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.
business, career, food, new product development, travel

Raisinets and apple juice

Christa Avampato

Sometimes my curiosity has hindered my life – just when I get going in one direction, any directions, I spot something else out of the corner of my eye and dart off to check it out. Some call this a lack of commitment or ADHD. I call it an uncontrollable commitment to learning. So match this up with my occasional insomnia and love of working very hard, and I get myself caught up in some very…interesting…adventures. 


This week, I launched a very large project which I will be advertising once it officially goes live and makes it past the test hurdles. I’ve been zig-zagging up and down the east coast this week, knocking down hurdles with my 2-ton bat. At one point, I made the mistake of calculating how many hours I had been awake: 39.5. Scary…but worth it in the end. 

I was in the Philly airport dining on a sumptuous dinner of Raisinets and apple juice. I was so exhausted that I could barely sit down – sounds counter-intuitive, though think of it as the jitters from too much adrenaline pumping through your system for too long. The thought of a full meal was making me a little queasy. So I opted for my beverage and candy of choice. Just enough to re-fuel and sending me packing off on another business trip, while I was only midway through my travels from the previous trip. 
  
Prior to my “Dinner of Warriors” as my friend, Stephen, called it, I just didn’t think I could do any more. I was so worn out and frustrated and disappointed. All I needed to do was take a deep breathe and re-evaluate. And that re-evaluation helped me take the long view. Did this suck a little bit right now, canceling all my personal plans for the week, eating candy for dinner, and living in the same clothes for several days as I got sent off in every which direction to keep the wheels on the bus that is my product launch? Sure. But I have a little secret – I kind of like the rush and the excitement of churn and the unknown. It’s when I feel most alive. And this tough economy, it’s not such a bad trait to have. And today when I advocated for the product to launch and received the green light, it was worth it. Well worth it. 

So now that I am back and cozy in my New York apartment, smiling and on my way out for a celebratory drink with my friend, Cindy, I know if need be, I’ll do it all over again. And my guess is that the need will indeed exist in the not-so-distant future. Next time, I’ll remember a change of clothes and a toothbrush. There may be a lot of Raisinets and apple juice in my future.   
business, care, career, economy, relationships, social work

Ask not what your company can do for you…

Christa Avampato

I was talking with a friend of mine from school today about, what else, the economy. We have big dreams – things to do, people to see, places to go. We were movin’ on up….until our economy tanked. Now we’re happy to just be employed. We talked about the morale in our respective offices. The morale of my team is going okay – his is not quite so good. I asked him how he felt about his future at the company and he gave me a wholly unexpected response. 


“In times like this, it’s better to think of what I can do for the company rather than think about what the company can do for me,” he said. “Who would you want to have around?: someone who’s always looking out for #1 or someone who’s looking out for everyone around him.” Good point.

In times like this when there is a lot of panic and anxiety, it’s only natural to think of ourselves and our own survival. As it turns out, the best way to survive is to look out for others, to connect with others, to support others in their pursuits. Think about it from another viewpoint – in tough times it would be easy for companies to just focus on their own survival. The truly innovative companies are finding their salvation in premium customer service – if they take care of customers now, when times are tough, those customers will remember them when the good times start to roll again. And they will roll again, no matter how bad it is now. Taking the long-view is critical to success years down the road. You’ve got to be willing to hang in there for the long haul. It’s no accident that the first for letters of “career” spell “care.” And that’s what businesses need right – people who honestly, deeply care about the present and the future. 

It’s like friendship, it’s like love. Tom Stoppard said, “It’s easy to love someone at their best. Love is loving someone at their worst.” When we’re down and out, we find out who really cares about us because those are the ones that stick around and help us pick up the pieces. It’s true in relationships and it’s true for businesses, too. Both need tending and nurturing, now more than ever.      
friendship, history, movie, politics

John Adams

Christa Avampato

I don’t have HBO and missed out on the showing of John Adams. I read parts of the book by David McCullough when I was in business school. I took a class, on the Lawn, about Thomas Jefferson. Being a great Jefferson friend, then adversary, then friend again, John Adams had to be included. 


The HBO film and book bring to light the frightening prospect that Americans faced upon declaring their independence. We take this for granted today — of course we are free and independent. The film drives home a visual image of the frightening times that led up to, through, and after the Revolution. They took a “leap in the dark” as Adams said to Jefferson. You get a feeling for the contentious, volatile, and passionate personalities. And it’s a good education in politics and negotiation. 

Ben Franklin had two quotes in the second part that effected me so much that I paused the DVD to write them down: “Politics is the art of the possible” and “Diplomacy is seduction in another guise. One improves with practice.” I think about these two quotes in light of our recent elections. How President Obama focused on the possible – how he ignited people’s sense of hope with that idea – and how elegantly and patiently he played out his hand. He was the unlikeliest of candidates, by his own admission. There must have been times that he was uncertain, even scared or nervous. I imagine there must have been times when he would step back, breathe, and take another step forward. I am envy this kind of patience, and I am working on it as an area of development.

In John Adams, we see that Adams had no patience. H wanted to act swiftly and without hesitation. And he nearly missed the very allies he was looking for, even though they were standing right in front of him – the gentlemen from Virginia: Washington and Jefferson, one who would lead the battle by sword and the other by his pen. They also had this reverence for patience and humility. They had the same goals as Adams – an independent republic and governance by the people; they just went about achieving them in different ways.

The movie also makes it clear that each player has his part and I was left wondering if we’d have this nation today at all if any of those personalities had not been present. It made me re-consider the frustrations I have sometimes felt on group projects and it gave me greater perspective and appreciation for people I have sometimes terms “difficult”. Maybe we all need a John Adams in our lives to help us to value and take decisive actions when the opportunities arise. And maybe we also need a Franklin, Washington, and Jefferson to teach us the value of diplomacy in getting what we want and to help us believe in the art of the possible. Most of all the film makes the case for a group of close advisers, no matter what path we take in life.       
career, innovation, invention, New York City, product, product development, women

Zakkerz: women of New York, save your pants

Christa Avampato

A professor at my business school teaches a new product development class and her first set of advice to her students is, “if you want to create a new product, think about what gives you pain in your life. And then find a way to solve it.” Chances are if it’s causing you pain, it’s causing others pain, too. The ladies who invented Zakkerz did just that.


It’s a simple product: a pair of strong magnets wrapped at opposite ends of a piece of fabric used to hold pant cuffs in place. “Who needs that?” you may be wondering. Every working woman in New York City, and every other city in this country where commuting to work by public transportation is necessary. I recently gave up a job in New Jersey and the associated commute by car, to work downtown and commute by subway. Great for my quality of life, bad for the hems of my pants. I put on my sneakers or my Privos to get to work – problem is my pants are hemmed for heels. Enter Zakkerz. I cuff my pants, snap on a set of Zakkerz per pant leg, and off I go. 

I just had dinner with some girlfriends having this same exact problem I was having, and recommended the product to them. So simple, and yet so ingenious. It’s products like this that make me wonder, “now why didn’t I think of that?” I’m glad someone did.  

Get a pair for yourself, available in a variety of colors, at http://www.zakkerz.com/index.html
Christmas, Disney, FAO, movie, Muppet, NBC, retail, shopping, Today Show

The Muppets are Taking Back Manhattan

Christa Avampato

When I went out to Los Angles to call on Disney in June, I spent some time in the archives digging through old Muppet memorabilia. Like a kid in a candy store, I sat for a few hours with those materials wondering why in the world the brand has been dormant for so long. I grew up on the Muppet Show — I think at my very young age, it was a large influence on my interest in theatre that led to my career in the industry two decades later. I loved the idea that an audience could we watching a show on stage and then having an entirely different drama unfolding in the wings. I was entranced by the idea of illusion. As I sat in the archive I wondered, aloud and to myself, why on Earth Disney had let the brand go dead. As it turns out, ideas, big ideas, were brewing. 


My buddy, Dan, and I wondered in to FAO Schwarz a few weeks ago. As Dan sang the Muppet theme going down the escalator (and received spontaneous public applause, thank you very much), we rounded the corner to find “The Muppet Whatnot Workshop“, a make-your-own Muppet boutique. Choose the color, eyes, nose, hair, and clothes. You name it, you can make it. It’s a clever twist on the make your own trend tied to a beloved brand that is seeing a resurgence. You can also design and purchase on-line at http://www.fao.com/catalog/factories/muppets.jsp# (As an aside, FAO Schwarz will open toy boutiques at 200 locations inside of Macy’s stores across the country for the holiday season. It will be interesting to see what kind of merchandise they choose to stock and how they will set up these stores.)

In other Muppet news, there is a new movie that will be released in 2009 featuring our Muppet pals. Details about the film are few and far between. Jason Segel of Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall fame is the lead writer. And in my limited research findings I stumbled upon a blog that tracks the latest Jim Henson News – “The Muppet Newsflash” – that has some information on the picture. 

In addition, the Muppets will be taking over the set of the Today Show (NBC) tomorrow morning, November 13th, for 30 minutes during the 8:00am hour. It might just be the best day Matt Lauer’s ever had at work. And with all the depressing news about the economy these days, we could all use a little Muppet humor. So grab your morning coffee, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.   
Chicago, exercise, friendship, health, marathon, New York City, Real Simple, running, theatre, wellness

October 14, 2001

Christa Avampato

Several months ago, I submitted a story to Real Simple Magazine to answer the question, “Tell us about one of the most important days of your life in 1500 words or less.” I’m sure a lot of people wrote about their wedding day, or their kids bring born, a graduation. I wrote about the marathon I ran in in Chicago in 2001, a month after September 11th. I was on the eve of losing my job and was heart-broken that my city had been violated so terribly. I was angry, confused, and scared. For that month after the attack, I felt alone. The Chicago marathon changed some of those feelings for me, and as it turns out it was one of the most poignant moments of my life. Here’s the story:


“In the summer of 2001, I was in Toronto on the Broadway tour of The Full Monty. I was the first person hired full-time for the tour and we had grand plans. I had been working so much that I had neglected my workout schedule and decided a big goal would help me to recommit. In the Fall the tour would be traveling to Chicago, and the Chicago marathon would be in the middle of our run.

I was a cross-country runner in high school and always interested in running a marathon. Chicago was a perfect opportunity! I recruited my friend, Mark, the drummer on the show, to run with me. He wanted to get in better shape, too, and agreed to go the distance with me. I purchased a training book that laid out an ambitious but doable schedule for us and we were off.

Long runs, short runs, speed workouts, stretching, improved eating habits. Mark was with me every step of the way, everyday, with his cheery attitude and lovely British accent. There was no way I could have gotten through the experience without him. Training in Toronto was a magical time in my life because I felt like I was regaining my sense of self. It was easy to get lost in my work, and I needed to rediscover who I was and where my life was going. This training helped me do that.

Before Chicago, we had a brief hiatus and I returned to New York City for a few weeks. I did a few touristy things I had always wanted to do. On September 7th, I ventured to the World Trade Center and had a look around. I had never been to that neighborhood before. There wasn’t anything particularly remarkable about that afternoon. I remember that it was a long, beautiful walk along the Battery. I do remember looking out over the water and feeling lucky to be there. I looked forward to coming back to New York when the tour was over.

I left for Chicago on September 9th. Mark and I were getting into top physical shape, and were glad to be reunited to finish our training in Chicago. And then September 11th happened. My brother left me a message that morning, panicked that I was in New York. I figured he heard about some kind of crime in the city on the news. I dismissed his concern as nothing more than his overprotective nature and sense of exaggeration. I tried to call him back and his cell number was busy. Odd. I tried to call my mom. Busy. Was the entire AT&T network down?

I walked to work that morning, winding my way through the theatre district in Chicago. A beautiful day. I had never been to Chicago before and was entranced by it. This was going to be a great run for us. I stopped in at the Corner Bakery to get a coffee and a danish. Could life be any better? Then I got to work.

My boss was frantically searching on the internet, listening to NPR. The office phone was ringing off the hook.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Two planes flew into the World Trade Center.”

“By accident?” I asked.

“I don’t think so,” he replied.

And then everything was different.

My beautiful city, the very area I had been only days before, was in chaos. We worked all day, talking with our producers, easing the fears of our company members, and trying to calm our own fears. Finally, they closed the Loop in Chicago, and we were forced to leave the theatre.

I went to visit my friends and finally saw so many of the pictures that people had been watching all day. It was even more devastating than I had imagined. I went to bed that night thinking that our nation would never be the same, that all these years I had taken our safety for granted. I was right on both counts.

Within a month, our show announced its closing and we lost our jobs. The bottom fell out of the theatre industry. But before closing down, Mark and I ran the marathon. On Saturday, October 14th, we arrived at the starting line at 6am. We dropped off our valuables at check-in and got our numbers. We had trained hard in the final weeks – running was the only time of day I felt useful. Still, I was worried that we weren’t ready. Maybe we wouldn’t be able to finish. Maybe there was just no point to anything anymore.

We lined up, the gun went off, and slowly we wound our way through the neighborhoods of Chicago. The morning was sunny, the temperature perfect. A few miles in, I found that for the first time in a month, I noticed the sunshine, and felt warm. Mark and I stopped at every water and food station to keep our energy up.

What struck me the most about that race was the generosity of the crowd lining the entire route. I hadn’t expected that. They had orange slices and popcorn, cowbells and signs to cheer us on. That crowd made me believe in the goodness of the world, in our ability to reaffirm life. 

17 miles in, my knees began to ache terribly. “Come on, Love. We can do this,” Mark said. With that vote of confidence, he gave me a Tylenol. My knee pain was gone in minutes since my blood had been pumping strong for over two hours. Mentally, I was still feeling rattled. And then Mark did something that will make me love him forever. Mark asked me, “How did you start running?”

No one had ever asked me that before. Truth was, I started running to run away from my life. My dad was sick for most of my childhood and during my teen years, the situation in my home grew dire. I suffered from insomnia, and found that long-distance running would tire me out enough to sleep peacefully for a few hours. When I was racing, I knew my family was proud of me. I also thought if I could get good enough, I might be able to go to college on a partial scholarship. There was no money in my family to send me to college.

In my junior year of high school, I sustained a terrible injury that knocked me out for the season. I was devastated. I felt broken. I had a hard time walking for a number of months and began to run on my injured foot too soon, re-injuring it. A few months later, my father passed away after a long illness. While there was more peace in the house after his passing, it was an uncomfortable silence. That spring, I ran to forget, to hide. I didn’t care if I won any event. I just wanted to exhaust myself.

After that injury, I had the goal of someday running a marathon to pay tribute to my family for having lived through a difficult time. So this was it. This marathon was for my family. And if I could make it 26.2 miles, I’d believe that finally my body and my spirit were no longer broken.

Mark was quiet the whole time. I thought he might be bored with my droning. Turns out he was just a very good listener. “I’m sure that today your dad’s proud of you,” Mark said. And I believed him.

At the 26-mile mark, the finish line was in sight. There were banners flying high, and masses of people cheering. I felt like I was flying. At that point, Mark and I had to split because they timed men and women separately. We’d reunite at the end of the race. I smiled so wide crossing that finish line that I thought my face might crack. I lost all sense of exhaustion and burden. Mark and I made it – 26.2 miles in less than four and a half hours, step by step, together.

That day, I learned more about the world than any other day before or since. I developed a special fondness for Chicago – I felt that the crowd who came out that day breathed new life into me at a time when I felt very hollow and alone. That crowd helped me to refocus on the generosity and commitment of people to a community. Despite a dark set of circumstances facing all of us, we could rediscover happiness and enlightenment and move forward. I learned that true friendship carries us in the most trying times. I’m forever indebted to Mark for his positive attitude and belief in me. Almost 10 years after my dad’s passing, I lived up to the promise to honor my family. I raced toward sunshine, and found it. And I have been alight ever since. “

The photo above can be found at: http://riseupomenofgod.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/running-man.jpg

career, corporation, education, job, magazine, Obama, Penn, work

A victory for generalists

Christa Avampato

Change at a fast pace can be disconcerting. 2 years ago, I was in the middle of my second (and last) year of graduate school. I knew I’d be doing an off-grounds job search, and my only criteria for my next employer was that I be treated with respect and be in New York City. Beyond that, the options were endless. I was grateful for a (seemingly) strong economy that allowed me to take my time to find the right match.


I was exploring a myriad of options, networking with alum in all stages of their careers and in different industries. I was explaining to one of my career counselors that I really enjoyed having a job where I wore a number of different hats. He looked at me quizzically. He is one of those people who really prefers to file people into neat little boxes. Needless-to-say, I cannot be confined to a neat little box of any kind when it comes to my career. (Mind you, this career counselor convinced the majority of my classmates to become investment bankers and management consultants and we see how that story’s gone in the last few months…) After I explained my varied work experience to him and employment possibilities I was considering he said to me, “Well, Christa, eventually we all have to decide what we want to be when we grow up. We can’t stay generalists forever.” Little did he, or I, know that being a generalist is just about the best thing I could be in the job market that would exist 2 years later. 

I walked away feeling a little badly about myself and my life. Maybe I was aimless; maybe I was like one of those little kids raiding her mother’s closet and wearing grown-up clothes that are 5 sizes too big. I was masquerading as a grown-up, with no intention of actually ever growing up. I am happy with my own special brand of optimistic realism. Fittingly, I went to work for a toy company right after graduation whose motto is, “I don’t want a grow up. I’m a ….” You get the idea. I found my place in the world being exactly who I am.

Surprisingly to that career counselor of mine, though no to me, being a generalist is what is savings me (furiously knocking on wood) right now in this economy. My broad-based experience is allowing me to play many different roles on one stage – I can do whatever task needs to be done at the time it needs to be done. And that’s true of many people I work with. It also happens to be true of President-elect Obama – his broad-based experience allowed him to speak genuinely to people from many different walks of life. His honesty, humility, and ability to emotionally connect with so many people and bring them together played a large part in his victory. It also helps that he’s brilliant, confident, and capable. He is a generalist at heart. 

This week, my Penn alumni magazine ran an article by President Amy Guttman entitled “A Pitch for the Uncharted Path” that described her speech at this year’s convocation. Like me, she meandered across a whole host of disciplines as an undergraduate, stopping to inspect anything and everything that interested her. And now she is Penn’s President, a job that could only be filled by a infinitely-curious generalist. She encouraged the newly matriculated class to be open to the possibilities that will be set before them in the coming four years. Being a person who has wanted to be everything from a champion dog breeder to an astronaut, I whole-heartedly agree. 

Our world is complex, and to get into the thick of it and make a positive impact, we have to appreciate every shred of that complexity. The best way to gain that appreciation is to live our lives in many different directions, on many different planes. Yes, this is a time that “a genius wants to live.” And it wouldn’t hurt if that genius also moonlighted as a generalist. 
books, government, history, Obama, politics

A time for geniuses

Christa Avampato

Traditionally, grade A educations have been more prevalent in elite, affluent circles. But the tide may be turning on that trend – Obama could do for high-quality education what Target did for design. He could make it desired by, and possible for, all.


This past week I had lunch one day with a group of people I don’t know well. We were discussing the election and one of my lunch companions said, “Who would ever want to be President at a time like this?” This morning, I was watching Meet the Press. Doris Kearns Goodwin, Presidential historian and author of Team of Rivals, quoted Abigail Adams when asked about how Obama will govern with all of the problems he is facing. “These are times that a genius wants to live.” If only I had access to that quote during my lunch. 

And the same could be said of anyone who runs any kind of team, any kind of company. The challenge, the fun is rolling up our sleeves when things are messy and in disarray and setting them straight again. It’s in the churn that we find our new direction. Abigail Adams was right — this is a time that a genius wants to live. And I would add, it is also a time when a genius wants to lead. Thank goodness we had the sense and foresight to elect one.      

books, career, corporation, literature, women, writer

Rise up and reach down

Christa Avampato

Last week I heard Ursula Burns, President of Xerox, speak. Like President Obama, she calls herself an unlikely candidate to the President of a company like Xerox. She was raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, went to school at Brooklyn Poly, and has never accomplished a single thing on the life to-do list she created as a young student. What she has done is become a shining example of achievement and the use of adversity as a tool for advancement rather than an excuse for set-backs.

Of all the topics she discussed with us this week, there is one quote that stands out in my mind. Like me, she is a fan of author Anna Quindlen. She heard Quindlen speak a few years ago and reminds herself of Quindlen’s favorite quote that she uses to close every talk. When asked about her motto in life, Quindlen says, “Rise up and reach down.” Strive to get ahead, and take others with you.

In these times when so many people are concerned about their jobs, their financial stability, and their future prospects for success, it can be tough to imagine rising up. At the moment, they’re just trying to tread water. But rising up can mean something more than just advancing our careers. Rising up is what we did on Tuesday – regardless of the candidates we voted for, simply going out to vote is a form of rising up. Going to the leadership at our companies with innovative ideas to save on costs, delight and support customers, or diversify our offerings – that’s rising up, too. Speaking out, getting involved, lending our time, funding, and support in our communities – that is rising up.

There is something to be said for being part of a rising tide that lifts all boats. If I am successful, that is a win for every demographic that I belong to: women, Generation X, people who put themselves through school, my alma maters (Penn and UVA). Ursula Burns calls it “winning because of everything I am, not in spite of it. My race, my gender, my demographics are certainly involved in how successful I am because they make me who I am.”

Barack Obama’s victory on Tuesday was a victory for community organizers, Democrats, blacks, those of mixed races, youth, social media users, those who value and exhibit eloquence, people who seek to educate themselves to improve their lots in life. Everything that he is, “a mutt” as he called himself yesterday in his first press conference since his win on Tuesday, made his victory possible. And with his signature humility and ability to unite people from every walk of life, he took us with him. He exemplifies Quindlen’s and Burns’s ideal of rising up and reaching down. We would all do well to live by this example.

career, frustration, Lauren Zalaznick, regulations, rules, work

Transforming a cage into a net

Christa Avampato

I heard Lauren Zalaznick, the President of Bravo, speak several weeks ago and she drew a metaphor that I have been thinking about ever since. She is a marketing guru and someone who has lived through and thrived in hard times. 

NBC Universal (and that company includes Bravo) belongs to the giant conglomerate that is GE. And as the result of being part of a very large company within a very large empire, there are lots of rules and regulations, a.k.a. guardrails. But rather that seeing those rules as a cage, she encourages her team to see those as a net, a safety net. We have to find ways to use them to our advantage rather than feeling suffocated and down-trodden by them. This is not easy, particularly for people like me – self-professed critics of authority who enjoy small non-conventional environments. Lauren Zalaznick has been incredibly successful at turning around Bravo, despite the many rules set by NBC and compounded by entirely different rules set by GE. Clearly, she’s found a way to make it work, and I’d like to do the same. 

Here are ways that I’ve been using rules to my advantage, to build a net from what was formerly a cage:

It’s a matter of perspective – simply imaging the rules as a safety net rather than a cage has helped me to appreciate and respect them. 

It’s all good learning – I have recognized that rules and regulations are put in place for a reason, so before I get frustrated with a rule, I consider in what situations it can be helpful and necessary. And this has led me to be more grateful for, rather than resentful of, those rules. 

Transformation is led from the inside out: if you want to change the rules, you have to first learn them and use them. I am supremely interested in constant improvement, transformation, and change. And if I am ever going to make an impact on a large company, I will have to do it from the inside. This means learning the rules, and then figuring out how to improve and mold them to function exceptionally well. 

I’m not saying this new way of thinking is easy. I still get frustrated, sometimes daily, by the rules. But when I do get frustrated, following these three lines of thought helps me work through the frustration, and turns that frustration into a tool rather than a roadblock.