“You are a product. Develop it.” ~ Tom Peters
Since Saturday, my mind has been a giant whirlwind of Sanskrit, anatomy, sacred Hindu texts, new technologies, and economic headlines. With my yoga teacher training underway and closing out my second week at my new job, I feel like my mind is gaining mass at an alarming rate. It sounds like I should be exhausted when in fact I’m skipping around my apartment at nearly 11PM. I feel myself radiating.
This feeling of lightness, of boundless energy, comes from living out in the world what I feel in my heart. When we live what we love our life’s activities builds up our stamina and creativity. They give us more than they take away. We become a product, a temple, of happiness. And I gotta tell ya, it feels pretty darn fantastic.
So, yes, by training and trade, I am a product developer. In life, we are all product developers. The products, our hearts, souls, minds, bodies, want and need to be developed. For me, that meant getting a new job doing work I love and finally getting to that full yoga teaching certification I’ve wanted for a number of years. And once those two things are complete, I’ll find something else. I’ll take a class on collage. I’ll improve my Spanish. I’ll continue my quest to make a difference in public education. I’ll learn to play the piano. Product development is a deeply personal, never-ending process. And that’s the real beauty of it – there is always more to do, more to learn, more impact to make, just around the bend. Keep going.
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
Good to learn to play the piano. Just play the first piece of Bach Inventions or Chopin’s Nocturne will appear to be a majestical and spiritual experience! Pray not just to play whenever you touch the keyboard.
Good luck!
YM
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Thanks, YM. Chopin is my favorite!
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Let me know during my staying at Hotel Chelsea from upcoming May 5th to 12th. Glad to play a exquisite Chopin piece for you at Steinway & Sons, 109 57th Street, maybe, over a cup of coffee. I will come to pray for victims of 911 terrorist attack. They are always with me.
From Charles Rosen to Maurizio Pollini, Pierre Boulez were my teachers.
Good luck!
YM
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LOVE IT! I just found a class on collage so will send it to you. So proud of all the amazing things you’re doing to develop your already fabulous product 🙂
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Thanks, dearest! And thanks for the collage info 🙂
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“This feeling of lightness, of boundless energy, comes from living out in the world what I feel in my heart.”
–I LOVE this sentence. It captures that feeling so beautifully.
I’m not sure I’m with you on comparing ourselves to products, though. That links us to the world of commerce. We’re developed, bought, sold? Marketed? I think this clips our wings a bit. I’d rather say we’re like works of art…
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Hi Amanda,
Point taken. I was thinking of products in a broader sense. When I worked in nonprofit, our product was the ability to preserve biodiversity around the world. When I worked in theatre, our product was a story, a work of art that played out on the stage. As a soon-to-be yoga teacher, my products is the ability to provide a sense of well-being to everyone I come into contact with, on or off the mat, with or without pay. I was thinking of our hearts as something that can be developed and grown and refined, not for money or to be marketed, but to make a contribution to humanity. I do like the work of art comparison, too.
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That makes sense! 🙂
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