I recently gouged out a piece of the skin on my knuckle on a cheese grater. For the first couple days I covered it with a band-aid, but what really speeds healing is exposing the wound to air. We actually have to see it, and let others see it. My cut kept getting hit every time I reached for something and then it would bleed again. I’d scrunch up my face in pain. I had to learn how to do more things with my other hand. It was annoying and ugly.
This cut on my finger was a good metaphor for any kind of wound, physical or emotional. Why do we stay wounded? Why do we let our failures, missteps, and disappointments get the best of us? Why do we hold ourselves back from healing? Because healing and transcending anything that hurts is an uncomfortable process in the short-term. It’s painful, itchy, and ugly. It’s not linear. We take some steps back before we can step forward.
However, in time, we do heal. 3 weeks into this process and my finger is nearly back to normal. The cut doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s not as ugly as it was and I learned that my other hand is good for a lot more things than I gave it credit for. In the long-run, healing is a gift because we learn so much along the way that we wouldn’t learn if the hurt never happened at all.
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 