You’re working hard, things are going well, piece by piece you’ve built a life you are proud of, you’ve overcome obstacles and challenges, beat the odds and then you find yourself at the center of an unexpected dilemma – do you risk it all to keep growing? What if growing means leaving the job you worked so hard to get or the industry you worked so hard to break into? How we approach risk often has a huge bearing on our journey and so we’ve asked some of the brightest folks we know to share stories of risks they’ve taken.

Stephanie Hall

When I think of Artists, the first word that comes to mind is not risk. But over these two years in business, I have taken several major (to me) risks! The first was getting out of my introverted comfort zone and meeting new people. I had spent the last 8 years talking to small children and a few select adults, and I kept to my 5ish mile radius. In order to build a business, I knew I had to expand. I stumbled across the Business Owners Networking Group on Facebook, and was welcomed with open arms into this wonderful community of business owners. Now I do my best to help other business owners feel welcome. Read more>>

Jayra Camarena

The most significant risk I have ever taken is starting a non-profit. I had experience as an advocate and coordinating victim services, but I was unfamiliar with the administrative side of things. When I felt called to start La Luz Org, I was scared. I was the right person for the Job. I always thought, “There are people who know how to communicate better than me, were more professionals, or had a higher education than I had.” why me? It took about a year for me to answer what I believe was God calling in my life. I risked everything! I took a lip of faith and left my Job in March 2018 to start a non-profit offering free services to the underserved. Read more>>

Tara Kromer

Some of my most positive, life-altering choices have resulted from mustering up the courage to take a big uncertain step. One of the most impactful risks that I’ve taken in my career happened about a decade ago: I had earned my undergraduate degree and had been working professionally for about 8 years, mostly as a stage manager, props artisan, and jack-of-all-trades theatre technician. I had finally landed in an open-ended position as the resident Equity stage manager at the Hippodrome Theatre in Gainesville, FL- making a decent salary at an organization with a solid foundation. It was an alluring gig because of its stability, and the productions that we were staging there had great range- from Shakespeare to popular contemporary plays to fluffy summer comedies and musicals… it was a position that the last stage manager had held for many years. I loved it: the theatre, the people, the material, the small-town atmosphere, the financial stability… but something was missing. Read more>>

Valaniece Martin

All my life I planned on moving to LA in pursuit of my dreams as a screenwriter after completing college but China had other plans and so I graduated with the class of Covid and despite coming to terms with my mortality, I thought it’d be a brilliant idea to relocate my entire life in the middle of 2020 anyway. There were inevitably many uncertainties to say the least. I had zero job prospects considering the film industry had shut down, we all feared for our lives, and people were quite literally dying en masse. It was very tragic and everyone globally took part in that collective dread. With that said, it behooves one to factor in a pandemic when making such life changes. Not I. Read more>>

Tom McCloskey

To create anything meaningful one must take risks, cliche’ I know, but it’s true. This is why making art is so hard. If I am playing it safe, or if I am not changing it up, I am making worthless trash. There is something about being on the edge, a little uncertainty, a littles anxiety, that is where the magic happens. Just stay out of my head, and just create. No risk–no art. Read more>>

Berris Henry Jr

The best risk I ever took was around 2016-2017. I was working towards my Business and Marketing degree at Buffalo State University in my third year. This was a very frustrating year for me, seeing as my friend had passed away that summer and I was unable to focus. We may have been one month into the semester and one morning I woke up and withdrew from all my courses. After that I kind of isolated myself and felt it was a necessary step for me to heal. I always say to myself “When you aren’t feeling your best, take a break and come back better”, and that’s exactly what I did. For some reason, the word “club” was stuck in my head and I’m from Buffalo, NY, the city of good neighbors. I combined good neighbors with club and that’s when the brand was born. Read more>>

Ellie Reis

Regardless of where you go, college is both a necessity and a privilege for anyone. At 17, I knew I wanted to be doing something creative as a career, but wasn’t quite sure what. I had just learned photoshop, was regularly painting, and still working with children, and all of them felt like promising options in some shape or form, but I didn’t have a specific career goal yet. After talking with people in the industry, I was strongly advised to attend an art college to better focus my craft, but while touring I felt massively out of place. It wasn’t impostor syndrome, but more of an excess of potential. There were so many fields I could see myself pursuing, and even back then I was considered a Mixed Media artist. Read more>>

Bandy (RAREBANDY)

I pride myself in being two things: 1: a risk taker and 2: a BIGGER risk taker! Risk taking, is an art form in itself; it involves a developed eye for personal risk management. What felt like the biggest risk I have ever taken has become one of the biggest rewards I’ve ever received. After 12 years of military service, I decided to hang up my uniform to pursue my dreams of being an artist and designer. Not only did I make the decision to end my career but I did it abruptly with no plan outside of, “Become a success artist.” So many things could have went wrong but in the end of my life I’d like to look back and say I bet on me, I took the risk to chase my dreams and that is something a lot people can’t say. That they’d leave stability to pursue an unknown outcome, but I left to pursue greater purpose and happiness. I highly encourage people to manage risk, plan and take a leap! Read more>>

Romeo Rios

If it wasn’t for me taking a risk I would not be where I am today. Sometimes it can be frightening and nerve-racking, but you go out there and give it your all. My dance teacher Rebecca at Tippy Toe Dance Studio told us that in life “you’re going to be nervous about everything. whether that’s going to a job interview or dancing your heart out on stage” Ever since i’ve heard those words i’ve tried my best to live by them. Taking risks and giving it my all. Read more>>

Jen Hoeft

Eight years ago, in my yearly astrology reading, I was told that my intuition is a “quiet, in the moment voice that speaks only once… keeping you safe and alive.” I got goose bumps (later understanding that this is my body wisdom hearing truth), and asked her how she knew that? The information/wisdom/download came from my human design chart. I hadn’t heard of this system that was transmitted onto the planet in 1987… and I dug in deep. Read more>>