Category: economy

economy, education, school, teaching

Beautiful: Keep It Positive – Another Lesson from Darden

Christa Avampato

bc2863aa70521ea32889f841ae1607c6“We have to be positive, right? What’s the alternative? Anything else is just a waste of time.” ~ Frank Warnock, my Economics professor at Darden

It’s back-to-school time and I’ve been thinking a lot about my teachers lately. I decided to reach out to them to say thank you for the incredible lessons they taught me. I wrote about my marketing professor, Robert Spekman, earlier this week and then sent him a note. Today, I want to tell you about Frank Warnock, one of my Economics professors at Darden. Frank is brilliant, but his brilliance isn’t what set him apart for me. It was his attitude.

Frank taught us the power of attitude in a class during a particularly tough case. The whole class was feeling pretty badly about the options before the main characters in the case and what they were going to have to do to save their company. Frank recognized we were going nowhere fast and to get us to buck up, he uttered the lines at the beginning of this post. They were like a lightning rod for me. These were the words I thought about all the time from 2008 – 2012 when I worked in financial services.

Attitude was, and continues to be, everything. I’ve seen it make or break so many people. My choice to be positive rather than negative, especially when it would have been so much easier to be negative, has kept me going through some very dark times.

I wrote this all out in a note to Frank and not surprisingly, he wrote back quickly. Here’s what he said:

“Hi Christa,
Wonderful to hear from you. And great to hear that you’re doing well and have found something you care about. I often think that one of the most important things Darden students need to learn is what exactly they care about, what exactly their preferences are.

I learned early on that attitude is vital. I absolutely hated a particular job about a month into it, felt that I was misunderstood by the boss, and was very close to being fired (which would have been fine with me). I then started repeating to myself over and over again, every day, “I love my job, I love my job, I love my job”. Within a week or so I forgot all about saying that…being positive helped turn everything around and more or less launched my career. Being positive is at times more difficult – it takes an extra step – but it is always the best way forward.

Best,
Frank”

Now that’s a teacher in the truest sense of the word.

books, children, community, economy, education, family, leadership, legacy, literature, philanthropy, time

Beautiful: John Wood’s Incredible Mission to Create Room to Read for Millions of Kids Around the Globe

Christa Avampato

9780670025985_p0_v1_s260x420Ten years go, John Wood embarked on a courageous journey. He left his job at Microsoft for one simple reason: so that “children everywhere have access to literacy and books in their mother tongue from a young age.” Sound audacious to you? It did to Charlie Rose as well. “Every child,” Charlie repeated in an interview with John. “Every one, without exception,” John said.

It is that kind of resolve, focus, and elegant vision that I find so exhilarating and inspiring. As a nonprofit founder, fundraiser, and a consultant who works with a number of nonprofits, I also know how hard it is to identify and maintain. John will not be deterred. It is his commitment to the children of this world that has allowed Room to Read, his nonprofit, to open 10,000 libraries around the world in 10 years. 10,000. It is astonishing.

In 2007, John wrote the book Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children. Today, his new book, Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy, goes on sale. It has valuable information for everyone who has ever cared about a cause or mission, for-profit, non-profit, or otherwise. It’s a story about the value of a dream and the determination to make it real. John talks about his all-star team, their site evaluation process, and what it truly means to work side-by-side with people you want to help in pursuit of a common goal. In equal parts, he gets down into the details about his fundraising and management philosophies and then shares his powerful emotions such as his misty-eyed moment when the 10,000th library opened in Nepal with his parents by his side.

John’s story is inspiring for all of the goodness he conveys though he is not shy about the hardships he, his staff, and the communities face. Global literacy is a battle in every sense. Moving into Africa was a particularly harrowing decision and an even more harrowing process. His team literally risked their lives to make it happen. In countries like Cambodia, 43% of grade-three students in his country could not read at an age-appropriate level. Statistics like this led Room to Read’s mission and activities to evolve. It wasn’t enough to build libraries and furnish them with books. First, they had to teach people to read. Without literacy programs, the libraries would be of zero value to half the population.

Once I cracked open this book, I couldn’t put it down. Nose pressed against the pages, I would look up and realize that hours had gone by. After a while, I stopped using my highlighter because I was highlighting every sentence. John Wood and Room to Read are paving the way toward a brighter future. Thank goodness he left Microsoft to change the world. With this book, I’m certain he will inspire many people to take up a cause that matters and make it their life’s work. And we will all be better off for it.

business, corporation, creativity, dreams, economy, grateful, gratitude, thankful

Leap: A Big Thank You to the Gutsy Female Entrepreneurs of Rent the Runway, Corporate Idiocy, and a Mitt Romney Joke Told in Poor Taste

Christa Avampato
Jennifer Hyman of Rent the Runway

Corporate executive who say stupid things are making it easy for us to set sail on our own venture adventures. While I am angered by their behavior, I’m thankful for our ability to turn the situation around and invest in our own business ideas. When things are falling apart (corporate culture), pieces are often falling into place (new start-ups.)

However, my latest example of corporate idiocy is worth a detailed explanation for the lesson it teaches us about where and with whom to spend out time. This is a story that has to be told. Just when I thought I had seen and heard it all when it comes to the idiotic behavior of some (though certainly not all) corporate executives, another one comes along and delivers another shocking display of poor behavior. Women of the world, brace yourselves for this one.

I recently had the opportunity to hear Jennifer Hyman, Co-Founder of Rent the Runway, on a panel of entrepreneurs. Rent the Runway rents the latest women’s special occasion fashions for a fraction of the purchase price. A passionate, intelligent, and creative woman, Jennifer explained that her company is about more than fashion. It’s about empowering women to create extraordinary lives while looking and feeling their best. She explained that the mission of Rent the Runway was so compelling that she and her co-founder were the first female entrepreneurs funded by Bain Capital.

The corporate executive moderating the panel saw this incredible accomplishment as an opportunity to put his ignorance on display for all to see. His response to Jennifer’s story? “Was that Bain pre- or post-Romney?”

And the entire audience (made up largely of the corporate executive’s employees) went silent. No one knew what to say, where to look, nor how to feel. Everyone’s face just dropped. Was he trying to funny? Was he using humor to veil his own insecurities about female entrepreneurs? After spending 30 minutes prior to the panel discussing the value of a growth mind-set to large corporations, why would he insult a guest he invited to speak on the topic? Did he feel threatened by her confidence and ingenuity? (Incidentally, Jennifer was the only female on the panel and the only one to receive this kind of comment from the moderator.)

Jennifer handled the situation with grace, the way I believe she must handle every business situation she faces. Still, my anger was up, way up, until I realized the tremendous gift that this corporate executive delivered to everyone in the audience. Why would anyone continue to work hard for him every day? Why would anyone pledge their loyalty to someone whose ignorance causes him to behave so poorly?

You could see everyone’s wheels turning with the idea, “I need to get out of here and follow the lead of the entrepreneurs on the panel.” And all I could think in response was, “Yes. Yes you do. Give your own business ideas a fair shot at success. Leap!”

This executive is already getting the result he deserves – a complete loss of loyalty from his team; he just doesn’t know it yet. But he will. It won’t be the first time a suit, stuck in his ways, totally misjudged the future of our economy and I have a feeling it won’t be the last. Investors, place your bets. I know which way I’m going. Do you?

books, cooking, eating, economy, personal finance

Leap: Inspired by Tamar Adler and Frugality

Christa Avampato
Image from scratchclub.com

On my way to Austin, I became entranced by the prose of An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler. I knew I would. A few months ago I read an excerpt of her passion statement about food’s place and preparation in our lives and instantly I knew I’d devour it like a well-made meal.

As I prepare myself for this next chapter of my career – one of great risk, great faith, and God and Universe willing, great meaning, I have seriously begun to examine my finances and the necessary changes needed to make the leap. To be fair, I do not live a lavish lifestyle. My clothes are simple and always bought on sale. My home is small and simple. I cook much more often than I eat out. The New York Public Library furnishes most of the books I read. I do my own nails, hair, etc.

These last couple of months my credit card bills have been outsized with the long-overdue furnishing of my apartment, 2 upcoming trips to Florida, my vacation of a lifetime to India, and the next phase of my advanced yoga teacher training. This pile up of expenses got a bit scary, though they were planned, and my fine-tuned sense of frugality demanded an immediate halt and investigation.

Enter Tamar Adler and her celebration of eating well on a miniscule budget. Her experience and aptitude for stretching a small grocery budget actually made me excited to get started today rather than wait until I inevitably make the leap into the next phase of my career. Her book has left me feeling more resourceful than fearful, more capable than novice.

I may well be just this side of crazy to exit stage left from a stable job and salary in favor of carving out a new kind of living that unifies my earnings and values. Life is too short to imagine going forward any other way.

change, economy, gratitude, hope

Leap: The blessing of the recession

Christa Avampato

“Lasting change happens when people see for themselves that a different way of life is more fulfilling than their present one.” ~ Eknath Easwaran

I’ve been thinking a lot about lasting change. We’re much more often faced with changes that happen in fits and spurts, drop by drop. On occasion we get a chance to experience rapid, dramatic change. It throws us for a loop, confounds and confuses us, until we again find our way back to shore footing. But that rediscovered shore footing is often on different ground.

It’s often said that it takes 30 days of consistent, consecutive effort to create a new habit or break an old one. We’ve been in this tough economy, with its sometimes crushing and sometimes liberating lessons, for over 4 years. Our way of thinking about our future has been radically transformed. It’s taught me that an income earned from one source is the definition of instability. It’s taught me that bringing new people into our lives, having new experiences, and consistently pushing ourselves to learn something new are the surest ways of staying relevant in changing times. It’s taught me that my future is safest in my own two capable hands.

I think about my life pre-December 2007 and my life now. I’m shocked by the difference in me and in the world. And though these intervening years have been challenging on so many levels, I’d go back and live them all over again, exactly the same way, because I’m more in love with life now than I have ever been before. Life’s tough, but we’re tougher, and better off for having learned the hard lessons of this time. We’ve learned to value the now, in every moment.

blog, business, celebration, economy, hope, inspiration, writing, yoga

Beginning: My Features on Sour to Sweet, a Blog Focused on People Defying the Great Recession

Christa Avampato

Lauren Murray is striking back against the idea that our economy has ruined all of us.

Her blog, Sour to Sweet, is “my attempt to counterbalance the doom and gloom that’s already out there. Let’s celebrate the successes that, seemingly against all odds, have occurred despite the economic downturn.” Lauren reached out to me a few weeks ago after reading my book Hope in Progress: 27 Entrepreneurs Who Inspired Me During the Great Recession. She asked if I would be willing to share my own story through an interview (Not the Same Old Yoga) and if I’d write a guest post on the topic of inspiration (How to Survive the Uh-Oh Moment). I was both honored and thrilled by the offer.

I hope you’ll stop by Sour to Sweet and support Lauren in helping her to get the word out that it’s not all darkness out there!

business, economy, financing

Beginning: Now’s the Time to Begin – Recession Be Damned

Christa Avampato
From Inc Magazine - By Kimberly Weisul | Nov 17, 2011

Dear 38% of 18-34 year old American would-be entrepreneurs who are letting the recession get in the way of your start-up plans, I hear you! It’s scary to take your superficially safe day job and chuck it out the window in favor of your dream. If you’re dream fails, does that mean you fail? And if that happens, does that mean you will never get another job? Ever? Better to stick it out in a place that isn’t ideal, but could be good enough if we closed our eyes, ears, and hearts to our true calling, right? Think again.

You’ve heard about these statistics: how many great companies started in the wake of a recessions: FedEx, Microsoft, CNN, and the modern days of Apple. But here’s a stat that surprised even me – an eternal optimist about the potential of entrepreneurs: 54% of all Americans 18 – 34 want to start their own businesses. They don’t want to buy into an existing business or climb the ladder to a high position within an existing company. More people in that demographic are interested in working for themselves than are interested in working for someone else. It’s a remarkable statement and it’s cause for great enthusiasm and consumer confidence!

Now is the time to dream bigger than ever. 18 – 34-year-old entrepreneurs at heart, you’ve got loans to repay, retirement accounts to fund, and experience to build. Fine. I do, too. 38% of you aren’t beginning your entrepreneurial journey because of the bad economy. The lack of reasoning there is that the state of the economy has had very little to do with the success of the overall economy. You have no substantial reason to delay your dream.

Here’s what I really don’t want you to do: please don’t focus so much on climbing the ladder in the place you happen to be due to the Great Recession and place your entrepreneurial desires on hold. Find a way to make small steps forward:

  • Freelance in your spare time
  • Begin to lay the foundations for your own future as defined by you and you alone
  • Don’t use the recession as an excuse; use it as fuel to get going

Our illusion of safety inside another company exists only in our minds. You’ve got what it takes to at least give your entrepreneurial dream a shot. You owe it to yourself to try with everything you’ve got. I’ve been giving this idea a spin in my mind since seeing my friend, Rodrigo, a great pal from business school.

Rodrigo asked me how my yoga was going, what the business model is, and why I’m so passionate about Compass Yoga’s mission to help people with physical and mental health challenges. He could easily see my dedication to the idea.

And then I told him how much I care about our healthcare system and why I feel such an allegiance to his company, GE Healthcare. You see, GE Healthcare saved my mother’s life. Their imaging machines detected her breast cancer when it was smaller than a grain of sand. Her scans have been clean for 5 years. I’ll be forever grateful for the extra time they’ve given my mom and I. There’s no way to put a price tag on that kind of gratitude.

“If yoga doesn’t work out, give me a call, Christa,” Rodrigo said. “GE will want you.” I laughed and then he said, “I’m serious. Call me.”

And I knew in that moment that even if I jump tomorrow, out of corporate life with two feet into Compass Yoga, I’ll be just fine. The whole idea could go bust and I’ll still be okay because I’m skilled and I can tell an authentic story.

Rodrigo showed up with just the right message, at just the right time: now’s the time to give my dream a whirl and see what I can do. The worst that will happen is failure and I’d rather fail trying than wonder what I could have done if I’d had more guts.

economy, money, passion

Beginning: Passion, Planning, and Promoting in This Wild Economy

Christa Avampato

Welcome to Saturday’s wrap-up, take 2! Thanks for your thoughts, ideas, and encouragement this week. Here’s how it played out:

Make all the plans you want and be prepared to throw them out the window. If this wild ride on the economy slide has taught us anything it’s that flexibility, liquidity, and creativity are tools we need to not only survive but thrive. Need a helping hand to get a handle on it all? Check out my posts about planning and free online sources and courses to get a base understanding of how our economy works.

A few weeks ago, Howard Schultz of Starbucks announced that he had challenged his team to figure out how to make Starbucks a jobs creator beyond their own barista counter. To up the challenge, he also wanted to give Starbucks customers a way to get in on the action. This has prompted similar discussions at other companies. President Obama is right – We Can’t Wait. Sparked by the growing need to bring Wall Street and Occupy Wall Street together, I wrote a post this week on the need to take matters into our own collective hands and become job creators.

Self-promotion doesn’t come naturally to most people. We covet humility to such an extent that we’re reluctant to trumpet the good work we’re doing as well as the good work we’d like to do for fear of coming off as attention hogs. Trouble is we can’t find our pack if we don’t howl. Ditch guilt and sing out loud. This week I launched my first Hire Me page on this site and the following day received word that Compass Yoga is now fully incorporated. We’re off to the wellness races – join us!

Wrapping up the week, my thoughts turned to a post on the role of passion in creating the lives we want thanks to a quote by David Hume. Now is the time to encourage and reward new ways of being and thinking in schools, in communities, in our families, in business, and in our government. Reason is overrated; we can and will do better. The best beat for your life can be found in your own soul – use it.

Hope you all had a good week and enjoy a candy-eating, costume-donning, and snowy(!) Halloween.

creativity, economy, money

Beginning: Where Wall Street and the Occupy Wall Street Protestors Needs to Go From Here

Christa Avampato
From http://www.illuminatiworld.com. This paradigm has to change for everyone's sake.

We have a lot to learn from history. If we take a trip down Wall Street’s memory lane, we’ll discover that it was founded on the principle of creative destruction, the creation of new industries and companies that build better products and services than those we currently have. Instead, as Tom Friedman so eloquently stated in his column this week, they’ve fallen into the horrible habit of “financing too much “destructive creation” (inventing leveraged financial products with no more societal value than betting on whether Lindy’s sold more cheesecake than strudel).” This is a problem but is not yet one that is too far gone. I believe Wall Street, and by extension our economy and our society, can be saved.

Wall Street can create jobs outside its walls
Most job creation comes from start-ups – companies founded by passionate, insightful people seeing a pain they want to fix and then inventing a product or service to alleviate that pain. Maybe that’s the need for a better vacuum cleaner – thank you, Mr. Dyson – or maybe it’s the need to help creative get their projects funded by small contributions from a large group of strangers – thank you, Kickstarter.

Why can’t financial firms take a small portion of their earnings and provide more loans to start-ups at very low-interest rates? There’s plenty of waste going on in financial firms on projects that never take off beyond the ideation phase, money that would do just as much good being burned in the middle of the street. Instead, take that money and take a chance on a set of entrepreneurs who are trying to build something of value rather than rearrange value by moving money around in a big circle.

Consider it corporate philanthropy or just the right thing to do. Wall Street should figure out how to reinvent itself as a jobs creator, and that doesn’t mean hiring more bankers. It means funding people with good ideas that the world needs. About a year ago I wrote a letter to the CEO of the company I worked for and proposed this type of idea. He never responded; he may never have received the letter. But I’m going to give it a go again and point to a recent peer of his, Howard Schultz of Starbucks, who is doing something on par with this idea.

We’re all in this together
The Occupy Wall Street protectors and the banks have conspired together in a war of “us” (the people) against “them” (the banks). It doesn’t need to be that way. And actually it can’t be that way if we want our economic situation to improve. Like it or not, money and creative ideas, together, make the world go round. We’re in this life together, in this world together. And no one person has more of a right to a good life than any other. We are equals, and we need to start treating each other and supporting each other as such.

economy, learning

Beginning: How to Understand the U.S. Economy for Free

Christa Avampato

Over the weekend I watched the movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and it took me back into those scary days 3 years ago. I started working in the financial services industry in August 2008, 5 weeks before Lehman Brothers failed and our economy spun into a seemingly hopeless downward spiral.

They were dark days, and somehow I was able to keep my fear at bay so that I could actually use the opportunity to learn something. I had a front row seat to the recession, and at any moment I could have been a casualty. There was little I could do about that potential outcome so every day I got up, went to work, and hoped that I could take some lesson away from the situation. Most of the days that strategy worked.

I was lucky to receive a top-notch education as an undergraduate and graduate student. It gave me a base of knowledge to draw from as I read about and listened to economic data. I adjusted my career and savings plans as a result of the recession and years from now I’m confident that I will look back on these years as ones that were tough and made me tougher.

But then I thought about how many people don’t have the education I have, and how daunting it can be to learn about the economy. It’s a mess of acronyms, numbers, and opinions that make it difficult to decipher the truth from fiction. I was also inspired by Occupy Wall Street and wanted to do something to help the protestors and their audience make sense of what’s going on around them. So I went looking for free sources that could help people who have an interest in learning more about the economy though don’t know exactly where to start.

About.com’s page on the U.S. economy – a well-done overview of the U.S. economy. Suitable for beginners and those who want a brush-up lesson.

Investopedia – I used this resource all of the time when I was in business school. They have a great financial dictionary, tutorials, and a well-organized set of top current news stories that relate to business.

Free online economics classes – collection of links to free Economics courses from the world’s leading universities. You can download these audio & video courses straight to your computer or mp3 player.