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.

Olga Lavrova

I grew up in a pretty conventional family, where artistic professions were not considered a serious career path. Since I had a natural knack for hard sciences, I majored in Mahematics/Economics at University and afterwards worked in different roles in the finance/audit industry. Read more>>

Karl Pratt

In mid-2018, a friend convinced me to take a chance on something new. I had been working at my alma mater’s (Fort Hays State University) Alumni Association full-time as a communications coordination for the first four years following graduation in 2014 when I had made the hard decision to not pursue a graduate degree in music. Read more>>

Gabriella Karimi

I majored in Fine Art in college – focusing on painting and printmaking. I felt alive creating and being in the studio, finding my self and my style through the medium of woodcut. I was told by a professor that if I wanted to be an artist I needed to support myself through another job in order to survive. Read more>>

Meghan Block

In late February of 2020, I decided to approach my then boss about purchasing her business. She’d been in the process of trying to identify a buyer for many months, and I had been hesitant to move forward. Until my mom got sick, and suddenly life seemed like it was moving fast. Read more>>

Maya Ventour

Just starting my business was a risk, I had no foresight of the outcome of my risk but I guess that’s the point. It led to plentiful victories, multiple failures of course, and a lot of lessons learned. Read more>>

Angela Kelly

Inked Pixels is a faith based business. Back in 2021, I felt the leading of the Lord to allow our clients to name the price that they would pay for their project. Read more>>

Quentine Nyoni

At the age of 20 I left my family home, in pursuit of a career I wasnt well educated or experienced in. My family was not in full support because they thought I was not yet ready. Read more>>

Kayla Breaux

In life, taking risks is essential for growth and success. It is easy to get comfortable in our daily routines, but it is only by stepping outside of our comfort zones that we can truly achieve our goals. Read more>>

Austin Mangelson and Monica Mangelson

In 2020, we were bright eyed college graduates ready for our next big adventure. Monica and I were about to spend the next 2+ years serving the people in Mozambique, Africa through the Peace Corps, a US government organization that sends citizens across the globe to carry out public service and citizen diplomacy. Read more>>

Erika Mayol

I have taken a risk in building my cooking school. It was an idea that came to me by chance, and I went with it. Originally, I was planning on opening a bakery. I decided to open a cooking school instead. Read more>>

Gimelys Barrera

I’ve always been a bit jittery, struggling to put myself out there due to fear of failure. Art has been my passion for as long as I can recall, but the feeling of failure always lurks in the background, clouding my existence. Read more>>

Morgan Pierce

One of the biggest risks I’ve taken was audition for the movie that cast me as the main character. Landing this role fulfilled a long-time dream. Read more>>

Chelsea Elliott

I took a major risk when I left my very lucrative and stable full-time job to pursue my purpose. In 2020, during the pandemic, my husband and I were both working full-time from home while raising our then-3-year-old daughter and preparing for a new baby due in September. Read more>>

Sam Vander Wielen

After being a corporate lawyer for over 5 years, I decided to leave the law behind in 2016 to start my own online business. At first, I started a business helping busy professionals learn how to cook – but that business didn’t last more than a year! Read more>>

Carrie Lynch

In 2023 I truly took a very big risk. I left my marriage of 10 years, moved three times and started my first brick and mortar location for my brand Wild Roamer. Read more>>

Jeanne Blasberg

It usually takes an inciting incident to spark a major change or “reinvention.” Often times abrupt change is the consequence of tragedy, loss or disaster. For many of us, the COVID pandemic served as the fire. Read more>>

Madison Wickham

In 2018 a new adventure began, just acquiring my real estate license, I was ready to start an official career. Upon joining a brokerage firm, I was in the office every day, bought all the fancy clothes, went to all the networking events and was really giving it my all. Read more>>

Natasha Geverola

Taking risks for me meant that I had to bet on myself and step outside of my comfort zone and seize the opportunity when it came. It also meant that even though uncertainty and no guarantee was breathing at the door, doubt just could not lead.  Read more>>

Yoram Solomon

The most considerable risk I took was starting my own business. The statement “no risk, no reward” is definitely true. You don’t just take risks; you are doing it because there is a reward that you expect. Read more>>

Linda Marcus

I think it’s important to keep challenging yourself, especially as you age and life gets more comfortable or familiar. There is something about being in that uncomfortable spot where you don’t know what is going to happen or have little control over the outcome. Read more>>

Kierra Byrd

By definition, risk involves uncertainty about the effects and/or implications of an activity with respect to something we, as humans, value. Risks are often imbued with a negative connotation. Read more>>

Taylor Riann

I started my career in physical therapy and worked at Ohio State University Medical Center since 2000. I thought that I would work at OSUMC my entire career. I started to realize that I needed a change in 2015. Read more>>

Crealot

Taking a risk on myself was the biggest and most life changing action that I could have ever done for myself, and I’m happy I did it. I think everything that I’ve cared about pursuing with the hopes of a great and fulfilling return has been risky. Read more>>

Ines Rehner

Chocolate has been my favorite food for as long as I can remember, and that passion helped lead me to America to pursue my entrepreneurial dream. To this day, I would rather have one good piece of chocolate than anything else. Read more>>

Chuck Tate

I had always dreamed of writing and publishing a book. Several years ago my friend invited me to a writers conference in Austin, Texas. The conference was hosted by a well established literary agency called The Fedd Agency. Read more>>

Alex Scribner

It wasn’t the greatest or the biggest or even the one with the best results, but I would say the first professional risk I took was something that really has helped me so much but also changed so much for me. Read more>>

Sam Clawson

I’ve been interested in the synthesis of pop and orchestral music for a long time. One of my favorite albums is the Gregory Alan Isakov collaboration with the Colorado Symphony. Read more>>

AnAkA

Becoming a creative in itself is a risk. There is no guarantee of what is coming and how to shape your world. Every creative is different and is destined to light up the world in their own ways. Read more>>

Tk Gorgonia

My last biggest risk this past year was starting a new company. I have been in the entertainment industry for nearly a decade specializing in performance and motion capture for numerous video games, shows, movies, and XR projects. Read more>>

Emily Zook

Opening a skincare studio in the midst of the country shutting down is a pretty big risk in my eyes. Deciding to go out on my own was not something I even fathomed until March 2020. Read more>>

Hillary Sorrentino

Taking a risk. Even though I am now making my living as a freelance illustrator & print textile designer, it wasn’t how I started! I received my degree in fashion design, and worked full time in the industry for 15 years. Read more>>

ALEDream

I decided to shift my focus from pursuing a career in music to creating video game content from the comfort of my own home for several reasons. Firstly, while I have a deep passion for music and enjoy creating melodies that resonate with others, I found myself increasingly drawn to the world of video games. Read more>>

Catherine Butterfield

Most of what has held me back in life, aside from the obvious fact of being a woman in what is still, regrettably, a man’s world, is a lack of nerve. I was a shy child from the moment I stepped outside my home, although as the oldest of five, I remember being pretty bossy with the little kids. Read more>>

Andre Powell

The biggest risk I took in my journey in the music industry was relocating to Los Angeles. I had just finished my last contract with the United States Army and was transitioning my life from service member to civilian. Read more>>