Category: business

business, corporation, philanthropy, yoga

Beautiful: Compass Yoga Begins a Corporate Yoga and Meditation Program To Further Our Mission

Christa Avampato

Compass Yoga is working hard to get more yoga to more people in more places. We now teach well over 200 people per week in a dozen classes with a team of a dozen tremendously talented teachers. We’ve been applying for grant funding so that we can expand our reach online and off.

In addition to philanthropic funds, we have also started to reach out to companies to establish corporate yoga programs that will generate a new revenue stream to support our work in the community.

Why companies should partner with Compass:
It is daunting for a company to construct, manage, and assess a yoga program. I have worked for the Walt Disney Company, The Home Depot, Toys R Us, and American Express as a product developer. I know first-hand that corporate employess are increasingly being asked to do more with less, and that is particularly true for human resource professionals inside these companies.

Enter Compass Yoga, a New York City-based nonprofit that focuses on improving the health of all people by teaching therapeutic yoga and meditation classes. For two years, we have partnered with the New York Public Library to bring over a dozen weekly classes to communities in Manhattan. Our incredibly talented and dedicated group of teachers provides open level classes that are suitable for all levels from beginner to advanced.

What companies get by partnering with Compass:
– Receive open-level yoga and meditation classes, pre- and post-natal, and therapeutics for those who have health challenges.

– Support a nonprofit that is helping underserved communities where your employees live and work. Currently we teach open level classes, senior chair yoga classes, and we are putting together the city’s first free pre- and post-natal evening yoga program through the New York Public Library.

– Benefit from the highest levels of professionalism and customer service in the yoga industry as well as regular qualitative and quantitative assessments of the program to help us craft a customized program that perfectly suits your company.

Why companies need corporate yoga:
On Tuesday, March 19th, Arianna Huffington co-hosted Squawk Box. Her guest that day was Mark Bertolini, CEO of Aetna. To increase both the quality of life for its employees and its bottom line, Aetna has invested in a corporate yoga program for all of its 30,000 employees to help them decreased stress levels and health care costs while increasing creativity, productivity, and performance.

The research
A quick snapshot of the costs of chronic stress are astonishing and explains why Mr. Bertolini has placed wellness at the forefront of his human resources strategy:

– The World Health Organization puts the cost of stress to American businesses is as high as $300 billion per year.

– The CDC estimates that 75% of all health care spending goes toward preventable chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure. High blood pressure alone costs $130 billion per year to treat. 

– The American Academy of Family Physicians found that 2/3 of doctor visits are for preventable stress-related conditions.

Additionally, Michael Porter, Elizabeth Teisberg, and Scott Wallace recently published research findings in HBS Working Knowledge, that showed that U.S employers spend 200 – 300% more for the indirect costs of health care — in the form of absenteeism, sick days, and lower productivity — than they do on actual health care payments. Their main recommendation to employers is to “mount an aggressive approach to wellness, prevention, screening and active management of chronic conditions.”

If your company would like to find out more, we’d love to hear from you! Contact us. 

books, business, creativity, work

Book Review – Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster

Christa Avampato

What gets measured gets done. I think about this idea every day as I run my business. Authors Alistair Kroll and Ben Yoskovitz wrote Lean Analytics to help entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs from companies and organizations of all shapes, sizes, and persuasions to answer the following questions:

1.) What data is important to my work?
2.) Why is it important?
3.) How do I measure it?
4.) What do I do with the results?

In addition to this straight-shooting advice, it’s also chock-full of case studies and interviews, as well as thought-provoking graphics that will have us digging deep into the questions of life, happiness, and the meaning of worthwhile work. It provides readers with a set of exercises to help you ask the right questions of yourself and your team and get to the answers as quickly as possible. My favorite exercise is a one page business plan template that takes 20 minutes. It’s turnkey resources like this that make this book priceless for everyone who desires to build anything of value. It’s useful on a holistic basis, and also for individual projects and teams.

Throughout the book, you’ll find key takeaways clearly highlighted and embedded within the relevant text. Lean Analytics packs a powerful punch of information. These key takeaways keep readers focused and on-track so that the information is highly relevant and immediately useful rather than overwhelming.

Another key feature that so few books have is a section that helps readers figure out the stage of their business or project. Then it goes further by giving us litmus tests to make sure we’ve assessed the situation fairly, are working on the right problems, and measuring our progress accurately. If your business builds a product or service, this book is priceless – it takes you through the discovery, development, build, and testing processes in an approachable, step-by-step manner.

Owning a copy of Lean Analytics is like having a management consultant / cheerleader / truth sayer right by your side every step of the way. Get it and use it well.

business, entrepreneurship, time

Beautiful: Be Your Own Consultant

Christa Avampato

From PinterestAbout a year ago when I was preparing to leave my corporate job to start my own company, I went to see Brian, my incredibly wise and supportive therapist and coach. I was telling him about all of my concerns and questions as I began this new venture. His few words of advice: “be your own consultant.”

We (myself included) love to give advice to others, but we don’t always apply our advice to our own careers and lives. For example, I decided to mine the social media following of one of my clients as leads for new partnership development opportunities. Why haven’t I done the same, simple task with my own social media following? On Saturday, I sat down and did just that. I’ve had a number of product ideas kicking around in my head and had yet to spec them out. Yesterday, I put (actual) pen to paper, created the user interface design, and sketched a product development timeline and work plan, just as I’ve done for clients and employers many times before. This time, this work was all for me and it felt amazing!

It’s empowering to be my own consultant, to listen and take my own advice. There’s a lot of peace and confidence to be gained in action. Give it a try – it may just be the toughest job you’ll ever love.  

business, dreams, entrepreneurship

Meet Ritc Founder, Dave Goldberg

Christa Avampato

Dave and I went to business school together. Ever since we have talked about what it takes to leave behind a steady job for the sake of building something of our own. I made that jump in June and Dave is on his way as well with the founding of Ritc. Congrats, Dave. Welcome to the movement!

I felt it even today. The encroachment of failure. The feeling like I was losing ground, giving up, just letting opportunities pass. It’s not a good feeling, but unfortunately it’s one that I’ve been quite familiar with throughout my life. When I think about it, the feeling has been part of a larger pattern that I feel has stymied my progress many times.

Step 1 – It starts with an idea or an opportunity. I’m a fairly creative person and I find that I see opportunities and new ideas in almost everything. Mostly this is a good thing.

Step 2 – Sometimes I get very excited by whatever crazy scheme I’m thinking of, so I start pursuing it in one form or another. Usually I conduct some kind of research to test the viability. And that leads to Step 3.

Step 3 – Obstacles. The first major potential failure point.

Step 4 – Fear, Doubt and Uncertainty (FUD).

Step 5 – Give up on idea.

Step 6 – Disappointment in myself. If I didn’t become wildly successful at my idea (due to not actually trying or committing to it), I feel like a loser and I mark it as another personal failure. A failure of my own character. This is very hard to digest. You see for me, my expectations of myself have never been different from my wildest aspirations, and so I set up a system for myself where I always feel that I am an underachiever because I don’t immediately succeed.

Step 7 – Get over it.

Step 8 – Repeat the process all over again. Weirdly, I’m a very optimistic person when the time horizon is long!

Did you catch the step where it all breaks down? It’s definitely not Step 3. Everyone deals with multiple obstacles on the way to achieving anything in life.

Step 4? I used to think so, but I’ve come around on that. I mean, if that’s the problem then I’m in big trouble – I just felt it TODAY for crying out loud! I do believe that over time, I can decrease the FUD factor, but I don’t believe it will go away and I don’t believe that is what REALLY gets in my way.

Step 6? Well, this is something I definitely want to change, but I don’t think it’s the key. I don’t think the key to my success is so…self-aware.

No, it’s not the steps where I feel resistance, whether real or perceived. As I’m sure you figured out already (faster than I did I’m quite sure), it’s Step 5 – giving up in the face of FUD. Giving up is the surest path to not achieving your goals.

But over the last year or so, as I’ve been building my new product and preparing to launch a new venture, I have started to take a slightly different approach. It’s called – DO IT ANYWAY (AKA Don’t Give Up At The First Sign of FUD). I’m going to be afraid. I’m going to be uncertain. I’m going to have doubts. But I believe in what I’m doing, and I’m not going to let those things stop me anymore.

This approach has been working. It’s hard, and sometimes I take 3 steps back before I recover a few steps forward, but I’m making progress. I have a long way to go, and many more opportunities to succumb to Step 5, but I know that I will succeed on some level if I just keep going.

I know that success in my venture is far from guaranteed, regardless of whether I give up or not. In the end I’m not sure that really matters. What matters is that when my daughter asks me if I tried to achieve my dreams, I will be able to tell her yes…I gave it my best shot. That’s my goal.

565295_10100772252127356_1856955235_nDave Goldberg lives in the Washington D.C. suburbs with his wife and daughter. He loves building products, the semantic web, and daydreaming. He is currently building Ritc, a platform to connect, automate, and build applications on the web. You can check it out at http://ritc.io.

business, work

Beautiful: What Jon Bon Jovi Teaches Corporate CEOs About Business and Leadership

Christa Avampato
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi

I recently read that a company is re-engineering (again) and laying off close to 10% of their workforce. The announcement is rather convoluted and it boils down to this: they don’t think the skills of the people that they have on staff meet today’s needs so they’re going to let them go and hire new people with different skills.

To this idea, I have one piece of advice: corporate CEOs, take a cue from Jon Bon Jovi. He respects every member of his band and when the chips are down for any single member, Jon gets them the help they need. He cares about them as people first, and as musicians and colleagues second.

To be perfectly honest, good business is not rocket science. Sure, there are some who are better at it than others, for whom business comes more naturally. However, all of it can be taught to anyone. And yes, that includes hot topics like product development, social media marketing, and coding. All that’s required is a qualified teacher and a willing student. To learn something new requires heart, passion, solid work ethics, and the desire to be helpful and useful. These are not the possessions of a chosen few; everyone can have those and with those traits, anything can be learned, rocket science included.

This retraining of existing staff is also good business. It costs companies millions of dollars to lay off staff and hire new people. Why not do as much as you can with the people you have? Give them a chance to adapt to a changing world by learning new skills. Companies need to invest their resources in training, not in re-engineering. This makes good sense for everyone – employees, companies, and shareholders.

I’m so sick of businesses treating people like line items on a spreadsheet rather than human beings who’ve given so much of their time to make these companies successful. And I’m especially sick of hearing CEOs use lines like “it’s not personal; it’s business.” Anything that involves people by its very nature is personal. It’s about time we start acting like people in business rather than drones. That’s what Jon would do and look how successful he is.

business, career, choices, decision-making

Leap: Is It Time to Specialize? Your Ideas Wanted!

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

Throughout the chaotic economic environment over the last 5 years, I have championed Generalists. I have taken pride in being one of them, in touting our expertise as people who can and do wear any hat. I love a vertical learning curve; I crave the opportunity to look at a seemingly impossible scenario and dismantle it bit by bit.

During my recent vacation to Florida, I devoured the book Yes, Chef, the autobiography of chef Marcus Samuelsson. The book is an incredible adventure story and his determination is center-stage throughout the story. From his teenage years, he was determined to be a world-renowned chef. His focus is inspiring, and it’s clear that this focus drives his phenomenal, though not always predictable, success. He’s very honest about the low points of his life and career, and he candidly describes his tremendous sacrifices for his work.

When I began the book, I was experiencing some twinges of concern over my freelance work. I was pitching a lot, and the slow cadence of August was frustrating me in the last days of the month. Reading Marcus’s book got me so hyped up that I wanted to jump out of my seat and keep on pitching. (And as I hoped and expected, September has picked up with a number of cool and interesting options in full-time and freelance work.)

His story also made me question my Generalist persona. Some people know me as a business strategist and product developer. Some people see me more as a writer. And still others look to me as a yoga and meditation teacher, as well as a nonprofit founder. Truth be told, I’m all of those things. I love them equally, and I have no desire to give any of them up for the sake of the others.

But should I? Would I be better served professionally and personally by solely focusing on one of these skill sets? Or should I concentrate my efforts in some other way (for example, if I went in the direction of health, should I work as a business strategist for health and wellness companies, while writing about health, and teaching yoga)?

I’m still entirely undecided on this front. It feels like an enormous decision and I don’t see a clear path as of yet. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, advice?

business, entrepreneurship, relationships, yoga

Leap: Business Lessons from an Adaptive Yoga Program for People with Cerebral Palsy

Christa Avampato

Yesterday a lovely and important email showed up in my inbox out of the blue. The United Cerebral Palsy of New York City chapter found the Compass Yoga website through our work with the New York Public Library and on Monday I am meeting with them to discuss the possibility of creating an adaptive yoga program for their constituents. I am passionate about serving differently-abled people and have been talking about this passion with all of you for years.

I tell you this new little tidbit for a variety of reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with this exciting and wonderful opportunity and everything to do with you as you build your own brand and business. Within this story are a number of incredibly valuable lessons for all of us.

1.) Figure out who you want to serve. I cannot stress this enough – you cannot and should not be all things to all people. There is a well-reasoned tendency for you to try. You don’t to miss an opportunity, particularly if it is for a worthy cause. People ask for your help. You’re good and kind person, and you have a whole lot of wonderful gifts to give. Now put all of that aside. Decide what you want your specific contribution to humanity to be. It’s not written in stone. You can change your mind down the road if you need to / want to. What you can’t do is run in every direction. Choose and go for it!

2.) With your direction chosen, put it out into the world. Write about it. Talk about it. Take pictures and shoot video about it. Tweet, FB, Pin it, Google+ it. Whatever it takes. You made choices and you’re ready to get out there and give the world your best version of you. Tell all of us that you’ve arrived – we want to know. And keep telling your story, over and over again to anyone and everyone.

3.) Straddle the line between impatient and patient. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is your reputation. However, you can’t rest on those lovely laurels of yours either. You’re reputation is a series of actions over a long period of time. You are literally swimming in opportunity. Pick up the bits and pieces that interest you, roll up your sleeves, and give them a whirl. You’ll see your small steps turn into big leaps if you stay focused and consistent.

Okay – stop reading and start doing. The people you are meant to serve are out there waiting for you. Go meet them.

business, dreams, entrepreneurship

Leap: The Secret Thrill of Incorporating Your Own Business

Christa Avampato

I’ve spent the last month teaching the ducks I put in a row to march to the beat of my drum. After taking my leap into my own business, I’ve gone about cultivating leads and working to turn those leads into tangible projects. As the Founder of a new business, it’s the best place for me to spend my time at the moment.

To get the administrative wheels turning, I received a recommendation for a great accountant who makes his living helping freelancers. The first week on my own, I took myself over to meet him and 15 minutes later he got to work filing my papers of incorporation for Chasing Down the Muse:

Today, I stopped by his office to pick up the finished package and my heart did a little dance when I saw my:

Certificate of Incorporation

Stock Certificates (seriously!)

Corporate Seal

It struck me that I didn’t just leap out on my own into the abyss when I left my corporate job. I walked out one door and through another, a door I designed with careful attention to detail that is framed by the work I love. Now its official – there’s nowhere to go but up from here. Now I begin to build. Now I unleash my craziest, wildest, most incredible dreams and see if they have wings. It’s now or never, and I prefer now!

business, creativity, entrepreneurship, work

Leap: Today is the 1 Month Anniversary of My New Life

Christa Avampato

A month ago, I began living a life of my own design. I bid a fond farewell to my corporate job in favor of working for myself. I had planned the leap for over a year and once the final puzzle piece fell into place, I fell in line right along with it.

On the first day of my freelance life, I launched my new creative consulting firm, Chasing Down the Muse, which allows me to focus my energy on the three pieces of my career that I love most – product development, freelance writing, and teaching yoga and meditation to creative professionals.

It’s been an incredible gift to wake up every morning to do work that I love. Everywhere I go, I go with my whole heart. I work many more hours now than I did when I worked for someone else. The income is not as stable (yet) and there have been moments of great elation and some moments of disappointment. And still the feeling I get from calling my own shots and relying on my own sense of judgement to move forward on different leads and opportunities is well worth all of the challenges.

I’ve had a few twinges of “Oh God, can I really do this?” but they pass in a few breaths, which is as big a surprise to me as it is to anyone else. There used to be a small voice inside of me that can only be described as the biggest worrier on Earth. That valid voice has been soothed and replaced with a quiet strength, a calm and resonant voice that now says, “Keep going. Don’t worry. Everything will be amazing.” I like this new voice much better.

business, dreams, entrepreneurship

Leap: Turn Around The Negatives

Christa Avampato

When you’re starting your new business, you may hear a lot of negatives. People will tell you to do more of this and less of that. They will tell you that your ideas and dreams are too big for someone just starting out so you better scale back. You don’t have enough experience, contacts, or education. You will have people point out to you, over and over again, what you lack.

Here’s what I want you to do: take all those negatives and turn them into assets. Simplify – not your dreams but your message. Focus on who you serve and why and with what and talk to those people. You will learn on the job, which is the very best way to learn, and through those learnings you will gain experience. You will make connections because you are excited about your life and your work and nothing, and I mean NOTHING, attracts contacts as much as someone who is enthusiastic and happy.

Those people who are pointing out what you lack are likely dreading Monday and praying for Friday. In the words of my wise mentor and former boss, Bob G., “they’re just trying to get to 5:00.” You are building a life of your own design and that work has no beginning and no end. You are it; and it is you. Take their feedback and turn it into kindling to feed your own fire.

Turn it around. Develop. Reach. Grow. Show them that you’ve got this and there’s no way to stop you. The late great Babe Ruth said it best – it’s tough to beat a person who never gives up.