I tell wonder-filled stories about hope and healing
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.
Faults are easy to find. And the voicing of those faults are the very things that can break us down and damage relationships and the best of projects. What’s more powerful, mature, and helpful is finding a remedy to those faults. The remedy takes creativity, empathy, and concern. It takes a willingness to win, and help others win, too. It means that we’re more interested in seeing something succeed than we are in voicing our own opinions and biases. So let’s be remedy hunters. Let’s help each other find a better way forward, together.
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” ~Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The creative process is always messy, always fraught with disagreement on some level. This is especially true when the stakes are high and there’s a lot of passion to fill the need that began the effort in the first place.
What I’m learning in my startup is that strong opinions need to be expressed with a lot of care and concern for the people who are hearing them, the people whom we ultimately want to win over and have support us. So often our point-of-view is so strong that we forget that it’s not so much about us voicing it as it is about it being received in the way we want it to be received. That takes finessing. We can’t lead if no one follows.
It’s not the load that breaks you down; it’s how you carry it. ~Lena Horne
“It’s not the load that breaks you down; it’s the way you carry it.” ~Lena Horne
This quote is on my mind today as I continue to roll up my sleeves and remake my life here in D.C. And though I drove alone with my belongings packed into my tiny car for 900+ miles with my tiny dog who was healing from painful back surgery, I knew I was driving toward a better, brighter future. I just didn’t know what that future was at the time. I knew I was going to have to dig down deep into my personal reserves to muscle through perhaps the most difficult move of my life.
In many ways, coming here 3 months ago was a practice of wiping the slate almost completely clean, save for my incredible friends who supported my journey in every way imaginable. Whether it was through phone calls, messages of support, renting me an apartment, sending me job leads, helping me unpack and get settled, showing me around the city, watching Phin, or just being there whenever I needed anything, they came through with flying colors. And now I feel really lucky to be back on my feet again and in the position to give all that love and support right back to them.
I’ve been honored by the number of people who have recently reached out and asked me for help. I like to be that resource for people, especially in times of change. I’ve been through the wringer, and I want as many people as possible to benefit from my experience. Whether that means looking at a resume, meeting for coffee to brainstorm, offering writing and job search advice, or anything else that they might need, I feel glad and grateful to offer that up. It’s the best thing about getting older—I’ve now got more experience to share than ever before.
So maybe you’re going through something right now. Something that feels uncomfortable or confusing or disappointing. You might feel alone, but you aren’t. Far from it. There are many helpers, seen and unseen, who are waiting in the wings for you to ask for help. I know because I’m one of them.
“Honesty is an expensive gift. You shouldn’t expect it from cheap people.” ~Warren Buffet
No one ever said honesty is easy, at least at the moment when it’s needed. Honesty is one of those things that grows in value over time. We get honest feedback and it can be tough to take. We scowl, run, and brood (or at least I’ve been known to do all three of these things when I hear something that’s less than a glowing remark.) But after I’ve had time to reflect and absorb that honesty, I’m grateful. I appreciate how hard it is to deliver honesty, especially when the stakes are high. It takes a lot of courage to be honest, and that courage should be honored.
My college friend, KaRyn, once write a beautiful poem and the lines from it have stuck with me for almost 20 years. One line in particular has been running through my mind lately and I think it’s the perfect way to think about change: “With hands strong enough to come home empty.”
It’s easy to take the opportunities that just come along. It’s hard to turn away or let go of something that’s not right for us when it seems like the alternative is nothingness, emptiness. But here’s what I’m learning. If we want to receive what and who is truly meant for us, then we need space. We need emptiness before we can have fullness. These days I’m reminding myself that emptiness isn’t something to fear or be sad about. It means we’re ready for what’s next.
When we’re first getting to know someone, we may let our eccentricities out of the bag slowly. I’m not saying this is good or bad. It’s just natural. Recently I’ve started wondering if a slow intro to our weirdness is really the best approach. Like Austin, Texas, maybe we should keep it weird as much as we can.
What if right from the get-go we decided to just be our crazy nut bag selves? If people run in the other direction, so be it. They were probably going to do that anyway, or we were going to get stuck in a cycle of playing a part that’s not meant for us and pretending to be someone we aren’t. Maybe if we let ourselves be free to be who we are, then others will feel free to do that in front of us, too. Then maybe we’ll run in the other direction or hang around to see what their crazy selves do next.
Either way, isn’t authenticity, crazy or not, the point of it all?
“There is a time to let things happen and a time to make things happen.” ~Hugh Prather, American writer
I’ve been thinking a lot about effort recently. When it’s warranted and when it’s not. When it’s time to let life unfold and when it’s time to actively unpack it to see what we’ve got.
In general, I believe in being proactive and I always believe in being honest with ourselves and others. It’s not always easy or comfortable to honestly (and respectfully) express how we feel. But I always find that in the end I’m glad I’ve done so.
If people stick around through my honesty, then I feel like we may be able to get somewhere. If they walk away, then I know our paths were meant to go in separate directions. And either way is okay as long as I’ve been true to who I am and expressed what I need.
“No relationship is a waste of time. If it didn’t bring you what you want, it taught you what you don’t want.”
I read this quote yesterday and it really helped me understand that every experience we have, good or bad, is valuable. Sometimes we think that because a relationship ends or doesn’t turn out the way we hoped it would, then it was a waste of time. The value isn’t always evident right away, but in time we find the meaning in each interaction. And once we have meaning, we have everything we need to make sense of the twists and turns in our lives. It’s not easy work, but it’s always worth it.
A co-worker of mine just celebrated his 20th wedding anniversary. After we congratulated him, we asked him if after 20 years he figured out the secret to making something last. His response was simple and powerful: keep laughing, find someone who really gets you, and understand that you will change.
And then he expressed that there’s very little you can do to really control whether a relationship lasts or not. It’s a process of constant questioning and this is the question: as you change, and if you’re alive you will inevitably, eventually change, are you changing together or growing apart?
“We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.” ~Anaïs Nin
I was recently having a conversation with someone I really care about. I decided to ask him about something that was really troubling me, and that led to a very honest discussion that was uncomfortable and caused me to lose more than a little sleep. Despite that, we were, eventually, both glad to have had the conversation.
The difficult part about speaking our mind and wanting to talk about tough issues is that we also put ourselves in the position of someone shining a light into our own blind spots. All of a sudden we stop seeing the world through tunnel vision and it dawns on us that Anaïs Nin was spot on. We don’t see the world, or a person or a situation, as it is. We see everything and everyone as we are. Compassion and empathy are part of a process that requires constant tending and adjustment. It’s difficult work, but on the other side of that work is either an enormous lesson or a tremendous reward. Keep going.
Christa Avampato 