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.
Of course you have doubts. You second-guess yourself. You wonder about the intentions of others. You question your abilities and your choices. You are human, and you are a person of integrity who reflects, considers, and maintains curiosity. You always want to improve upon what you’ve already done. Doubt is going to be there. Work through it and learn. But please, don’t turn back. Don’t give up now. You’ve come too far and worked too hard to throw it all away. Modify, pivot, adjust, change, but don’t quit. Keep going. Doubt is like the rain. It’s necessary and healthy to question ourselves and others, but it doesn’t prevent the sun from having its chance to shine. It’s a cycle. Act accordingly.
Leaping is never a matter of one and done. Every day, we take chances. We lay our cards down the table and say, “This is who I am. This is what I care about. And this is why it matters.” Leaping is like breathing: we must keep leaping to attain the full benefit of each small step. It’s only when we combine them that we learn just how far we can go.
John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, also runs a web series called Crash Course with his brother, Hank. In a series of 10-15 minute YouTube videos, John teaches humanities and Hank teaches science. My brother-in-law, Kyle, introduced Crash Course to me and I’m addicted. While I’m completely in love with the content and hosts, I’m even crazier about the tagline at the end of each one: “Don’t forget to be awesome” or #DFTBA for those in the know. Write it down and post it up all over your home. This is a mantra we all need to adopt and recite.
From The Upshot – does this picture show domestic emerging markets in orange?
Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about domestic emerging markets—areas of the country that have potential future opportunity but only a small amount of current prosperity. Though Detroit is the primary example used in many discussions on this topic, The Upshot highlighted some of the other lesser known domestic emerging markets when it studied the hardest places in the U.S. to live based on a selection of criteria including unemployment and obesity rates along with median income, education level, disability rate, and average lifespan. They include: Eastern Kentucky along with parts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, and West Virginia.
When I consider how we could make an almost immediate and sustainable impact in these areas, my mind immediately turns to job creation. People in these areas need to have ways to earn income to get themselves out of their difficult financial situations. Venture for America is an interesting experiment placing young entrepreneurs with startups in areas such as New Orleans and Detroit. The Department of Commerce is also spending a lot of time studying these areas and potential ways to remedy their long struggles with a lack of opportunity.
But what about the middle ground? Startups and government can’t do this alone. These challenges are too complicated, extensive, and pressing. I’d like to see mid-size and large companies also jump in and make investments in these areas. And maybe that’s where some of my future work lies—jumpstarting structured businesses with resources, talent, and tested know-how to set up shop in geographic areas that have potential and need our attention.
I tried for a long time to keep my steady paycheck while also progressing on my writing and other creative projects. With a plan B always at the ready, I could only get so far. To really progress, I needed to let go of the comfy ledge I was teetering on for a long time. The path to progress was straight through the eye of discomfort, and though it wasn’t easy I’m glad I didn’t flinch.
I am very pleased to announce that a rough cut of one of the performances of Sing After Storms is now available on YouTube thanks to the Compass Yoga YouTube channel. Please feel free to view and share! We’d love your feedback in the YouTube comments section. Link to the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNZgdrLJ8oc
Roosevelt Island – one of my favorite recreation areas in Northern Virginia
Last week, The Upshot (a New York Times blog) ran the results of a study on the best and worst places to live in the U.S. According this study, northern Virginia has cornered the market on good living and that includes my alma mater’s home of Charlottesville. Cheers to all my Virginia-based pals. Perhaps I should join you and move back to that area if I want to live long and prosper! Maybe we all should. What do you think?
Note: The study uses six criteria: education, household income, unemployment level, disability, life expectancy, and obesity.
“The reluctance to put away childish things may be a requirement of genius.” ~ Rebecca Pepper Sinkler
Keep your board games, puzzles, fairytales, and toys. Hang onto your intense curiosity, magical sense of wonder, and big dreams, especially those that you created when you felt that anything and everything was possible. The surest ways to success and happiness lie along those roads. Guard them like the precious gifts that they are.
“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.” ~ Marcel Proust
Many people serve as teachers, mentors, and advisors throughout our lives. We are inspired by the journeys of others. We follow opportunities as we discover them and if we don’t find the opportunities we want, we make them. In the end, the journey is ours to take. Others can support us and encourage us along the way, though we have to follow the path on our own two feet. Ultimately the choices are yours. You are the only one who can live your life. Choose wisely, and from your own heart.
