About a year ago I wrote a book review of Eat, Drink, and Be from Mississippi by Nanci Kincaid. It’s a love letter to a state and a culture that a brother and sister left behind in pursuit of dreams housed elsewhere. Their nostalgia and pride felt for their home seeps through in every line.
Last night while watching the Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics I felt that same kind of pride and nostalgia that most certainly was felt in the heart of every Canadian. Earlier that day I had emailed with my friend, Derek, quite possibly the proudest Canadian there is. This morning I received a long, multi-paragraphed email from him recounting his favorite details of the ceremony. I love being an American, though there’s something about Derek’s pride, the pride of every Canadian, that sometimes makes me wish I was even just part Canadian.
At Darden, I sat next to a friend of mine from Vancouver. I’ve never been and when I asked him what it was like, he called it “the Paris of Canada.” And I love Paris. Since then, I’ve been fascinated with that city. I had planned to go about 18 months ago when I was in Seattle for a wedding. Because I had just gotten a new job, I had to sadly lob off the Vancouver portion of my trip. This year, I’m going. After those opening ceremonies, I have to see a city that inspired a show at once so grand and so intimate.
Despite that I grew up in the mountains, I’ve never been skiing or snowboarding or even snowshoeing. It’s sad really. And I have to do something about that. I think this is going to be my year to take to the snow and to get that rush that an entire nation feels when they just think of that luscious white powder. If I can’t be a Canadian, I at least want to be able to walk in their shoes (or ski boots as the case may be) for a while.
As always, the Olympics has arrived exactly when we need it most. For a few weeks, we can turn our attention and focus to the exhibition of excellence and triumph and determination. We can look at the gritty, grinning, and unflappable athletes with awe and admiration. For 17 days, we can be inspired by hope and gorgeous performance. As K.D. Lang sang with such passion last night, “Hallelujah”.
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
About a year ago I wrote a book review of Eat, Drink, and Be from Mississippi by Nanci Kincaid. It’s a love letter to a state and a culture that a brother and sister left behind in pursuit of dreams housed elsewhere. Their nostalgia and pride felt for their home seeps through in every line. 
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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OOOPS. That comment is for traveling a path takes time. Somehow ended up on the wrong page…
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Enjoy Vancouver Christa!
Even as I’m out here in Sydney being a 1000 of miles away from home in Toronto… I ache that I am not in my home country to take part in the celebration of the winter olympics.
Go Canada Go !!!
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Nikita, I will let you know whenever I get to Canada. We have to meet in person. I hope you’re loving Sydney!
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