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.
healthcare, hospital, war, yoga

Beginning: Compass Yoga Begins Classes at the Manhattan VA Hospital

Christa Avampato

Yesterday I taught the first Compass Yoga class at the Manhattan VA Hospital. At the New York State Health Foundation Conference on Community Readiness to Assist Returning in June I met someone from the VA who referred me to one of the doctors at the VA who has been working on a staff resiliency program. We met and then worked through how a class would be structured for the mental health staff, and then we went through the paperwork process, scheduling, and promotion. Yesterday’s class was the culmination of all of that work. The doctor I am working with has practiced yoga and Tai Chi for a number of years and is a strong believer in the power of mindfulness practices. Her passion makes this class possible.

The class is a result of a great many influences conspiring together. I tapped into a calling to help returning veterans just as the NYS Health Foundation was having their conference in New York, as this enlightened doctor had been pushing for yoga at the VA, and the VA happened to be ready to give this idea a try. Had I called the VA last year, it may have fallen on deaf ears. Timing is everything.

I was up before the crack of dawn to walk Phin, get ready, and hop the train across town. As usual, I was a bit nervous to teach in a new place. I always get this twinge of stagefright before I start a class, particularly in a new environment with new students. I’ve been waiting to teach this class for a long time and I couldn’t let the jitters get in the way.

One class in and the students are talking about how to get more yoga into the VA. They started talking about how to get this practice to patients and families for mental and physical health benefits. One is even looking into how we can get grant money to build up the program. By showing up and giving my best, the way seems to be opening slowly but surely. A little focus goes a long way.

Classes will continue every Friday. I’ll let you know about more learnings as they happen…

creativity, imagination, innovation, media, Muppet, Steve Jobs

Beginning: Steve Jobs, Tim Russert, Jim Henson, and How to Honor an Icon

Christa Avampato

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” ~ Steve Jobs from his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford

I audibly gasped when I got the nytimes.com breaking alert that Steve Jobs had passed away. I turned to Twitter and saw that in the past few minutes the outpouring of gratitude and empathy had begun to build and would reach dizzying heights within the next 10 minutes. My favorite tributes were from Wired Magazine and on the Apple site itself. His was a passing heard and felt round the world, mostly by people who never had the honor to interact personally with him. Yet, he is with us all the time, in our homes, cars, and offices. We take Steve with us everywhere through his ingenious inventions and as the spark that so often lights our own imaginations. The legendary Apple ad “The Crazy Ones” continues to be an anthem for innovators all over the globe. Steve gave us something to aspire to – our highest selves.

I remember having this same wave of thankfulness flow over me when I heard about the passing of Tim Russert several years ago, and I remember the exact moment when I learned Jim Henson had passed away. They all died long before their time – Steve was 56, Tim was 58, and Jim was 53. All taken in the very prime of their careers, and in a short time they grew to be a part of our lives. They all share the magical gift of being able to make the seemingly complicated simple, approachable, and knowable for people from all walks of life – Steve in the field of technology, Tim in politics and government (particularly elections), and Jim in education and the power of television. All of these men were intensely involved in media, the creation and dissemination of information and knowledge. They defined our times.

Though the sting of Steve’s passing is obviously still being felt by so many, we can take comfort in how the legacies of Tim and Jim have thrived. Tim Russert’s CBS Sunday Morning, though not the same as when he anchored it, is still a top-rated show and a source of enjoyment and education for millions of people each week. At election time, we still miss his wipe board where he demystified the numbers for us. Jim Henson’s tributes can still be found in every corner where education is discussed and debated. Sesame Street is still a much beloved show. The Muppets are still iconic figures in our lives and the much-anticipated new Muppet movie will be released next month. The Museum of the Moving Image is currently showing a retrospective of Henson’s brilliant work in honor of his 75th birthday. (My post on that outing will be run this weekend.)

And while tributes to the work of these three icons are touching and thought-provoking, their greatest legacies live in the people whom they inspired, including you and me. They set a fire in our bellies and in our imaginations to do something extraordinary with our time. The best way to honor them and show our gratitude is to make our days as meaningful and creative as possible.

Steve, we miss you now and will continue to turn to the counsel you’ve left in speeches, in writing, and in your creative work as we wrestle through our own creative processes. “What would Steve do?” will be a phrase we turn over in our minds again and again as we try to design a better world. You showed us how to be a beginner and love it. Thanks for being here with us and showing us the way. We’ll do our best to carry on the great adventure into the imagination that you started. 

[I am a firm believer in the power of a well-crafted letter. If you’d like to send your thoughts, memories, and condolences for Steve, click here.]  

writer, writing

Beginning: Lessons From Crafting My First Book Proposal For A Literary Agent

Christa Avampato

Last week I wrote about taking the scary step of starting to contact literary agents through query letters. I have been pleasantly surprised to hear back from a few of them (which I was not at all expecting since I just started to send a handful of emails.) Yesterday, I heard from an agent who requested a formal proposal – the next step in the agent finding process.

While a query letter is very concise (a few paragraphs), a proposal is much more detailed. Again I consulted my guidebook on publishing, and found followed the formal format of a proposal. It contains:

  • Title
  • Synopsis
  • Author’s Background (narrative)
  • Market Potential
  • Competitive Works
  • Detailed Table of Contents
  • Sample Chapter(s)

My query letter is less than a page while my proposal clocks in at 22 pages (double-spaced). Proposals are a much larger undertaking, for the writer and the agent. It’s the next step in the “getting to know you” process and feels as much like a business plan as it does like a piece of narrative.

In addition to understanding the heft of the proposal, I also learned a few lessons through its writing that I thought would be helpful to those of you considering a similar route:

1.) Exercise great care in a proposal’s composition. One of the main tenets of Zen cooking is, “Treat your pots and pans as if they are your own eyes.” This is wonderful advice for all chefs. A book proposal in many ways is the writer’s equivalent to pots and pans. That proposal makes the creation of the book possible. 

2.) Read the agent’s bio again, as well as agency’s website (particularly if it offers submission guidelines.) Initially, the writer reads the agent’s bio on the agency website to find out if he or she is accepting proposals, and if so what genre those proposals should address. A word to the wise – if an agent says either A) he or she is not accepting submissions or B) they list the genres that interest them, abide by their wishes. No matter how great your cookbook is, if the agent isn’t accepting cookbook projects at this time, don’t submit one. All you’re doing is clogging their in-box with spam, even it’s eloquently written spam. You’re wasting your time and theirs. 

3.) Clearly understand your audience and competition. Who are you writing for, what do they need, and how does your book fulfill that need? I use the same construction that I use on a daily basis as a product developer. It might feel great to say, “My book is for everyone.” It’s not. You are writing on a particular topic that has a particular appeal to particular people. Talk to them. And know who else is talking to them so you can differentiate what you have to offer. Your book may certainly be useful to others beyond your target audience, but your target is your main concern. Focus – in trying to serve everyone, you serve no one.

4.) Have the proposal ready to go before you ever hit “send” on a query letter. You never know how fast the turnaround will be on your query and you want to have the proposal ready to go at a moment’s notice. If an agent writes to you and asks for a proposal, you don’t want to keep them waiting for weeks while you put it together. Also, the query letter takes most of its cue from the proposal and the proposal forces you to get clear on why you’re writing the book and what you have to say. My advice is to write the proposal first and then craft the query, even though you send the query to prospective agents and the proposal only to agents who express interest in reading it.

5.) Don’t get discouraged. Just as some agents may never respond to your query, not all agents who request a proposal will be interested in your book. It’s also helpful to know that when reading a query or proposal, an agent considers whether or not they have the connections (or can easily get them) to make the book successful. While your writing is a very personal matter, the agent’s decision-making process has more to it than whether or not they like a potential client’s writing.

choices, decision-making

Beginning: Let Your Mud Settle

Christa Avampato

“Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
Is present, and can welcome all things.”

~ Tao Teh Ching by Lao Tzu

We are raring to go. I know. I hear you. I’m with you. We want to will and action every idea we have into being right now. It’s understandable. We are ambitious people on a mission that the world needs fulfilled yesterday.

Retail enlightenment
I was at ISHTA Yoga last week for Douglass Stewart’s class (which by the way is one of the very classes I’ve ever taken in my 13 years of practice.) I was early and browsing around the little retail area by the entrance. I came across a t-shirt with the first two lines of Lao Tzu’s poem. I took note and went into the class.

Board member enlightenment
Compass Yoga held its second board meeting this weekend and I asked the board members to give their thoughts on whether or not we should begin to build a second program. There was a resounding call to get our program for vets running smoothly before diving in to assist a second population with serious healthcare needs. Noted. They are brilliant and thoughtful people.

Therapist enlightenment
Several days before the board meeting, I spoke to Brian about a bit of my angst around Compass Yoga. There is so much need and I’m growing impatient with the slow grind of legal, government, and nonprofit wheels. I’m looking for a way to grease the skids and get our projects moving faster. Brian listened to me with his trademark empathy and simply replied, “Christa, there are some things that are out of your control.” Noted, unhappily. I love control. Brian continued, “Go to your mat. Do your yoga and see what you find.” Okay, I like that advice better.

I finally get it
Brian, Lao Tzu, and the Compass Yoga board members are all sharing the same wise advice. It took the advice of all of them to get me to see the light. I am by nature unreasonable and restless. I have high standards for others and even higher standards for myself. Waiting is not my forte. But sometimes waiting is all we can do.

When the mud of our lives is clouding our vision and nothing is clear, we must wait for more information before we move. It doesn’t mean the right path will be easy; in my experience, the path has never been easy but I have always made more progress when the direction was clear. So these days I unroll my mat more often that usual, grab my bolster, sit, and listen. I breathe in and breathe out, and ask for guidance. The path forward will appear; it always does.

finance, guest blogger, money, yoga

Beginning: Yoga and Personal Finance Come Together in My Guest Post on Glassheel.com

Christa Avampato

My friend, Phyllis Neill (CEO of Buzz12), recently sent me a link to Glassheel.com, “a career, lifestyle and networking site for professional women. Glass Heel is an online community of bloggers, experts and professional women of all ages — with room for thousands more. This site was designed to connect you with networks, individuals, events and other useful information to help you succeed professionally and build relationships.  More importantly, through the network of learning, communication, and support, Glass Heel aims to see its members reach new heights in the professional world — breaking through the proverbial glass ceiling.”

I loved the site at first look and wrote to them to see if I could contribute my writing to the cause. Happily, my first guest piece, Yoga, Meet Finance: Applying Ancient Teaching to a Modern World, posted yesterday. It is an excerpt from the introduction of a book project I’m working on that uses the principles of yoga to develop solid personal finance habits. Hop over to Glass Heel, have a read, leave a comment, and share!

My thanks to Molly Cain and the outstanding Glass Heel community for including me in their movement to break through this glass ceiling once and for all! I’m already at work on my next post. More to read shortly…

animals, eating, food, nature, work

Beginning: Be Here Like a Duck in the Ocean

Christa Avampato

“The little duck is at ease in the heaving Atlantic because it is in the Atlantic. Rest in the immediate as though it were infinity.” – Edward Espe Brown, Buddhist monk , chef, and star of the documentary How to Cook Your Life, reading from a poem written by his mother as she was preparing for the end of her life

The kitchen holds an abundance of wisdom and life lessons if we choose to show up in it day after day with an open mind and heart. As I have recommitted to cooking more and teaching myself to bake, I find myself growing more and more present in my own life, in and out of the kitchen. I have long thought of myself as a recovering multi-tasker, trying again and again to foster a life of consciousness and presence. Too often this is the moment we miss, and knowing the preciousness and fleeting nature of life, I don’t want to miss any more moments.

I also try to be conscious of when I am fighting life, when I am plotting, planning, and charting my actions toward a specific outcome with little regard for present circumstances. I don’t believe in the road of least resistance. Every road has its hardships, every path its detours, and every life its suffering. I have never actually felt the easy way break open as some people have. Everything I’ve ever done has taken effort so I am quite used to and comfortable with work that feels like work. I’ve grown to enjoy it so long as it’s work that feels worth my time.

As for the little duck in the ocean, he is not just bobbing along carefree. Beneath the surface of the ocean, his little duck feet and legs are churning. Rather than having his efforts fight the ocean, they are working in tandem to the rhythm. It still takes energy and effort and attention. He isn’t floating along; he’s paddling and taking his directional cue from the ocean. He’s present and realizes the awesomeness of the ocean’s power. He channels that power in his own work below the surface. He is there, in that moment, and nowhere else. I try to follow his example.

change, environment, food, New York Times

Beginning: The People’s Republic of Food

Christa Avampato

“There’s plenty of good work to do. With food it can really have an impact, not only on your life but on everyone’s.” ~ Mark Bittman, New York Times Magazine

This weekend the New York Times Magazine revolves around one of my very favorite subjects – food. A few weeks ago I posted about my most recent obsession with food documentaries and my continued growing interest in sustainable agriculture. I’ve always loved to cook and have been rather dismayed that I can’t really bake that well. (I’m working on remedying the later.) Now I am putting a great priority on this activity.

Bittman’s interest in food extends not only from his interest and passion in personal health, but also public health and activism. A world that is increasingly interconnected and complex can leave us feeling paralyzed by the pace and degree of change. one person can and does make a difference. We are what we eat, and our world is also what we eat. Our food choices and how we consume our food has countless implications on the world at large. It’s an act in which we participate every day, several times per day, and it extends to all demographics. Change the way you eat, and you have the ability to change the world in a very tangible way.

The world of food is a true democracy – every person can and does make a difference.

discovery, education, learning, politics

Beginning: The Opportunity of Us

Christa Avampato
From johnpicacio.com

“Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within me.” ~ Immanuel Kant

A couple of years ago, I took Michael Sandel’s online class Justice. (See also wrote a book by the same name, and it takes the basic principles discussed in his class and applies them to today’s economic, social, political, and spiritual debates.) Dr. Sandel is a Political Philosophy professor within Harvard Department of Government and his class is among the most famous in the world and one of the largest and most popular in Harvard’s history. The class is free and open to all.

Sandel is a master lecturer. He opens each class with a provocative and polarizing moral dilemma. Perhaps not surprising to any of you, I immediately have an opinion. Then somehow in the most elegant and subtle of ways, Dr. Sandel has me on the fence and in each class I am reminded that the opinions I think I am the most sure of are actually the ones I am not sure of at all. Suddenly, he has me questioning every moral decision I have made. Of course, this is his objective. As my 9th grade English teacher, Mr. Warren, once said, “Judgement stops thought.” Sandel’s trick is to get us to think again after we’ve judged – a mighty difficult feat.

It’s been such an interesting exercise to take the class again and see how my opinions and ideas have been changed by the last couple of years of experience. The one lessons that he continues to alight in me more than any other is that our minds have such an incredible capacity, a capacity beyond our own comprehension. In his lectures, I can actually feel the physical and metaphysical aspects of my brain stretching, reaching, and ultimately growing. As Kant, the subject of Dr. Sandel’s dissertation at Oxford, alludes to in the quote above, we are in awe of the stars above. Who or what made them, and why are they placed just so? And if their placement, and even their very existence, is all a random and perfect accident, then what triggered it and how sustainable is this situation? What’s the meaning of it all? Big, heady questions.

But there is another chance accident that is just as intriguing, personal, knowable, and close-to-home: the ability to change our minds. Yes, to change our opinions and points-of-view, but also to literally change our minds – the biochemistry, the actually wiring that makes our daily activities possible. We have an extraordinary capacity to believe and then alter our beliefs based upon new information, new experiences.

When we take a step back, we really must recognize that we are remarkable beings with unlimited potential, this vibrating mass of possibility. Just to think of this and begin to approach the full comprehension of the miracle that is us, I choke up. It gives me so much hope to understand that whatever ills we face today can all be changed tomorrow if we are willing to change. The state of the world very much depends upon the state of us, each and every one of us. A new beginning is only a thought away.   

books

Beginning: My First Literary Agent Rejection

Christa Avampato

The hunt for a literary agent begins! I am currently working on a book project that focuses on financial wellness, bridging my MBA and corporate work experience with my work as a yoga teacher and practitioner. With this project, I decided to take a look around for an agent. I read blog and books by writers on the craft of writing and I’m always surprised that they only talk about their triumph in finding an agent and not the long journey they took to find one. It’s important to write in the moment, to share stumbles and wrong turns, to write in midst of action. We learn so much  in the middle of it all and that learning should be shared.

I purchased  copy of The Writer’s Guide to Queries, Pitches & Proposals by Moira Allen. It’s loaded with examples, practical advice, and action plans. It doesn’t romanticize writing or the search for an agent. Allen shoots straight from the hip and makes no apologies. Just the kind of advice I’m looking for.

Then I took myself to my bookshelf and started to note down books that I love in my same genre. I flipped to the acknowledgements sections and looked up their agents. Luckily most agents now have full websites where you can query right through the site after researching the genres that agents represent. Many agent bios also state if they’re looking for new clients and if they accept queries from new authors.

I put together the body of my query letter specific to my genre, personalized for each agent who interested me, and began to send off the emails. 12 hours later, I received my first rejection from a large agency. It read simply, “Thank you for your query. I’m afraid your project is not right for my list, but I do wish you the best of luck. It’s a wonderful idea.” I was overjoyed.

In my book that is a win for several reasons:

1.) Most of the agents I researched clearly state on their websites that you will only hear from them if they’re interested.This agent wrote back even though she wasn’t interested and was encouraging of the project.

2.) If they’re going to respond to you, they give you a specific time frame in which you should hear from them. Usually it’s 4-12 weeks. Even though the response was no, I heard back in 12 hours.

3.) Writing this first set of query letters got me over the fear of writing queries. I discovered that it’s actually a fun process in and of itself, regardless of the outcome. And I’ve got the body of the letter ready to go for round 2. It took me 6 months to get over the fear of writing them and it feels good to release the fear.

So here we go, off on this new adventure. If you’ve got additional pointers and advice, I’m all ears!

business, leader, leadership

Beginning: Leading from the Middle

Christa Avampato

Middle Management is a dreaded term in the business world. It’s taken on a connotation of someone trapped in the middle executing a lot of actions that were defined by some Senior Leader. I am one of those people in the middle but here’s what I’m learning: being in the middle can be a curse or a blessing depending upon our attitudes.

In the middle, everything is happening. It’s where products and services get built and also where the big decisions are communicated. Someone in the middle has the unique position of translating between strategic objectives and tactical actions. To be effective in the middle, someone needs a wide variety of skills sets and the ability to build relationships up and down the corporate ladder. Middle management must have the ability to dream big and act upon small details. It’s art and science in equal proportion.

And while it is a position in which everyone could blame you for something going wrong, it’s also a position in which everyone can also celebrate you for things going well. And that celebration or blame has a lot to do with you. Can you trust your gut and drive a team forward with a vision while working side-by-side with them at all levels?

I believe you can.