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.
fear, future, sleep

Inspired: Don’t believe everything you tell yourself late at night

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

3am can be a tough hour for me. That’s when some of my greatest fears surface. “What are you doing?” “That’s a terrible idea!” “You’ll be all alone!” And on they go. To exercise those little gremlins, I write them down in the notebook I keep next to my bed and then put an “X” through them. Then I lay down, focus on my breath, and silently say “I am okay” until I fall asleep again. Don’t believe everything you tell yourself late at night. At night, the good and bad rise up in our minds. We can’t control that. All we can do is get it all down, throw out what harms, keep what helps, and get some more sleep. Tomorrow needs us at our best.

career, choices, commitment, determination, dreams, work

Inspired: They only work we have to do

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

Yesterday I was offered the largest consulting contract of my career. I turned it down because it’s not the work I want to do anymore. Was that the right choice? Definitely. Did it hurt to let it go? Absolutely. I was referred by a former client to organize the annual meeting of a private equity firm. I could have played that role and done the work with no problem, but I’m committed to writing full-time and that gig would take me away from my dream. This is the tough work of commitment, the work no one tells us about. Focus and commitment are not a one and done deal. They requirement constant vigilance; temptation to veer off-course is everywhere. The opportunities you don’t take will be scooped up by other people who want and need them. Do your work. Walk your road.

art, business, work, writer, writing

Inspired: The difference between business and art

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

As someone who moves between the worlds of business and art, a business woman with an MBA and a full-time writer, I see them both as creative acts. Both require inspiration and perspiration to build something of value. The difference is where each begins. In business, we assess the market early on in the process. It is largely an act of educated calculation and we try to mitigate risk. In art, market assessment is messy, if not impossible. We have to create art before we know if there’s an audience for it. Art is an act of faith. And the more we risk in art, the better. To have impact, business and art need an audience. They just go about finding their audiences is very different (and wonderful) ways. I do know this: I love them and need them both because together, they make my life richer. In this next chapter of my career, my art, my writing, is also the center my business.

art, books, writer, writing

Inspired: When the reader is ready, the writer will appear

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

I love bookstores though sometimes when wandering through them I catch myself thinking, “What else could I possibly have to say that’s interesting and worthwhile?” A split second later I’m reminded that with 6 billion people in the world, there’s a lot of people doing almost the same thing: doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, painters, teachers, chefs, scientists, and yes, writers. But not one single person practices his or her craft in exactly the same way. No one exactly like you has ever existed before or will ever exist again. We are each a unique makeup of circumstances, skills, beliefs, experiences, and ways of seeing, hearing, doing, and being. When the reader is ready, the writer will appear. And we never know when that will be. All we can do is get the story down, put it out into the world in as big a way as possible, and the people who need our story will eventually find it.

action, dreams, fear

Inspired: You can handle obstacles

Christa Avampato

When we think about pursuing a dream, we often worry about the obstacles, challenges, and difficulties that may lie ahead. I wonder how many dreams never got a shot because the anticipation of those obstacles stopped us from trying before we even started. This quote helps me. I hope it helps you, too: “When the root is deep there is no reason to fear the wind.” Of course there will be obstacles. Don’t let them make you discount your capabilities; those are your roots. You got this.

creativity, simplicity, writing

Inspired: A carpenter’s approach to writing

Christa Avampato

A few weeks ago Seth Godin wrote a blog post about the two questions we should ask before we build anything. I also think they’re worth asking before we begin any creative project and before we start any piece of writing.

What’s it for and how will we know if it worked?

Think of a carpenter. He or she builds a house to provide shelter from the elements. If it keeps out the rain, sleet, or snow, it works. Simple. Elegant. Understandable.

Imagine if we began everything we do with these two questions. Everything we create would have a reason for being and a usefulness that’s clear. Don’t make it any more complicated than that.

choices, courage, creative process, decision-making

Inspired: Just go for it

Christa Avampato

My beautiful and intensely wise yogi friend, Sara Kleinsmith, sent this to me as I was telling her about my decision to write full-time and to make whatever life adjustments I need to make the writing life a reality. In response, she sent me this quote. And I just love it. And her. And all the people who don’t give a damn about the odds but instead care deeply about happiness and the courage to create. Just go for it with everything you’ve got. We make our own odds. (And if you find yourself in Austin, Texas, then you must go to Sara’s yoga classes. She’s magical.)

action, adventure, change

Inspired: Don’t wait until you’re ready

Christa Avampato

“Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it.” ~Amy Poehler

Lately I’ve been feeling the tug of big life changes. I recognize their knock at the door and I’ve resisted answering for a bit because I felt like I wasn’t quite ready. This week the knock has grown louder and shouted, “I’m not going away so you might as well answer.” And I did, and the message was simple: “It doesn’t matter if you’re ready or not. You’re capable, and you’ll make the best of everything that comes your way. And where there isn’t opportunity, you’ll make it. Have a little faith in you.” Then all I felt was a huge sigh of relief. And I smiled: a big, wide, knowing, peaceful smile. There’s a great, big, beautiful, blank canvas out there just waiting for me and no one can paint it except me. Ready or not (and capable!), here I come!

dreams, time

Inspired: Live your life and forget your age

Christa Avampato

From Pinterest How many times have you caught yourself saying, “I would do X if I were younger, but…” I used to say that a lot, to myself and out loud. I convinced myself that because I’m no longer in my 20s, I had to take the sensible and practical path rather than the one that pulled at my heart. That kind of thinking only leads to more wasted time. Forget your age and think about this: you still have time left, time to reinvent who you are and to do what you love. The past is gone. Focus only on the time ahead and make the most of it.

books, creative process, writing

Inspired: Write from the ending

Christa Avampato

Last night I worked out the ending to the novel that I plan to draft in November as part of National Novel Writing Month. While we live and write nonfiction from the beginning, I’m finding that fiction is best started from the end. I tried to write it from the beginning and I kept getting lost. Now that I know the destination, the path to it is easier (and more fun!) to construct. And this makes me wonder: should I take this novel writing approach to living, too?