In any transition, we often focus on the end goal. In my year of leaping into full-time entrepreneurship, I’ve spent a lot of time planning how to successfully complete that transition: personal financial planning, long-term strategy for Compass Yoga, funding, and partnerships that will grow our programming. But there’s an often overlooked detail when we make any change – we need to mind our exit.
Exits can be fast or slow. They can be in phases or a jump with both feet in the air at once. They can be handled with style and grace or they can be botched with anger, disappointment, and resentment. I’m not sure of the speed or pace of my exit from corporate life just yet, but I know I want it be graceful and grateful.
I learned a lot in journey along the corporate road. I worked with some very smart people who spent a lot of time investing in me, as a person and as a professional. My leaving has very little to do with them and everything to do with me – I need to do the work of my life and that work lies in a different direction. There’s no excuse for anything less than grace when I close that door for the very last time.
I thought a lot about endings as Phin and I took our final 2011 walk through Central Park on December 31st. It was a 3-hour venture through the North Woods, and no matter how long the walk, Phineas always wishes it could be longer. It was sunny and mild, ringing in at 55 degrees. Despite all of 2011’s troubles, it found a way to leave a good last impression.
And if a year as tough as 2011 can do that, then so can we.
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
In any transition, we often focus on the end goal. In my year of leaping into full-time entrepreneurship, I’ve spent a lot of time planning how to successfully complete that transition: personal financial planning, long-term strategy for Compass Yoga, funding, and partnerships that will grow our programming. But there’s an often overlooked detail when we make any change – we need to mind our exit.
Glad to have found you through Katherine’s blog:) I am a beginner too:) Decided to launch a new blog, leaving an old one with 517 followers behind…new beginnings, they refresh and inspire me.
LikeLike
Hi Kala,
It was so lovely for Katherine to include me in her 31 writers in January. I’m thrilled! How exciting that you’ve started a new blog. I’ll hop over and check it out. Why did you decide to give up your old one?
LikeLike
Hi Christa,
Yes, graceful exits are so important. I can relate. My energy is also pulling me away from my day job in the direction of my dreams. I feel I’ll also be making this transition full-time soon. The in-between is a little strange as my energy wants to be elsewhere, but I am taking it moment to moment. All the best to you and your transition and exit!
LikeLike
I am so excited to hear this, Katherine! Certainly with your book launching in the Spring (yay!), the leap may be in the hands of the universe.
LikeLike
I am transitioning from corporate life, too. It’s not a graceful as I wish it to be. Today I realize that it is partly because I am holding on tight at the same time I’m trying to let go. That pretty much preclude gracefulness.
LikeLike
Adela, we’re in this together! I have a painting my home by Brian Andreas that always helps me with this very challenge you’re talking about. It says: “If you hold on to the handle, she said, it’s easier to maintain the illusion of control. But it’s more fun if you just let the wind carry you.” Take to the wind.
LikeLike