I’m trying something new here on Saturdays – a recap post to link together the week’s learnings. I started doing this a weeks ago for my own benefit and then thought it might be beneficial to others. So, here goes:
The week kicked off with reflections on a tough conversation I had with Brian last week about how to manage the fear of taking more of my career into my own hands. Employ Your Creativity to Live a Better Life, Facing Up to Fear, Failure, and Monsters, and You Can Change Your Mind deal with several key lessons Brian conveyed in our conversation:
1.) We are free if we choose to be
2.) If you feel stuck, put your creativity to work to imagine your way out
3.) We can’t shake fear so we might as well befriend it and learn what it has to teach us.
After a month working in close physical proximity to the Occupy Wall Street protests, I put some thoughts down on paper about my initial confusion around their methods and reasoning, and then to articulate why I’m not a part of it.
With all of the news reports piling up that are continually causing us to rethink and reconsider our plans, long-term and short-term, it is easy to feel bogged down and to second guess our abilities. I watched a documentary this week that reminded me so powerfully that the real trick of life is to make good of everything that comes our way. Even from the most horrible, tragic circumstances, we can learn and grow and help others do the same.
Happy weekend and happy reading!
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.
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Christa Avampato 