Tag: career

creativity

Wonder: Give yourself time

Christa Avampato

I’ve been at new job for six weeks and I’m working hard to get up-to-speed in a new industry with a product that has an aggressive timeline to launch. I’m learning so much and by the end of the week I’m spent. And I know I still have so much to learn.

I’m very likely to be tough on myself expecting myself to be 100% up-to-speed with very little runway. While that helps me in some respects it certainly harms me in others. Six weeks, especially in the summer, isn’t much time at all. I’ve got many more questions to ask and many more things to learn. And that’s okay. I’m climbing the mountain one step at a time, and I’m giving myself the chance to reflect on every view.

creativity

Wonder: Use your time to build a better world – a lesson on the D.C. metro

Christa Avampato

Yesterday as I was riding the metro home, these three reminders were directly in front of me: a woman reading the health and science section of The Washington Post, a man seated next to her was reading the book Getting Better, and then the advertisement from Virginia Hospital Center right next to me read “It’s all about getting better”. The synchronicity wasn’t lost on me. Building a better world is a mission we can all be a part of in some way, from our corner of the planet. Every day is a good day, even on a too-crowded metro train, if we can go home assured that what we did that day made the world a better place. No matter where are or what we’re doing, we can always get better.

creativity

Wonder: Embrace the beginning

Christa Avampato

No matter how excited we are about something new – a new relationship, a new city, a new home, a new job – there is some amount of anxiety that comes with the unknown. I felt that way Sunday night. I’m so excited about my new job and I was also a little nervous leading up to my first day. Rather than letting that nervousness consume me, I sat down, closed my eyes, and just focused on my breathing. Phineas crawled into my lap.

What was I so nervous about? A new routine, new people, new office? Was I afraid that I wouldn’t do a good job? Was I afraid all of that and then some? After a few minutes, I realized what was happening. I was afraid of waiting. I just wanted to begin, to roll up my sleeves and get down to making a difference. I have a hard time being patient, especially with myself. And this was good practice for me. I decided to calm down and enjoy getting to know this new job. I decided to enjoy the new, to enjoy the process of figuring it all out. Comfort will come soon enough. Now is the time to embrace being a beginner.

creativity

Wonder: And today, a new career chapter begins

Christa Avampato

I got up this morning and pinched myself. Today, I’m starting my new job as a Director of Product Development in the healthcare technology space. In many ways, this job is bringing my life full-circle and uniting so many disparate points of life together to build something meaningful with a team as passionate about healthy living as I am. I’ve been immersing myself in the design and business of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality as applied to the physical world.

When I was in high school, I thought about becoming a doctor. In college at Penn, I thought about going into the healthcare field as a psychiatrist or an administrator. After I left Broadway theater, I explored the idea of becoming a physical therapist. When I was at American Express, I looked into technology product development applied to areas such as prosthetics and the artificial heart. My yoga and meditation teaching was largely an outgrowth of my passion for health and helping people feel better. I now write for The Washington Post, and most of my stories are about healthcare, medicine, stories of survival from disease, and the technologies and innovations that make that survival possible.

Now I’m pulling together my experience in and passion for product development, business, health, writing, and improving the human condition into one full-time job, in a city I love, with people who are going to be such incredible role models and mentors to me. My whole life has been preparing me for this, and I am excited to begin.

creativity

Wonder: Fill your time with work that feels like play

Christa Avampato

“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between work and play.” ~L.P. Jacks

There are so many reasons that I’m excited for my new job that starts a week from today. There’s the one phrase about the respectful and professional culture in the job description that told me this is the place for me: “This is a very egalitarian operational environment…everyone has a say.” There’s the great opportunity ahead to build products based in AI, AR, and VR technology that will help people live healthier, happier lives. There is the sense of starting from a blank canvas that will rapidly be filled in to develop a prototype product in a quick handful of months. There’s the small, experienced team that will work closely together around a single table for a single goal.

And still, above all of that, what has me most excited about this opportunity is the quote above by L.P. Jacks. The roles and companies I have most loved in my career are those that didn’t feel like work at all because what I was doing was so interesting that is took my curiosity and sense of wonder to a level that felt like play. I didn’t mind the long hours, I barely noticed the time flying by, because the work itself was so satisfying that it gave me energy rather than draining it. And I am so ready to return to that kind of work.

When people ask me what I want my career and my life to be, I have to turn to L.P. Jacks and say, “Thank you for putting my whole purpose into 15 words.”  

creativity

Wonder: In your career, be a Swiss Army knife

Christa Avampato

For a long time I struggled with the pull between being a specialist and being a generalist. Lately I’ve found I actually didn’t have to choose. If, like me, curiosity itself is your muse and embracing the new is what gets your motor running, then stand by that passion. Follow it down every rabbit hole it takes you. Learn, build, and share with wild abandon. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a Swiss Army knife with an attitude of “whatever the challenge is, I’ll figure it out.” Make it your purpose to defy any definition and every day of your life will be an adventure.

creativity

Wonder: Telling stories takes you back in time

Christa Avampato

I’m working on a piece of writing for my dear friend, Amanda. She’s the best editor I’ve ever worked with, bar none. Whenever she asks me to write something for her, I jump at the chance every time. This particular assignment involved traveling back in time to the dark days of September 2008 when the world, my career, and my life was turned upside down by a frightening, unprecedented economic recession. I was working for a financial institution, an industry I swore I’d never join, and I was, in a word, terrified.

Rather than cower and hide, I rose up. To this day, I’m not sure where I found the strength. I guess the fear of losing my job and my livelihood was adrenalin for me. I took that energy that gets wasted by fear and used it to drive me forward, headfirst, right into the abyss of the unknown. I still shiver thinking about it. And then I smile. Time travel is a wild ride. We are so much stronger than we think we are.

creativity

Wonder: Don’t be afraid to walk away

Christa Avampato

You can’t be afraid to walk away from something that’s not right for you. A city. A job. A relationship. A financial deal. A conversation. A situation. As Brian has often said to me, “if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.”

I’m not saying to run at the first hint of trouble; I’m just saying that our energy and time are too precious to be wasted, especially by someone else. If someone isn’t treasuring your talents and gifts, then see to it that your talents and gifts be applied elsewhere. Don’t succumb to the idea that there’s nothing better out there or that in some way you aren’t worthy, ready, or capable of something better. You are. Right now.

The people who need you are out there. Find them.

creativity

Wonder: Where to place your time

Christa Avampato

The tug of war between what you need to do and what you want to do can be a challenging battle. I know lots of people working a day job to support themselves financially while working on a passion project during their evenings, weekends, and free time. I also know people who have quit a lucrative day job to pursue their passions full-time. I have done both, and both are challenging. Neither scenario is easy. Neither scenario is as dreamy as it appears to be on the surface. Neither is a one and done solution to anything. Each has its own flavor of stress and anxiety, as well as peace and joy. And it shifts day-to-day, sometimes hour to hour.

Here’s what I know to be true: you are in control of your mind, emotions, and time. Your thoughts and energy are yours and yours alone. No one, and I mean absolutely no one, ever owns them except you. And where your mind, energy, and time goes, your life goes.

Some of you will find a day job and side passions work for you. Some will find that pursuing your passions full-time is the best life. And there isn’t a point-of-no-return on either of these. I quit my day job in 2012 and ran my own business for 3 years. They were wonderful and trying years. In 2015, I took a full-time job again, closed my business, and have have continued to work on a variety of creative projects. This has also been a wonderful and trying year. Yes, there was a huge amount of variation between these two experiences, and yes, they were the right choices for me for those times. Once I made those decisions, I never looked back. I don’t regret either of those choices, and I never will. My life is unfolding one page at a time, and like a good book, I’m savoring all of the words.

If you are in the process of wrestling through these weighty decisions about life and career now, a lot of people are probably giving you their two cents, even if you didn’t ask them for their opinions. The only opinion I have for you is to do what you need to do for you. Right now. Always. Your story isn’t the same as someone else’s story. Your goals and talents are yours. Treasure them. Protect them. Go in the direction that feels right to you. There will be bumps in the road. There will be off-ramps, flat tires, and wrong turns. But there will also be some smooth sailing and many fellow travelers along the route who will help and guide you. You will experience all of it no matter what choice you make.

The only yardstick I use is this: if it all ends tomorrow, am I glad and grateful for the way I spent today? Did I wake up with a purpose and do my best to take one step along that purposeful path? That’s all we can do, and that is enough.
creativity

Wonder: A wrong righted 10 years later

Christa Avampato

 

10 years ago, I interviewed at a large retail company for a summer internship while I was an MBA student at Darden. It was my top pick for an internship and I was proceeding well in the process. The final step was a psychological evaluation that was supposed to be a formality. Instead, the psychologist dug into my family history for over an hour. She asked me a lot of very painful questions and was very judgmental about my childhood. I stood my ground, told the truth, didn’t crack, and stated how I did the best I could in the circumstances I was born into. I didn’t get the internship, and I was heartbroken. I thought the story was over, but it wasn’t.

A few months ago I received a letter from a law firm. A class action lawsuit was filed against this retail company for discriminatory hiring practices. The HR records had been subpoenaed and unsealed, and it was deemed that I may be due a payment for damages. I confirmed that I interviewed with the company during the time period in question, sent the letter back, and never gave it another thought.

When I arrived home yesterday, I had a letter from the law firm.The retailer confessed to its discriminatory practices, and settled out of court. The letter contained a check for damages. Not a huge check, but one that I can put to good use. I was shocked. I’m still shocked. I actually cried a little. And then I cried a lot. Not out of sadness, but out of relief.

I didn’t realize how badly I’d felt about this incident all these years. When you grow up without enough, you think you aren’t enough. It is a painful fact of growing up poor. And as much as I have grown into a strong, resilient, and confident woman, there is a small part of me who still carries around this slightest feeling of shame. I’ve learned to use it to go further, try harder, and reach higher.

That incident 10 years ago with the retailer brought all of those feelings into clear focus. I wasn’t mad that I didn’t get that internship. I was ashamed and deeply embarrassed because I knew that my family history made them turn me down. I was told I wasn’t good enough because I hadn’t grown up with enough. How hard I had worked for so many years to lift myself up didn’t matter to this company. And in fact it was a black mark against me.

So getting that check yesterday was a nice thing financially, but that is such a small benefit compared to what it means to me on a much more profound level. That is karma. That is the universe righting a wrong. That is the reward of standing tall, and not letting small-minded people get you down. That is proof to me that our authenticity, work ethic, and determination to making meaning of our past does get rewarded. It can take time. It can often take too much time. But it happens. It happens.