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.

Emily Zheng

It’s such a hurdle to put yourself out there on social media and learn in the public eye. However, I am eternally grateful for taking that risk because I love looking back on photos and videos from when I started, and I feel proud for all the growth I’ve had. Read more>>

Janine Bilpush

Going out on my own and starting my own LLC as a nurse injector and medical aesthetician was terrifying when I took the leap of faith. For me is was about creating a life for me and not just making the physicians I worked for in the past an incredibly decent profit from my services. Read more>>

Rusel Alrubaae

Taking risks is the best thing you can do for yourself, but also the hardest. That’s what I did when I moved to LA to try acting and leave everything comfortable back home. It hasn’t been easy to say the least, but 100% worth it. Read more>>

Kerstin Zilm

I came to Los Angeles in 2003 on a 5-year assignment from the German public radio network ARD. It was a great job, actually the job of my dreams. Read more>>

Elaina Erola

I have a habit of doing things in a nontraditional way. The biggest risk I have ever taken was my decision to go to law school. I didn’t come from a family with wealth or means. I didn’t even know any attorneys. Read more>>

Suzanne Scott

Artists are natural risk takers, right? But really I think we like our world to be pretty secure, and as stable as possible so we can then remain open to risk taking within our work. Read more>>

Michaela Shields

I was working for a local builder, overseeing sales/estimating, design, as well as project management for both new construction and remodels. I was involved in every project from the beginning to the end. Read more>>

Shakira Hemphill

Several years ago, I was at a crossroads in my career. I had a fulfilling, stable career in Education that provided financial security and was also a place to make God visible. Read more>>

Rene Anand

I was a volunteer raising funds for Autism Speaks. I took a risk to make human brain models in a dish to find a rigorous scientific way to address autism etiology at a molecular level. Read more>>

Florian Zumbrunn

I feel like being an artist is taking a leap of faith… in you. From the outside, it’s like taking a huge risk: you might fail, you might be unoticed, you might end up with no money… Because an artistic life is slow and can be hard. Read more>>

Priscilla Lustig

Choosing a career path in a creative industry is often full of risks and opportunities to grow. I see risk as being a necessary, fulfilling, and difficult part of the process. Read more>>

Alexis Doss

Everything I’ve done over the past 11 years has been a risk and that is what has made me successful. Big risks get rewarded and I will continue to do them! Read more>>

Chelle Shapiro

In 2019, after more than 13 years in the industry, I faced a defining moment. The once vibrant, connected me was a shell, physically and mentally drained from burnout. Read more>>

Alex Aerts

This is the story of taking a risk on myself. Ever since I could remember, I had the mind of an engineer and enjoyed the challenge of problem solving and taking things apart to understand how they work and putting them back together. Read more>> 

Denise Woods

Taking a risk to bet on myself. It seems so easy when you have the knowledge and belief in what you’ve learned and want to share with others. But, imposter syndrome can halt you from moving forward. Read more>>

Edwin Sheriff

I love this question because My whole career was a risk. In 2011 when I was about graduate, I didn’t look for more schools to go to. I pursued music societal pressures and all. I call it a “risk” because that’s what they called it. Read more>>

Daleshia Hulett

In the past I allowed a professor to instill fear in me by telling me I would not be a good therapist due to my underperformance in his class back in 1999 at the PVAMU (You Know). Read more>>

SANiTY

It was January 2023 and my life was feeling stagnant. Although I was able to make a full-time living as a DJ, I was stuck in my local market. I knew I had to produce more original music to expand my following and possibly tour outside of my city, but the weekly gigs really wore me out and drained my creative energy. Read more>>

Pearl Steffie

I hail from the Philippines, born and raised on a tiny island. Despite my humble beginnings, I harbored grand aspirations such as relocating to Australia, mastering French, or retiring in Bali. Read more>>

Oksana McCarthy

The first time I took a risk in life was when I was 19 years old. Being born and raised in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, I realized as a young child that living there and having a successful musical career would not work for me and for the future in a way I envisioned. Read more>>

Daniel Bellone

After graduating from High School, I had some savings that came out of my hardware engineering gig that I was doing after school on my free time. Read more>>

Mimi Shao

Embracing Risks: From TV Screens to Teaching My journey with Mimsicle Cakes has been punctuated by risks, some small and some that felt monumental at the time. Each has played a crucial role in shaping both my business and me personally. Read more>>

Jewel Arseneigh Quitalig

I remember being 17 during the pandemic, feeling like life had hit pause. It was like I was stuck and just waiting for things to go back to normal. But honestly, I wasn’t even sure what “normal” meant anymore. Read more>>

Katie & Josh Pascoe

When we decided to pursue music full time, back in 2019. We had both agreed to continue working our regular 9-5’s for one more year, to save up a bit more, before becoming full time musicians in 2020. Read more>>

Sharon Pferschy

In 2015 we decided to move closer to our day jobs, but couldn’t find a neighborhood that would allow us to keep our pet pig, Kevin Bacon. He was potty trained just like a dog…but the associations just wouldn’t allow him. Read more>>