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.

Jonathas Dias

Since I was a young kid, growing up as a foreigner – we took risks everyday. As a child not having funds; my older brother & I had to work hard because money was not something we had at the time. We quickly learned that our creative talents & athleticism allowed us to experience things that kids with similar backgrounds could not. From there it was a no brainer, I quickly learned that I had a passion for singing where I would impersonate my idols in life (Usher & Neyo). In high school “Basketball” was life – I went to Austin High & tradition there was extremely important. Read more>>

jamal Thomas

Well, As long as I could remember I always wanted to draw. I was always drawing little characters in class (which I’m not proud of, I should have studied more). But, like any young adult there comes things like school, jobs, and any other responsibilities a person would have in life. I generally like to work with people, but what I was doing at the time before I started my artist journey, wasn’t fulfilling personally. I always try my best an always try to work hard. But something inside ( I can’t explain was telling me I could be doing something more. Read more>>

Tevin Ryles

The biggest risk Ive ever taken would have to have been moving from Atlanta to Las Vegas for a year and then moving from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. My business partner was living in Las Vegas because he was working with the Raiders so I just decided to with him and just make my moves for a while. It was time for a change and to get out of where Ive been my whole life. Moving to LA came from the agency I work for being based in LA and causing me to travel to LA quite often for work. I’ve also recently started doing some acting and the constant back and forth made me realize that it would probably be most beneficial for me to move out here. Read more>>

Arnav Reddy

Going through school, my life was already on some type of set out path. My parents immigrated here from India and overworked themselves to better my and my brothers’ future, so there was some pressure to do well in school and focus on getting into college to ensure financial and professional success. When I first started ceramics, it was just a cool new skill or hobby that I was looking to learn, but during my junior year of high school I started pursuing it more. I would spend hours in the studio. It got to the point where I would give up my lunch and any free time I had to go create. Read more>>

Tyeler Simmons

Becoming an independent chef when the pandemic hit was my start to the journey of stepping out on faith. I was blessed to have just purchased my first home in January of 2020 at the age of 24. The job I was working shut down due to the pandemic. From my perspective, I was left with only one option, and that was to take a risk and make my calling come true. Through this journey, I’ve had to learn how to build a business; manage things when it’s busy, be patient when it’s not and look for other avenues to enhance my skills. Read more>>

Jonathan Armour

The entertainment industry can be glorious, frustrating, exciting, scary, but often more than none it can be so rewarding! I ask myself this question often, and that is “Jon is it all worth it? Everything we’re doing, the time we sacrifice, the dedication to making films, is it all worth it?” The answer will always be yes. I’ve found not only my passion in life but my purpose also. These two go hand in hand, and thus when questioned of the thought of giving up or to keep going. I can whole heartily say I’ll never give up because I love it so much. Read more>>

Odemi Pessu

I recently took the biggest risk I’ve ever taken in my adult life– I left a six figure marketing job that I prayed long and hard for to focus on my writing and my art full-time. I left this job because it was forcing me to turn my back on my purpose, and that is to spread love and light through my art and literature. I have always been driven by this intense longing to pour into the lives of young African women, so they can feel like they have the resources and the power to cultivate the life of their dreams. Read more>>

King Grizzy Greg

Being a music artist. We take risk all the time. Risk taking is a key factor because you can learn allot from just believing in your self and taking a risk. You can earn respect from that as well as connections. I take risk all te time when I promote my music and videos because you never know what the outcome will be if people will like it or not. Sometimes you just have to believe in yourself and know that whatever the outcome is . It’s okay because you made a decision and stepped out if your boundary’s to try something different. Read more>>

Peng Yang

Taking a risk, hasn’t always been my type of thing back then. I remember always shying away from things and just not take any chances on things. Until the year of 2018, I decided to change my mindset and went full send on being a photographer and also on being a travel photographer. 2018, has been one of the biggest change in my life and I have never looked back since then. Within that year, I have traveled to 2 country, and 2 states outside of the Midwest. Read more>>

Lupe Roa

The biggest risk I have taken was quitting my day job to focus on my baking business. I won’t lie and say it was easy but it definitely has been very rewarding and way more fun than any of my previous jobs! The hard part of running my business was trying to find what my customers would like but also what I would enjoy doing without getting burnt out. On top of quitting my day job, I took another risk this year by only doing pop up events and not taking new custom orders. That risk has lead me to meeting so many other like minded business owners, making new friends and reaching more people than I could’ve imagined! Read more>>

Curtis James jr

In 2013, I had just completed associate degree program of accounting technology at Daytona State College in Daytona Beach, FL. With no true job or career lined up, recently laid from my day job. I took the risk of moving back home to Atlanta in an attempt to start a career in music. Within the next couple of months I found employment and used that money to start production on my first independent album. With the help of a classmate, Eric Vito I learned how to not only produce but also how distribute my own album. Read more>>

Daphne Curry

The risk I’m about to talk about is one I feel the vast majority of entrepreneurs have—— starting. Starting is hard. It is scary, especially when you get other people involved, and even more so when you struggle with insecurity and fear. It’s tough. But when the LORD has given you a vision of what He wants you to do, risk is then spelled “f-a-i-t-h.” And if the Lord provided the vision, the only thing scarier than starting is not starting. Read more>>

Krupa Kanaiya

I’ve always heard that taking a risk is something you do as a young person. I have always been a pre-planner. With my personal life, my paintings, and especially my social media work, pre-planning has been something I attribute my success to. However, one of my best life decisions came from an out-of-character moment where I decided to take a risk and have some confidence in myself. Read more>>

Renee Hikari

After graduating from college, I played in the New York City music scene as a drummer for many years. Playing live shows was all I wanted to do and I didn’t mind working side jobs as long as I got to play. However, when I turned 26, I decided to find a full-time job so I can have health insurance. It was an experience that introduced me to amazing people and learned a lot from, but I knew it wasn’t my forever job. Read more>>

Bree Camacho

When I began nails, I was working at a salon where I mainly accepted walk-ins as my form of clientele. After about a year I realized that I would rather work independently. Little did I know this decision would be a life changing risk. Working as an independent nail tech, it’s extremely important to have enough clientele of your own to maintain a profitable business, which I didn’t have at the time. I gave myself 6 months to save and invest into everything I needed to start my business. Read more>>

Hannah Pena

I’m the kind of person who not only always has a plan, but always follows that plan to a Five years ago, my plan was to graduate undergrad, go to law school, become a lawyer, and change the world. No ifs, ands, or buts about it…. BUT, then I got to law school and realized a semester in that I’d made a mistake. So I decided–me, the girl who always had a 4.0, did extra credit anyway, and never missed a day of class nearly my entire life from Kindergarten on–to drop out of law school. Read more>>

Melanie Ortiz

The place where I am in my life at this very moment is the result of taking many risks in my life in fact, I could narrow it down maybe about 3. The first risk was moving to Austin in 2012. Even though I grew up in San Antonio, a short way down the road, Austin was the change I needed at the time. I have zero family members here but I have made lifelong friends who are closer than blood at times. Weeks when I would be living off just a few dollars were some of the most special moments looking back at them now. It made me strong in ways I can only appreciate now. I dropped out of college and went to beauty school and became a working hairstylist for about 5 to 6 years. Read more>>

Shanonn Kilata

One of the biggest risks I took was formulating idea of The Suburban Misfit and putting into the universe. I am a people-pleaser by nature, so the thought of potentially embarrassing my husband at the time made me extremely anxious. But I knew I wasn’t living true to my personal core values, or to my true self. I started off small, telling just a few close friends about it, then my brother, then my daughter. They were all so supportive and rallied around me, sharing my posts. It just grew from there as my confidence grew. Read more>>

Tearra Arrington

About six years ago, I was going through some things in life. I was experiencing a lot of emotions about past relationships. Both professional and romantic. And started to write down my thoughts on a piece of paper. In August of 2016, I took those thoughts and gathered a small group of people closest to me to participate in a round table discussion. Read more>>

Rachel Harris

I was on the threshold of a million different life-altering moments and I knew that going into private practice was a risk I needed to face in order to build the life I needed. I’m typically a risk-averse person, but I started my business from scratch while 8 months pregnant. No investors, no loans. I then used my maternity leave from the university position I held at the time to legitimize my business, build a website, start credentialing, etc. Read more>>

Ghostmade Cellophane

Sometimes we have to risk. Risks are scary, require a leap of faith; and sometimes they don’t pan out. Through risks we learn a lot more of who we are and we grow. I took a risk at building up this “band” name Ghostmade Cellophane. From the ground up, I put my back into making a living as an artist without others musician in the room to tell me what’s right or wrong, without a producer or manager giving guidance. Read more>>

DeAndra Hodge

Definitely the biggest risk for me was going freelance full time. So far it’s working out pretty well for me, but the months leading up the decision had me feeling all kinds of anxious. It felt like a risk because it went against everything I had been told from a young age: do well in school, get a good paying job, move out on your own, climb up the corporate ladder and retire etc. I would be giving up a high paying job with amazing benefits to become a freelance illustrator. Not to mention I live in one of. the most expensive cities in the country. So needless to say I was stressed. Read more>>

Coco Vonne

Where do I begin? Lol! As a young girl I knew I was destined for greatness! I would pretend to Oprah with my teddy bears and cabbage patch dolls as my guest and studio audience. Being the only child I was very creative and talked to myself a lot. I knew one day I would be on TV, radio and in magazines! What I didn’t know is being a fat kid who loves cake wouldn’t see body’s like mine in those fields. Read more>>

Devante Barnes

This story will begin in the year 2020. The year 2020 was a significant year, not only for the world, but for me and my personal life aswell. This year would come to be; what I didn’t know at that time my last year working as a police officer. I found myself 4 years into a career that I had dreamed of as a kid feeling extremely disappointed, angry and dissatified with my life. I’d grown over those 4 years to see the world for what it really is, through it all I had to accept that I was apart of the problem. Read more>>

Jalen Williams

One of the biggest risks that I’ve taken was definitively moving to Atlanta. I was not sure if I was ready to make such a big move but I decided to go with my heart and take the risk anyway. Since moving to Atlanta, I have gained tons of opportunities and have been able to be in rooms I could have never imagined being in! It has not always been easy but I wouldn’t be doing anything that I am now had I not taken the risk and moved! Read more>>

Joie Kya

Back in 2010 I was living the corporate dream. I managed teams of a thousand at times and loved my work developing and training individuals into their potential. I loved the core of the work, but as with any high level position the time commitment was extreme. I was hitting burn out and knew deep down that I had something more to give to others. I just had no idea what it was. Regardless, I made a decision to find and train what would become my replacement so I could make an exit in a years time to become an entrepreneur. Read more>>

Kevin Marshall

In early 2020, I was diagnosed with COVID-19. That was a scary time for me because the disease was new. There weren’t any treatment options, and the only advice that my doctor provided me with was “stay hydrated.” While recovering, I chose to hydrate on love, joy, and hope. I had been interested in becoming an author, but I was always hesitant to take the risk. I would overthink the book’s material or convince myself I didn’t have the time to write the book. I was also sensitive to how other people would perceive my art. COVID-19 made me realize that life is too short to worry about all of those details. We must focus on the big picture and allow God to handle the details. Read more>>

Mossiah Jones

I was at a point in life where I had done and seen a lot but was still feeling like I had no purpose. I later attended a church service and during this service the pastor asked a small congregation, “What is it that you want from God?”, some answers were, “more money”, “better health”, “new job”, etc. When he came to me, I looked up at him and said, “I want to know my purpose”. Soon after that I was offered an opportunity to take over the lease on a studio that was previously ran by some local drug dealers and had a pretty bad reputation with law enforcement and neighboring businesses. Read more>>

Hilary Coniglione

At 12 weeks pregnant with my second child, I decided to take a leap of faith and leave a job during the middle of a pandemic. I was a mom, homeowner, wife, and also a large part of our financial security but I was also overworked, missing my family, and down right exhausted. After years of hustling to make it to Marketing Director for a veterinary corporation, I thought I had hit all the goals and made it to where I wanted to be but boy was I wrong. I dream I had before becoming a mom we realized and immediately a disappointment. With the support of my husband, I left corporate America behind to focus on my family, faith, and health. Read more>>

Victoria Cabello

It was an unusually hot day when my classmate/friend happened to accidentally lock my car keys in my trunk. We were in dental hygiene school at the time, and between the studying, projects, and clinical work, it was easy for us to make silly mistakes. It was 2:45 pm, and I had a 4 o’clock medical appointment for organ donation matching. My uncle was in dire need of a kidney – so you can imagine I was sweating bullets as I was pressed for time to arrive promptly. Read more>>

Deante Howard

Life changing risk alert!! I left the country. My family and I dropped pretty much everything we owned and left the country to explore the world as nomads and discover a new place we may want to settle down. I am a husband and a father of 4 boys, ages; 2,4,7,9 (1,3,6,8 when we left) So that is 6 of us, with 2 suitcase, a duffle bag and 4 backpacks, we hopped on a plane from Kansas City to Mexico back in March 9th. Read more>>

John and Joanna Scism

How we ended up owning a donut shop you ask? Well, it’s quite funny because neither of us had ever really made a donut before until the day we got the Keys to Donut Connection on a Friday afternoon, April Fools Day to be exact. We locked the door behind us, and with our 6 month old strapped to my back, we started making donuts. The next morning, we opened the doors on an early Saturday morning and started selling them, just as Mr and Mrs Ayen had done for 20 years before that. Read more>>

nichole kolb

Do you enjoy your job? Do you feel like you are waking up and just repeating the same things every day? This was me approximately 10 years ago. I was almost 40, my twins were in their senior years preparing for college. I was successful, working at a prestige law firm making a nice salary and great benefits. I had been in the legal field for approximately 20 years. I chose this career with much thought and obtained my degrees thinking this was my career path. Read more>>

Bree Young

I always knew I wanted to be an Entrepreneur. Ever since I was a little girl, I was making little side hussles to make a buck. My first real job was when I was 14 years old, I was banquet serving at a local reception hall. One day the florist came up and asked for someone to help her, needless to say I never went back to serving. That day I fell in love with all things flowers. I began to dream of the day I would have my own floral business. Read more>>

Tanisha Taliaferro

I took the risk to open a storefront (brick/mortar) for my home based business during the pandemic. Style Haven has been in existence for years as a home based business. My full time job was doing background investigations. Once things shifted with my employment due to Covid-19 I decided to bet on myself. It has always been something I wanted to do but I never seriously acted on it. Well, it has exceeded my expectations. Read more>>

Alexis Grace

I have taken many risk in life but the best thing I have ever done was bet on myself. I am a 2020 Graduate of Clark Atlanta University and a 2022 Graduate of Agnes Scott College both degrees centered around Digital Media and Writing. When I first graduated in 2020 – I had no idea what I was going to do in life but I had a small gig as a Social Media Manager. I started taking on more and more assignment with that company, The Atlanta Voice, and within six months I became the Director of Digital Media. Read more>>

Yvonne Silva

People often say “No risk, no reward.” That is absolutely true. I’ve always wanted to be in the arts, whether it was acting in theater, movies/commercials, writing music, composing, producing or simply as a performer. I needed to create something, and that need still exists. If it hadn’t been for the number of risks I’ve taken along the way, I definitely would not find myself making a living off of music and creativity like I am now. Read more>>

Juanita Jones

The entire entrepreneurial journey is a risk! There is the risk of leaving a traditional “9-5” job, with a steady paycheck, pseudo-job security, benefits, notoriety, and the list goes on. Essentially you’re trading the “known” for the unknown. As a full time dream chaser, one minute you can be up making tons of money with consistent opportunities; and in the next instance you can hit rock bottom with no bailout. It’s a constant battle of the mind, will and emotions. Read more>>

MARIE DILLINGHAM

One of my most significant risks to date was letting go of all the contractual work, going freelance, and focusing on my DcySive Media network and NoStaticradio. it was definitely risky letting go of guaranteed work but I believe in the future of my goals and vision, not just in the work that I and my NoStaticRadio team and family grind for, but the future of journalism and the stories told and how the view and learn to better respect how our culture is viewed. It hasn’t been easy, but I love what I do and I love bringing work to life, I love that the platform we provide brings positive changes and affects lives. Read more>>

Cecil Wattree

Life is nothing but risks. One of the biggest risks that I have taken is holding true to my ethics and values in the face of institution of medical systems. Upon realizing that my employer was “reducing costs” by laying off medical professionals and removing themselves from places that the organization deems to have the most health disparities, I reviewed my codes of ethics (National Association of Social Workers and National Association of Black Social Workers), the Mission, Vision, and “True North Values” of the agency and assisted with providers, nurses, techs I drafted a statement where their names would be anonymous and addressed the ambivalence of the agency’s actions in contrast to its mission, vision and values. Read more>>