This weekend, I took myself on a creative retreat inside my apartment. I didn’t make any plans and spent the entire time working on creative projects – writing, cooking, reading, and building. This is a new experiment for me and another New Year’s resolution. It was inspired by my time in California this summer where I took a creative sabbatical and wrote my play, Sing After Storms. It was such a life-affirming experience to devote all of my time to being creative and I wanted to find a way to keep that fire burning on a regular basis. I decided to try this experiment of taking one weekend / month to follow my creativity wherever it leads me. Here are the results:
– I wrote my blog posts for the week
– I worked on a series of images that pair inspiring photos with quotes from my blog.
– I contacted a number of different potential partners for Sing After Storms as I think about casting and staffing the show. I also started to build a comprehensive project plan for the show and it was a blast to put my producer hat back on after all these years. We also have a new updated website. Check it out by clicking here.
– I wrote and pitched a few different classes I’d like to teach at various outlets this year.
– I worked on a very short video project that’s been kicking around in my head for over a year.
– Did some cooking including my Golden Globes vegan cookies
– Which brings me to my favorite activity of the weekend…watching the Golden Globes, one of my favorite broadcasts of the year. Check out who I picked to win by clicking here.
Now it’s Monday and I’m off to a client site for the day followed by a drink with a wonderful friend of mine from my Amex days whom I haven’t seen in a very long time. It’s wonderful to be out there in the world getting things done. It’s also wonderful to spend some time in retreat and reflection so that we’re prepared to face and engage with the world. Yin and yang. We need both to inform and inspire our best work in both spheres. I think I’m going to make my creative retreats a regular part of my life.
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 