Month: February 2009

entrepreneurship, Examiner, New York Times, Thomas Friedman

NY Business Strategies Examiner.com: Tom Friedman advocates for entrepreneurs

Christa Avampato

This morning, Tom Friedman’s column in the New York Times laid down the gauntlet in favor of entrepreneurs. With the stimulus package signed by President Obama, many questions remain on how to spend that money, and more importantly, whom to support with it. Friedman eloquently supports using the money for start-ups rather than bailing out the frail, inflexible global enterprises like GM and Chrysler.

To read the full post, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m2d22-Tom-Friedman-advocates-for-investment-in-entrepreneurs

California, creativity, hope, Stanford

My Year of Hopefulness – California

Christa Avampato

I’m in the Bay Area of California this weekend. I am thrilled to be meeting the fine team at HopeLab on Monday morning. Since I haven’t been to Northern California in a while I figured I would make a weekend of it. I wish I could explain my fascination with California. I’ve nearly moved here 4 times in my life. Every time I land at SFO I get this strange feeling that I’ve arrived home, even though I have no idea what it’s like to live here.

It’s a testament to the design of this area that I have yet to make one wrong turn, or get completely lost. My sense of direction is awful – for the 18 months I lived in Central Florida I was lost almost every day. The state of New Jersey still has me completely confused and I’ve spent many an hour going around in circle in D.C., trapped in or out of the city by that Beltway. Here in California, I always know where to like, just like I do in New York.

The grass is green here, there are flowers and rolling hills. I drove through Stanford, stunned by Palm Drive, the architecture of the Main Quad, and the vastness of the campus. There’s something about the golden color of all the buildings matched with the open green space that had me smiling wider and wider with every turn. I felt perfectly in my element.

Downtown Palo Alto is covered with coffee shops, pizza joints, a smattering of Thai and Indian food. Wi-fi everywhere. I’ve missed being in a college town. Hope is alive and well on the streets here. I went past the HP headquarters, the Wall Street Journal, and the Ning office. The ideas and creativity are buzzing around in the air here and if you linger long enough, I’m sure you’re bound to pick up a stroke of brilliance or two. It’s infectious.

The kindness and ease of people here is enough to make you wonder why you ever decided to live anywhere else. I sat next to a man on the plane today. He slept for most of the time and we didn’t exchange more than 10 words. As I got up out of my seat, he said, “By the way, you seem like a very nice lady. I wish you well. Good luck to you.” I was a bit shocked. I didn’t tell him why I was in San Francisco. I actually didn’t tell him anything about me. All I could think to mutter back was “you, too.”

There’s something to be said for stepping off of the island of Manhattan and finding out how life is lived in other places. It informs us, helps us to think differently about one another and our experience in the world. I love New York and it’s my home though I am grateful to be able to go to places like California where life is a little bit slower, people are a little less suspicious, and the spirit is a little bit lighter. Let’s hope I can figure out how to bottle it and bring some back East with me.

The image above can be found at: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/photos/campus-palmdrive.jpg

change

My Year of Hopefulness – the chancy nature of history

Christa Avampato


“America was discovered accidentally by a great seaman who was looking for something else; when discovered it was not wanted; and most of the exploration for the next fifty years was done in the hope of getting through or around it. America was named after a man who discovered no part of the New World. History is like that, very chancy.” ~ Samuel Eliot Morison

I took the subway home today, tired and a little nervous about my upcoming trip this weekend. Usually when I look up at the ads in the New York subway, I see one for a podiatrist, another for some sort of alcohol, and another that tells me if I adjust for inflation, I am actually paying less for a subway ride than I did in the 1980s. Today, I glanced up and saw the quote above by Samuel Eliot Morison. I thought about that last line “history is like that, very chancy” all the way home.

History is chancy. We meet someone by chance who changes our lives. We move somewhere that we never imagined living and that dramatically changes the direction of our paths. We pick up a hobby to have something to do and it becomes far more than a hobby. I look back at the course of my life and I am amazed by the twists and turns it’s taken. At 18, when I was first leaving home, I never imagined the path I’ve taken.

It’s the excitement of change, of not knowing what comes next, that gets me up in the morning – it’s the looking forward, the anticipation, the hope that keeps me putting one foot in front of the other. Truthfully, I can’t even guess at what’s around the bend. And I don’t think anyone else can either.

Change can be frightening, stressful, and intimidating. To stay brave in the face of the constant change that is all around us, I try to make it into a game. No matter what happens, I do try to remind myself that this is all learning, that someday it will all make sense, and I remember that really this life is all about chance – how well you weigh the odds, where you place your bets, and how much courage you have to keep trying.

The above images can be found at: http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/03.01/photos/15-nostalgic8-450.jpg

entrepreneurship, fashion, health, New York, wellness

NY Business Strategies Examiner.com: an interview with Cathy Gins, Founder of Aromawear

Christa Avampato

I had the pleasure of talking to Cathy Gins, Founder of Aromawear, this week. Cathy designs fully customizable aromatic jewelry that combines her 17 years of design experience at Avon with her work as a practitioner of Therapeutic Touch, Reconnection Healing, and Clinical Aromatherapy. Inside each piece is space for a small felt wick that is designed to be scented with a therapeutic oil. The wicks pop in and out of the jewelry very easily, without causing any damage to the jewelry, so that you can adjust the scent you want around you depending on your need at the time. Stressed? You might want to try some lavender. Need to feel motivated? peppermint, lemon, or a citrus scent will help. Feeling under the weather? Try eucalyptus cold relief or a blend called Thieves, which has antibacterial properties and was used by medical workers during the Plague to provide relief. And all of these wicks can be packed into a convenient, pocket-sized traveling case.

For the full article, please visit http://www.examiner.com/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m2d19-Aromawear-wellness-you-take-with-you

education, encouragement, family, hope, school

My Year of Hopefulness – Tacking into the Wind

Christa Avampato

My Uncle Tom talks a lot about tacking into the wind. He likes boats, or at least boat metaphors. When I graduated from college he wrote me a message on a greeting card that I still think about. “The winds are always on the side of the ablest navigator. Sail on.” I still get a little emotional reading that quote.

When I graduated from college I was really afraid of my future. Or rather, I was really afraid of having no future. I’d spent my entire life in school, and I did very well on that path. Now, school was over, for now, and I was completely lost. I didn’t know what I wanted to be, where I wanted to live, or how I’d survive. I knew I made it through a very tough curriculum with my sanity relatively intact, though I had no idea what I planned to do with this degree I held in my hands. It really was just a piece of paper with my name written in curly writing. I got to graduation and realized that I had spent four years just trying to get to graduation without much thought of what I’d do once I was a graduate. I did the only thing I knew how to do – I put one foot in front of the other and kept going.

Life would be terrific and easy if we just knew where we were (point A) and where we wanted to go (point B) and then just traveled in a straight line from A to B. It doesn’t work that way – or at least it never has worked that way for me. I’ve been traveling around the country, with the extent of my belongings able to fit into a car. I’ve had one fantastic opportunity after another, though I never really worked to get any of them. I was always working hard to get somewhere and something else, and always ended up in a place and doing things that were so much better than what I had planned. This has always been true. I never once planned any single thing better than the world planned something else for me.

I’ve spent my life tacking into the wind, trying to be the best darn navigator out there. My greatest experiences have been those not found on the path from A to B, but the path from A to X to G to M to Z. I plan for B, though sometimes it never shows itself or when I get there I find it’s not what I wanted after all. M looks like a much nicer place to land, at least for a while.

This is not to say that the plan doesn’t matter. It plays a role. I’ve developed certain skills because I thought they’d help me get to B. And they were very useful for M and Z and everything in between. I try to stay as sharp as possible with my eyes and ears wide open so I can grab a hold of that next gust of wind that I need. The plan prepares me, makes me aware of my surroundings.

The treasures and pleasures in life are found along the zig-zag path we take, not in the point-to-point. I try to always remember that, especially when I’m frustrated or confused or plain lost. There is a wind that will carry us up and over and through – our only job is to make sure we recognize it when it heads our way and be ready to raise up that sail.

The photo above can be found at: http://www.discount-florida-vacations.com/images/sailboat_sunset.jpg

career, entrepreneurship, love, travel

My Year of Hopefulness: Martha Graham

Christa Avampato

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. –Martha Graham

Quotes keep me going in good times and in bad. This one from Martha Graham really struck me and is a good lesson for all of us as we continue what we’d like our life’s work to be. My friend, Linda, sent me an interesting link that she found on the Get Rich Slowly blog. At a recent conference, the author of the post Linda forwarded to me, listened to George Kinder, a financial planned with a unique approach. He asks all of this clients three questions regarding their future:

  1. Imagine you are financially secure, that you have enough money to take care of your needs, now and in the future. How would you live your life? Would you change anything? Let yourself go. Don’t hold back on your dreams. Describe a life that is complete and richly yours.
  2. Now imagine that you visit your doctor, who tells you that you have only 5-10 years to live. You won’t ever feel sick, but you will have no notice of the moment of your death. What will you do in the time you have remaining? Will you change your life and how will you do it? (Note that this question does not assume unlimited funds.)
  3. Finally, imagine that your doctor shocks you with the news that you only have 24 hours to live. Notice what feelings arise as you confront your very real mortality. Ask yourself: What did you miss? Who did you not get to be? What did you not get to do?

George Kinder asks people to think of these questions as a funnel. The first question is easy and the others get progressively harder to answer. Life planning is about getting to the bottom of the answers to questions #3.

My answers to questions #3:
I didn’t get to be my own boss, ever.
I didn’t get to find the love of my life, though I did have a lot of love in my life.
I missed traveling to so many place that I wanted to see, though I did get to go on some pretty amazing trips.
I didn’t get to publish a book, though I’m glad I published my own blog.
I never owned my own home.
I never learned to play a musical instrument well.

In short, if I only had 24 hours, I would die with the music still in me, as John Lennon said. And that alone provides me with a good deal of motivation to get and keep moving forward. Thanks, Linda!!

business, cooking, food, television

My Year of Hopefulness – Charm City Cakes

Christa Avampato

President’s Day was a company holiday. Hooray! So how did I spend it? I slept in (a little), did a couple of errands, some writing, some research, watched the Ace of Cakes marathon (for 5 hours) on the Food Network, and met my friends Linda and Monika for a glass of wine at City Winery. I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Duff, owner of Charm City Cakes and star of the show Ace of Cakes, when he delivered a cake made to look like a 64-box of Crayola crayons to the Toys R Us in Times Square. I was working at Toys R Us at the time, and my boss was giving interviews to the press that were there covering the event. We were celebrating the 50th birthday of Crayola’s 64-box.

Prior to the event, I was a huge fan of the show and of Duff. After meeting him and getting to see one of the Charm City Cakes up close, I became an even more dedicated fan. The artistry that goes into these cakes is amazing – no question. What’s even more incredible is the environment and culture of the company that Duff created. He is the only trained pastry chef in his bakery, and many of the other people at Charm City were his friends long before he opened the bakery. Charm City Cakes has one rule – you must have fun! Their website proudly states, “There are no limits to what we can do here at Charm City Cakes. You dream it, we’ll bake it, you eat it.” Just watching the show you see what great camaraderie the group has. They collaborate, they have artistic freedom, and they share a tremendous amount of trust and support. It is one of the best models for a business I’ve ever seen. They work hard, they laugh, and they play. Warning – watching too much of the show may make you want to quit your job and create a company that’s as much fun as Charm City Cakes.

Duff and his team are a great example of what’s possible in business. He wanted to do things his way and he wanted to work with his friends. Duff is a great leader – he doesn’t need to stand over them and approve all of their work. In actuality, he can’t – there’s too much to do and the only way to get all those gorgeous cakes made is to have an entire team that he trusts to do exceptional work. They’ve never once let one another down, and the resulting success is staggering. Every entrepreneur class at every business school should study the case of Charm City Cakes – the students would be better off and so would the world of business.

education, history, military, Penn, writer

My Year of Hopefulness: Martha Putney

Christa Avampato

I don’t make a habit of reading the New York Times obituary column though I came across one for Martha Putney in December that bears repeating. She is a model for all of us on how to stand-up to adversity, find our passion, and pursue new avenues to improve out lot in life. Featured very prominently by Tom Brokaw in his book, The Greatest Generation, Putney defined her own life and potential on her own terms.

A black woman who came of age in the Roaring 20’s, she heard the phrases “you’re not allowed” and “you can’t do that” all the time. She won a scholarship to Howard University where she earned a BA in 1939 and a Masters in 1940. She joined the Women’s Army Corps upon the outbreak of World War II. She earned her doctorate from UPenn (which makes me very proud as I am an alum of UPenn, making it all the more remarkable that I never heard of Putney, especially since we both studied history there.) From Philadelphia, she went on to a long teaching careeer – her dream job from the time she at Howard – at Bowie State College (she was the Chair of the Histry Department) and at her alma mater, Howard University. She also published several well-respected books on the history of Blacks in the US military.

Education was the cornerstone of her success and her happiness. This is remarkable considering the years when she went to school, her gender, and her race. She refused to let anyone or anything stand in the way of her education. She did what she had to do to survive, and even though she faced extraordinary opposition, she refused to give up her dream of teaching. 15 long and frustrating years after graduating from Howard, she got her wish. Her persistence and steadfast belief if herself is an inspiration for all of us.

books, education, science

My Year of Hopefulness – Darwin

Christa Avampato

This months marks the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of his landmark work, On the Origin of Species. Darwin makes me hopeful for several reasons: his tenacity, his ability to “think different”, and his age when he wrote his seminal work.

On the Origin of Species challenged nearly all preconceived notions of how life evolves and changes. Darwin was adamant that it was not the strongest species that survived, thrived, and lived to see future generations of their offspring. The ones who gain the most evolutionary success are the ones who are most adaptive to change. Darwin faced rigorous challenges from his contemporaries and some of those arguments still persist even today. He had the ability to use those arguments to strengthen his own.

It can be hard to break with the thinking of our contemporaries. When everyone else around us says one thing, and we have a different belief, it can be difficult to voice our ideas, and even more difficult to believe in those ideas so deeply that we will commit them to writing. Darwin is a great example for us to follow. He used his observations of evolution to develop a theory entirely contrary to the accepted beliefs of the day. He had the ability to stand up and walk to the beat of his own drummer. In the challenging times we’re currently facing, we would be wise, and courageous, to do the same.

The other element of Darwin that I find so inspiring is Darwin’s age when he wrote On the Origin of Species. A lot of times I feel the pressure to get out there now and create the greatest work of my life. I am constantly worried that I am not doing enough, that I am not living up to my full potential. A lot of my friends comment that they see their years slipping away, toiling at work for other people, even though they know that eventually they will and need to join the ranks of the many entrepreneurs that I write about and admire. After 50 years of study and observation, Darwin took the leap and put his greatest work, his greatest thinking, out into the world. My friends and I have time, at least a little anyway, to make our mark.

The cartoon above can be found at: http://www.anthroblogs.org/nomadicthoughts/archives/addis-darwin-bday-cartoon.jpg

Examiner, music, New York City, restaurants, wine

NY Business Strategies Examiner.com: an interview with Michael Dorf

Christa Avampato

I’ve been amazed this week at how willing entrepreneurs are to talk to me, despite their busy schedules, so that I can showcase them in this column. This week I stopped by City Winery to meet Michael Dorf, founder of the Knitting Factory and KnitMedia. He left those ventures in 2002 and embarked on a new adventure that came to life as City Winery in December 2008. I would have considered myself incredibly lucky to get to interview one of his managers for five minutes. Instead, I spent about 15 minutes with Dorf as he gave me a tour of the restaurant and winery, and talked to me about his passions for wine, the music of singer / writers, and creating a community, as well as his journey as an entrepreneur. He was exceedingly gracious and humble.

To read the full article, please visit:
http://www.examiner.com/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m2d15-New-Yorks-winery-an-interview-with-Michael-Dorf-of-City-Winery