Choosing Joy: Sarah Coe's Transition from Corporate to Creative Pursuits
I asked Sarah Coe, singer-actor-writer to share a bit of advice during our July photoshoot.
“Perfection is an illusion. Creatives, more than others, I think, suffer from perfectionism. It’s ok to be bad at something when you start – most people are. Measure your progress primarily against yourself. Did you improve over the last time you tried?”
“I spent my senior year of college at Middlesex University in London. I’d never crossed an ocean before. This was such a formative experience for me—I was a pretty sheltered girl from Buffalo. Right away, everything was different – the landscape, driving on the other side of the road. It was all new. I even made a big list on my wall of words that were the same, but had different meanings over there. I definitely caught the travel bug while living there and being able to make trips to Scotland, Wales, and France – I’ve never recovered - I hope I never do.”
“My generation has had a lot of before-and-after moments happen in our lifetime. The pandemic was one of those that caused us to look at our priorities in life, and where and how we spend our time. Coming from a place of privilege, I know that I had a safe, loving community and the means to communicate virtually with a broad network of people, but the world got really, really small for many of us.”
“The boundaries between work and home got so blurred. It was a real rollercoaster—one that gave me whiplash. I felt fortunate to be at a company that was concerned about their employees’ wellbeing, but that didn’t change the fact that the volume of the work and hours were unsustainable. Everyone’s still working things out in their own way post-pandemic, whether it’s grief work, re-evaluation, or re-prioritization. It took me a while to realize the level of burnout I’d hit, and that only registered fully for me in the last six months.”
“So, I stepped away from traditional corporate work to recoup, reevaluate, and engage more fully in my creativity. Creative pursuits have always lingered in the background as a core part of who I am. I left corporate grind in mid-May, leaning into my writing and performance classes to kick off the cobwebs. Life is really, really short and I want that creative joy in my life.”
“I had seen my former colleague Lynley post a stunning headshot on LinkedIn. I was like ‘Wow, is this a lawyer or a supermodel?’ What drew me in was the brightness, sharpness, and authenticity of the photo and how those things coexisted.”
“With this pivot, I knew it was time to get my headshots done, too. I needed a polished, authentic, headshot for auditions and submitting writing. That’s what I got. My prior work experience was in support of others and their missions. I’ve enjoyed that, but I want to support myself for a while—put my gifts towards my mission, and my goals, and see what happens.”
Thank you, Sarah, for sharing!