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.
Queenie Vesey
I’ve always loved cooking. Growing up in Iowa by way of Mexico, MO , the kitchen was my sanctuary, the place where I felt most alive. But starting a business? That felt as far-fetched as winning the lottery. I didn’t have a culinary degree, a business background, or even much savings. All I had was my love for food, a tiny garden, and a dream. It all started with a me taking horticulture classes my senior year! Shout out to class of 2002! I’d been growing herbs and veggies in my backyard for years, and I started selling extras to make a little cash. One day, a regular customer asked, “What do you do with these tomatoes? They’re the best I’ve ever tasted!” I told her about my roasted tomato sauce recipe, and she said, “Girl, you need to sell that.” Read more>>
Michelle Freeman
Becoming a Funeral Director &Embalmer has been a childhood dream of mine. Being a Funeral Director allows me to combine all my passions into one. I love taking care of people, planning events, l’m also a makeup artist so I enjoy making things look pretty. So in 2018 I decided to take the biggest risk of my life. I quit my job, took my life savings and packed up my home and my 6 year old son and moved to Greenwood, South Carolina to attend Mortuary School at Piedmont Technical College. I would stay there for a year and a half until completing the program and graduating. I had to take that risk to began the journey to becoming a Licensed Funeral Director & Embalmer. Read more>>
Anastasia Popp
In life you’ll face many risks, for myself personally, I’d say I’ve taken quite a few. I believe the 3 that really made me who I am today, would be starting at a young age when I decided to step away from Soccer and focus on my Cheerleading career. Although to many Cheerleading is just a silly sport, but to me it was my everything for twenty years. I played soccer for 12 years while also competing competitivity in cheerleading, it was very time consuming and strenuous on my body, but I loved it and my parents always supported me. When I decided to step away from it, I was heartbroken but I fell out of love with the sport and knew I wanted to focus on cheer because I wanted to be like my dad and become a coach. Because of this decision, it led me to winning one of the biggest championships at 12 years old, then leading to me to be a 2x World Champion at 19 & 20 years old. I also was able to become a coach from the age of 15 till I was 22. Those memories I will hold on for a lifetime. Read more>>
J.c. King
Well, I wouldn’t be where I am now if it weren’t for the feeling of being stuck in several dead ends jobs. I worked as a manager at two different shoe stores with no true sign of growth and prosperity even being in management; I often felt like Ace from Paid In Full visualizing money falling from the sky while standing behind my register. I would really believe that there is so much out there in the free world, all I have to do is take the risk and bet on myself. But I was often afraid of what others thought and how I’d be judged for doing what I do currently–that all changed once I had a little come to Jesus meeting. Read more>>
Melvin Rodriguez Echevarria
Taking risks is an inherent part of life, and as a realtor, I understand that buying, selling, or moving to a new home can feel like one of the biggest risks a person can take. It’s not just a financial decision but an emotional one too—your home is where you create memories, build your life, and find comfort. However, I firmly believe that with the right guidance and support, this “risk” can transform into an incredible opportunity. My role is to provide my clients with the knowledge, resources, and confidence they need to make informed decisions. Whether it’s pricing a home correctly for the market, negotiating terms, or helping someone navigate the unknowns of a new neighborhood, the key is preparation and partnership. Read more>>
Edir Terry
My journey begins at the age of 10, during a pivotal moment that would shape the course of my life. It was then that my parents made the difficult decision to leave Venezuela and stay in the United States, seeking better opportunities amidst the challenges back home. At such a young age, I was faced with a life-altering choice: either return to Venezuela to live with relatives or stay in the U.S. and start a new chapter with my family. Despite barely understanding English, I chose to stay and rebuild with them—a decision that would define my path. Read more>>
Davida Rappaport
One of the biggest, life-changing risks I took was when I relocated to Los Angeles from Chicago 30 years ago. It was a crazy move to make, and I had no guarantee that it was the right decision. But I did it. It all started with a $5 raffle ticket. I won free airfare for 2 to Las Vegas…and I took a co-worker with me who loved Vegas. Since I rarely traveled, I reached out to my girlfriend, and her then fiance, who recently relocated to Los Angeles. I thought maybe I could get an agent to represent me as a psychic and an actress and possibly move to Los Angeles. Why not? I had no idea where that thought came from. I asked my girlfriend to find a list of variety agents that I could contact. She did and I connected with one. After one day in Las Vegas, I rented a car and drove to Los Angeles to meet my new agent and see my girlfriend. Read more>>
P-wig Jones
I’d like to share with you a risk I took recently that’s been a game-changer for me. As an artist, I’ve always been passionate about creating music that inspires and uplifts others. But I knew that to take my music to the next level, I needed to think outside the box. So, I decided to take a risk and invest in releasing my music on vinyl. It was a big undertaking, but I believed in my music and I was determined to share it with the world in a unique and special way. The backstory is that I’ve been working tirelessly to create music that resonates with my audience. I’ve been performing at local venues, engaging with my fans on social media, and collaborating with other artists to build my network. Read more>>
Briana Rodriguez
One of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken was deciding to fully pursue my passion for music. For years, I felt stuck in corporate jobs where I was constantly undervalued and underappreciated. Those environments felt robotic, and I was always facing challenges because my heart was never really in it. Music, on the other hand, has always been my passion; it’s been a part of my life since childhood, and I’ve always felt most alive when creating or connecting through it. Eventually, my disdain for that corporate cycle did me in. I couldn’t keep ignoring the pull to do what I truly loved, so I decided to take a leap of faith. I left the grind behind to focus on DJing, and I also enrolled in school full-time to learn everything I could about the music business and audio production. Read more>>
Ozlem Yeni
Thank you so much for this opportunity to share my story. I truly appreciate the work CanvasRebel does in providing artists and creatives with a platform to connect and inspire others. It’s an honor to be featured and to contribute to this vibrant community. The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was leaving my 18-year academic position as a stage design professor in the Fine Arts Faculty and moving to Australia, a country I had never even visited before. At the time, I had no prior experience living abroad. While I was content with my life as an artist pursuing a career I loved, an unexpected job offer for my husband presented us with a life-altering decision. Read more>>
Celinda De La Fuente
The biggest risk I ever took was creating Ashes To Phoenix. I vividly remember the moment I decided to invest my savings into something I was unsure about. It felt like standing at the edge of a cliff, unsure of how or when I would land. But something deep within me—my intuition—told me this was the path I needed to take, even though the fear of the unknown was overwhelming. I have learned that it is not the risk itself that brings fear; it is the uncertainty, the stepping out of our comfort zones. Comfort zones, while safe, can keep us stagnant, limiting our potential for growth. Taking risks with intention and listening to our inner guidance helps us see beyond those limits. It is about addressing the fear, not avoiding it or allowing it to control our decisions. Read more>>
Jeanette Lira
The Risk That Redefined Me: Embracing Discomfort When people ask me about the biggest risk I’ve ever taken, my mind doesn’t go to a single moment—it flashes through a lifetime of choices where I’ve leaped into the unknown, each time learning more about who I am and what I’m capable of. But there’s one thread that ties all of these experiences together: my belief that true growth only happens in discomfort. It started after I lost my brother. That moment changed everything. It wasn’t just the loss of him—it was the loss of who I thought I was. I felt directionless, and broken. But in the midst of all that pain, I realized I had nothing to lose. So, I threw my hands up and embraced the uncertainty. Read more>>
Annie Evans
I feel like my whole “photography career” I’m always taking a risk, whether it’s moving to a new town to expand myself in my field of work or simply having this “if it works out, great. If not, oh well” attitude towards making photography my full-time job. I think the biggest risk for me is offering my services for free, or at the very least making it a donation based where performers can still contribute, which that is to say, I still get hired on to do paid work (sometimes I’ll get paid way below my current rate). At the end of it all, I’m just glad to be a part of a performance that I’m pretty sure a lot of time and money went into and being a part of a music/drag community and making new connections is what I find to be most important to me then making money (which is also a nice thing). Read more>>
Cherry Lee
I was working in Hollywood before this DJ career. I went to film school, worked at production companies, networks, agencies, and my last stint was at a talent management company. I was there for about a year and was hungry for growth but that ruffled the higher-ups feathers as I like to move quickly and there was a lack of support in my growth. My final straw was when the boss chastised me for getting my friend a meeting with executives at a top legacy studio, a friend who I pitched for her to sign but she turned down. I was told by my former boss that I misrepresented the company, but I set that meeting up solo without using the company name whatsoever as I believed in my friend. When she said I was responsible for the company, staff and clients (I was in an executive assistant role), it made me realize that I could run things myself better than she can, so on the spot I quit on a Thursday, no two week, no backup plan. At the time I had only been DJing for about a year, not full time yet, but I knew I had to make it work. And the timing was impeccable as a few months later, the Hollywood actors and writers strike happened so the whole industry was shut down anyway, and to me that was the universe giving me the confirmation that I made the right move. And it was, as DJing has become my career that pays the bills in the two years since I’ve started. Like I said, I like to move quickly. Read more>>
Amie Beckwith Lmt #17152
Having a well established practice and clientele in bodywork, I decided to dedicate more time, space, and energy to promoting my divination business. I loved massage and wanted to continue with that career, but also felt the drive to expand my tarot card reading reach. I saw those around me and online looking to find deeper meaning in their daily lives and to understand world events beyond headlines. Sometimes the best way to greater clarity is viewing issues through a different lens- I wanted to help make a new perspective available. For myself the push to have greater income diversity, and a more flexible schedule that could include not only hosting tarot readings on my flagstone patio, but also remote phone consultations- giving me the option to work while traveling- added to a desire to bring my Archetypal Tarot style to more people. ‘Time is money’ but it was the moment for an investment. Read more>>
Jamie Seward
The pandemic forced many businesses to close, including Repeat Roses. As someone who cares deeply about the environment and doing good in this world, I saw the opportunity in reviving the company. So, I acquired the business, recognizing its potential and the value is brings. Restarting a business that had been forced to close due to the pandemic was a significant challenge. The initial hurdle was to breathe new life into a concept that had been dormant. We had to analyze the original business model, identifying areas for improvement and innovation. Read more>>
Angel Davila
I think all creatives will understand what I mean when I say that choosing to pursue my passion as a career choice had to be one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken. Living in America and attending public school, you’re filled with the idea that the “right way” to enter adulthood is to go to college after you graduate high school. Now I won’t lie and say I never wanted to take that route and considered possible career choices that would require me to go to college. I actually thought I wanted to be a scientist at some point, which is comical because science is not my strongest subject. Throughout all my years of schooling, I bounced around different career choices in my head, but none really sounded appealing enough for me to commit to them. I actually always dreamed of being in the Hollywood scene since I was a child, I admired a lot of celebrities and thought their lifestyles were so cool. I just didn’t know exactly where I would fit in at the time. Would I be a singer? Or an actress? What about a drummer? I could go to the olympics as a gymnast if I give it my all, but still none of these stuck. I actually involved myself in the visual arts a lot as a child. I was the kid who filled their school notebooks with random doodles more than notes. Read more>>
Alizarin Zroob
In 2011, I was traveling the world, digital nomading and adventuring in the Far East. One day, I received an acceptance message from NYU and decided to try my luck moving to NYC. I arrived with almost nothing—just my ambitious, talented, and wild-card reputation. It was a huge risk, and even to this day, I wonder where I found the guts to make that impulsive move with so few resources. But it was all worth it! It took motivation, community, and a spark of reckless creativity. Read more>>
Laura Sherman
In 2019 I was in my 34th year as a freelance harpist in New York City with a full-time tenured job as the original harpist at “Wicked” on Broadway, as well as teaching, playing with a wonderful assortment of freelance orchestras, touring, and recording. It was a creative life that I had long dreamed of and was fully enjoying. That was also the year that I was invited to join the faculty at the University of Miami to teach harp, music theory and chamber music. This too was a dream of mine, to be a faculty member and to have a chance to teach others all that I had learned during my exciting career in New York City. Read more>>
Jason And Emily
In February 2020, I called my friend Jason. “I’m calling just to let you know that I love you….” “I love you, too.” he said. We went on as platonic friends. That call opened the door. A couple weeks later, Jason and I found ourselves lingering much longer than usual on a video chat until 4 a.m. “There’s a lot happening right now…” I whispered. “So much spoken, and unspoken.” Jason nodded and smiled. That was all the green light he needed. The next morning, I woke up to a text. “It appears we are falling in love in slow motion.” My heart raced. I had wings the rest of the day. By the next morning, however, a long list of fears overwhelmed me. Jason later admitted his list of fears was just as long. While the fears were swirling, we also could not deny that Utah and Maryland were starting to feel entirely too far apart. Read more>>
Nicole Bryant
I was born and raised in California. I built my career there and focused on being a traveling therapist. I did work in Mexico, South Africa, and decided to take a risk and do a summer Christian Camp program through Chickfila to fill time and spend time in the South. I fell in LOVE with the town of Murfreesboro. Although the role was merely for the summer, I dreamt about it. I returned to California and began my work in the corrections system to build my crisis services experience. I then got licensed and got into Corporate Tech Mental Health building out programs. I begged my husband to move to Murfreesboro and risk our stability. We both were able to land remote gigs and continue our work. After becoming pregnant, I realized that my values were shifting and the risk was shifting into private practice in a town where I am 100% unknown. Now we are here…. Read more>>
Dara Peña
I think at my age, I’m okay with taking risks. It’s fun to explore what you like, to then find out what’s not for you. About two years ago or so, with no knowledge whatsoever on photography, I picked up those disposable point and shoot film cameras. I think the fact that I didn’t know what I was even doing was a huge risk already. Allowing people to simply see what I see. Everyday I’m taking a risk by being vulnerable through my creations. I do get nervous about it but I’m human. Let me express myself.. Read more>>
Kimberly Mae Hulloa
The most significant risk I have taken in my career has been balancing my professional work while simultaneously pursuing my goal of becoming a content creator. Throughout my journey, I have experienced many sleepless and stressful nights, but I remained confident that the effort would eventually pay off. Embarking on my path as a content creator was particularly daunting, as I initially believed it might interfere with my role as a mental health therapist. However, I found a way to seamlessly integrate both passions. While my content does not offer professional advice due to ethical considerations, I incorporate my knowledge of psychological theories, mental health, and relationships to provide thoughtful guidance in areas such as makeup tutorials, GRWM, and vlogs. Read more>>
Samantha Priddy
A Leap Into the Unknown: Starting My Med Spa The moment I unlocked the door to my brand-new med spa, my heart raced with equal parts excitement and fear. For 14 years, I had built a career in nursing, a stable and predictable path. But now, as a nurse injector, I had taken the ultimate leap—opening my own med spa. It was a risk. I didn’t have an existing clientele, no waiting list of patients eager to see me. I had left behind the security of a well-paying job and ventured into the uncertain world of entrepreneurship. Friends had called me brave. Family, supportive but cautious, had asked if I was sure. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure at all. But I had a vision, and that vision burned brighter than my doubts. Read more>>
Mendy Mcnulty
A few years ago, I found myself stuck. I was a special education teacher and a pastor’s wife, balancing countless responsibilities yet feeling weighed down by anxiety and stagnation. At 100 pounds overweight, I carried more than just physical weight—I was burdened emotionally, too. Despite years of therapy and self-help, I still felt like I was spinning my wheels. Then, I discovered psychedelic-assisted therapy. It was unconventional and came with stigma, but something about it intrigued me. Taking this step meant confronting my own fears, questioning deeply ingrained beliefs, and risking judgment from my community. With research and the support of trusted professionals, I decided to take the leap. Read more>>
Bethany Suarez
Starting Barn Cat Jam Co. felt like such a big risk at the time. My husband and I knew it was going to be a big investment upfront, and that’s always scary when you don’t know what the end result is going to be. Developing recipes, purchasing equipment, and spending so much time making the product when you aren’t sure how it’s going to be received feels really daunting. I’m really grateful for my husband, David, because of how supportive he has been through all this. For me, I was thinking “What if I put in all of this work and no one wants to buy what I make?” But we’ve met so many people who have supported us and valued our products, and it has really helped show me the value in what I’m doing. Knowing that I have a product that people enjoy and that people want to buy is so rewarding! Read more>>
Emanuel Craig
One of the biggest risks I took was starting my own business. I didn’t come from a family of entrepreneurs—nobody in my immediate circle had ever run a business on their own. So, it felt like I was diving into the unknown. But I knew I wanted to give it a shot, even though I had no clear roadmap. I didn’t just jump in blindly though. I found a few mentors who had been through the ups and downs of business and could help me navigate the challenges. Their guidance made all the difference. I took things step by step, learning as I went, making mistakes, and adjusting along the way. It wasn’t an instant success, but over time, things started to click. Read more>>
Zi Savage Ngozi Okachi
I didn’t realize for the longest time that even though I felt like a successful entrepreneur, I still hadn’t fully gone all in with my dreams and the rockstar vision of my life. I was sitting on the set of filming season 16 the Blox speaking with a guest panelist about a few of the challenges I faced with visibility on social media. They pointed out while yes maintaining visibility on social media as an activist has its unique hurdles, there were still parts of me and subsequently my business that I was half hazardly dipping my toe in to instead of jumping straight in. Read more>>
Mindy Hamilton
Taking the Leap: How Faith, Determination, and a Bold Risk Transformed My Life In the early fall of 2022, I found myself standing at a crossroads in life. My personal life was yearning for a path to freedom and fulfillment, I knew I needed to take a leap of faith—one that would completely redefine my future. That leap came in the form of BONDED, a business established in 2019 and beloved for its custom-fitted, in-class jewelry experiences. I first encountered the founders of BONDED during a time when my life was filled with uncertainty. With a background in jewelry, marketing, and event planning, I immediately recognized the potential of BONDED as not just a business, but as a transformative event activation experience. The idea of bringing people together through personalized, permanent jewelry resonated deeply with me. Read more>>
Brandy L Cunningham
Since I was in grade school, I have always had a big imagination and made-up stories. I attempted to write my first book in seventh grade, and completed my first full length, four hundred plus page manuscript by tenth grade. I knew I wanted to be a writer, but comments from English teachers on my spelling and grammar abilities, as well as the fact that I came from barely above a poor background held my dreams back. Getting a decent job to be able to support myself in life was always impressed upon me as the most important thing I could do. Instead, I chose to go to college and earn a degree. Writing, however, wasn’t going to pay the bills so instead I began working toward a science major. Along the way, I became a mom to my wonderful little girl, and shortly after graduating I welcomed my son. It was around this time, when I had the rare opportunity to be home with him instead of hustling and busting through a 50 plus hour work week just to pay the bills, that I began going through my old notebooks, and that old longing stirred back to life. I started writing again, and my husband told me I should try to get published. Read more>>
Leah Garcia
I was born a risk-taker—it’s in my DNA. Growing up on a ranch, I was thrown into the ring, both literally and figuratively, learning to embrace challenges head on. This bold, fearless mindset became the foundation for the biggest risk of my life: starting NULASTIN. When I was introduced to the scientific benefits of elastin for skin and hair health, I was highly intrigued on a personal and professional level. The years I spent in the sun as a professional mountain biker did me no favors. My propensity to stress ended up causing facial paralysis, hair loss, premature aging and weakened tissue. As you can imagine, this novel elastin protein, as a personal care salvation, had my full attention. Read more>>
Chrissy Lush
In 2018, after 11 years working as a photo retoucher in e-commerce photo studios, I took a significant leap of faith. At the time, I was a post-production manager for a retail fashion company, overseeing a department of one—myself. Despite consistently requesting additional support for two years, the constant turnover in management left me starting from scratch each time. At one point, I had two managers from different departments, given the cross-functional nature of my role. In a one-on-one meeting, one manager encouraged me to “go rogue,” suggesting I find a candidate for retouching help without approval, assuring me we’d get sign-off later. However, when I brought up the progress I’d made on this task in a meeting with both managers, she denied ever suggesting it, implying that I had fabricated the entire thing. That moment was pivotal. I realized I wasn’t valued or respected, and I’d hit a wall in the corporate world. Read more>>
Jasmine Drake
The biggest risk I have taken was literally sharing my talents to the world! (online) Since around the time I started sharing things to different platforms in 2016, it was not “normal” to pour out your creations of who you truly are in the spaces I was surrounded in. For YEARS I felt like I was living a split life from doing regular day to day duties, but when I would get time to have to myself I would be consumed by different things like my artwork, modeling, and overall experimenting with anything that kept my soul at ease. Since a child, all I knew is I did not want to have any regrets when it comes to not doing things that bring me inner as well as outer peace. As I started to get older, this fire started to grow even though I did not know how far my creations would lead me, I had to try no matter what. Read more>>
Cath Hebert
Since middle school, my life was spent preparing for one thing; Broadway. Every musical and play at school, every voice lesson, dance class, summer workshop, and acting elective, was done to enhance my chances of going to college for Musical Theatre. As tiring and frustrating many of these things can be, I truly loved it. From Veronica in Heathers to the Newsies Ensemble, and all the way to Madame Thenardier in Les Mis. It was my whole life. As a senior in high school during COVID, I was auditioning for schools virtually. I had done around 20 auditions and I genuinely loved the process of getting to meet faculty and perform. It was some of the only human interaction I was able to get through this time. During this time, my younger brother introduced me to his gaming friends online, some of which happened to be around my age. I began socializing with new people during a time when I thought that would never be possible. I quickly became entranced by the world of esports and content creation. I always loved video games growing up but never felt I loved it enough to buy myself a gaming specific computer. There was also this voice in the back of my head that feared being bad at video games and falling into the harmful stereotype that women face. Around September of 2020, I decided to build my own PC and my journey into esports and gaming began. Read more>>
Raven Clausen
Leaving the Army was one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken – bigger than joining the Army, even. When I joined, I knew I had a guaranteed roof over my head and food in my belly, as well as a steady form of income. All of that disappeared when I ETSed (Expiration Term of Service, meaning you completed your contract). I no longer had all of my essentials covered, I didn’t have another job lined up, and it was terrifying. That’s a major reason why some people never leave the service, and instead stay for 20+ years. Even the biggest, baddest, toughest people you know are so terrified of the unknown that they would rather choose certainty in a job where their life could end instantly. Why? Death is certain, and we like certainties. But there is no greater fear than the unknown. Read more>>
Geraldin Ferrer
The biggest risk I ever took was in 2020 when I decided to move from Florida to Los Angeles. I was excited because I had landed an interview with a local university and was scheduled to fly out to L.A. the next day. But life happened —on my way to work the morning before my flight, I got into a serious car accident. My car was totaled, and I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. I sat with myself, all I could think was, Is this a sign that I shouldn’t go? Should I cancel my trip? I called my mom overwhelmed. But I had to give myself a pep talk after having a ling conversation with my mom and all I could hear her saying, “You’re not giving up. You’re going to L.A., and you’re going to kill that interview.” So, despite being sore and shaken, I got on a five-hour flight to L.A. the next day. Read more>>
Henoch Spinola
In 2012, I worked as a freelance contemporary dancer and teacher on a project by project basis in greater Boston. I was seeking more work when a dance community member shared valuable information. They informed me that a dance artist was retiring from a major modern dance company in New York to choreograph a dance to be performed in an opera production. They suggested I connect with her as she sought local dancers to perform in her work. When working with her, she suggested I move to New York to audition for the company where she previously danced. The idea was daunting, because there was no guarantee that there would be dance opportunities if I didn’t pass the audition. But I decided to take the leap, move to New York, and see what the audition at this major modern dance company would bring. Read more>>
Joe T. Johnson
One of the biggest risks I took in my music career happened when I was just sixteen. I was already writing my own songs and performing regularly at local gigs, but the opportunity to perform at the ‘Hall for Cornwall’ came up, and it was a big leap for me. It was a 1200-seat venue, and I was set to perform solo, just me and my acoustic guitar—no band, no backup. To be honest, I was terrified. I remember throwing up backstage and having cold sweats before going on stage. But I pushed through it because I knew it was a chance to challenge myself.” “That night turned out to be a pivotal moment. Despite my nerves, I walked out and did my thing, and it felt incredible to have the courage to face such a big audience. It was a huge risk everything from the performance itself to the fear of being judged. But after taking that step, something clicked. My confidence grew, and I realized that confidence isn’t just about natural ability. It’s about trusting your hard work, being true to yourself, and developing the right habits.” Read more>>
Brittny Abad
Switching careers is always risky. It’s hard to leave something you worked for, something that provides you with the things you need to survive in exchange for a chase that you don’t know yet if it will pan out. I spent years and thousands of dollars going to college, working hard to graduate, and landing a well-paying job in biotech, with a clear pathway to larger career opportunities in the field. And I decided to drop all of that to become a tattoo artist. I had no idea if I would make it or not. I didn’t even have the confidence that I could be financially stable as a self-employed artist, especially not in the same way that I was secure at my old job. I battled with that in my head for months, teetering between this could be the best decision of my life and it could also be the worst. But I felt like time was running out because that’s what you hear growing up, that you need to pick what you’re going to do for the rest of you life soon so you have enough time to put in the work to succeed in that field. I had already picked one so the thought of throwing that all away seemed extra daunting compared to when I picked a college major right out of high school. I was enrolled in a master’s program to further my career when I decided to withdraw and quit my job at a genetic testing company. Read more>>
Artur Tarkowski
In 2015, I was 41 years old. I have worked for almost the last 9 years in an online portal in Poland. I began to feel the symptoms of burnout, it bothered me that my hands were only used to operate the keyboard and computer mouse. I produced thousands of digital files and… nothing that would exist physically. Then a friend from school persuaded me to try my hand at ceramics. And that was it. Although the beginnings of my adventure with ceramics were not the easiest and centering on the wheel gave me a hard time, when I finally mastered the basics of throwing on the wheel, I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. In addition, at that time I really wanted to move out of Poland to a sunnier place. Then I decided that I wanted to quit my job in the media and become a ceramicist in the Californian desert… Read more>>
Dr. Sherika Duncan
I have taken many risks like most but there were a few worth mentioning that will propel the readers forward into their destinies which are starting a nonprofit organization, changing careers and going back to school. “Turning Adversity into Opportunity: Founding Excellence Dance Studio and Embracing Leadership Amidst Risk” I took a risk of starting a dance group, Excellence Dance Studio, Inc., in my childhood home town, Madison Florida, which lacks many resources due to the inspiration of having a beautiful daughter, Nia Janae, who is very talented and creative. She inspired me when I faced a pivotal moment of adversity with her being apart of another dance group at the age of three and it lacked consistency in programming and affordable enrollment opportunities. Read more>>
Jen Graybeal
There are two big risks I’ve taken, one turned out better than I could have imagined and the other is too new to know what will happen (more on that below). The first was starting a business in an industry I knew very little about, the second was blowing up half that business. About ten years ago, I found myself at a decision point. I had spent twelve year in corporate communications in Silicon Valley doing everything from executive ghostwriting, to coaching them about how to talk about market shifts with employees, to managing communications for multi-national acquisitions. I had an excellent reputation as someone that understood the power of words and could craft messaging that resonated with our diverse employees. As that chapter came to an end, however, I knew I wanted something very different. Read more>>