, too. I was obsessed with Vogue and the supermodels and Karl Lagerfeld from as early as 10 years old. My love of fashion and story often overlapped, and I would spend hours drawing outfits from or for my favourite films and television shows, like Saved by the Bell. I went on to sew my own clothes when I was in middle and high schools, and was a model for a local agency throughout my teenage years.
Despite this creativity coursing through me, I didn’t pursue an artistic path professionally until my early 30s. I didn’t think it was a realistic career choice. Ultimately, I was scared.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Hi, I’m Sandra. I own a copywriting and brand strategy business, Studio Telltale, in Vancouver, BC. And I write an erotica series on Substack called Hotel Capitani under my pseudonym, Penny Cavallo. I’ve also written short and feature-length screenplays that have placed as finalists in competitions, such as Soho House’s Script House, Gender Equity in Media’s Vancouver script competition, and Age Inclusion in Media’s Silver Bullet competition.
As I mentioned in the last question, I didn’t initially pursue a creative career. I got my Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce, specializing in Urban Land Economics — which felt like the practical thing to do. But I knew my heart wasn’t in it. And I was more keen to travel for a year than look for a job once I graduated.
When I returned to Vancouver, I went on to work in marketing for a real estate developer and then a commercial real estate brokerage firm. But, although I was good at my job and I loved my colleagues, it didn’t feel right — the corporate lifestyle just wasn’t for me.
During this time, I co-founded an anonymous blog called Tales from a Bar Stool. A friend and I wrote about our nights out, the people we would meet, and the things we experienced as two 20-something-year-olds. It took off, got press, and was picked up by one of Vancouver’s daily papers. I went on to write travel and lifestyle articles for various publications. And I realized that my dream of being a writer was still alive.
By that point, at 31, I had enough savings to use as a down payment to buy an apartment, like my friends were doing, or to quit my job and pivot my career. I chose the latter. I focused on freelance editorial writing at first. But I found it far more challenging than I thought it would be to make a living and my savings dried up pretty quick. That was a really hard time for me.
Copywriting was never the plan — I fell into it to survive financially. Now, over 10 years later, I have a business based on something that was supposed to be temporary. I work with all kinds of clients, but primarily focus on verbal brand strategy and copywriting for “places”, such as real estate developments, hotels, travel destinations, wineries, etc.
And I still have those fun creative projects going on too. My erotica series, Hotel Capitani, is available to read on Substack, with new chapters released weekly. The stories explore the beauty and complexity of female pleasure, and they’re set in a fantastical and mysterious and historic hotel. Anaïs Nin, Helmut Newton, and all those erotic films of the 80s and 90s influenced me big time.
And, although it’s not linked to my career, I still deeply love fashion and getting creative with clothing — especially vintage pieces.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I love that hit of inspiration that comes out of nowhere. How something seemingly insignificant or unrelated can inspire a project in gargantuan ways. How a personal moment can translate into a story that inspires others. How you can extract a metaphor from something as banal as squashed gum on pavement… or whatever.
There are all these valuable nuggets available to be found as we move through our days. How beautiful is that? It’s such a big reason to put our phones down and notice the world around us.
Also, given that I work for myself, I’m so grateful for the flexibility to travel (either for pleasure or to work remotely) and to seek out that inspiration in other places and cultures. I traveled to Jordan earlier this year and was fueled by the people, colours, and landscapes.
I find the limitless sources of creativity overwhelming yet so incredibly rewarding.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
With everything I write, I hope to create something that resonates with others, something that moves them emotionally, something that inspires, something that changes a perspective or a life. Even if I touch just one person, I’ve succeeded.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://studiotelltale.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/sandraoco
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandraoconnell
- Other: Erotica: https://hotelcapitani.substack.com
Image Credits
Headshots by Kristine Cofsky