“Yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there’s still time to change the road you’re on.” ~ Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”
This week has been filled with ups and downs of very high and very low proportions. On the very high side, I was offered and accepted a new position at my company, an assignment so fantastic that I’m going to tempt fate a bit and say it’s a dream assignment. A blank sheet of paper and lots of opportunity with a fantastic team.
The very tough decision to make was to not conduct Innovation Station, my after-school program about product development, with Citizen Schools. With all this newness hitting of the job and the program at exactly the same time, I was feeling a little overwhlemed and pulled in too many directions. Usually I just allow myself to be overwhelmed and go with it. I’m trying to be better about this. Something had to give and that something couldn’t be my sanity or my time with my friends and family. So I will have to find another way forward for Innovation Station.
I’ve been feeling badly about this decision, recognizing that I couldn’t have it all, at least not right now. And then this quote made me feel a bit better. We can always change the road we’re on; we don’t always recognize that. We sometimes forget that almost everything that happens in our lives in something we choose. If we really want to make something happen, we can find a new avenue for it.
Yes, we can find the right path, but traveling the path takes time and we don’t always progress in the manner or in the time frame that we’d like to. Sometimes, we have to slow down, for our own sake and for the sake of our calling. It’s a tough, powerful lesson to learn and I’m trying.
The image above is not my own. It can be found here.
Published by Christa Avampato
IN BRIEF
Author, journalist, digital product manager, and licensed New York City tour guide. Creator and host of NYC's Secrets and Lies. Alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA), Arizona State University (Biomimicry), and the University of Cambridge (MSt in Sustainability Leadership).
I build digital media platforms, report on urban climate resilience and biodiversity, and produce live narrative experiences that connect communities to history, nature, and place.
THE DEEP DIVE
My work centers on a single thread: building systems and stories that foster deep connection to our shared world. Across digital streaming, environmental reporting, and live civic storytelling, I design experiences that help people understand complex ideas and the environments around them.
DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY & MEDIA LEADERSHIP
At Carnegie Hall, I serve as Digital Product Manager, leading product strategy, operations, and technical delivery for the video streaming platform Carnegie Hall+. I translate artistic mission into scalable, high-performance streaming architecture that reaches audiences globally. Previously, I led agile product and delivery teams across operations and compliance at American Express, managed Broadway theatrical productions and national tours, and guided strategic initiatives across cultural institutions.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM & AUTHORSHIP
As a freelance journalist, I investigate how living systems, urban infrastructure, and human culture intersect. My reported features on urban decarbonization, biodiversity, coastal resilience, and biomimicry appear in publications including Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Mongabay, Natural History Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. In fiction, I write the Emerson Page young adult novel series, alongside upcoming historical fiction and nonfiction works on New York history, mythology, and human resilience. I also write Togetherhood, a LinkedIn newsletter focused on urban ecology and community restoration, and co-host the podcast Frameworks in the Wild.
LIVE EXPERIENCE & CIVIC STORYTELLING
As a licensed New York City tour guide and live event producer, I transform urban landscapes into shared narrative encounters. I created, produce, and host NYC's Secrets and Lies, an interactive live storytelling series staged across cultural landmarks including the New York Transit Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the historic tall ship Wavertree. I also design and lead site-specific walking tours exploring coastal ecology, food history, and neighborhood evolution, often with partners at Climate Week NYC and the Natural Areas Conservancy.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING MEDIA
Through my independent production studio, Double or Nothing Media, I develop ventures across media, ecology, and public history:
Digital Products & Strategy: Architecting scalable digital platforms, streaming experiences, and operational models for mission-driven institutions.
Environmental Reporting & Publications: Delivering long-form reporting, books, and newsletters grounded in climate resilience and regenerative design.
Site-Specific Live Storytelling: Producing immersive live shows and educational walking tours that engage public audiences in community history.
CONNECT
Website & Production Hub: doubleornothingmedia.com and christaavampato.com
Newsletter: Togetherhood on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/newsletters/togetherhood-7273771832221089792/
Instagram & Threads: @christarosenyc
Emerson Page Novels: emersonpagebook.wordpress.com/
View all posts by Christa Avampato
“Yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there’s still time to change the road you’re on.” ~ Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”
There are endless choices. So many (radically different) lives I could have been living right now had I simply made different choices when the times came for the various choices. I have finally come to feel deeply that somewhere within me ALL experience is mine. But in this finite life my focus is this and this and this moment which I experience with this body and this mind. Still, it’s all mine. There is no loss. Choose fearlessly and often :).
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Hi Trish,
I love this idea that all experiences are within us. What a beautiful sentiment. “Choose fearlessly and often” – what a great mantra to live by!
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We’ll miss you this semester but it will happen again when the time is right! Congrats on the new job!
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Hi Stacey,
I am so sad about it as I was so looking forward to the CS experience. You’re right: somewhere down the line it will work out!
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Christa such a bright future you have on your Hero’s Journey. To recognize that there are paths and to turn on one does not obliterate the other. Like good friends, they will always be there waiting for you should you need them. Good luck and congratulations!
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Hi Beth,
I love your comparison between our choices and good friends. It’s such a helpful thing to keep in mind. If we choose a path and it doesn’t work out, there’s no reason that we can’t double back and try a new avenue. Thank you for that.
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Christa – what an inspiring post! Thank you so much. And you know I will miss our day to day interactions, but I know you’ll knock their socks off in the new role.
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Awww….thanks, Lon. I’ll be on IM every day so I’ll only be a click away. 🙂
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