The chapters in our stories are often marked by wins and losses. Getting a new job, getting fired. Getting a life-threatening medical diagnosis, beating it and getting a clean bill of health. Too often, due to a societal expectation of modesty and humility we are discouraged from talking about the risks we’ve taken that led to those ups and downs – because often those risks draw attention to how we are responsible for the outcomes – positive or negative. But those risks matter. Those stories matter. We asked some brilliant entrepreneurs, artists, creatives, and leaders to tell us those stories – the stories of the risks they’ve taken, and we’ve shared them with you below.

Ruben Loyola

Twenty years ago, I taught myself how to run all the different types of embroidery machines such as Melco, Tajima, SWF, Brother, and Happy, and have been working in the embroidery industry ever since. The best experience I had was working as an Embroidery Manager in the Garment District for a full-service design studio and manufacturing facility in New York City. Working with brands like Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta, Alexander Wang, DKNY, Marc Jacobs, Coach, and many more, was an incredible opportunity. The company’s owner and founder is a wonderful and caring person from whom I learned so much, and still keep in touch today; she is an amazing human being! Read more>>

Marisa Snyder

Your Story: A Journey of Renewal and Purpose For many years, life seemed to move along a steady path, until everything changed. The loss of my husband was the darkest valley I had ever walked through. It was as if the very ground beneath me crumbled, leaving me disoriented and vulnerable. I wrestled with questions about my worth, my identity, and even my faith. This season of profound grief forced me into a place of deep self-reflection. It was during this time of brokenness that I began to truly seek the Lord in ways I never had before. Read more>>

Nikki Anderson

2024 has been the year of risks for me. At the beginning of 2023, my husband and I decided to take a leap of faith and move to The Heights from The Woodlands. Starting over in a new unfamiliar area where we essentially knew no one is definitely scary. Especially for us because we were also expecting our second daughter that November. At the time, I was still working at the Charlotte Tilbury counter making the commute from the Heights to The Woodlands, but I knew as soon as I had our baby, I would need to figure out what I was going to do job-wise. I knew I wanted to continue to do makeup, but where? And for who? So many different thoughts were swirling. When would I go back to work? Who would watch the baby? These were all things I needed to figure out as my due date was fast approaching. Read more>>

Alex MacNicoll

I think failure gets a bad rap…I think a lot of people are afraid or ashamed of failure…but not only is failure completely normal and common…but it can be a great teacher…and no one is amazing at anything the first time they try it…or the second time…or the third time, etc…When we have the courage to try something and fail, and learn, and try again, and fail again, but this time fail less, and learn, and repeat…and so on and so forth-eventually we succeed. Now, how we measure that success is relative to each individual…in my opinion-success is being happy doing whatever you are doing. Success is being brave enough to try and do something you want to do or go after something you want-while knowing that you might fail, and that’s okay. Success is taking a risk and not letting failure deter you. We have a seemingly limited amount of time in this beautiful experience-why not stay present in the moment, don’t worry about the future or the past, and try and do what your heart desires? Read more>>