Tony Robbins says the #1 human need is certainty, but do you know what the second need is? It’s uncertainty. This tug of war between the competing needs of safety and risk are at the heart of so many dilemmas we face in life and for most folks the goal isn’t to eliminate risk – rather it’s to understand this core human need. In our view, the best way to understand or learn is through stories and so we’ve asked some very talented entrepreneurs and creatives to tell us the stories behind some of the risks they’ve taken.

Arianna Fleischman

Being a Performance Artist is always about taking a risk, a leap of faith, and trusting the process. I have changed career paths in the arts space many times, not necessarily jumping around, but trying to find where I fit correctly. I started as a Dancer, and still am, just in a different circumstance than I originally pursued. Read more>>

Keyara Washington

I was going on my 6th year as a medical assistant at a pain clinic. I had 2 small children, one was in school but the other was in daycare. We were expecting another child and once he arrived I had to get back to work and he had to go to daycare. Two children were in daycare and at that point I was only working to pay for daycare. Read more>>

Madison Santos

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken in my career was leaving it all behind this year (2023) and deciding to pursue my own passion project and create my own production company. At the end of 2022 I traveled to Medellín, Colombia right after filming my Amazon Prime movie ‘Felines’ and I knew I was ready to start working on my own feature films, but I didn’t know where to start. While in Colombia I had a crazy vision of this movie and it sparked something inside of me. Read more>>

Chloe Ray

I think one of the biggest risks I’ve taken in my creative career was deciding to take that path in the first place. Growing up, it was “weird” to be different or do something that wasn’t within the norm. If you weren’t working a 9-5 in a dreary office, what were you doing? That sort of job provided security. You certainly can’t make a living off of something that isn’t a “traditional” career. Read more>>

Nick Gunn

I am a traveling photographer and filmmaker specializing in street and documentary work. For me, there’s nothing more inspiring than travel. Every new place I explore gives me more perspective and context for the work I create. Read more>>

Mariko Yoshiwara

Safe and comfortable is the ideal place to exist. No threats of failure or rejection. As humans we are never stagnant. We grow and change as that happens, our wants and needs evolve as well. These needs often appear as wants and dreams before any action or materializing happens. Read more>>

Manisha Tare

What immediately comes to mind when I reflect on this question is my cross country move in the fall of 2018 to small town in southern Oregon where I didn’t know a soul. I had lived in NYC and then DC for nearly a decade each, so this was the exact opposite of anything I had experienced. Read more>>

Olivia Martinez

The most significant risk I’ve ever taken was resigning from my corporate job to chase my dream of becoming a full-time licensed cosmetologist. This was a daunting prospect for me, given that I come from a family that values education and expected me to pursue a college degree. I initially studied Law and Criminal Justice, with the intention of attending law school. Read more>>

Lindsey Coffey

The conventional life I planned for never worked out. I went from a student studying to be an attorney, to a model, to an international beauty queen, to a marketeer. You can say my entire life has been a risk, and still is. Read more>>

Melanie Bell

I think one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken is starting my own business, which is a risk for anyone who is an entrepreneur. I’ve been a leotard designer for about 6 or 7 years now. My first ‘big girl’ job out of college was working for a well-known leotard brand. I designed for elite gymnasts, colleges; I worked with coaches and choreographers like Dominic Zito and had designs worn at multiple US and World Championships and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Read more>>

Emmanuel Segarra

This is something that the people where I come from ask me a lot. Risk is is the most important factor to every creative mind, from the beginning when we choose to follow this path, to the every day crafting. Read more>>

Seneca Kristjonsdottir

I don’t think it felt like it at the time, but starting The Thlaweg has brought many risks into my life. When it started, there were no strings attached, we could do whatever we wanted, take as much time as we wanted – it was all dreams and experiments. Every step was more like a stumble to get the publication off the ground, and we appreciated all of the lessons learned. We spent a lot of time laughing at our mistakes and looking forward to all that could be. Read more>>

Sydney McClellon

Being an independent author is not easy money. The writing process is unpaid and a majority of the marketing is up to the author. Self-publishing allows for more revenue and monthly pay for the author. Read more>>

Pattie Ehsaei

When I moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 2001, I took the California Bar and expected to practice law, as I was doing in Chicago. However, I knew I couldn’t afford to work as a prosecutor any longer due to the marginal pay and my high student loan balance. So I had to work at a firm, sitting behind a desk most of the days, which wasn’t so appealing. Read more>>

RendeR

(Julo) RendeR is a 360º Alternative Rock Experience, featuring myself, Julo, as lead vox & guitars, and my brother-in-arms Ratta (drums & backing vocals). To understand how RendeR came to be, think about this: If you could change your life, would you live the life you have now instead? Or, would you risk everything to change it? Read more>>

Daniël-James Van den Berg

I took the risk, and honestly, I’m not sure if we know the full extent of it just yet. But here’s the story: In April of 2023, my youngest brother in Arizona was getting married. On the road trip, I started listening to a new series on funnel building – a fancy term for building a single-page landing page that acts as a psychological salesperson to drive conversions for your product, business, or service. Read more>>

Wanji Banda

Growing up in a developing country, there was a prevailing notion that America held boundless opportunities for personal and academic growth. The United States was on everyone’s wish list, in movies and books, it was portrayed as a place where the impossible became possible. In December 2010, I boarded my first flight bound for the United States, specifically Houston, Texas, to join my father, step-mother, and sister. Read more>>

Elisha Ellis Madsen

In October 2021, I took a big risk and chose to walk away from a stable, high paying job without having something else lined up (which, by the way, was very out of character for me: a high-achieving, people-pleasing, recovering perfectionist.) Read more>>

Millionaire Thought

When it comes to risk. Take them especially if they’re beneficial to your well being and life. The possibilities can be prosperous as long as you’re taking the correct risk. Read more>>

Suzanne Carney

Actually, I’m taking the risk right now in talking about it. Read more>>

Hannah Crowley

Becoming a singer has been my lifelong dream, and I discovered this passion when I was just six years old. To chase this dream, I decided to explore the world of musical theatre when I was 20, during a summer program in London. It was eye-opening to realize that succeeding in this field required excellence not only in singing but also in acting and dancing, which felt a bit overwhelming for me, especially the dancing part. Read more>>

Noelle Cope

It started with a feeling… I think that the best lives are ones where we are taking little risks everyday. Something I think we are just now talking openly about is how risky it feels to feel. To embrace that side of our daily lives. Read more>>

Joy Gendusa

I hate to bring up Covid… but when the shut downs started, we saw a 41% drop in revenue overnight. I decided I was not going to lay anyone off and I was not going to cut my marketing at all. (We totally pivoted what we were doing but that’s another story.) Making that decision was risky becaue in order to make payroll and continue my marketing, I really couldn’t pay any other bills. So I didn’t. Read more>>

Makayla Taylor

Starting out as a photographer was only a hobby for me. At the beginning I never really thought of it seriously as a job to earn money. I bought my first camera while I was in college majoring in Performing Arts. Photography was just another way to flex that creative muscle. Read more>>

Eric Hancock

I moved to Houston with the band is was in at 21 years old. I did this because my dream was to make it as a musician, and Houston presented a better opportunity for that than where I was in Springfield Missouri. Read more>>

Bron Theron

Risk Taking in life is a must. The worst place you can be is the same place you were last year. Risk could mean so many different things. For me risk is money and time. I believe you risk yourself in relationships with other people as well. If you are not willing to risk things you can’t complain when nothing happens in your pursuit of the goals you have. Read more>>

Justin P. Slaughter

Not one successful person achieved success by playing it safe. Read more>>

Paola Baldion

Many times we are afraid of reaching out or asking for help. Once we conquer that fear a sea of opportunities will come knocking at the door :) Read more>>

Robert Trotter II (Stylèon)

Personally speaking there’s quite a few I can name off hand, especially speaking in the terms of Entrepreneurship it’s a “risk” everyday. Not in the tone of life or death but as Thessalonians 3:10 mentions The one who is unwilling to work he shall not eat. Yet I’m extremely humbled & grateful for the interview I still feel like there’s more , maybe a risk I haven’t taken yet that would classify as my true life changing defining moment. It’s still more work to do. Read more>>

Iman Dillard

My entire life.. from as far back as I can remember has been about taking risks. I’ve been faced with many challenges, and the most popular question is: are you willing to take a chance? Read more>>

Hilary Noonan

I have regrets. I regret my career. But let me explain. Read more>>

Austin Rogers

This field, or scene, is a warzone. If you’re taking music, or anything unorthodox seriously you will have a moment in your life or career after taking the correct steps where you have to look back, to what could possibly be, maybe you’re leaving a job because they wont give you the time off for a show, maybe you’re disinterested in where college is taking you and you want to wager a risk, an almost “deal with the devil” if you want to be symbolic. It’s a moment of indecision, fear, and a delusional amount of hope. Read more>>

Jayla Young

I started a travel aau basketball team with no help that was a major risk and everything is solely me doing it by myself. Read more>>

Javier Arriagada

You gotta just do it! Read more>>

Tyrrell Shaffner

’m a writer, director and producer who recently directed her first feature film, “Katie’s Mom” (FMA “The Dropout”). People often ask me how I made the leap from directing short films to making a feature, and while my circumstances are specific to me, I can distill my journey down to three simple words: bet on yourself. Read more>>

Adam Lacour

The biggest risk I’ve taken was choosing to invest in my current band, ALENIA. Read more>>

Yves Goyatton

I quite my day day job in the middle of my shift, best decision I ever made! Read more>>

Albertossy Espinoza

I was born into poverty in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Soon my mother met the man I call my dad, and my life changed. My parents migrated to the United States when I was 4 years old. At age 5, I traveled by myself to Miami, where my dad met me, then we flew to what would be my new home, Chicago. Read more>>

Frank Dominguez

We opened our business during the Covid Pandemic, during this time small businesses were closing left and right and thats when we decided to open our business. Read more>>

Christian Mayfield

You have to have made up in your mind, no matter the risk you press forward to your dreams and goals. Read more>>

CODE GAME COSI

As an artist, I’ve learnt to take risk everyday. The idea of “taking risk”, is a place and as an artist, I live there. I remember my first time on stage performing a song that I knew didn’t sound good, I was nervous my hands were clammy and sweat was raining from my forehead which pissed me off because I’d jus’ bought a $50.00 new era Atlanta Braves baseball cap to match my fit. Read more>>

Jimena Rios

Taking a risk is being honest with your ideas and trust that if they come from your own voice they will be appreciated Read more>>

Laura Lizcano

Taking a risk on your artistic practice. Read more>>

Rebecca Babcock

TRUST ME, I’VE BEEN THERE… Read more>>

Rockmyer Devone

“The biggest risk in life is never taking your first step to being great.” Read more>>