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.
Disneyland will never be complete. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world. ~Walt Disney
Disney directly supervised the construction of the original Disneyland in a single year. Handel wrote Messiah, one of the most beloved and popular pieces of holiday music, in 24 days. Whenever I feel crunched for time, I think about these two examples. They remind me that time isn’t my issue; it’s a matter of focus, discipline, and determination. If Disney and Handel can complete these enormous tasks in such a short amount of time, then certainly I have the time to finish whatever projects I have on my plate. I take a couple deep breaths and get back to work knowing that time is on my side.
Alice in Wonderland – my inspiration to believe in the impossible
On Friday, I had a meeting with someone who explained his definition of vision: “It’s something that keeps us constantly reaching; a place we never really get to. And if by chance, we do reach our vision then we know that we haven’t dreamed big enough.” His idea intrigued me. I’d never heard it put quite that way before. It caused me to think that maybe I’ve been selling myself short; perhaps I haven’t dreamed big enough. And maybe it’s time. Can I make 2015 a year of wonderful and inspiring impossibles? I guess I won’t know unless I try.
This week, I started my research on Orlando’s business community. When I lived here a decade ago, the idea of an Orlando business community was a bit of a pipe dream. What a difference 10 years can make. I don’t know much about the landscape here so I started with a simple strategy—I contacted all of the companies on the “2014 best places to work in Orlando” list published by American City Business Journals. (They probably have something similar for your city, too!) I sent off a simple email that explained my interest in what they do and a bit about what I do.
Within 10 minutes, I got a response back from a business owner and we set up a brief phone chat. His company wasn’t the right fit for a content creator like me, but he gave me the names of 5 other companies that he thought would be. (Incredibly generous on his part!) After our brief chat, I immediately emailed all of the contacts he gave me. 24 hours later, all 5 had responded positively asking to meet me, set up a phone chat, or refer me to another company they felt would be a good contact for me.
This same strategy has worked for me as I’ve slowly but surely worked my way through the channels at a certain very large and highly-matrixed company that has *just a few* theme parks here in Central Florida. I’m in the midst of the (very long) interview process though all of those contacts have been made by directly emailing leaders at the company whose work interests me, not by applying to any public postings.
For me, the lesson has been clear: whether it’s freelance work or a new job, we can’t wait for postings. Being proactive and highly engaged is the name of the game, especially in a new city. If someone writes something, builds something, or talks about something that interests you, reach out, connect, and see if there’s a way to collaborate. It takes some effort, but is ultimately much more fruitful than endlessly sifting through job postings. Don’t wait for the job, or collaborative business partner, you want to become available. Create your own opportunities.
“The only good thing about pounding your head against a wall is when you stop.” Robert Spekman, my marketing professor in my Darden MBA program, said this during one of our classes almost 10 years ago. I repeat this line to myself almost daily because I like messy, complex challenges without clear answers. I guess it’s the adventuress in me.
Author Ray Bradbury once said, “Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.” We can’t force realization.
Once I’ve gone ’round the mulberry bush to the point of dizziness, I do anything but sit down and try to reason through the challenge at-hand.Take a walk. Write. Paint a picture. Do a jigsaw puzzle. The sooner I do that, the sooner I find the answer I need. The older I get the more I understand that the answers I really need are those that start in the heart. What the heart speaks, the head eventually understands.
Welcome to the rise of the slash generation where it’s perfectly okay, and even preferable, to be a baker / neuroscientist / dog walker, or in my case a writer (of many genres) / product developer / business owner / believer that my greatest project has yet to even be imagined. Everything in your career connects in some way at some point so follow that curious nose of yours wherever it leads you. I’ve put aside the boxes and definitions that some people are so desperate to put on themselves and others. The only question now is “What’s your slash?”
Writers live many lives—1 foot in the manufactured world around them & the other in the worlds they design for their stories. I love that finally I live a career and life that doesn’t admonish me for pursuing everything that interests me, whether it connects or not. It’s opened my mind to possibility in wild and wonderful ways, and made me feel truly free.
I always love when someone tells me that something is impossible and will NEVER happen. A little internal smile makes its way to the surface of my face and motivates me to change “impossible” to “I’m possible”. It’s never a question of “who’s going to let me?” It’s more a matter of “who’s going to stop me?” Cue pensive laughter and the tapping of fingers together.
Just thank these impossible-sayers for their time and walk on by. They have no idea what you’re capable of, that you are limitless. Let them use their blinders on their own lives. You live yours out loud and celebrate your goodness. You got this.
‘Tis the season to drain our bank accounts and buy a lot of useless merchandise that won’t mean anything come, oh, about December 28th. We have an embarrassment of riches in this country. I don’t need 99% of them.
I really appreciate that my friend, Leah, posted this link a few weeks ago from the International Rescue Committee. $58 buys a year of education for a young girl in Afghanistan, Lebanon, or Congo. $18 provides a mosquito net for an entire family that prevents malaria, a disease that impacts half the world’s population and kills one child every 60 seconds. $25 is enough to provide an innovative solar lamp and charger to those in places such as Iraq and Syria who have to flee from violence with little or no access to electricity.
Similarly, gifts can be made to local food pantries, homeless shelters, and schools. I’m blessed beyond belief to have everything I could ever want or need when it comes to material possessions. I don’t need anything else. I’m guessing many of you don’t either. We’re the lucky ones. This holiday, let’s give and receive gifts that count, gifts that help others who really need our care and compassion.
Last week I watched the movie Chef. It’s about a restaurant chef who achieved a certain level of success, settled into the mediocrity of popular food, experienced an ugly and public fall from grace, and then dismantled everything in order to rediscover his passion for his craft. There are many lessons embedded in the movie that got my wheels turning:
To launch an arrow, it must first be drawn back. We can choose to make setbacks the guts of a new foundation.
To succeed, our work has to be rooted in love. There is no luster without light, and love is the light.
If we are drones, in work and in life, then a serious shake-up is required. This won’t be comfortable but it’s necessary.
If we say we will never do something, rest assured that is exactly the thing we eventually must do.
Our failures are the basis of some of our very best work if we allow them to be. With a steady mind and a wild spirit, anything is possible.
As I move into intense editing mode for my novel, Where the Light Enters, I am also at the very early stages of sketching my second novel. The idea for it surfaced during a Twitter conversation I had a few months ago with Anthony Mason, one of my favorite journalists. He told me about one of his childhood dreams and that dream sparked a character and storyline in my mind. While still very rough, here is the basic premise:
10-year-old Levi Adler lives in a small town and has big dreams of someday hosting his own radio show.Baxter and Flo Adler, Levi’s parents, are morticians and run the family business from their home. Levi uses all his free time practicing his future profession in the backyard treehouse that he’s set up as a recording studio. One evening while hosting his now-imaginary radio show, Levi starts to have real guests call in and they’ve got some important messages for Levi to deliver to his neighbors. With the help of his neighbor and sometimes co-host, Shelby, can he convince his neighbors that these messages are real and realize his dream of being a real radio show host?
Christa Avampato 