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.

Bart Mastronardi

Everything in business is a risk. I can still say every time I am with a client the butterflies in my stomach are going a mile a minute. One big risk story was working with one of my favorite models/clients. Read more>>

Neha Darji

As a daughter of Indian Immigrant parents, early on the message was given to me to create a life of success, stability and success. In our culture, the careers that are valued are prestigious, provide financial lucrative and lead to living the “American dream” painting the picture of success. Read more>>

Brianne Snodgrass, Maddy Morrison

Starting 31Thirty Coaching was a huge risk for both of us from concept to launch date. Maddy had been training online with her own personal business and working an in person job for a time, and I was working full time as a personal trainer in person at a gym for my main source of income. Read more>>

Gillian Harker

Risk-taking was something I had always assumed was an intrinsic part of my character. I did my first “bungee jump” at about six years old, which involved tying a skipping rope between my brother and me, clambering up on the window ledge of my mum’s house, and leaping off. Read more>>

Corinne Palmer

Thank you, for your interest. Seven years ago, I took the risk of leaving the stability of salaried career to pursue my art full-time. It wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support and encouragement of my husband. Read more>>

Marcelo Bukin

Throughout my career, I’ve taken many risks and continue to do so. I believe life is more interesting when we occasionally explore beyond our comfort zone. Read more>>

Dr. Sherry Walling

One of the most significant risks I’ve taken was leaving a full-time university professorship—a position I had prepared years for, following a rigorous five-year doctoral program and prestigious research fellowships at Yale and the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Read more>>

June Gunter

I had been working in the field of leadership development for 15 years when it hit me that most of what we understood about how to lead was no longer true or useful. Read more>>

Brandon Tanczak

One of the biggest risks we have ever taken would have to be taking on filming our first feature-length Aphasia during COVID-19. Read more>>

Sarah Connor

When I left my creative job to pursue full-time freelance work, it was a significant and challenging decision. I was approaching my three-year anniversary at the company and found myself increasingly burnt out. Read more>>

Ty Salvant

For years, I observed how schools organized private events at our local amusement park, and I wanted to create a similar experience for our homeschooling community. Read more>>

Charly Louise

There is inherent risk in being an entrepreneur, and even more so in being a documentary filmmaker. Few people pursue filmmaking, especially documentaries, for job security, financial stability, or a guaranteed career path. Read more>>

Lupe Lambaren

Taking the leap to become an independent esthetician was one of the most significant risks I’ve ever taken, and it has been an incredible journey of growth and learning. Read more>>

Elizabeth Goodwill

Well anytime you open a small business it’s a risk. My business partner, Barbara Gerdeman and I knew we wanted to work together after running the education department at our local art center. Read more>>

Delania Brown

Backstory of Sweet Fluffy Clouds We all know I started the company doing Covid time. 2 years ago I step out on faith and brought a food trailer. In 2024 I open up my first storefront. Read more>>

Kristi Morron

I am a registered radiologic and CT technologist. I had been in that field for about 12 years when I had a health scare that led me away feom the field. Read more>>

Ludivine Gérard

I took a risk coming to Colorado to start a new life with my husband and son. I have been an artist since childhood, having studied visual arts and painting, but I never managed to break through in my field in Belgium— where art is away of countryside community concern. Read more>>

Sarah Estrada

I have been a hairdresser working behind the chair for 9 years. I worked in my first commission salon for 6 years with an incredible boss and team. Read more>>

Quan Liang

Times are tough in our industry, and it’s heart-wrenching to watch good, small businesses struggle just to keep their doors open, pouring their all into serving our communities. Read more>>

Carol Rodriguez

Also, I think the biggest life changing risk I’ve taken was to freelance and not have a full-time job under a management. Once I was fired from my last job due to Covid, I made myself clear that I would try for once the fact of freelancing and sustain myself with my business. Read more>>

Zhuo Xiong

Life is a freefall. I think it’s true for every single one in the creative industry. But it’s especially true for me. In late 2015, thousands of kilometers away from my hometown, I graduated from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Read more>>

Tanya Scott

I’ve always been a risk taker in business, beginning when I was 27yrs old and opened my first personal training gym with just $35K and no business experience. Read more>>

Erica Carulli

I began my journey after my Master’s Degree in Counseling working for a non-profit. I had also completed my internship during grad school at the same non-profit and was hired full time, which I was so grateful for. Read more>>

Jakira Kellogg

Who knew that being 13,500 feet in the air would teach me the importance of not only valuing my life but also realizing that my life is not solely my own? Read more>>

Melany Altuna

I started my career as an illustrator back in my home country Venezuela, I was living in Caracas working as an illustrator and designer for multiple advertisement companies at the time.  Read more>>

Jennifer Peart

I quit my stable teaching job and renewed my painting practice after a decade of not making art. The biggest risk of my life was not just about changing careers; it was about reclaiming my identity as an artist and reestablishing a vital connection to my creativity. Read more>>

Patrick Alcala

My first big risk was back in late 2018 when I decided to transfer colleges around halfway into my stay in one. Here in the Philippines, when you transfer, you also run the risk of not having your credits from your previous school carry over because of a mismatch in curriculum even if both schools offer the same course. Read more>>

Christy Lee

I began my career in Dental Hygiene, with a degree in Biology and Microbiology then shifted into owning and operating brick and morter businesses. Read more>>

Keisha Brown

Turning Fear into Advocacy: My Journey as a Previvor In the landscape of modern medicine, the term “previvor” has become a beacon of hope and empowerment. Read more>>

Asia Babbington

I have taken two significant risks in my life that have shaped my career and personal growth. I have taken two significant risks in my life that have shaped my career and personal growth. Read more>>

Aveneel Waadhwa

My life motto is ‘To live is to risk it all.’ I wake up every day to this label on my alarm and I think about this statement before making any decision, big or small, in my life. Read more>>

Urmi Jani

For someone who considers themselves risk averse, I find myself self-reflecting and thus discovering that my career is where it is today, because of the risks that I have taken along the way. Read more>>

Alexis Lebario

I was working for various insurance companies the last 7 years post-college in 2015. I made great money and the job itself was mundane, but “easy” & conveniently ‘work from home’. Read more>>

Victoria Walling

For years, my life was a well-worn recipe. I thrived in the corporate kitchen, whipping up press releases, marketing campaigns, and communication strategies. Read more>>

Amber Helgeson

Seven years ago, if someone had told me that my life and career would be deeply intertwined with plant medicines, I would have dismissed the idea as improbable. Read more>>

JOHANNA Tordjman

I started my first business when I was only 17 years old. It was a social media magazine. Way before the facebook era… I realised how much people loved to gossip about the social events and interactions so I went all the way to make it happen by giving them what they were craving the most “seeing themself in social pages via photos and articles. Read more>>

Rachael Goddard

When I decided to put my books out there, I originally wanted to work with a Publisher who was a family friend and had known me since I was young. Read more>>

Pablo Bogdan

In the art world, the true risk-takers are the artists. They are the ones who bare their souls with each creation, displaying immense bravery and courage as they open themselves up to judgment and criticism. Read more>>

Riley Schlick

I am an 18 year-old girl, I own a successful company in an industry of 60 year-old men. I have 5 employees and am paying for engineering college in cash. And none of this was planned. Read more>>

Ruben Rosado

A few years ago, I found myself at a crossroads in life. Despite a stable job in Warehouse Automation in Pennsylvania, my heart was set on pursuing my childhood dream of acting. Read more>>

Isaiah Hill

I used to be an assistant warehouse manager for Amazon. I worked that job for about a year and a half while simultaneously pursuing music and content creation. Read more>>

Ann Robb

I used to think that jumping out of an airplane to skydive at age 64 was the biggest risk I had ever taken, but my decision to become an actor on stage and screen, at age 64, makes that risk pale in comparison. Read more>>

CARSON FERRI-GRANT

Driving a Penske truck cross-country to California as an elder, I rode this venture like mounting the horns in a race. As a senior I enthusiastically seize creative exploration and discovery. Read more>>

Jennifer Azzariti

In 2020, I was busy working in the small handbuilding yurt at Glen Echo Pottery, when an episode of Red Clay Rambler podcast caught my attention–it was an interview with Ursula Hargens and her students about a program she founded in collaboration with the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis–the Minnesota New Institute for Ceramic Education (MN NICE). Read more>>

Alisha Collins

Becoming a full time entrepreneur was a huge risk for me. I took the leap in 2016 and never looked back. I had been so used to working in an office, mostly the banking industry. Read more>>