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.

Desiree Steele

Life is about taking risks. I recently went on a solo trip to Terlingua Ranch in West Texas. Driving into Alpine tank on empty, I was grateful to find a station and continue on. Read more>>

Katie Reidy

All in all, I think I’m generally a risk taker. I don’t often seek out opportunities, which sometimes I feel i should, but when opportunities present themselves, I throw myself in wholeheartedly. Read more>>

Colleen Smith

At 21 years old with a suitcase and a plan I boarded a plane from Wichita, Kansas to Baltimore, MD (suburbs) to be a nanny. At the time everything in my life felt like it was falling apart and I was running from my broken family/childhood that was pouring over into decisions that I was making as an adult. Read more>>

Huang JiaJia

Life is adventure, and unpredictable. Before knowing more about Art… Anything about art-related seems far away from my routine life. Till the first artwork I ever collected in my life around 6 years ago. Read more>>

Formerly

(Laughs) Risks are apart of my every day [life] for sure, I was born and raised in Minneapolis, to and from the North and Southside so risk was always prevalent. Read more>>

Paige Lightner

I believe living in the Blair County area and starting to do diverse events, let alone an African American Heritage Festival in the downtown of Altoona was a big risk for me. Read more>>

Jessica Greenwalt

What I’m about to attempt to explain is something I’ve been experiencing for over 20 years, but have only become comfortable sharing with people in the past 3 months. Read more>>

Kaley Decker

I knew I wanted to be an acupuncturist when I was 17 years old. I have taken many risks to make that dream possible. My first risk was moving 17 hours away from everything I knew to attend school in Florida and obtain my masters degree. Read more>>

Dee Dee Batteast

In the Fall of 2016 I decided to leave my tenure track position as a full-time professor at big state university and pursue acting full-time. Read more>>

Joseph Frew-Miller

Film Festival: I have so many projects and ideas. Sometimes, it’s overwhelming because there is SO much that I want to do. One of my major projects is organizing a film festival. I teach film studies to high school students. Read more>> 

Kris Neri

I received a publication offer from a medium-sized independently-owned press on my first novel, Revenge of the Gypsy Queen. Read more>>

Jonathan Akkawi

The biggest risk I’ve taken, and this may sound weird, is to believe in myself. As a creative and someone that works in the Entertainment Industry, there are going to be a lot of people out there that do not believe in you or even want you to succeed. Read more>>

Raphael Campos

We artists know how hard it is to be able to express your art, not to mention make money doing it. I have a back and forth relationship with my creative self since it is challenging to balance my primary job while also being available for auditions and committing to performing arts jobs. Read more>>

Jenna Benn Shersher

At 29, I was diagnosed with Gray Zone Lymphoma, a rare blood cancer that at the time impacted less than 200 people worldwide. The experience quickly revealed how isolating cancer can be, despite having the best medical team and a loving family by my side. Read more>>

Bryan Bonilla

I left a 9-5 job to go full time with my music and run a clothing brand with my friends and business partners. I Co-Founded Pirate worldwide in 2017 and maintained a job on the side to help support the dreams and ambitions. Read more>>

Danielle Radin

As an author on two books about artificial intelligence I can confidently say anyone who is diving into the world of AI takes a risk because it is so new. There are still questions that will become apparent as more time passes like, is it ethical? Read more>>

Becky Holmes

Living a comfortable and safe life is great, but life is meant to take risks! Have you ever had that feeling that oh there’s more?! What else could I be doing? There’s got to be more I can do to serve my purpose here on this beautiful planet. Read more>>

Emily Kady

Embracing My True Self: The Risk That Changed My Life From a young age, I always felt different. I was more sensitive, more emotional, and more attuned to the world around me than most people I knew. Read more>> 

Sharon Johnson

Faith without work it’s dead. I walked out on Faith and started a restaurant business it memory of my daughter Alexis, who was killed in 2003 in a rollover on her 21st birthday. Read more>>

Faye Williams

From Corporate Office to Business Owner: The Tale Adyir Business Solutions LLC My name is Faye Marie Williams, a driven accounting/finance professional who had spent over a decade climbing the corporate ladder.  Read more>>

Marnie Dachis Marmet

From the time I was a little girl, I have felt a strong pull to write a book. A teacher once said to me, “if you write, you are a writer.” Read more>>

Shane Ray

I have Been jamming in bars in big cities to small towns my entire whole adult life. I had to up the ante, so I moved where everyone other damn musician does, the music mecca, Nashville. Read more>>

Brittney Georgiana

I grew up in Southern Minnesota, and in July of 2020 I packed all of my belongings into a tiny U-Haul & moved to Southern Utah alone, without knowing ANYONE. Read more>>

AMANDA SCHAEFER

Taking risks is an integral part of following one’s calling. We won’t go into the unknown if we are not bold. To remain complacent and comfortable is not what being alive is truly about. I took a recent risk that I would love to share with you. Read more>>

Doug McCulloch

I was a special education teacher for the public schools in Washington because growing up the thing that was valued most in my family was stability and consistency. Read more>>

Tara Horton

My husband and I both worked in healthcare. I was an Executive Director of skilled nursing facilities. We both saw our community growing and wanted to be a part of the growth. Read more>>

Erin Garrity-Duffey

I had been on a creative hiatus after having two kids in under two years and wanted to get back to my creative practice. Being a mom of two kids makes financing a studio space and then managing time to away to use it was out of the question. Read more>>

Shawn Hanna

I love this question actually because most people I meet would typically compliment my work; describing it as risky and edgy. Read more>>

Cassandra Celestin

I’ve taken many risks, from moving out of state and my comfort zone to spontaneous decisions to leave a job to start my own business. Read more>>

Eddie Martinez

For many years, I had this inner voice within talking to me. Me thinking about my purpose, and my reason for being on this earth. Read more>>

Dawn Feuerberg

Many years ago in 1988, I took a big risk which shaped my life’s trajectory to travel the world and eventually share my access to unexplored authentic destinations with others. Read more>>

Chance Smith

Being a filmmaker, my life is full of taking necessary risks to achieve the results, whether I’m directing or helping behind the camera in another way. Read more>>

Maria Vandenburg

Being someone who constantly strives for growth, I have been taking risks for as long as I have been conscious of the fact that they exist. Read more>>

Chuka Susan Chesney

I took a risk as an artist. A few years ago, the joints in my fingers were swelling with arthritis and hurt all the time. I decided to start writing because I always wanted to write poems and short stories. Read more>>

Victoria Byler

Opening my own private practice wasn’t just a calculated move, it was a leap of faith. Sure, I planned meticulously, leveraging my experience in community mental health and group settings. Read more>>

Chelsea McGee

The idea of Atlas Health Co., came to me at a crossroads in life. As I reflect on this defining moment of my career and life journey, I am reminded of my favorite poem by Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken.” Read more>>

Cynthia Hendrickson

I have worked with my hands nearly my entire life. As a teenager, I often sketched and drew, and was encouraged by a friend to apply to The High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas. Read more>>

Nick Cline

At the beginning of this year (2024), I hit a certain stride with my band that I started to gig consistently with in June of last year. I worked tirelessly to make it into the bigger city with my band, Phantum Sun, and it had finally paid off. Read more>>