Creative Sitters: Carrie Koepke, Writer & Bookshop Manager

This interview in our Creative Sitters Series features writer and manager of Skylark Bookshop, Carrie Koepke. Carrie has been a freelance writer and is currently writing fiction when not managing the bookstore and leading the board of The Midwest Independent Booksellers Association. You’ll find her an inspiring example of how creative sitting can enhance the writer's craft.

As soon as you walk into Skylark Bookshop, you’re welcomed warmly by the staff. The next thing to notice is that you’re surrounded by a gauntlet of books, delectably laid out on tables that are also flanked by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Carrie is here early to meet me for our conversation about the Soul Seat they’ve had on loan in the bookshop. Carrie was already a Soul Seat fan when she purchased one for her home office several years ago. When we made the offer to place a Soul Seat in Skylark, she didn’t hesitate for a second.

The following recorded conversation was slightly edited for clarity.

Pack: What kind of reactions has the Soul Seat sparked in your patrons?

Carrie: It’s been generally positive. There’s a percentage of people who are just confused by it. Perhaps they’re just used to sitting very conventionally. But then we have a significant number of people who are restless and they want to move while they read. Their response is “Oh my God! This is fantastic! I can pay attention and I can engage in a different way just sitting in this weird chair.” Which is really cool. 

Pack: I’m so glad to hear that it’s been an asset and not just taking up precious space.

Carrie: Every bookstore struggles with the challenge of furnishing their space in a way that is welcoming, but also can keep the foot traffic moving and books be sold. 

Unlike a lot of bookstores, we have a community table for folks to sit at which is quite nice. But a constant question for bookstores is seating. We want as an industry for people to feel comfortable in our space, we want it to be a third space, and we want people to linger, but also with a point. We do have to sell books. We’re not a library, we don’t want you to read all day and then walk out the door. We want folks comfortable, but there is that fine line of understanding that we’re a retail space and providing a service. 

It’s a constant discussion among booksellers, should I get rid of all my furniture? It’s a really big question in the industry because there’s a tipping point where it starts to hurt sales rather than benefit sales. There’s this sweet spot with the community table which is welcoming folks to bond, perhaps do some coloring.

The Soul Seat solves this challenge for us perfectly. The Soul Seat is attractive, it matches our space and looks good here. And it's comfortable and weird and intriguing and people ask questions about it. It sparks interaction with the staff and other customers, ‘What’s with this chair?’ 

Anything that encourages customers to interact and communicate with staff is a good thing. It’s an opportunity for understanding, bonding. Anything that sparks interaction and communication in general, a deeper connection, is a good thing. In a lot of retail stores, people don’t want to interact with the staff. Our store is about facilitating conversation and experience. The better we know our customers, the better we can suggest books for them. So anything that sparks conversation, or just shows the personality of our space benefits us.

Pack: We have found that folks who identify as neurodivergent really value what the Soul Seat offers.

Carrie: 100 percent! And there’s a significant number of members of the athletic community here in Columbia. We have such a high number of folks in the pedestrian community, hikers, bikers. With biking and walking and all of those things, these folks don’t like sitting in those overly stuffed or metal folding chairs. The Soul Seat gives them the ability to stretch and move and they find comfort in that.

Pack: Do you find that there’s any age difference in who needs encouragement or instruction in how to use the Soul Seat?

Carrie: I would say it is more personality-based than age-based. And there are some of the more reluctant, quiet people who take a while to warm up to it. They need to take the time and the space to work up their courage. You see them visit five times before they say, “I’m going to sit in that chair.” And then they do it. It takes time for some people but then they do want to engage and see what it’s about.

Pack: Have you developed some strategies to facilitate this process?

Carrie: I’m not doing anything, I’m just observing.

Pack: Do most people need permission to try the Soul Seat?

Carrie: We’ve had a few people ask if they can sit in it, but for the majority of people, they see that it’s at the community table and will just sit down.

Pack: Have you seen customers explain or demonstrate the chair to each other?

Carrie: Yes, we’ve had that, and we’ve had people that know the Soul Seat is here, come in specifically to try it. Some will even bring something to work on to check it out. So in that way, the Soul Seat is introducing new people to us, which is neat.

Pack: Have the spots we sponsored on KBIA (our local NPR radio station) had an effect?

Carrie: Those spots have definitely helped. The nice thing about the Soul Seat is that it is comfortable while at the same time keeps people moving and engaged. This chair is not for the spouse who comes and sits in the recliner while the other one shops. This has a different purpose. It does encourage people to get up and look at something else and then sit back down.

Pack: So if this chair had a role to play in a bookstore it would be…?

Carrie: Connection, curiosity. Its design compliments and echoes the decor. Our space is a reasonably clean design for a bookstore. And the fact that it is on loan to us with no financial obligation is great. There’s no harm done in seeing if it works out. 

Pack: Back when you purchased your own Soul Seat, do you remember the situation in your life that contributed to the decision?

Carrie: I don’t remember specifically what was going on in my life at the time I purchased my Soul Seat, but I had the opportunity to invest in something better than what I had. I have back issues (two severely degenerative disks), I was a gymnast since age two, so there’s some damage to my body from that. I have never been someone who sits traditionally in chairs.  I hate furniture by nature. If I go into someone’s house I prefer to sit on the floor. I’ll lean up against the couch, I’ll lay on it. If it’s acceptable for me not to be on someone’s furniture, I will not be on their furniture. I don’t like it. It’s not my thing.

Pack: Do you find folks get offended by that?

Carrie: For sure. I’ve gotten really good at figuring out whether or not I can get away with it. I much prefer to have the flexibility to sit however I want and be comfortable, and not be in pain. Which is difficult in school situations, it’s difficult in dining situations, and it’s difficult at desks. Those are my three bains of existence. As a household, we don’t sit around a dining room table. We eat very casually and we have our family community time in a different way. 

I knew I needed a desk chair because I do a lot of writing. I spend a lot of time at a desk. It’s tough to get engaged in what you’re doing (writing) and then be in pain. It's frustrating to be in pain once you’ve gotten into a productive groove. 

I knew the Soul Seat would give me the flexibility I needed. I could sit on it in different ways. I’m able to sit in it with the small cushion (perch) as a backrest if I want to. I’ll even sit on it backward and use that cutaway section to let my tailbone hang. It provides some relief that way. I have the large size so that if my daughter and I are working on a project together, we’ll each sit on one of the wings.

I can just move around and it provides physical relief. It’s essentially like sitting on the floor. I can move around as much as I want. Also, I now have a desk that I can raise and lower and switch to standing. So between those two things, I can work for longer periods of time. I don’t have to stop if there’s any pain, I can just change what I’m doing. That’s fabulous. I just love it!

Pack: Given your poor relationship with furniture, would you even describe the Soul Seat as furniture? Would you consider it a part of writing gear?

Carrie: Sure, yeah, it’s part of my toolkit. It allows my body to stop taking over my brain and allow my brain to do what it wants to do. Because when I’m in a traditional chair, I’m paying attention to how my legs are going numb, or I realize I need to get up and move a little before I can come back. It just occupies this space in my head of discomfort, and something I need to attend to. By not having to think about those things I can fully engage in what I’m doing.

Pack: Given the situation with your spine, you can’t ignore the discomforts.

Carrie: No, not at all.

Pack: Before you got a Soul Seat you knew you needed something like it because you were paying a physical price for your craft.

Carrie: And it wasn’t something I had thought about for a long time, but my husband is fabulous! He said, “You sleep in a bed for this percent of your life, it needs to be a good bed”. Then he says, “You sit in a chair for this much of your time, so you need a good chair”. So he really pushed me to consider the impact those things were having on me. And he was right. You’ve gotta pay attention.

I find that when I’m writing, there are different moods, like if I’m writing something that’s emotionally distressing, I’m curled up in this posture. And then if I’m having a lot of fun, I’m all sprawled out. The Soul Seat gives me the freedom to embrace those moods and those characters in different ways.

Pack: Amazing! So sitting creatively in the Soul Seat helps you embody the subject matter you’re writing about?

Carrie: Sure. It lets you feel more about what you’re doing. How you connect with these people. You don’t have to do it all in your head.