We have been waiting for you, Spring, with open arms. Welcome. Please stay as long as you’d like. I can’t wait until you’ve decorated Central Park to look like this picture. Ah…..the beauty.
Inspired: Spring, You’re Here!
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.
Inspired: Be Your Own Hero
A friend of mine recently ripped off my work and presented it as her own. I didn’t realize she’d done this until I read about it in a magazine. I didn’t wallow. I just walked away and left it in karma’s capable hands. Here is the greatest lesson I learned: grace and dignity are choices. Sh*t is going to happen to you. The sh*t isn’t what defines you. It’s how you handle it that makes all the difference. Turn the beat around.
Inspired: Keep Those Stars in Your Eyes and the Sun on Your Face
“Watch with glittering eyes.” ~ Roald Dahl. Winter is back. Again. It can’t bear to leave us. I’m as over it as anyone and preparing for a serious case of Spring fever when Spring finally gets here. In the mean time, I’m trying to enjoy these last chilly days hunkered down in my apartment. Winter has been a time for me to get my dreams on track while also helping me appreciate the sun and the warmth when it does arrive. The sun’s always out there. So are the stars. Keep looking for them and you’re sure to find them.
Inspired: Take Your Birthday Off
Today I turn a fabulous 38 and I’m doing…nothing. It’s me, my dog, Phineas, and the start of my House of Cards addiction. Saint Patrick’s Day in New York City is always a bit of a mess so I’m more than happy to spend it relaxing. Your birthday is your day to just be. To enjoy. To reflect. To do anything you want. No to-do list. No deadlines. Just celebrate you, exactly as you are.
Inspired: Are You 20 Feet from Stardom?
If you haven’t seen the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom about the history of backup singers, you must. Their stories of passion, music, persistence, and dedication will make you cry, laugh, and reflect on your own life and talents. Here’s the best thing I learned from it: you must shine your own light on your talent. You can’t wait for nor expect someone else to do it.
Inspired: Our Vision is Imagined and Our Creativity is Ever-Present
I’m in the midst of reading Dr. Michio Kaku‘s new book, The Future of the Mind. He explains that our actual vision is largely imagined. Our optic nerve should always create a large dark spot in our field of vision. It doesn’t because our mind actually compensates for it and fills in the details. Our mind guesses what’s there in that space that the eyes can’t actually see. We are imagining every moment of our waking lives. We are using our creativity without even realizing it. That’s how deeply embedded our sense of creativity is in our minds, in our very being. We invent the world around us.
Inspired: Happy in Action
You will be presented with an opportunity and a choice: do you jump at the chance or let it pass you by? I’ve found that this is the most consistent circumstance that arises in my life. Do I hesitate and turn back or do I dive in and start pedaling like hell? And why? Hesitating and debating has never brought me much of anything I wanted. I’m happiest in action. It’s when I’m most alive, free, and grateful. In action, I am my very best me.
Inspired: Fortune is a Choice
Circumstances can be joyous or heartbreaking, happy or devastating. Whether or not an experience is fortunate or unfortunate is largely a matter of my perspective and choice.
Inspired: A Walk a Day Helps Me Think Clearly
I was trying to solve a few challenges over the weekend. My brother-in-law suggested we go to the Met at night before they close. He wanted to sketch a few statues so I took myself for a walk in the Eastern art section. As soon as I started to walk, completely alone with my thoughts, the answers to those challenges started to bubble up to the surface. I was reminded again that walking shakes my thoughts free. I have to walk to think and see clearly. It helps me make sense of all of the jumbled pieces of a situation and then I’m able to better see how well they fit together in a different configuration than the one I’ve been trying to construct. That’s all it takes – 20 minutes and the open road. Simple tools. Powerful results.
Inspired: Fortune’s Smile
In all of the ups and downs of my life, I’ve found this one thing to always be true: fortune smiles on me when I smile first. What I manifest internally, comes to fruition externally. When something isn’t going right for me, I don’t bother feeling badly for myself and searching for answers externally. I close my eyes and look in. The answer is always there and then I am able to make the changes I need to make to have the life I want. They aren’t always easy changes, though they are always possible.
