“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
A gardener’s work falls into 3 main buckets: planning, planting and maintenance, and harvesting the crops. To build Chasing Down the Muse into a viable business, I use a 3 X 3 X 3 system to measure my productivity and plan my to-do list for the week. Each week, I focus on 3 tasks that maintain what I’ve built (writing, reaching out to existing business contacts, growing my skill sets), 3 tasks that plant seeds for possible new business (preparing business pitches, interviewing), and 3 tasks that investigate possible new seeds that I may want to plant (research, exploratory conversations).
It’s a blast to secure new clients, read a piece of my writing that’s been published, and see the cash from my work arrive in my bank account, but I don’t base my success on those things in these early days of my business. I judge my current success based upon the possibilities I plant and nurture. Harvest season will roll around when the time is right. It always does in nature, so why should it be any different in our own lives?
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 
1 thought on “Leap: The Seeds and Harvests of a Gardener and an Entrepreneur”