The firehouse in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. Photo by Christa Avampato.
Today’s the toughest day of the year for New Yorkers. We read names, tell stories, remember faces, and pay tribute to bravery and courage. We all remember where we were, what we were doing, and who we were with on that most terrible of mornings, mourning.
I was in Chicago crossing the river to the theater for work to open The Full Monty Broadway tour, coffee and muffin in-hand. A huge crowd gathered around an electronics store window full of TVs. I thought they were watching a movie preview. It took me a moment to realize it was live news footage and my city was under attack.
22 years on, half a lifetime ago for me, and we live by the code #neverforget but we’ve added #carryon to it because that’s what 1,649 New Yorkers wish they could’ve done on that ordinary, shining Tuesday. To-date we’ve lost double that number from diseases caused by 9/11.
A month after the attack, I ran the Chicago marathon and it remains the most life-affirming event I’ve ever been part of. I’ll never forget the kindness, love, and support that poured from those streets onto the 30,000 runners, myself and my dear friend, Mark, included. Chicago and Chicagoans took up permanent residence in my heart that day.
A month after the marathon I lost my job because many Broadway shows and tours closed, unable to generate enough revenue to continue. With no job and no place to live, I boarded an empty plane and went to Europe for the first time at the suggestion of my dear friend, Amy, who made it clear that there was nothing better I could do. She was right. That trip changed my life. Everywhere I went once people realized I was a New Yorker, I was gobsmacked with their kindness and compassion. They patched the wound those fallen towers left in me.
So this morning, as I’ve done for 22 years, I went for a run. I went by my local firehouse in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn with this mural memorial to the neighborhood FDNY firefighters we lost. I reveled in beauty by hanging up art in my apartment. I sat down at my laptop and wrote. I planted seeds that will eventually grow into plants and flowers. I carried on for those we’ve lost and the many who grieve. I cried. I remembered.
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 