You’re working hard, things are going well, piece by piece you’ve built a life you are proud of, you’ve overcome obstacles and challenges, beat the odds and then you find yourself at the center of an unexpected dilemma – do you risk it all to keep growing? What if growing means leaving the job you worked so hard to get or the industry you worked so hard to break into? How we approach risk often has a huge bearing on our journey and so we’ve asked some of the brightest folks we know to share stories of risks they’ve taken.

Caitlin Gregory

Building a business based on your passions definitely begins with taking a risk. Risks are inevitable. I could say my business started with a risk that was not even my own. My husband took a risk and leap of faith by gifting me my first DSLR camera for Christmas in 2013. He believed in me and my eye for a great photograph and said “Go do your thing!”. Within a few months time, I took risks by asking friends to let me take their family’s photographs. Being a photographer or any creative artist, we expose ourselves to others through our work. Read more>>

Liam Mahal

Being an artist is all about taking risks, wanting and being willing to grow, is all about taking risks. It’s easier for one to stay in their comfort zone, why? Because that’s where they tend to feel the safest. Feeling safe creates the feeling of certainty and no one likes feeling uncertain. Taking that leap of faith and not knowing what may happen creates the space for anything being possible. As an artist, trying new sounds is taking risks, writing about what doesn’t get written about and pushing boundaries. Boundaries that others and society attempt to place on others. As a creative, you should never box yourself in and don’t let others put you in a box either. Read more>>

Heather Chandler

In late 2018, I took a chance. I’d spent 25 years as a video game producer. Many of the games I’d worked on were wildly successful, including Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, Star Trek: Rivals, and the runaway hit Fortnite. But I kept thinking about trying something new. Read more>>

MARCIA WARREN

I have taken big risk in my life. It is hard to tell which one was more risking . But most recent one was leaving my 9 to 5 job and start living from my photography business. I was stressed and scared but now I see it has been the best decision of my life. Read more>>

Jen DuBois

Before I became a certified Life Coach, I was stuck, spinning in circles going nowhere fast! I was busy all the time yet, constantly overwhelmed, anxious, and exhausted because I was not moving forward on any of the things, I deemed most important. I would procrastinate, make excuses, and avoid. Then, came the guilt and negative self-talk for not doing the “important things”. Read more>>

Chris Bannor

As artists, we put ourselves out there every time we show our work to someone. I had wanted to be a writer for most of my life, but I was always afraid I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t know enough. I didn’t have enough experience. So, when I started writing later in life, I still struggled with those same questions. I took small steps, working into short fiction and writing in anthologies with small book publishers. Read more>>

MIguel Angel Ferrer

My entire career has been built upon calculated risks. I took a risk coming out to LA by myself, not knowing anyone, or having a job, or having a place to stay. But I found my way and landed my first job as a Cameraman for National Geographic. (There’s a funny story about how I got that job, which also involved some risk). Read more>>

Kalyn Nelson

In 2017, I was 29 years old, with a 6 month old baby. At the time, I was working full time as the interior designer for a high end custom home builder in Sumner County (TN) and I simply hit a breaking point where I could no longer balance the stress of my work/home/ family life anymore. I was struggling to find reliable childcare, and at that time, my husband worked nights for a major healthcare IT group, which left me up at night with the baby and then also trying to manage my high-stress job during the day. Read more>>

Kandace Creel Falcón

In February 2017 my wife and I closed on a country home on twenty acres in Otter Tail County, MN. We’d been living in a small city, a border town between Minnesota and North Dakota, and we were ready for a change. The following fall I was on sabbatical from my job as a tenured Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies. I was working from home, spending my days trying to hammer out a book manuscript. Read more>>

Reginald Clark

Coming to Atlanta, was big for me as I’m originally from NYC . But I wanted to really make a huge impact in my life. I wanted change, I wanted a new experience in life, but I had doubts because I was afraid of failure, and afraid of letting myself down.. Praying a lot is what build that confidence And creating a space of peace in my life , has allowed me to take the chance and take the risk, and go for what I really wanted to do. Read more>>

Corneshia Davis

Leap in my terms “jumping the gun” in a positive way. Taking a risk to better my life not only for myself but for my loved ones and to bless others whom I encounter throughout my day-to-day life. My risk taker was starting a commercial and residential cleaning business in 2020. At the time, I was employed, successfully performing my work duties but making between a $13-14.50 bi-weekly. Fulltime of course, but bills were due for my essential living needs. I knew this vision I painted as we all say, ” picture perfect”. Read more>>\

Colen Jackson

Staying in Baltimore too long, that’s the risks. My City is a beautiful City, My City just infested with envy and hatred and it’s at a all time high right now. People dont want too see you level up like crabs in a bucket they’ll pull you back down the minute it seems like you aspiring too become anything better than them. It’s not everyone in My City but a great portion on this timing. Growing up in Baltimore whether its poverty, violence or so many other things it will either make you go harder too make a way or you’ll lay down and play the victim card. Read more>>

Kelee Love

After a divorce in early 2012, I experienced the darkest time in my life. Due to unresolved trauma, I developed a substance abuse problem with alcohol and subsequently found myself almost homeless, unemployable and without any financial support within a matter of months. I hated myself for the choices that had led up to this time in my life, and I knew I had to do something different or I was going to die. It was then I had to make a decision to change my life by quitting drinking and healing myself through therapy. Read more>>

Elizabeth Carlile

After 11 years working in the Federal Government, I walked away from a secure job and guaranteed retirement and ventured into the world of entrepreneurship. But in all honesty it was a risk I couldn’t afford not to take because although I loved my boss and excelled at my job, I knew I wasn’t being challenged the way I needed to be. I had much bigger aspirations for my life and I wanted to see what I was really made of. Read more>>

Girls Who Paint Gallery

Opening an art gallery was a risk. However we saw the need for a female focused art gallery. Women and people of color are grossly underrepresented and underpaid in the art world. We wanted to do our part to change that. Our goal was to create an art gallery that made buying art more accessible and a creative space in our community where everyone felt welcome. Read more>>

Cassie Hendrickson

Launching a business was the easy part for sure. In a world where social media is so influential & so accessible – anyone can start a business. Of course, there is the investment, which is a risk in itself, but it wasn’t until I was spending Monday- Friday working my normal 9-5 & spending evenings & weekends working on growing this business all while caring for my family and quickly feeling the burn out that a real decision & risk needed to be made. Read more>>

Dee Bomb

I got into the twin cities music scene in 2006, I’d just graduated high school and turned 18 two months before I put out my first mixtape the same day I had my first show. I started gaining a buzz in the city and got recognized by a lot of twin cities hip hop artists & pioneers. Overall between 2006-2011, I put out 4 free mixtapes through my record label, “Bangin Noize Entertainment” that generated over 20,000 downloads. Read more>>

Caroline Harris

My current chapter in life started when I was secretly searching for a commercial property for my husband to open or create a cycling store near our vacation home in Mountain Rest, SC. My husband loves all things cycling and is an expert in all the mechanical and physical aspects of a bike…it is his true passion. While attempting to surprise him with a place he could do all things bicycling, I discovered a building for sale just 15 minutes from our vacation home. Read more>>

Desiree Hall

I began my floral design business while a stay-at-home mom. For nearly ten years, I served my clients out of my “home studio” which was actually just my garage. I had a small 6×6 foot space dedicated to my craft in the back corner of my garage where I made beautiful things for my client’s biggest day of their lives in the throws of baby and kid gear like soccer balls, bicycles, laundry room and gardening tools and all the other things you would expect to find in a suburban garage setting. Read more>>

Amy Lynn Parmar

Taking the leap to working fully freelance was a huge risk, but it ended up paying off. I was working a corporate job that just wasn’t fulfilling to me anymore, and I was itching to get out to pursuit my dreams of working weddings full time. A friend of mine is a brand photographer, and she and I got to talking and she mentioned she could use a part time producer for her photo shoots. Obviously, going from a stable full time job to working a freelance producer role part time would not usually be the smartest decision, Read more>>

Taviana Nolley

Opening my physical store was the biggest risk I’ve taken so far in my career. I was online for 2 years before opening my store. My sales were stagnant online and I needed a change. I wanted to interact with my customers personally. I wanted to give them the “Star Quality” experience. I wanted to bring back great customer service. Every time I walk in a store and I’m not greeted I feel as if I’m not valued. Read more>>

Malana Bracht

Taking a risk has defined my entire life journey, but it took me years to realize it is only half of the equation. I used to think if I just took the risk and made the jump that automatically all of my life problems would disappear and I would be “successful”. Gosh, was I humbled quickly. Growing up, I was always the girl willing to take the jump. I loved the adrenaline rush of starting something new, of pioneering a new project or beginning a new job. I started working at the age of 13. Read more>>

Trevor Perry

So as far as risk go i think the biggest risk i took was when i decided not try to fit into a stereotypical socitial mold. By refusing the status quo and not allowing the world’s perception of me to control what roles i audition for i’ve grown so much as an artist. When i first started auditioning for shows i was always forced to do small ensemble parts because lets face it this theatre business is not necessarily made for people of size or people of color, let alone someone who identifies and nonbinary or trans. Read more>>

Natalie Rani Marie Zacharias

One of the most recent risks I’ve taken in my life has led me to where I am today and looking back, I don’t regret it at all. I was working at a company for 6 years after graduating from college with my Bachelor’s degree. I was making great money and if I wanted to I could have moved higher up in the company. However, during the last two years while I was working there I kept getting this overwhelming feeling that it was time to move on and pursue something else. I started researching what other career paths I would want to pursue and looking into getting my Master’s degree. Read more>>

Shae Perry

I believe in taking risks, because you won’t know until you try! My current career path was not always what I had in mind. The young me wanted to be a WNBA basketball player, becoming a Professional Radio Personality wasn’t on my mind, until I attended UMKC (2015 -2019). The very first day I stepped on UMKC’s campus, I met the president of the student radio station (CJ Pullaim) and he invited me to come to his show. That day on, I became involved in the organization and started hosting college events. Read more>>

Sherese Sutton

I’ve been in Atlanta for five years. Before living in Atlanta, I lived in Philadelphia. People always ask me what made me move to Atlanta. I didn’t want my friend to live in Atlanta alone, so I told her I would move with her. We packed up a U-Haul and moved. I took a risk. I had never been to Atlanta before. My first time coming to Atlanta was when I had to get the keys to my already-paid-for apartment and do an inspection. Read more>>

Sara Dunn

It was 2019 when I decided to take the big risk of focusing exclusively on wedding industry SEO. I had spent 7 years building a digital marketing agency that offered everything marketing— website design, graphic design, SEO, paid ads, social media, billboards, business cards, you name it. I basically felt like I was starting over, having to market to a brand new audience with brand new services. Read more>>

Talaina Wright

Earlier this year I went on a solo trip to Africa. This was major to me because I would be navigating an unknown place alone. Of course, I had a lot of people concerned for me which is understandable but I knew that this was a divinely guided experience. See, I thrive off of experiencing and I knew I had to take the adventure to Africa for myself. When I was there I encountered different cultures, people, foods and music. Which made me appreciate diversity even more. Because I trusted my intuition the trip was a success and confirmed how divinely protected and guided I am. Read more>>

Camille Scott

Can anyone achieve great success without taking the slightest risk? 5-6 days a week I was instructing lessons followed by stretching and delivering 250+ pizzas, and gigging on Sundays. I would then come home from work and continue engineering my musical projects. It was the commencement of the Pandemic (I’m over it too) where I found myself, exhausted and broke. Read more>>

Max Mainwood

I think the most important step to taking a risk is confidence. Cliché or not, to me, it’s the largest hurdle in actually perusing your risk. My first real set I designed and built, I had no idea what I was doing. With very little experience and someone taking a chance on me, I had a lot to lose. In no way did I want the client to doubt the outcome, and I especially didn’t want to doubt myself. I knew I needed to attack this job with confidence, as if I had done it before. I had to be tedious and tried to think of every detail imaginable. Read more>>

Allyson West

I’ve been the Executive Director and founder of a non-profit since 2017. Our first year’s program was exclusively a film festival, and it was one of the most public, riskiest projects I’ve undertaken. To get started, I assembled a small team of passionate people and we started making decisions regarding dates and locations very quickly. Sometimes having a deadline is all it takes to get the process started! Read more>>

Dan Gosling

I am a professional trumpet player. Years ago, I lost an audition for what was supposed to be my dream job with my hometown orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. I was a frequent guest and substitute player for many years, A full-time position opened up but it meant they would have a national audition and they ended up awarding the job to a fantastic, younger player. While he won fair and square, I was crushed as these opportunities don’t come along very often. Read more>>

Mak Ro

Kris: In 2021, I ended up leaving a corporate job I’ve had for four years to fully dedicate my time to creating. I remember calling Eric one morning bawling my eyes out telling him I just turned in my two weeks. I think I was crying partially tears of panic/fear but also tears of joy. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done because I’ve committed so much of my time to that company and I’ve always seen myself climbing that corporate ladder but at some point, my heart was just no longer in it and so I decided to follow what brings me joy in life and fully commit to being an artist. Read more>>

Sam Haas

Nashville. The biggest risk I have ever taken. I gave myself a timeline once COVID finally started to settle and life was approaching a “normal” close to the one we all knew prior. I told myself January 2022, I’m making the move; with or without a job, not knowing a soul and bringing the dream I’ve always had with me. My dream has always been to play and write music. Nashville is the perfect place for that, but it was never going to be easy. Read more>>

Kiana Renee

Entrepreneurship is definitely the biggest and most life changing risk I’ve ever taken. At first, you’re scared and nervous because you have all of these thoughts about what could go wrong and what MIGHT go right. You’re worried about the support or lack thereof you may get. There is a lot that comes with entrepreneurship and it’s definitely not for the weak. You’re risking consistent income, quality time and sleep. You work so hard to perfect your craft knowing that the outcome may not be 100% what you want it to be. Read more>>

Javon Roye

Back in March of 2022, I was thinking about the recent loss of my grandmother. Not only did it remind that life is short but it convinced me that I have to achieve my dreams before more people around me pass away. So, I made a plan. I gave myself two goals, a financial goal and to obtain a studio by January 2022. If I hit even one of these goals, I would go full time in my photography and cinematography business. While making these goals, I also realized that going full time in my business would be the only way I find happiness and fulfillment in life. Read more>>

Sexton (They/them)

Thanks for asking! Risks have been an important aspect in my life, but for this question I want to take you back to when I was an awkward little trans kid. I want to take you back to third grade Sexton. I had new glasses, braces and a bowl cut. I was the oldest kid in my family and I was starting to understand being adopted (more on that later). I was awkward, got in trouble at school, and had a hard time making friends. Read more>>

Borin Doulos

The biggest risk that I have taken is also the biggest risk I’m still learning to take: being truly authentic as a creative. I’ve found that it is very easy to filter my creative process through the presumed expectations of those who will hear my music — both the people I know personally, and the people that I do not know. It’s safer to do what is expected, or at least what is perceived to be expected. Read more>>

Gwendolyn Braswell

After my first husband died, I lost everything! Me and my children started with nothing. I found myself moving into a low income housing community. In this community, I wasn’t working at the time. I saw a lot of opportunities at this low state of my life. I told my children, we won’t focus on what we see out of our windows, but we we can imagine, see and dream. We all made vision boards of what we saw for our future. Moving in that neighborhood, I focused on the b words that I heard God speaking to me. Read more>>

Jowy Webb

Recently, I made a leap of faith as far as my career as a artist. And no im sorry the story doesn’t end good YET there’s still plenty of ups and downs left that i have yet to run into, but i’m excited for what’s in store. I actually learned that risks was something i had to get used to. The whole thought process around taking risks is dreadful, nerve wrecking, and freighting but the high after doing or accomplishing something you never thought could happen makes it 10x better. Read more>>

Yeral Patel

As a family medicine and functional medicine physician for the last 12 yeara my career has been mainly serving and treating patients in the Urgent Care and in my Functional Medicine Clinic. I have always had a passion for skincare from the inside out and recall many conversations with my numerous patients, family and friends regarding their skin care concerns. Read more>>

Yasheika Turner

In 2011 I took a huge risk and migrated to Canada with my 3 year old daughter. I wanted FREEDOM to create a new life. I felt stuck and I felt trapped. I started praying, asking the Lord for direction. God then answered my prayers and created the way to move to Canada. I had never been to Canada before and I had no experience of what it would be like living here, anyways I applied and started the process. Read more>>

Kelley Batson-Howard

The biggest risk I’ve taken as an adult was when I closed the family business and began pursuing art as a career at the age of 56. The business was closing regardless, and I had a choice to make. I would get a regular job to help maintain the household’s regular income or I would learn to live on less and pursue a long held dream of being an artist. In the end, I chose to get on the path of being an artist. Read more>>

Maccabee Griffin

The most significant risks that I’ve discovered so far on this rollercoaster I call my life started three years ago when I decided I wanted to be a voice actor. I went from having a nine-to-five job at a pharmaceutical company that paid pretty well, even though I hated being there, to being a full-time stay-at-home dad, voice actor, and podcaster. Then, God only knows why I decided to start writing and helping people create better characters for their stories. Each thing I’ve done within the past three years has been a risk because I haven’t been paid 90% of the time. Read more>>

Michael Ball

My personal biggest risk I have ever taken was my decision to join an unknown, start-up restaurant concept. George McLaughlin, one of my previous mentors, reached out to me about coming on board to help build out a new concept. I was very apprehensive at the time because I had an established career with Chick-fil-A where I had been for 4 years. Starting over with an unproven concept seemed very risky at that time, especially having a wife, two kids, and a third soon to follow. Read more>>

Delvon Lee

My taking risk story kind of goes all over the place, but stay with me. First it started with quitting a full time guaranteed job due to not being on the same page. I jumped completely feet first in to opening my own business without and true knowledge on how to do so. I did the whole no no thing in my industry. Went and got a too big of an office space, bought a lot of decorations for that said office, spent time trying to market myself without knowing what I was doing. Tried to do some demographic look up but kind of procrastinated it. Read more>>