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.

Erin LeBlanc

I have been dancing since the age of 7yrs old and since the age of 12 becoming a professional dancer is all I ever wanted to do as a career. I come from the small town of Yarmouth in Nova Scotia and I love my province very much but it didn’t have the opportunities for me to grow as a dancer. Read more>>

Yoshiki Obata

The biggest risk I took was to drop out of university and pursue my dream career. I used to attend Temple University Japan campus. I went there because my parents wanted me to get a degree and live in Japan as a Japanese and become a businessman. Read more>>

Rev Pam McDonel

Risk for me is “Playing Small to Stay Safe”! It feels like a lifetime of losing, finding, and using my voice over and over again! A theme that lasted well into my 60s and I’ve come to understand that even as a small child, I risked being seen and heard by playing small to stay safe. Better to be quiet, still, and safe than “take the risk” and experience the consequence of speaking up. Read more>>

Rose Galvis

The greatest risk I’ve taken in my life has undoubtedly been moving to Los Angeles, stepping out of my comfort zone in Cali, Colombia, and venturing to live and experience the world in a different way. Read more>>

LaRonica Hausley

Moving away from home was me taking one of the biggest risk I could ever imagine. Literally packing up everything and moving to a place where I had to start completely from scratch and learn who I was/am as an adult was unknown to my personality. Read more>>

BDX The Don

Where I’m from a lot of people do things that keep them in their comfort zones. These things consist of holding a steady job, staying at their parents house with no real goals in life, smoking the day away, etc. Not knocking anyone at all, but I feel as though that’s accepting an average lifestyle. Read more>>

Heidi Jeub

I guess I have always taken risks. But it was not to cause harm but because my intuition told me what to do. I always knew it would be okay. All the risks I take is based on the concept that this is my last life. Read more>>

Alexia Cardenas

Starting a bakery business of custom decorated sugar cookies and later an online cookier supply shop was a big risk for me. I’ve always baked and been in the kitchen with my mom for as long as I can remember. Read more>>

Casey Baugh

I’ve often heard from friends and acquaintances that I take risks in my work and life. Like the time I was cheated out of 100 thousand dollars owed to me by a gallery and decided to put my last 100 dollars into making an instructional art film, despite not having money for food. Read more>

Claire Wimer and Rachel Bond

Starting a business is always a risk! Rachel and I both had full time agency jobs before starting private practice. I started my practice in 2016 after graduation, but it was always very part time while working full time elsewhere. Read more>>

Carla McCullough

Thank you so much for this question. I think the most life changing risk that I have ever taken was moving to Los Angeles. I moved here at the age of 21, having never visited the city before and not having a built in network of friends and family. Read more>>

Alexandria McCrory

Taking a risk, that’s a great question. I feel like life is made up of so many small risks along the way. They act as mini trial runs leading up to the moment when you find yourself taking a big gulp and taking what feels like one of those life defining risks that takes all your strength. Read more>>

Britt Dixon

One of the biggest risks I’ve taken is starting my own business. I spent 15 years working as a broadcast journalist, reporting the News every evening at CHCH News in Hamilton. Read more>>

Dr. Renuka Gurung

When I initially embarked on my journey into the realm of traditional devotional arts in Nepal, I was unaware of many aspects underlying this genre of practice. My motivation stemmed from a deep respect and a curiosity to explore divine imagery. Read more>>

Dominique McGee

Well hello CanvasRebels community. Yes! One of the most exhilarating and challenging risks I have ever taken was stepping out of my comfort zone and pursuing my goals with unwavering determination. Read more>>

Arianne Craig Jolla

Here’s an excerpt from a talk I’ll be giving next week. Please don’t print it word-for-word. I just thought it would give you a good picture of my taking a risk by pivoting. Read more>>

Nikhaule Martin

Before the pandemic, my career was deeply rooted in the Community Health field. I served as a Program Manager for an HIV and Case Management program located on the Southwest side of Chicago. Read more>>

Taylor Lipman

After graduating from college, I found myself uncertain about my “dream job.” Although my passions at the time didn’t align with potential careers, my detail-oriented and organized nature led me to pursue a business degree. Read more>>

Dena Breslin

In 2009, I was recruited to help launch Swarovski’s direct sales division here in the US. I had practiced medicine as a PA prior to this and had taken time off to raise my young children. Read more>>

Jessica Ramey

In hindsight, buying a business in a pandemic was probably the biggest risk I could have taken professionally and financially. I didn’t have a large bank account nor did I come from money. Read more>>

Sabrina Ermatinger

I have been in this industry for 27 yrs. The first year in (1998), I started showing symptoms of something. In 1999 The symptoms had progress to the point of hospitalization and a ton of testing. Read more>>

Graciela Martinez-Katz

From the day I joined the military at the age of 19, I’d always known that it was a big risk to start such a challenging yet rewarding career. Saw much of the world, partook in multiple campaigns that helped shape our country, and met so many amazing people along the way. Read more>>

Dan R. Howard

I’d say that one of the biggest risks I’ve taken is leaving my steady, full time composer assistant job back in September 2022. I worked for this particular composer for a year and a half, and it was both a great and difficult experience. Read more>>

Julie (‘Jules’) McGill

I’m no stranger to risk. From starting my own law practice as an inexperienced attorney to failed attempts at restaurant ownership and long-distance moves alone, there’s something in me that has always pressed towards the unknown no matter the uncertainty involved. Read more>>

Eric Jayk

Driven to the brink of madness from heartbroken rage, a reinvigorated Wildstreet are back and ready to rock. Their new single ‘Sick lo Death’ is a cranked up, fist pumping arena rock anthem ready to rally a new generation of rock fans worldwide. Read more>>

Lisa Goodwin

My dream job was to create content from home on my own time—content that is helpful to other people and makes their lives easier or better. Being an introvert, working from home is ideal for me. Read more>>

Crystal Fong

My name is Crystal and I took a risk into the unknown. I left a predictable comfortable routine life and jumped into one full of adventure and uncertainty. Read more>>

Yuli Aloni Primor

My work is all about risk taking. I never fully realized the extent of this until this past year. In 2019 after a ten year career in Tel Aviv I decided to relocate back to my home town in New York where I knew my art belonged. Read more>>

Mikki Proffitt

It was thirteen years ago when I worked as an addictions counselor at Sandy High School. On my first day back in the office after the holiday break, I received the devastating news of the passing of a dear friend, a teacher from another school district, on Christmas Eve. Read more>>

Oscar Servin

Ten years ago, I found myself at a pivotal moment in my life. A senior in college with one semester left, I had just secured a promising job as a field engineer with Hensel Phillips. Life seemed to be on track—six figures, a company truck, and benefits. But fate had other plans in store for me. Read more>>

Scott Sparks

Vermont Hempicurean was established in early 2018 by Scott Sparks. Scott had worked in the foodservice industry his entire life. For the previous 30 years he had been in foodservice sales, with the last ten years as VP of Sales for a local distributor in Vermont that supplied restaurants and stores with farm to table products. Read more>>

Hanna Baik

In January of this year, I decided instead of trying to find another corporate job, that I would invest in myself to really pursue my dream on being a freelance creative. Read more>>

Amber Edwards

Once graduating from Occupational Therapy school, I was eager to start studying for my Boards to officially become a clinician and make a difference in the healthcare world as an OT and working with the older adult population. Read more>>

Cathy Boytos

I spent several years working in the corporate world as a graphic designer, making a good salary with good benefits and security. I left that to create my own art business. Read more>>

Dr. Marquisha Frost

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken in business is risking myself via vulnerability. My business, Marquisha&Co., is in many ways my life’s work, but also my life. Read more>>

Ranna Zahra McSwain

If anyone would have told me back in 2018, that a year later I would be living in New Orleans and running a successful and love filled business I would have thought they were crazy! Read more>>

Malik Bridges

Life is risky, being human is risky, being black is risky, now add being an artist on top. Back in 2016 I had an interview in Binghamton, NY Whitehall is a 2 hour drive from where I was stationed in Middletown, NY. Read more>>

Lyric Rivera

Part of my story is that I am Autistic, which means I sometimes struggle with taking risks and moving into the unknown. I find comfort in the types of predictability and routine that can make my non-autistic peers feel restless and bored. Read more>>

Lieska Forlini

My journey is a testament to the power of taking risks and pursuing dreams against all odds. For years, I harbored a burning desire to chart my own path in the beauty industry, to create my own makeup brand, and to share my wealth of knowledge with aspiring entrepreneurs. Read more>>

Daniel Robles

Initially I was going straight to film school after college, however I declined it. I declined it because I realized I was learning enough on my own through tutorials and just practicing different ideas. Read more>>