This week I spoke to a friend of mine and our conversation turned, as it usually does, to entrepreneurship. Like me, she isn’t part of the corporate cookie cutter mold that defines many people who get their MBAs. I like to think of us as trail blazers, people who carve their own way through the world. We have a hard time in large companies because they prefer us to stay on the sidewalk and we’d prefer to be stomping around in the grass.
Recently my friend told a family member of hers that she didn’t think she was destined to stay in her corporate job for too long, and was very interested in starting her own business. The family member’s response – “well, you have to be realistic.” I would argue that no, you don’t have to be realistic when it comes to career aspirations, and I would argue that if you are ever going to be happy in a career, you had better not settle for anything realistic.
This disdain for realism may come from my days in working in theatre; it may be genetic; I’m a Pisces – that could be the cause. The world of dreaming, imagination, and wild aspirations is really the only world I understand and in which I feel at home. I have to draw from some of the people I most admire and again, must reference Apple’s commercial that salutes “the crazy ones.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUfH-BEBMoY
Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Picasso, Martin Luther King, Jim Henson. They were not the slightest bit realistic, and in the end their defiance is what saved them and inspired us. Here’s to hoping that we all fight the urge to be realists and forge ahead towards dreams.
The photo above can be found at: http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/images/henson.jpg
Published by Christa Avampato
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
View all posts by Christa Avampato
This week I spoke to a friend of mine and our conversation turned, as it usually does, to entrepreneurship. Like me, she isn’t part of the corporate cookie cutter mold that defines many people who get their MBAs. I like to think of us as trail blazers, people who carve their own way through the world. We have a hard time in large companies because they prefer us to stay on the sidewalk and we’d prefer to be stomping around in the grass.
Christa Avampato 
Go Entrepreneurs…Entrepreneurs are a key driving force of our economy. They help create jobs, deliver value, not to mention paychecks for tens of millions of people in our country alone. Entrepreneurship, for many, has now become the “Great American Dream” – that is, to become an owner, and able to shape and control one’s own destiny. Seven out of 10 new jobs are created by entrepreneurial businesses. And the U.S. Department of Commerce has reported that since World War II, “smaller entrepreneurial firms have been responsible for 67% of all innovation in the U.S.” I think there are three factors for entrepreneurial success.Passion Any business builder must possess passion for what he or she does if success is to be achieved. LuckLuck is everywhere – although not everyone sees it when it beckons. But an entrepreneur does recognize luck when it happens and seizes lucky moments to advance. The word entrepreneur means “to take an opening.” And the word opportunity suggests an open port, or portal, for success. One simply cannot overestimate the importance of being in the right place at the right time.Willingness to Risk Almost Everything This is what separates an entrepreneur from a job-seeker. The willingness to risk almost everything (comfort, income, home, health, and yes, even family) to seek opportunities, to take openings, and to satisfy as yet unmet demands. Success demands action. As a fellow (albeit new)entrepreneur, I applaud anyone who takes the leap of faith. It’s exciting, rewarding and well worth every risk, nasay and worry. Go Entrepreneurs…
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Hi Steve!! As always, thanks so much for your energy, enthusiasm, and support of new ideas. I have no doubt your road to success as an entrepreneur is well underway!
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