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.
cooking, eating, food

Beautiful: I’m Blending Up a Recipe for Vegan “Ice Cream” in My Kitchen, Arrested Development-Style

Christa Avampato
My first humble and delicious bowl of banana custard
My first humble and delicious bowl of banana custard

I’m going to toot my own horn for a moment and say that lately my little cocina has been buzzing as if it were competing for a chance to be Good Housekeeping’s satellite test kitchen. I’m a bread-baking, pasta-shaping, vegetable-roasting, salad-tossing, body scrub-making, and now ice cream-blending machine.

My love of ice cream and Mister Softee is well documented on this blog: here, here, and here. Regular readers also know that I am making more of an effort to eat fewer animal products in my quest for a cleaner planet. Ice cream is one of my weaknesses. I’ve never met a cone I didn’t like. Lately, I’ve been a little horrified by the price of ice cream at the store so I’ve been depriving myself a bit.

A few months ago, I saw on Pinterest that people were whipping up homemade “ice cream” from frozen bananas. Even though this activity reared its head on Arrested Development years ago, I naturally assumed that the making of ice cream had fallen under a spell of “Hollywoodification” and that everyone was lying to me. How could bananas, with no other additives, be blended into soft serve ice cream? Rubbish.

This week, a carton of very generic ice cream at my local Whole Foods topped $6.00. Same thing at my other less-than-clean neighborhood grocery stores. I can afford a $6 carton of ice cream but it’s the principle. I think stores are gauging us due to the heat wave and I’m not about to succumb to that kind of pressure, no matter how much money I have in my wallet. That old Pinterest post popped into my head so I went over to my local fruit cart vendor on the corner near my apartment. 4 bananas for $1. I was skeptical but desperate for a frozen treat fix and determined to hang onto my dignity by avoiding the ice cream gauging grocery stores so I gave it a whirl, literally and figuratively.

I chopped up the bananas and put them in my freezer overnight. The next day, I fixed by Ninja blender on my kitchen counter, piled in the frozen bananas, and hit “blend” with a healthy dose of doubt. For the first minute, my simple concoction looked like nothing more than finely diced banana. I knew it. Bananas turned into custard is total BS and the very idea is used to make fools of ice cream junkies like me. There goes my dignity… and my $6 that I’ll be paying at Whole Foods for ice cream.

I persevered reminding myself of my bread baking misadventures turned crusty outside, heavenly chewiness inside. (The key is patience.) And I’ll be damned! Slowly, slowly, slowly those frozen bananas started to come together into a creamy swirl. I jumped up and down with excitement and let out a loud “whoop!” See how little it takes to make me happy?

Once it looked sufficiently blended, I brought my Ninja to a halt, popped off the blender top, and what to my wondering eyes did appear but delicious, creamy, vegan banana custard! I was overjoyed. Phineas even tried some and gave his “woof” of approval. I’m already planning add-ins for future batches. This is going to be one sweet summer – surely this skill is going to help me make friends in California, right? If you read about a girl and her adorable dachshund setting up an “ice cream” stand at the Santa Monica pier, you’ll know we found a reliable banana supplier in our new neighborhood.

art, beauty, music, New York City, nonprofit

Beautiful: Phineas Contributes to SingforHope.org

Christa Avampato
Phin with his neighborhood Singforhope.org piano.
Phin with his neighborhood Singforhope.org piano.

Just around the bend from our apartment, there’s a beautifully decorated piano – in Central Park. Phineas tried his paw at plunking out a few notes. Ultimately he felt he could better serve the cause by doing his best modelesque “look-away” pose in front of it. He’s really more of a vocalist than a piano player anyway – he has the most emotional, heartbreaking howl I’ve ever heard. (Seriously!)

So what’s a piano doing in Central Park? It’s out there in the open for anyone to play, courtesy of SingforHope.org – a nonprofit whose pianos-turned-public-art are eventually donated to under-served local schools, healthcare facilities, and community organizations, where Sing for Hope artists continue to bring the pianos to life year-round through classes, performances, and workshops. There are 88 pianos, all decorated by artists, scattered throughout the 5 boroughs. Check out this map to find one near you.

Phin’s piano was designed by Paolo Pecchi and it explores the dichotomy of our city – sometimes quiet, sometimes loud, sometimes soft, and sometimes strong. That is the amazing thing about art in any form – it can hold opposites, placing them side by side to show us how complex and rich life can be. Art shows us what we’re made of.

career, work

Beautiful: What Billy Joel Taught Me About Reinventing My Career

Christa Avampato
Christian Oth for The New York Times
Billy Joel in Sag Harbor, N.Y., with his pug, Sabrina.

On Sunday, I read a New York Times interview with musician Billy Joel. It’s been a decade since he’s recorded an album. He’s continued to write music, as well as mentor young musicians and perform some high-profile concerts, just in a different way, for a different audience, and in a different genre than the music that made him famous. He redefined his music on his terms. He reinvented his work based upon his own evolving tastes and what makes him happy. He chose his path forward rather than feeling trapped by his past.

This interview couldn’t have arrived at a better time for me. I met up with my friend, Marita, on Friday and we had a long talk about the role of work in our lives and how our careers might take shape going forward. Wise, thoughtful, and kind friends like Marita are my rock in this process as I’ll be spending most of the summer re-thinking and re-working my career. Billy Joel’s example serves as inspiration and proof that if we allow our hearts to guide our career paths, we will find our way toward authentic work.

business, entrepreneurship, SXSW, technology

Beautiful: I’ll Be a Mentor at the Inaugural SXSW V2V Conference in Las Vegas This Summer

Christa Avampato

I’m excited to announce that I’ve accepted the invitation to be a mentor this summer at SXSW V2V in Las Vegas from August 11th – 14th. (For the official announcement of mentors, click here.) I love mentoring and am honored to play a part in shaping this important event and program.

What is SXSW V2V?
“SXSW V2V is the newest addition to the SXSW family of events, joining SXSW Music, SXSW Interactive, SXSW Film, SXSWedu and SXSW Eco. SXSW V2V is an extension and re-imagining of the legendary SXSW experience with an emphasis on the creative spark that drives entrepreneurial innovation. This four-day event brings the startup and venture capital communities together with the creative industries that have helped to make SXSW so special. V2V serves innovators and entrepreneurs from across all the industries at the core of the SXSW Family of events – technology, music, film, fashion, health, education, sustainability, and more – as they learn the skills, make the connections, and find the inspiration to take their ideas and talents to the next level. You can learn more by reading the FAQ.”

How does the mentor program work?
The goal is to give mentees a chance to ask career-related advice from a well-established professional. Mentees will be able to sign-up for mentor sessions prior to V2V.

How does the mentor program fit into V2V?
The mentor program will be the cornerstone of V2V. The goal is for experienced professions to personalized one-on-one counseling to less experienced professionals. Mentors will be will be available to counsel you on your ideas, projects, portfolios, pitches, startups, and aspirations.

Registration for V2V is now open. I’ll have more details on the mentor program as we get closer to the event. Stay tuned!

courage

Beautiful: Think For Yourself. Aloud.

Christa Avampato

481593_470499013028415_70914330_nI wish standing up and speaking our truth was as common place as breathing, and not just in this country but all over the world. I wish that all people felt safe and secure speaking from and living from the heart. It shouldn’t be considered some kind of miraculous gift, but rather a birthright.

The best way for us to support that cause is to use our freedoms in this country to their full extent. We are so fortunate to live in a place where we can speak and live our truth every day. The only thing standing between us and that way of life is courage. So dig deep. It’s there within you right now, just waiting to be brought into the light.

 

product development, work

Beautiful: What I Learned About Work From the First Test Batch of Body Scrubs for One Fine Yogi

Christa Avampato
One Fine Yogi Signature Scrub

Today I’m having all of the amazing Compass Yoga teachers over to my apartment for a thank you celebration as we wrap up yet another season of getting more yoga to more people in more places. As their party favors, I created the first test batch of homemade body scrubs for One Fine Yogi, the product line I’m developing to create a sustainable source of income for Compass so that we can expand our programming.

This picture shows the test batch of what I believe will be our signature product. With the uplifting scents of lemon, orange, and a hint of eucalyptus, making this scrub put a smile on my face and twinkle in my eyes. Making something for people who mean so much to me reignited my passion as a maker and product developer. And that’s exactly what all of our work should do. It should put a light in our hearts.

change, community, passion

Beautiful: Don’t Underestimate Your Power to Have an Impact on Others

Christa Avampato

photo-1We’ve got big problems in this world. Some of them are so big that they can make us feel small, but we have to fight that impulse. We are more powerful than we realize.

We are living in times when we can broadcast our message and our efforts cheaper and easier than ever before thanks to technology. Our ability to help others is now limitless and free. We can all do something, no matter where we are.

Take advantage of it. Be an advocate for the causes you care about. The world needs you now.

adventure, travel

Beautiful: You Don’t Always Need to Know Where You’re Going

Christa Avampato

photoWith our smartphones in-hand, we rarely get lost thanks to the advent of Google Maps. I have a horrible sense of direction and I remember the days of printing out Mapquest directions so I wouldn’t waste valuable time wandering around aimlessly. Many times they didn’t help. I spent a lot of time wandering around, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes I get a little wistful for those days. I had some of the most extraordinary adventures when I was completely lost.

This summer when I’m in Santa Monica, I plan to spend some of that time sans map. I hope to get delightfully (and safely) lost, and then find my way back to the light. In the immortal words of J. R. R. Tolkien, “Not all those who wander are lost.”

commitment, community, creativity, philanthropy, yoga

Beautiful: How Compass Yoga Can Spread the Love to People in Need After Natural Disasters

Christa Avampato

photoI’m doing a lot of thinking about Compass Yoga‘s direction these days. I’m proud of what we’ve built. I’m overjoyed that we help over 200 people every week thanks to a band of dedicated and loving teachers. However, I’m never satisfied. I always want to do more. I want to reach more people, provide more healing, and expand our capabilities.

I am deeply affected by the aftermath of the natural disasters our nation has faced in the past few years. I’ve daydreamed about a way for Compass Yoga to help. I’ve toyed with yoga fundraisers and donation-based classes to benefit victims, though that impact seems miniscule compared to the need that these disasters create. Additionally, there are so many other ways to give that are more efficient and have wider reach. The innovation to text a donation via our cell phones is brilliant, and I use it often.

When President Obama gave his remarks just after the Oklahoma tornado last week, a lightbulb went off. He said, “So the people of Moore should know that their country will remain on the ground, there for them, beside them as long as it takes. For there are homes and schools to rebuild, businesses and hospitals to reopen, there are parents to console, first responders to comfort, and, of course, frightened children who will need our continued love and attention.”

His words reignited an idea I had when a deadly tornado hit Joplin, Missouri in 2011. I didn’t want to provide yoga to people in Joplin. That’s not what they immediately needed. They needed the love, care, compassion, and concern that shines in the heart of every yogi everywhere. What we need is a way to harness that love, distill it, and provide it as comfort for people who have lost so much in these disasters. I know that feeling and it is terrifying and isolating.

We have a lot of wonderful organizations that provide basic needs – food, shelter, healthcare. In addition to that work, they also need to be the emotional support for the people they help. This latter responsibility could use assistance from other groups, providing the compassion for these people, giving them someone to talk to, someone whose sole role is to stand with them until they can stand on their own again. Who could do that work? Who could own that mission?

And there it was in President Obama’s quote. We need to do it, to provide comfort to first responders, love, attention, and consolation to those who are frightened. With technology, Compass Yoga could do it. We could live up to our name and guide people along their personal paths to recovery. Yogis are everywhere, in every community. They want to help. Let’s give them a way to put their hearts where the need is. Let’s solve this. 

product, product development, yoga

Beautiful: Love Bath Products? Be a Tester for One Fine Yogi.

Christa Avampato

b8c4e85a4708be368aaa0bf88beefdd3Last week, I wrote a post about One Fine Yogi, a new line of yoga-inspired personal and home fashions and personal care products that I’m creating to generate a sustainable income stream for Compass Yoga. In my tiny New York City kitchen, I’m cooking up and testing the “recipes” for our sugar scrubs and bath salts. Now I need testers – people who will test the products and provide feedback on them. You’ll get complimentary samples and the feedback process will be painless and fun. Want to be a tester? Send me an email at onefineyogi@gmail.com or join the mailing list by clicking here. Anyone, anywhere can be a tester!