JoyProject Christa Avampato

This episode is a part of the JoyProject podcast: https://christaavampato.com/JoyProject

In the Season 1 Finale episode, Christa talks about what she learned from the 20 episodes in Season 1 of JoyProject, what’s coming up for Season 2, and how she’d love for you to be involved.

Topics discussed in this episode:
- A tribute to Christa’s stepfather who loved this podcast and who sadly passed away on December 11, 2022
- The inspiration for the name and content of this podcast
- A brief recap of all the interviews in Season 1
- What’s in store for Season 2
- How you can be involved in Season 2

Links to resources:
- The website for JoyProject with all the episodes, show notes, and links – https://christaavampato.com/JoyProject
- Christa on Twitter – @christanyc
- Christa on Instagram – @christarosenyc
- Christa on Facebook – @AuthorChrista
- Christa on Medium – @christaavampato
- Christa’s website – ChristaAvampato.com

About Christa:
Christa Avampato is an award-winning author, business leader, and biomimicry scientist. She is the creator and host of the JoyProject podcast. She is equally inspired by ancient wisdom and modern technology. She's a proliferator of goodness, champion of nature, opener of doors, fan of laughter, and proud New Yorker.

Every day the unknown is waiting for us. As much as we plan our lives, the unknown is our constant companion we meet every day. In this wide ranging discussion about joy, faith, and the future, storyteller Eric Fisher takes us through his three tiers of joy and explains how reframing the stories of our past can help us create a brighter, more joyful future.

Topics discussed in this episode:

- The philosophy of joy

- How to reframe our challenges, not only as sole actors, but collectively in community with others

- Building back better after difficult times so that the world is improved for all beings

- The beauty of being able to hold a whole range of disparate emotions at the same time

- The best compliment that anyone can give us when we tell them our stories

- How to look forward to what's next when we're in liminal space

- How Eric's faith helps him to find joy and helps him help others

- How joy can heal us on many levels and bring us closer to one another

- The wish our friend John Bucher has for anyone and everyone who goes through challenges

- Cory Booker's comment about joy on the Senate floor, "You can't steal my joy"

- Eric's business that helps people preserve their life stories

- Eric's three levels of joy that help him find meaning

- The difference between joy and happiness

- Eric's life philosophy rooted in the classical narrative structure of stories

- How joy can and is present in all phases of our story, even and especially conflict

- Making joy in the midst of the experiences we never wanted to have


Links to resources:

- Eric’s storytelling business – Finowr Creations https://www.finowr.com/

- Eric on Instagram - @ericfisherofmen

- Christa on Twitter – @christanyc

- Christa on Instagram – @christarosenyc

- Christa on Facebook – @AuthorChrista 

- Christa on Medium – @christaavampato

- Christa’s website – ChristaAvampato.com

- The Enneagram Personality Test - https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test

- Enneagram Personality Types - https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions

- STORY Gatherings - https://storygatherings.com/

- John Bucher’s website – https://tellingabetterstory.com


About Eric:

Eric Fisher has always had a large imagination and loves good storytelling! In his early years, he expressed these passions through sports and humor with friends. He’s worked several types of jobs and specialized in wellness and coaching for over ten years. He now pursues writing and acting. He’s always dreaming of what’s next. Even now, his life is full of unknowns! He knows he will undoubtedly fail, but he holds hope in every possibility.

Summary:

Talking about books is one of the greatest joys, and to have a conversation about books with Libby is a treat for all book lovers. In December 2015 Libby was going through a time of intense grief and participating in the POPSUGAR annual reading challenge gave her the joy she needed. To amplify that joy, Libby posted about the challenge on Facebook to see if she could get a few friends to read with her through 2016. That Facebook group, 2022 Reading Challenge, started with a small group of friends and now has grown to almost 500 members in 2022. Anyone and everyone who loves to read books and talk about them is welcome. It’s all online through Facebook with zero pressure and a source of joy for everyone in the group. And yes, you’re invited to join us! We’d love to have you read with us in 2023.

Topics discussed in this episode: 

- The value of meaningful conversations

- Libby’s coaching work and the work of Dr. Brené Brown - https://brenebrown.com/ 

- Introverted extroverts and extroverted introverts

- How joy helps us survive and heal during grief, sickness, and life’s challenges

- The love of reading that started for Libby and Christa when they were children

- Books Libby recommends for listeners

- Books Christa recommends for listeners

- Rising through fear

- The power of storytelling and memoirs

- Women in science, the stories of women lost to history, and how much we love books where character submerge into a new world and re-emerge transformed by their experiences

- The books of Anne Lamott, Bill Bryson, Nelson Mandela, John Lewis, John Doerr

- John Bucher and his love for mythology - https://www.tellingabetterstory.com/ 

- How Libby’s book club has helped us discover books we wouldn’t otherwise know about

- Walking in the shoes of other people through books 

- The work of StoryCorps - https://storycorps.org/ 


Links to resources:

- Libby’s online book club that welcomes all people – 2022 Reading Challenge (the year changes in January of every year and is loosely based on the POPSUGAR annual reading challenge)

- Libby’s private coaching business – https://www.libbynelsoncoaching.com/ 

- Libby on LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/coachlibbyn 

- 3be Coaching - https://www.3becoaching.com/ and  https://www.facebook.com/3becoaching 

- Christa on Twitter – @christanyc

- Christa on Instagram – @christarosenyc

- Christa on Facebook – @AuthorChrista  

- Christa on Medium – @christaavampato

- Christa’s website – ChristaAvampato.com

- POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - https://www.popsugar.com/latest/POPSUGAR-Reading-Challenge 


About Libby:
Libby Seiter Nelson is a highly skilled and extensively trained certified professional coaching. She is an Executive Coach and Facilitator in an innovative coaching program that helps parents with the critical transition to life as a working parent. Her coaching is especially focused on the return to work — an underestimated challenge that impacts gender equity and inclusion. She facilitates courses and group coaching, and teaches seminars focused on the realities of the current work environment, offering tangible solutions for the challenges of being a working parent. Libby is a Certified Daring Way Facilitator™, a program created and run by Dr. Brené Brown.  

In addition to her coaching work, she is the Director of Bright Futures, an organization dedicated to supporting students in the Seattle area who are experiencing housing and food insecurity. She also started the Reading Challenge Facebook Group based on the annual POPSUGAR reading challenge, and it now has 500 members. All are welcome to join!

This episode is part of the JoyProject podcast: https://christaavampato.com/joyproject

When it comes to picking up new hobbies, Kaylee isn't shy about trying something completely new and outside her comfort zone. She took her two hobbies of swing dancing and leather working and combined them by learning to create 100% handmade swing dancing shoes. Now she's expanded to make shoes and boots of all kinds, along the way discovering a community of cordwainers, artisans, historic supply businesses, and classes all over the country. Her enthusiasm is highly contagious and before you know it, you'll be dreaming up shoes designs and dancing!  

Topics discussed in this episode: 


How Kaylee got started making shoes 
The highly technical process and the artistry that goes into making shoes 
Resources to get you started making your own shoes 
Upcycling materials in shoemaking 
Hidden message in the soles of the shoes  

Links to resources:


Kaylee on Instagram – @archivixenshoes
Christa on Twitter – @christanyc
Christa on Instagram – @christarosenyc
Christa on Facebook – @AuthorChrista 
Christa on Medium – @christaavampato
Christa’s website – ChristaAvampato.com
Second Skin blog – https://secondskinblog.com/
Double H Leather – https://double-h-leather-works-llc.business.site/
Colorado Shoe School – https://coloradoshoeschool.com/
American Dutches – https://www.americanduchess.com/
Brooklyn Shoe Space – https://brooklynshoespace.com/

About Kaylee:
Kaylee was born and raised on an alpaca ranch on the coast of California, where she spent most of her days learning how to knit, sew, paint, hand spin, and teach herself all types of random crafts.  She used the excuse of a degree to briefly run away to university in Australia, and after securing a degree in archives and records management and becoming a certified archivist, she used the lockdowns as an ideal time to teach herself how to make shoes.  After two workshops and a year and a half of projects, Kaylee has made over a dozen pairs of unique shoes!

Pizza. The word alone brings an immediate smile to our faces. We can’t contain the joy it sparks, and nowhere is the joy of pizza more prevalent than in New York City. Rachel Josar, the creator and host of the They Had Fun podcast, joins JoyProject to talk about all things pizza, her weekly tradition with her husband, her passion for this incredible city, and the history and culture that is entwined with food. After 250 weeks of Friday night pizza, Rachel gives her expert opinion on where to get the best pizza in New York.

About Rachel:
Rachel is the host of the podcast, They Had Fun, where she talks to real New Yorkers about the most fun they've ever had in the city. She's lived in NYC for 16 years and enjoys fries at the bar, gallery walks, talking to anyone who will listen about why New York is still great, and of course, negronis and pizza on Fridays.

Topics discussed in this episode:

- The best places in New York to get pizza
- Rachel’s weekly pizza tradition with her husband
- The history of pizza and it’s place in New York city culture
- The quote about pizza in the New York Times that helped Rachel and Christa connect and become friends
- Rachel’s amazing podcast, The Had Fun
- Why New York City is the greatest city
- New York’s restaurant scene and supporting restaurants through the pandemic
- Christa’s favorite childhood memory about pizza

Links to resources:

- Rachel on Instagram – @they_had_fun
- They Had Fun podcast – They Had Fun
- They Had Fun website – TheyHadFun.com
- Christa on Twitter – @christanyc
- Christa on Instagram – @christarosenyc
- Christa on Facebook – @AuthorChrista
- Christa on Medium – @christaavampato
- Christa on TikTok – @christanyc
- Christa’s website – ChristaAvampato.com
- Lucali – https://www.lucali.com/
- Best Pizza – https://www.bestpizzawilliamsburg.com/
- Mano’s Pizzeria – https://slicelife.com/restaurants/ny/queens/11385/mano-s-pizzeria-queens/menu
- Motorino – https://www.motorinony.com/
- Mama's TOO! – https://www.mamastoo.com/
- John’s Pizzeria – https://www.johnspizzerianyc.com/
- Carmine & Sons – https://carmineandsonspizza.com/
- Louie and Ernie’s Pizza – https://louieanderniespizza.com/

Cake sculpting is an art form, and gifting a personalized cake to someone is as much a source of joy for the giver as the receiver. Dana Phillips shares how she got started baking and decorating elaborate cakes as a promise to her children, and how it grew into a way to spread joy to so many others in her life. As a Certified Wilton-method cake decorating instructor, Dana takes us on her sweet journey through the wonderland of cake and gives us tips to help us bake and decorate with joy and confidence.

About Dana:
“City girl who moved into the woods with a knack for making edible art.” As a young mom the one thing Dana thought would be the most memorable tradition she could create for her kids was customized homemade cakes for their birthdays. She's 53 cakes in and her three kids who are almost all adults can’t imagine life without a cake from her. When she's not baking she's fighting for a better South for future generations, getting the dinner party and game nights planned now that everyone is vaxxed (nothing beats making good food for good people), disappearing into the woods to see the stars, and going on countless motorcycle adventures with her partner, Adam.

Topics discussed in this episode:
- How Dana’s children lead her to pursue cake baking and decorating
- Her favorite cake flavor profiles and designs
- Cake baking tips and ingredient substitutions to make delicious gluten-free and dairy-free cake
- Product brands for gluten-free flour and flavor extracts

Links to resources:
- Dana on Instagram – @pixiestavern
- Christa on Twitter – @christanyc
- Christa on Instagram – @christarosenyc
- Christa’s website – ChristaAvampato.com
- Wilton cake classes
- King Arthur gluten-free flours and mixes
- Michael's cake baking and decorating tools
- Thrive extracts
- Earth Balance vegan butter