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.

LISSET DIAZ

In my experience as an independent artist, it honestly feels like every single step you take is a risk and a potential mistake with important consequences lol. It’s a constant learning process full of possibilities in both , the creative and business world. BUT if I had to talk about some remarkable risks I’ve taken they would be changing carriers to become a full time musician and moving to another country to pursue my dream. Read more>>

Zeynep Dogu

Opening a photography studio with zero business knowledge was a huge risk at the time. It was right after the 2009 crisis and I lost my job as a 3d Modeller at Disney. After trying very hard to find a position to even apply to I decided to take a risk and sign in to a 10 month photography program. I had no idea if I even had any talent to photography but I definitely had the passion. My daughter was just born at the time and I loved taking pictures of her. Read more>>

Cash Crawford

Moving to Nashville. even though Canada and the US are very similar… They are also very different and I went through a bit of a culture shock. It was still the best thing I ever dod for myself though. I drove across the country with two suitcases in a beat up old car all alone and I documented my travels and had the best trip. It made me brave. It made me have the confidence to move away from friends and family and my home country to a place where I didn’t know many people our have mush in the way of work. I just had to figure it out…. and I think I did well. Read more>>

Brittney Reed

When i first started selling my hair growth oil, I was a hairstylist and part time manager at a local beauty supply store in my hometown. I’ve always had a passion for mixing organic ingredients to grow my own hair. While at work one day I noticed how many of the well known products that the customers used on the shelves contained harsh chemicals, sulfates, alcohol, and many more ingredients that i couldn’t even pronounce. Which was a big red flag. Read more>>

Shawn Yohe

The biggest risk that we took as business owners was finding a facility that was both unique and historical to give a perfect canvas to our vision as an artisan shop. Our building is over 150 years old and was used as the Columbia Werks Company (Train Repair) from 1840-1900. After the lifespan of the repair shop the building became the home of 4 different commercial laundry machinery factories from 1903-1974 (Columbia Laundry Machinery Factory, Wilson Laundry Machinery Factory, Superior Laundry and Keystone Laundry). Read more>>

Michael Gordon

One of the biggest risks I took was in 2020. Bitcoin had already suffered a huge bear market in 2018, and it seemed like a new uptrend was beginning. I knew that I would not be a “HODL” (hold on to dear life), however. During this bull market, I decided to put 100% of my income each month to new Bitcoin purchases. I exited at a substantial profit in 2022. Was I lucky? Not exactly. I was buying after a substantial crash and the start of a new uptrend. I sold when things started to look shaky and the trend was not favorable anymore. Read more>>

Angela Nelson

I remember seeing a pole dancer in a competition for the first time – appreciating her sheer strength, flexibility and overall ability to do the things she was doing. Her magnificent stage presence and comfortability in her skin. I remember feeling a bit shocked that “this was a thing?!” and although I felt daunted and scared at the prospect – I just knew I needed to do this. Read more>>

Maria Balderas

I feel that my biggest risk was entering an art contest from the Latin American Associating and perusing the creative fields When I was 17, I realized what it truly meant to be an immigrant in this country. I was shut down by counselors, teachers, Military recruiters and even myself. I was told to apply to college but told I count or shouldn’t do that due to political policies that now had my future in their hands. Read more>>

Emily Mobley

I took out a 15k loan to start Gray Nutrition (my dietitian private practice in 2019). This was absolutely life-changing and terrifying. Before this I ran a dietitian private-practice for 3 years spinning my wheels on inefficient processes, working well over-time, and I was 100% at burn out. It was not until I listened to a podcast that said… to really truly grow your business you have to “hire people smarter than you”. In 2019 I took that leap and I finally committed to myself that I was either all in doing this correctly or all out. Read more>>

Ryan Green

When I was 22 years old I quit my job and left the comfort of my home town to move to New York City. I had only $1,000 to my name. I moved without knowing anything aside from the fact that I wanted to make my dreams come true. I went from couch hopping and sleeping at my cousin’s apartment. As well as dancing on the trains day and night to make a substantial amount of money to survive. These moments in my life were very pivotal as far as the artist that I am today. Read more>>

Norell Manns

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be in the position I am in right now. I had the hardest time believing I could really become a full-time stylist let alone a business owner. I struggled for the longest to actually take the risk and give it my all. There was so much supportive and encouraging people in my corner it was almost unreal. Even with all the support it was still very hard. I couldn’t just let of go of a fulltime job with what I thought was good pay and benefits. Read more>>

Lucia Murdock

From 2018 to 2020, I was working as the general manager at Workshop SLC, a fine art studio and artist co-working space. When COVID hit, the owners decided to shut down the business. Before starting the process, they approached me and offered that I acquire it since I had been the one running and growing the studio from the start. After months and months of deliberation, budgeting, meetings, and due diligence, I decided to take over as the new owner. Read more>>

Reggie Dunn

Being a risk taker in life is something I became accustomed to at an early age. Starting Elite Gamerz definitely would be considered the biggest risk I have taken in my entire life. I was ready for whatever came with it. You can’t be scared to fail. I feel like if you’re not going to be all in on your goals, you should leave them where they are, in your mind, or on a piece of paper. Everybody is not going to agree with your plan in life, which I was fully aware of initially. Read more>>

Boreyunlimited

Everyday life is a risk especially when you take complete control of your life. I’m an artist so I feel like my life is always at risk due to sacrificing and time management. But enjoying what I do fulfills all of that, I understand I’m not just doing it for me but for everyone who is apart of this journey with me Read more>>

Shayla Racquel

I was a federal government employee for 14 years. When I was 17 years old, I received a full-ride scholarship to attend Florida A&M University from the United States Department of Agriculture. That scholarship required me to major in computer science rather than what I truly wanted to major in at the time – broadcast journalism. Still, I saw it as a stepping stone to get me out of South Carolina. Though I was majoring in computer science, I still had a burning passion for filmmaking. Read more>>

Wendy Church

As a child, I used to envision myself modeling, and getting photographed in top magazines; however; as I aged it became evident that being a dark-complected woman in the modeling industry was quite difficult and sometimes it was almost unheard of. I spent a lot of time watching America’s Top Model and while the show brought inclusivity (to some degree), the competition winners did not give any representation of me. By the time I was graduating high school and moving into the adult world the dream of modeling was shelved in my head. Read more>>

Sonny Kruger

In 2020 I took the risk of taking one of my stories and turning it into a web series that I would make. Some people are interested when you write a book, but when you go into filmmaking, everyone gets interested. They say in filmmaking that you should start off with a short film. I’m stubborn, determined, and I have a lot of confidence in myself. I had a story that I believed I could make into a pilot with the tools I had, so that’s what I was going to do. I wrote half of the book “A Series About A Series” and then the pandemic caused the world to shut down. Read more>>

Kim Davis

I just moved to Texas; I get a phone call from my best friend asking me to come pick her up out of field. It took me 45 minutes to figure out where she was and how to get her. Finally figured it out and a successful rescue. It was the longest quiet car ride in my life! I didn’t want to pry; I just wanted to be a listening ear. We finally made it back to my apartment. Once inside she started talking and undressing. She was black and blue all over her back, parts of her arms and legs. Unclear what started the argument. All I got out of it was “all I said was no.” Read more>>

Odie Tolbert

After 16 years in Corporate America, I decided to become a certified personal trainer to pursue my purpose of helping others. My passion for a healthier lifestyle started at an earlier age from a personal battle with obesity and witnessing my father’s health decline over the years, which eventually led to his death. Since then, fitness has been a long-time desire of mine to impact individuals on a day-to-day basis. Read more>>

Tyra Moore

When I was 14 years old I gave birth to my first child. No one knew I was pregnant. My mom found out on a Tuesday and in that same week I gave birth. This was a scary hard time in my life and due to all our family, friends and our community coming together to provide for my daughter, I knew one day I wanted to pay it forward. Years and years went by and I knew what I wanted to do just didn’t know how. I remember talking to my then boyfriend now husband in what I wanted to do, he managed to help me save up 10,000 dollars to help families in need. Read more>>

Julio A. Guerra

When I fully decided to tackle my creative path, I knew that I wanted to do comics, but how. I started off doing art galleries because in college that’s what I was really exposed to. Like I been to comic cons and stuff but didn’t know the “rules” so I went with what I knew. Galleries led to art vender shows and then that led to finding artist and shows geared towards my “style”. During none show and location I found my brothers in arms, Adam Farster and Ben Miller. A bother blossomed from there and then a small comic artist community started to form. Read more>>

Jaimie Bailey

In my experience in this life so far I would have to say opening a brick and mortar business is one of the biggest risks you can take. To be a leader of a team, have overhead, create content, keep a quality product flowing and maintain it is all somehow to be done in a days work. However, when you are so passionate about not only this community, but your method and helping people realize what they can accomplish on a bike in just 45 minutes left me with no choice but to jump in head first to this “risk”. Read more>>

Dwight Smith-Murchison

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was on myself. In 2018 I was in an unhappy place trying to find my way within the entertainment business . I was working full time in Corporate America and full time for a entertainment company that I thought was a legitimate business at the time. After lots of sleepless nights and continuous situations of bad business happening. I then had the thoughts of making a change. It was one final argument with the team of people I had been working for that almost cost me my life is when I decided that a change needed to happen now. I took time to focus on my mental heath. I needed time to figure ME out. Read more>>

Cheyenne Bayne

So, to kick it off, I dropped out of college just a few weeks ago. I was in my third year of nursing school getting my BSN. I had worked as a nurse assistant for several years beginning in high school, and from then on I just knew I had a passion in healthcare. At the same time, I had picked up a camera and was photographing seniors and, occasionally, weddings. Two major passions – I thought I had everything. I continued to pursue both, and knew I wanted to become a nurse to have a “stable” job. Read more>>

April Anderson

Dreaming always comes with risk taking. The dream is not big if the risk isn’t high, right? Having once lost almost every (monetary) thing, fueled our dreaming and risk-taking. We lost it before and came back like champs, so what’s to fear? One of the biggest personal risks we’ve ever taken was flipping a dilapidated house in our town. It was a desirable area for sure so we overpaid for what it was, the house really should have been condemned and torn down. My husband, who had been a custom home builder for over a decade, had never done a remodel. Read more>>

Christine Plescode

Managing a life that involved a lot of juggling, a lot of hustle and bustle was the norm for me. My titles were wife, mommy to a toddler, an account manager at a large HR outsourcing company, a new entrepreneur, and the occasional therapist for a few close friends. I wore these hats seamlessly everyday, or so I thought. My body starting screaming at me and I was slowing seeing affects of burning the candle from both ends for an extended period of time. Read more>>

Courtney Key

A big risk for me was starting my small business withought any capital. Listen starting a business is a big risk but its worth the gamble, and in the beginning you shouldn’t be looking for any financial gain as everything you make goes back into the business itself. Starting my business with no type of solid capital was hard and rewarding at the same time. I would say that it took my business longer to retain the inventory that we needed at times, but 5years later I’m not stuck with owing any type of loan company, and I would say with Multiple social media accounts and extravagant marketing plans that they have available now the fear of my business failing slowly reduced. Read more>>

Cherelle Hargrove

I took a risk by taking my last $50 and flipping it. At the time I started my business I was struggling to make ends meet. So that’s when I decided to start my business. I started making bracelets and within hours I turned that $50 into $400. Read more>>

Megan Miller

When my first son was 2 months old, I was presented with a risk or should I now say opportunity. The purchase of Hale Tea Company was a serious risk – I had steady employment, an infant and a lot on my plate. BUT I decided to take the leap and move forward in the entrepreneurship world and it was the best decision I have ever made! I have always wanted to own my own company and what better way than with a deep passion of mine – tea! Read more>>

Ashleigh Campbell

In June of 2020, my entire world (as well as everyone elses) seemed to flip upside down. In the middle of a worldwide pandemic, I had lost my job from a career I was very passionate about. I got to travel the world and made wonderful friends within that profession, but I wasn’t happy with where I was. The day I was let go (through text), I felt devastated and terrified. I didn’t know what this meant for my fiancé and I and jobs were scarce during that time. The next day, my fiancé and I were going over my options when he brought up the idea that I pick up my camera again and start a business. Read more>>

Cameo Thomas

I’ve always had a passion for writing and story telling but never really made the time to do it because I was so busy as a mother, wife, and employee. In 2020, during the pandemic I was laid off from my job, I could have been upset but honestly I looked at it as a blessing in disguised. I had more time at home with my children and could figure out what my purpose is. In August of 2020, I did a Instagram Live discussing my journey and what tools I found useful on my healing journey. Read more>>

Lisa Holt

Since I was very young, I always marched to the beat of my own drum. So, when I was twenty-six, after working as a hairstylist in numerous salons, I decided it was time to branch out and be my own boss. With barely $1000 in the bank, I started looking for a space of my own. The average person would have probably assumed there was no way to make this happen. But, I found a small space in a historic building and signed a 10 year lease. I had no business name or business plan. Read more>>

Sharon Subdhan

One of the biggest risks I’ve taken was leaving my corporate job at the hospital to pursue Esthetics full time. It was a full year after Covid hit and a little over one year I’ve been living on my own in my first apartment. I had a what people would say “a dream job” at the hospital with a good position and making decent pay for a city job in NYC. The problem was it wasn’t my dream job; I was miserable! I was extremely stressed, tired, overworked, had so much neck and back pain and constant migraines. I was also belittled and disrespected in the work place on the regular. Read more>>

Golden Owls

The biggest risk that we had to encounter as a dance team is simply starting it. As the founder of Golden Owls, it’s typically hard to start dance teams or dance companies because trying to get people to join when you’re not established or “known” makes it harder for people to stay in the beginning. I had a vision of a classy, yet hard-hitting dance team that is versatile in all aspects at Kennesaw State University. When I realized that Kennesaw State would be the school that I would attend for high education, I knew that I wanted to create a dance team. Read more>>

Dennis L.A. White

I used to host a music show on Fuse Television in New York City. After 3 seasons my contract was up for renewal and they decided not to renew it. I must admit that I was a little hurt and disappointed, but I accepted it. After a few months of spending money fast(young & dumb), my resources began to shrink. I decided to return to booking extra work. I was doing extra work on commercials and projects that were above normal pay. But it was still background/extra work. Well, I was called by the amazing casting agency Grant-Wilfley, to go to a selection process for a film. Read more>>

Tierra Ortiz-Rodriguez

Last year I was going through a significant life change. I was contemplating whether to leave the Known Land of my stable 9-5 job for the Unknown Land of launching my own counseling and coaching business. As a Licensed Professional Counselor, I’ve been working in community mental health for over 10 years. Change is scary! I pondered over it, talked with friends and family, journaled, made my pros and cons lists. But the answer finally came in the most surprising of places: a dream. And not just any dream. A dream of one of my SoulCollage® cards. Read more>>

Tori Gay

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was moving over 500 miles to Tennessee to pursue the “music career” part of my ministry. I’m originally from the little map-dot town of Foxworth, in South Mississippi, and I felt like I’d gotten to the point that I was doing all that I could do in my music ministry, there. I knew I wanted to be able to do more, to incorporate different ways of sharing Jesus with people, and I always thought that moving to Nashville would be the answer to that. Read more>>

Stacey Kimber

My biggest risk was quitting my government secure job of 13 years to work for myself full time. My husband and I have six children in the home with us and several responsibilities financially so there was much to discuss and consider. With his and my mothers support/blessings to leave my job to work for myself after much prayer I did it and it was the best decision I could have ever made for myself and my family. Read more>>

Ashe B

I think a lot of creatives can relate to overthinking a decision, no matter how minor, & stalling to the point of inaction. That’s how I felt before playing my first open mic, then a first poetry night, acoustic night etc etc all the way up to throwing my own shows. I had to be honest with myself about finding the sweet spot where my brain feels ok, not great, but at least I’m putting something I’m proud of out there into the world. Being a perfectionist is a cute thing on paper when you’re collecting your flowers but the truth is the majority of perfectionists don’t put out enough work for the world to hear about them. Read more>>

Lois Barth

At my core, I’m a passionate pragmatist. In many ways, I’m exceedingly bold audacious, self-expressed, and in other ways, cautious, and an overthinker. Like most people, I’m a study of contradictions. We all have so many aspects of ourselves. In terms of my transition from acting and being a health practitioner, I knew there was something else I wanted to be doing. I call it Career Translation. I knew I wanted to take my gifts, passions, skills, and talents and repurpose them in a different direction. Read more>>