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.

Catherine Barton

“What the hell are you doing?” “Starting a business in this economy?” and my favorite…”Aww, you’ve got a little business – that’s fun I bet” I heard all of those comments and more! I have had women ask me if my husband was OK with me traveling for work. Read more>>

Adeline Merrick

When I first met the love of my life, I was a teacher at an after-school center in South Korea. Mind you, I wasn’t Korean! I had moved to Korea via Australia from my home country of South Africa. Read more>>

Sara Mader

Music and theatre has been a part of my life ever since I can remember, piano & vocal lessons all my childhood, theatre schools, camps, you name it, I did it. I was aware of the creative inside of me from a very early age and discovered quickly that I feeding that part of me was where I would truly grow and flourish Read more>>

Alirien

The biggest risk I’ve taken was quitting my 9-5 retail job in 2021 to go full-time as a self-employed creator. I technically did things wrong if you ask any other creator out there; The biggest risk I’ve taken was quitting my 9-5 retail job in 2021 to go full-time as a self-employed creator. I technically did things wrong if you ask any other creator out there;  Read more>>

Connie Beckers

My work life consisted of steady, decent paying but unrewarding jobs. I worked around several departments at Hennepin County until I burned my bridges as a whistle blower. I was selling Mary Kay cosmetics at the time and figured I could work part-time as a church secretary while selling skin care and working my way up to a pink Cadillac.. Read more>>

Karla Galindo

I started a new journey in July last year. Both my personal and professional life took a turn, and everything changed for me. I was so afraid—I didn’t know what to do or where to start. I needed to reprogram myself to begin something completely new. Read more>>

Xian Elder

The number one risk I’ve taken creatively is letting go. I have to let go every day; I can be a perfectionist, although I intellectually realize it’s not the road toward communicative art. One of the milestones of my personal journey has been diving headlong into recovery from addiction to alcohol and substances. Read more>>

Carolina Fisch

Well, how do I begin. Risk taking definitely takes a lot of courage and that’s something I had to find within. When I first started my modeling career, acceptance is what I searched for. I knew being in front of a camera was something that would take courage and confidence. Read more>>

Lisa Touzinsky

I have taken significant risks throughout my life; personally and professionally. One of my favorite risks came when I was a young 21 years old. I traveled very little as child, but visited the central coast of California with my mom, sister, and aunt when I was 20. Read more>>

Barron Russell

The biggest change in my business has been bringing on a partner to help scale and grow. Not everyone feels good about sharing the equity in their business, but when done correctly it has its advantages. Read more>>

Julia Hartman

One of the biggest risks I ever took was moving across the country to a city where I didn’t know anyone and had no connections. I grew up in a suburb outside of Philadelphia and at 19 I moved into the city for undergrad, and then moved to central Jersey for grad school, always dreaming of moving to New York City when I finished school. Read more>>

Mindy Veissid

There comes a time in life where we feel a change is necessary. I’ve experienced this several times, but one moment that particularly stands out is when I decided to quit working in the corporate world. Read more>>

Mary Elizabeth Jackson

Taking a Risk In my life, I always dreamed of possibly being an author or published poet one day, but life happens, plans change, and so do dreams. After the birth of my late-in-life son, a risk I took on myself commenced. Read more>>

Tami Herbst

I have taken several significant financial risks in business over the years, but it wasn’t until 2015 that I faced a major personal risk when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Instead of opting for conventional medicine, I decided to focus on natural healing methods. Read more>>

Akilah Trinidad James

One of the biggest risks I’ve taken in my entrepreneurial journey was pivoting BOSS [MOVEMENT] to embrace fashion tech, particularly sustainable fashion, 3D printing, AR/VR fashion, the metaverse, and NFTs. Before 2021, BOSS [MOVEMENT] was primarily focused on traditional model management and hosting fashion events. Read more>>

Octavia Brewster

Hi, My name is Octavia Brewster, Owner and Head Coach of Brewster Dance Company here in Mobile, Al. I’ve always loved to dance. I’ve been dancing since I was about 3 years old. I noticed that there was a shortage of dance companies here that actually took the time out to help young ladies develop the skill. Read more>>

Melissa Benintendi

One of the leaps I took that feels like a moment of intuitive brilliance was to start a podcast with someone I barely knew. My now business partner and I ended up on a 10 hour car ride to a conference together after everyone else bailed on the trip last minute. Read more>>

Tonya Lincoln

First of all, I would like to talk about music therapy in a general sense because too often what I do is misinterpreted. I’m not just a musician who decided I wanted to help people. I have a master’s degree in music therapy from Texas Woman’s University and my MT-BC credentials from the Certification Board for Music Therapists. Read more>>

Jazmin Howell

One of the best risks I ever took was when I was 18 years old, I drove 24 hours by myself in my tiny little Nissan to Charlotte, NC. I really needed a fresh start, just getting out of high school, I had no friends and also needed to get away from my family at the time – due to dysfunctional mishaps. Read more>>

Lauren Heide

In April 2018, I decided to take a risk and pursue something that had been burning in the back of my mind for a while and quickly became a burning passion of mine. I flew to Seattle and attended the Doulas of North America (DONA) training to become a certified doula. Read more>>

Romero Malone

In life’s tapestry, risks are often threads that weave intricate patterns of success. When I embarked on my journey as a flight attendant in 2017, I felt a sense of fulfillment. However, a longing within me yearned for something more. Read more>>

Latoya Elliott

Bring a creative is very risky especially when your support system, at a young age didn’t believe in the line of work you wanted to pursue. It took years to believe in myself and finally take the risk to start several businesses that failed, careers that failed, relationships that didn’t truly support the dream or vision.

Eugenia Kuzmina

Sitting at a desk at IMG Golf Academy I look out of the airconditioned window with no openings or knobs, I like fresh air… I think still …a stretch to get to this point from Siberian food lines … As a woman, I know Golf is not a sport girls are encouraged to play even in the land of freedom. Read more>>

Teresa Hildebrand

Leaving a stable job at UCLA Health to focus on my family and a business was one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken. As the first Sustainability Programs Manager for UCLA Health, I had a great career, but I constantly felt torn between my professional responsibilities and being present for my kids. Read more>>

Sara Deren

In 2008, the financial industry came crashing down, taking with it my job at Morgan Stanley. I was 8 months pregnant with my first child and trying to figure out how to have a big city career and a family with a guy who spent 1/4 of his year in Maine at the summer camp he owned and operated. Read more>>

Jami Dale

I grew up in Kentucky. My grandparents were farmers, and I spent my childhood fishing and playing sports. In the age of Disney princesses, I always connected to Belle. I loved reading because I could escape to beautiful places around the world. Read more>>

Karen Conyers

I began worship dancing in 1997 with a group at my church. I wasn’t the choreographer of the group. I was just a member of the group–in fact, the oldest member at 22 years old among a group of middle and mostly high school girls. After my mother passed away in 1999, I moved to Aiken, SC which is about 45 minutes away from my hometown and I knew NOBODY!  Read more>>

Steven Siegel

In 1990 I was asked if I would like to be included in an outdoor exhibition at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island, NY. I had not created an outdoor work in nearly 10 years at that point, so I was reluctant. Read more>>

Gina Brehm

I was working in a pretty dreamy job in 2015 – I really liked my clientele – but I hopped into a job opportunity in Switzerland which was a complete left turn. During that 9 months of my life, I realized that my dream job was to help families exactly as they needed to be helped; Read more>>

Merel Jacobs

My professional path has taken many different directions to lead me to where I am now. In college, I worked in a research lab studying the effects of drugs of abuse on the brain and behavior. I was tasked with taking millions of data points and making it mean something, which was my first introduction to the world of scripting & automation. Read more>>

Kianna Hill

The biggest risk that I have ever taken has been the risk of leaving my full time job in January 2020, to pursue my personal training business full time and homeschool my daughter full time. The decision to leave my job was to prioritize my health due to working in a toxic work environment. Read more>>

Madison Smith

Everything happens for a reason is one of my favourite quotes. I fell in love with Joshua Tree and the community that is here. I started working for a small business- Roaming Travelers. Working for Roaming Travelers has been one of my greatest opportunities. Read more>>

Pamela Charbit Toledano

One of the biggest risks I’ve taken in my life, but also one of the most rewarding, was moving to LA from France with nothing lined up here. I come from a small town near Paris, people don’t move to the other side of the world to purse music there and I never knew anyone who did it. Read more>>

Jessica Green

I have always understood the importance of being fit and healthy. Owning my own landscape architecture business, I never shied away from hard work and spending a lot of time outdoors, rarely went to the doctor. Read more>>

SkyLee Edmiston

For nearly five years, I ran my nonprofit spa from a separate studio on my property. After dealing with a severe roof leak and plumbing issues, I knew I needed to find a new space. I quickly rented a place but soon realized it wasn’t the right fit. Thus began my search for the perfect location. Read more>>

Collin Howard

When I think of taking a risk, I think of the time I made a decision to not only move cross country during a pandemic but also do a major career pivot. All on gut instict. So I’ve been singing my whole life. Like a lot of people, I first found my voice in the children’s choir at church. From there I joined youth professional choirs through out my home state. Read more>>