Author: Christa Avampato

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.
creativity

Wonder: Music saves us

Christa Avampato

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” ~Frederick Douglass

I heard this quote over the weekend during a tear-jerking story by journalist Steve Hartman. This story is about a 78-year-old partially paralyzed pianist, Norman Malone, who learned to play with only his left hand after his father almost bludgeoned him and his brothers to death with a hammer. I sobbed. The light and beauty in this man is present in his voice, his eyes, and his music. Even that horrid night couldn’t take music from him. He grew up to become a choral instructor so he could share his love of music with children. After all, it saved him, so of course it can save others.

Recently, finally, he had the opportunity to give his first public performance and it was stunning. And on that stage, through that stream of tears, he couldn’t find the words to express what that performance and what music means to him. He kept it to himself. And I couldn’t help but see that somewhere in him that sweet boy who survived such brutality lives on. And shines on, 70 years later.

Frederick Douglass was absolutely right. It is so much easier to build children up than to repair adults from the trauma of life. The arts, music, dance, writing, and all creative outlets help us hang on to our very essence and give us the opportunity to share it with others. I am heart-broken by Norman’s story, and I am also immensely inspired by it. Art saves. Art heals. Art perseveres.

 

creativity

Wonder: Face this week with a wink and a smile

Christa Avampato

“A strong woman looks a challenge dead in the eye and gives it a wink.” ~Gina Carey

Challenges are all around us—at home and work, in our community, in every relationship, and even within us. It’s easy to get pulled into them and not seeing anything else. This weekend as I was in the midst of packing I read this quote by Gina Carey.

Given my schedule and move, this week will be filled with challenges so I’m going to try an experiment: every time I meet a challenge (or a challenging person), I’m going to smile wide before I say anything. In my mind, I’m going to look my challenges dead in the eye and wink. That’s my choice. Care to join me?

creativity

Wonder: How to survive packing and moving

Christa Avampato

I started packing up my apartment this weekend to get ready for my move on Friday. I’m excited about my new home, adopting a second dog, and learning a new neighborhood as well as I know my current one.

And then a funny thing happened yesterday. I started to get nervous, really nervous. I was worried I was running out of time, supplies, and energy. So I sat down, right in the middle of my packing supplies, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. And another and another. Phineas and Otis climbed into my lap. When I opened my eyes, things looked different. I had made progress.

Moving is stressful. My job’s stressful. I’m tired. I’m worried about so many things, moving-related and otherwise. I just got overwhelmed by all of it. It’s going to be okay. I’ll get it all done. I’ll figure it out. And in the mean time, I’ll just keep breathing.

creativity

Wonder: Imagine your life 3 months from now

Christa Avampato

“Imagine your life 3 or 6 months from now. It looks better,” said my friend, Alex, who always knows exactly what to say when I’m having a tough day. I often call her when I’m at a loss and just don’t know what to do or how to think or feel about something.

I felt that way this week, and she repeated this advice to me again. She’s right. She’s always right. No matter what’s upsetting me, chances are I won’t even remember that it happened a few months from now. This day will likely fade into the distance as unremarkable, and what seems like such a big deal today will be completely insignificant by then.

After Alex gave me that advice, I instantly felt better. The future does look sunny. I got through my day holding my head a little higher, standing a little taller, and feeling a little lighter. I hope you do, too.

creativity

Wonder: Kids need the arts

Christa Avampato

Our First Lady said it best on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC: “No one should ever think that dance and music and theater are a luxury…because for so many of our students, they are truly necessities. They’re the reason these kids show up [to school].”

The arts give a lot of people meaning in their lives. They aren’t an extra. They aren’t a luxury. They are the reasons that many of us get out of bed in the morning. Let’s do everything we can to ensure that every child has a right to express themselves through art.

Are you with me?

 

creativity

Wonder: Looking for a 2nd dog to add to my home

Christa Avampato
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Phin and I sure are going to miss Otis. He has been a godsend to us this past year and a half.

Want to help Phin and I find our new furry friend? We’re looking for a small adult dog who is house trained, loves other dogs, and loves people to be Phin’s new constant companion. Ideally, this dog would have a very calming presence. Maybe you know a dog who is looking for a forever home, a dog rescue that would gladly help us, or have advice on the best way to add a new dog to a household that already has a dog. We’ll take all of the references and pieces of advice you have, so please send them our way!

 

creativity

Wonder: Music on every corner in Cuba

Christa Avampato

I went to Cuba because of music. The biographical film of Arturo Sandoval’s life, For Love or Country, made me yearn to see Cuba, hear the music, and meet the people. And that I did.

Music is the heartbeat of Cuba. Everywhere I went, I heard it and saw people dancing, clapping, and smiling right along with it. It seems that the music lives in them, moves them, and binds them all together. Music is a way to remember the past, enjoy today, and hope for a better tomorrow. Here are some of my favorite music memories from Cuba:

Musicians at a restaurant in Havana’s Plaza Vieja
Musicians at the National Hotel
Guitar from Peter Frampton at the National Hotel
The site of our sunset dinner on the beach in Trinidad
Beach in Trinidad
Sunset in Trinidad
Sunset in Trinidad
Sunset in Trinidad
Musicians at our beach dinner in Trinidad
Guitar player
Drum player
A music store in Trinidad
Live music in a restaurant in Trinidad
creativity

Wonder: An artist at work in Trinidad, Cuba

Christa Avampato
Screen Shot 2016-05-28 at 5.20.19 PM
Photo I took of an artist at work in his studio in Trinidad, Cuba

I snapped this photo in Trinidad, a city in central Cuba that is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was late at night and the only light that flowed onto the street was from his studio. He was hard at work despite the late hour, and that resonates with me. We create when and where we can,  and it’s often in these quiet, solitary moments that we can most clearly channel our inspiration and get it all down so that we might share it with the world.

I love to see artists at work in their environments because the location invariably has some impact on the art. Is an artist trying to create his way out of an unfortunate situation? Is she inspired by what surrounds her as she creates? Does he create in spite of the environment or because of it? I love art for this reason: there are always more questions.

creativity

Wonder: 19 (Cuban) seconds for a photo

Christa Avampato
DSCN1546-1
The duo who took my photo in 19 (Cuban) seconds

“Get an old-fashioned photo!” the young man called to me in Parque Central in Old Havana.

“How long does it take to develop?” I asked.

“19 seconds.”

I should have known better. Everything in Cuba takes a long time. Every. Little. Thing. No one is in a hurry to do anything or go anywhere. In Cuba, even time takes time. People say it’s frozen in time in the 1950s. I’d go back much further than that.

What I didn’t realize is that we weren’t paying for a photo. We were paying for the experience of having the photo taken. An old man and a young man had a ramshackle camera, the likes of which I’d never seen. Jerry rigged from old parts gathered from discarded items (reduce, recycle, reuse, again and again and again is a way of life in Cuba), we watched in wonder over the 19 minutes, not the 19 seconds it took to snap and develop the photo. The show was worth every penny if the 2 bucks we paid, and then some.

This was always the way all over Cuba. You don’t pay for goods, you pay for the experience you gain and the time of the people you meet gathering the goods. You invest in the people and their ingenuity. Once you make that mental leap, waiting isn’t an inconvenience nor a chore in Cuba. It’s an honor, a gift, and a pleasure.

creativity

Wonder: Alex, the Beyoncé of Ice Cream in Havana

Christa Avampato
Alex, the Beyonce of Ice Cream in Havana
Alex, the Beyoncé of Ice Cream in Havana

On a crowded corner of Plaza Vieja in Old Havana, you’ll find the best ice cream you’ve ever had. Coco Glace is nothing more than coconut milk, coconut water, and pieces of coconut served in a half coconut shell and it’s incredible. I devoured it with my new friends on our last day in Cuba under a brutal sun and sky-high humidity.

Alex, the maker of Coco Glace, is pleased to tell you that he loves Madonna and Beyoncé, hates Taylor Swift, loves America, hates Chris Brown, loves being gay, and will see you on Broadway as soon as he sells enough Coco Glace to get himself out of Cuba. He calls himself the Beyoncé of ice cream, and in my humble opinion he isn’t exaggerating. Coco Glace is incredible. I’ve been dreaming about it ever since eating that first marvelous spoonful.

Cuba was full of simple pleasures like Coco Glace. Nothing there is extravagant, but it’s honest, pure, and real. There are no additives – in the food, in the people, or in their way of life. There are no pretenses. People and things are exactly what they appear to be, and in this day and age that is a triumph.

After finishing my ice cream, I made my way back to Alex and told him how amazing his ice cream is.

“Mami, ju don’t know how happy you just made me,” said Alex. I love ju. I love America. I’ll see you there soon! Look for me. Tell Beyoncé!” I just smiled and said I would. So Beyoncé, consider yourself told that you have a Cuban compatriot who puts on a show for all his customers and he is fabulous.

I hope someday I’m strolling down the Great White Way and that I look up and see Alex’s joyful smile and unapologetic moxie plastered all over a giant marquee. And I hope Coco Glace is one of the many things we exchange with our Cuban neighbors. Maybe Beyoncé could make both those dreams come true.