As someone who moves between the worlds of business and art, a business woman with an MBA and a full-time writer, I see them both as creative acts. Both require inspiration and perspiration to build something of value. The difference is where each begins. In business, we assess the market early on in the process. It is largely an act of educated calculation and we try to mitigate risk. In art, market assessment is messy, if not impossible. We have to create art before we know if there’s an audience for it. Art is an act of faith. And the more we risk in art, the better. To have impact, business and art need an audience. They just go about finding their audiences is very different (and wonderful) ways. I do know this: I love them and need them both because together, they make my life richer. In this next chapter of my career, my art, my writing, is also the center my business.
My friend, Alex, looks at all my new project ideas because she sees my blind spots. The one she always points out is that I don’t give enough credit to my own experience and point-of-view. When you pitch a new project, you make a list of resources you have. Things like money, time, and connections probably make the list. Do you list your talents that make you the best person to get the job done? You should. You’re what matters most. You are your best asset. Thanks for the lesson, Alex!
Check out Alex’s latest venture, Stargrass Paper, purveyor of keenly curated cards, journals, and writing instruments. (In full disclosure, I’m a member of the company’s advisory board and I think it’s awesome!)
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.
Tomorrow marks two important milestones: the opening night of Sing After Storms and my two-year anniversary of starting my company, Chasing Down the Muse. If someone had told me two years ago that June 18th my first original play would open in New York City with the talented team that’s on board, I would have laughed myself silly. When we take a chance, a really big chance, amazing things can happen. It’s all possible: yes, we can sing after storms, and yes, we can chase down the muse. First, we must have the courage to begin. Then, it’s a matter of daily dedication and effort.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to financially turn more of my attention toward my own professional projects. There are a lot of options available to business owners today to finance their work – debt, investment, crowdfunding, grants, partnerships, sponsorships. The list is endless. For the next 3 months, I’ve got a full work plate. After that, I want to take some time and figure out how to refocus on this very long list of ideas that may deserve their shot at a life off the page. I’m already excited about taking that journey.
Wise Bread is a site that celebrates living well on a budget and I’m overjoyed to announce that I’m officially a staff writer for this site that I have long loved and admired. I’ll be posting a few times a week on a wide range of topics including food, travel, technology, personal finance, design, and career. My first post “How to Spend Less on Everything in 2014” is now live. I hope you’ll check it out.
Frugal living is how I make my freelance life work. Its principles pervade how I eat, where I travel, what I do, and how I think about money. It’s about saving, spending on things that matter, and smartly using the fuel of money to fund a life we love. It’s about eliminating wasteful habits and expenditures that are draining our bank accounts and limiting our freedom. I’m excited to share the journey with you!
Very happy to share the news that my commercial voice over demo is complete and uploaded. Here is the link if you’d like to give it a listen: http://www.voices.com/people/christanyc.
Now it’s time to get to get out there, learn from, and share with the voice over community. Over the next few months, I’ll be hard at work using this demo as I build this new dimension and service to my content development business. I’m excited for the journey ahead! Here’s a little bit more info about me and my work:
About my voice:
Smooth voice of a trusted source, friend, and girl-next-door. Honest and personal with a sense of humor that is both subtle and smart. Communicate an authentic upbeat enthusiasm while remaining classy, knowledgable, and professional. Range varies from conversational to charming to sultry.
What clients get by working with me:
I am a storyteller. I’m collaborative, easy to work with, insanely prompt, diligent, and take direction well. My job is to deliver a voice over that clients love that represents their brands and products in the very best light.
As a journalist I cover the convergence of culture, technology, and business. I also write slice-of-life pieces and conduct one-on-one interviews for feature writing. Additionally, I am a playwright, book editor, and write on-brand content for companies.
I have an MBA from the Darden School at UVA and have worked in strategic marketing and product development roles at American Express, Toys R Us, Disney, The Home Depot, and several large nonprofit organizations. I began my career in management for Broadway shows and national theater tours.
If you are interested in working with me, or know someone who is, send me a message at christa.avampato@gmail.com.
Focus. Every time I think of entrepreneurs I admire, they all have this one quality in common.
My friend, Alex, has mentioned the story of Spanx founder Sara Blakely to me several times over the years. Sara created a women’s hoisery product that shook up an industry. At 42, she is the only female self-made billionaire in the world.
I’ve been inspired by Sarabeth Levine of Sarabeth‘s restaurant and specialty food company ever since seeing her a while back on a morning talking show. Sarabeth turned her family’s 200-year-old recipe for Orange-Apricot Marmalade that she made in her kitchen into a company that now has a jam factory, 9 restaurants, and an entire specialty food company.
Frownies are another amazing product created by a single female entrepreneur, Margaret Kroesen, who continuously turned difficult circumstances into business opportunities with her beauty products. She created her original wrinkle-reducing facial pads in 1889 for herself and her daughter to reduce fine lines and wrinkles without harsh skin treatments.
These entrepreneurs built companies based upon one single product that they perfected. These women created a simple product they loved and then pounded the pavement to get it into the hands of people who would benefit from it. What one, simple product can you build, perfect, and sell to begin crafting your story and your fortune?
Today and tomorrow I’ll be poking around the hallways of the Javitz Center as I cover the ad:tech New York Conference for Allvoices.com. I covered Advertising Week for this same publication and I’m excited to have a second act with them. Though smaller in scale, I expect the learning at this conference to be every bit as eye-opening. I’m actually counting on it. And you can come along for the ride. Follow me on Twitter through the hashtag #adtechny. Also, read my Allvoices column for breakdowns of the different sessions I attend and the interesting characters I meet. Glad to have you with me. As always, questions, comments, and observations are both welcomed and encouraged.
Twitter is one of my favorite social media channels. You can find me at @christanyc. I use it in a number of ways personally and professionally.
1.) Connect, connect, connect
Twitter has liberated connections. If someone is on Twitter, they want to be found. With a simple @(their Twitter handle), you can reach someone to ask a question, give a shout out, or tell them about something you think they’d find interesting. By connecting, I’ve turned Twitter contacts into offline friends, mentors, and business partners. On a personal note, I’ve even dated a few great guys that I initially met via tweets.
2.) Learn and stay up-to-date with breaking news
Twitter is a great source of information. People constantly post interesting links and breaking news is now often first reported on Twitter rather than major news outlets. If you are an information junkie, Twitter is the place for you to indulge.
3.) Share
The flip side of learning is of course sharing out things that matters to you. I often tweet about charities I support, products I love, people who inspire me, and places I’ve been that deliver great experiences.
4.) Find your pack
This is a big one for me. Twitter is a wonderful place to find people who care about the same things you care about. You can find them and they can find you based upon hashtags, keyword searches, and common followers.
5.) Promote
Because I talk about my professional projects via Twitter, people who are interested in the same kind of work can connect directly with me about it.
6.) Get help
I often ask questions on Twitter when I need help with something – advice, referral, or general curiosity. My favorite Twitter help story is about JetBlue. I was in Florida visiting my family and my flight was cancelled due to a snow storm. I couldn’t get through to Jet Blue customer service on the phone so I tweeted them. I had a new flight booked in under three minutes – confirmation number and all.
7.) Live tweeting and Twitter chats
When I’m at an event – often a conference – I tweet interesting tidbits, soundbites, pictures, and links live from the event. This lets people who aren’t at the event get a chance to experience it and helps me to connect with people who are also at the event. Twitter chats are conversations around a specific theme with a wide range of people moderated by a single individual. Both live tweeting and Twitter chats can be discovered by their hashtags.
8.) Prospective work
I monitor my Twitter account closely for followers and people who favorite or retweet my tweets. I’ll often reach out via a direct message, follow-up tweet, or write to them via the email addresses on their websites. This has helped me discover great professional partnerships that I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to make. I recently did this after Advertising Week. I sent out about a dozen follow-up messages to people whom I had interacted with on Twitter in some way related to the event. I got a reply from almost everyone and a number of them led to meetings that may turn into collaborative projects.
9.) Sales, giveaways, and exclusive invitations
I’ve done a few different giveaways via my Twitter account. A lot of brands do this as well. If you have a brand that you love, check them out on Twitter. Many brands offer all kinds of exclusive opportunities that you can only get on Twitter.
As you can see it pays, literally and figuratively, to be on Twitter personally and professionally. In addition to my personal Twitter handle, I also manage the Twitter accounts for @CompassYoga and @OneFineYogi. Those accounts are less active than my personal account, though I use the same types of strategies for them.
Are you on Twitter? How have you made it work for you?
Christa Avampato 