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.

Aly Stacy

Being an entrepreneur and successful business person is likely made up of a whole lot of risk taking, big and small. Without the risks, bumps and falls how would we ever land where we are suppose to be and fully appreciate where we have landed? Some of my biggest “fails” were also my greatest learning lessons, and once I picked myself back up from it, I was stronger and smarter than I was before. Read more>>

Shannon Horton

I was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. This a was a very conservative upbringing. Basically, I was raised with good midwestern traditions, beliefs, values, and ethics. Do well in school, get a college education, learn a good skillset, get a good job and stay there until you retire or die was the imprinting. My teens and twenties were filled with many jobs and discovering what I did and did not enjoy even if I was good at those skills. I went to college my first go around for Fashion Design because I loved creativity and had great creative skills. Read more>>

Jeremy Peterson

Between the year of 2020-2021 I invested over 200k in new business ventures. I started in the restaurant business, beauty industry, real estate, Dog industry, and not mention giving a friend a bunch of money to invest in a business I had no business in. Aww yeah and I loss 200k. Going into deal will probably take an entire new article! So I just leave you guys with this. Read more>>

Nancy Tankersley

I’m the daughter of a military career officer, and married another career military officer, so stability and staying in one place has never been a part of my life. I’ve lived all over the US and everytime I move my art career has taken on a new focus. The risk I took was buying an established art gallery mid-career and also starting a major art festival. Read more>>

Ozzie Ledesma

For more than 23 years I was in a career where everything was structured; from what I wore to work to what my I was able to do at work. Yeah, I was able to be in positions where I was able to make some key decisions and was able to influence other decisions, but everything had to be completed with regulations. As I was getting ready to retire, I was not certain what I was going to do. Read more>>

rebel noire

The risks I’ve taken so far as a vocalist, songwriter and poet are ones that have only served to confirm my path as a creator. There was my first appearance on the way to being rebel noire, where I performed original songs, steeped in vulnerable lyrics, with nothing by my voice and a borrowed church tambourine. Read more>>

Christian Simon

Risk-taking is necessary to achieve a certain level of success. The biggest risk I took, took place in 2018. After 8 years of living in the same city and three years of working with the same company, I decided to leave it all. After my boyfriend passed away my whole life changed, and my focus shifted. I knew that where I was wasn’t where I wanted to forever be. Read more>>

Billy Bernal

Before I embarked on my PMU Journey I worked a regular 9-5 job as an Administrative Assistant for a local Children’s Hospital. I had solid hours, great pay and benefits, But until I could get my business off the ground I had to hustle, work 9-5 and commit to my business full time. I no longer had weekends or any free time to myself. Read more>>

Erin Dinnie

One of the biggest life changing risks in my life would have to be starting my own business in March of 2022. I had always had thoughts of venturing out on my own for years but never actually took the steps to fully pursue it. In the beginning of 2022 I began researching steps on how to even go about creating a pediatric physical therapy practice. Read more>>

Rob Gonzales

Picture this: You’re in the middle of a Saturday night dinner service working a double in a high volume kitchen where the ticket machine seems to be running non stop as your chef is screaming at the kitchen staff wondering why there is a 40 minute ticket time as the pile of orders drape from the pass that’s crowded with food all the way to the grimy kitchen floor. Read more>>

Lacey Draper

The biggest risk I have taken is starting my business-especially in the middle of COVID and while being a single mother. Backstory- I actually started planning my business in 2018. I had already been an Esthetician for 7 years at that point and worked in multiple types of spa environments, but wasn’t finding the right fit so was naturally feeling burnt out. Read more>>

Gigi Pace

In 2017 I heard that small voice of God whisper in my ear, “Work for me.” I immediately thought, “of course, I work for you. I acknowledge you in my activities and work and give you the glory.” I had no idea what that small whisper would become! Read more>>

Laura Boyzo

Every time we are in a position to choose one thing over another, we are put in a place of risking loosing something. Coming out of high school I had many friends enter the working world right away, making money and gathering savings. As a first generation Mexican American, my family had no generational wealth, so making money was always a top priority. Read more>>

Elle Molchan

The summer of 2021 I embarked on a nomadic journey, not having a plan or a strategy of where life was going to take me. This was a first for me as I’ve always been one who is very grounded in the now but also has a clear sense of where my future path is taking me, both personally and professionally. Read more>>

Daniel Max

Our efforts to run a yoga studio that promotes equity and community care has required us to take some big risks within an expensive and highly competitive market, especially during the tumultuous times of the Covid19 pandemic. Read more>>

Ismaelite Laurore

I grew up in a household where you play it safe and my siblings and I were sheltered by our parents. As children of Haitian immigrants, the only places we were allowed to be was church, school and home, not really taking risks and exploring what the world had to offer. I knew that I wanted change, I wanted to see what this beautiful world had to offer. Read more>>

Daisha Jackson

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was starting my Yoga Teacher Training (YTT). It was 2020, the beginning of a pandemic and absolutely nothing about life was certain. A teacher I’ve admired since my first class under her instruction announced that she would be hosting a YTT and for me, it felt like a 10-year dream for me was in arm’s reach. Read more>>

Carolyn Busby

The biggest risk I have taken was betting on myself, starting my business, and leaving nursing. This was a super scary step and honestly had me thinking I was having a midlife crisis. Picture it, the middle of COVID, the world is on lock down and we are all unsure of the future. This was the time that I chose to leave my nursing career. There were several things that at my core I no longer resonated with in nursing. Read more>>

Annalis

A risk that I have taken for my career is moving to whole entire new state. When I left my hometown to pursue my career as a model, it really took a toll on me mentally, and physically. I became very depressed, because I was leaving all my friends, and my family behind me. Read more>>

Alyson O’Connor

I have taken so many risks in my business hahaha, and not all have turned out great! I would say the biggest one recently has been launching a wholesale line of greeting cards and gifts. Pre-2020, the majority of our business was designing and printing event invitations and our brick and mortar stationery shop. In the summer of 2020, the building our shop is located in closed down access to the public. Read more>>

Tamra Tipton

My biggest risk I’ve taken would probably be when I decided to leave my corporate career to pursue my passion in the beauty industry. For a while, I was only doing makeup for family and friends as a hobby, but I decided to take a risk and started taking it more seriously. This was a huge commitment that required a lot of time, mastering techniques/skill, and it also was a huge financial investment. Read more>>

Kasey Dugan

I took a huge risk and gamble when I decided to venture out to start my own dog training company-and by myself, without a business partner to fall back on and to help navigate the challenges that come with being a business owner. I actually never intended to venture out on my own as soon as I did. It was at the encouragment of a few friends and training clients! Read more>>

Annie Rubin

Becoming a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist was not my first career. For over a decade I lived and breathed for all things banking and finance. I live in New York City and had an incredible, stable job as an investment professional in distressed debt securities. I was very good at my job and got multiple promotions at the hedge fund I worked at. Read more>>

Shannon Gregoire

Betting on your dreams Read more>>

Evan Moore

Risk, can easily be associated with a negative notion or some perceived threat to your physical or mental well-being. However, risk to me meant changing my life and putting myself in a position to not only help others but help myself in the process. Read more>>

Sebastian & Kristine Rodriguez

When you are your own boss & own your own business, every day is a risk, because you don’t have someone else to rely on. When your business is a television show, the risks are even higher because you rely on multiple factors including viewers, sponsors, content and of course the stations. When we first created the show it was a risk and it was right before the pandemic. Read more>>

Daisy Villa

I would have to say that the biggest risk that I have ever taken was buying my first investment property. That was actually back in 2020 at the beginning of the covid pandemic. Everything was so uncertain during that time you know, some people were losing their jobs, we were spending most of our days at home because everything was shut down or regulations were really strict, it was truly a really scary time. Read more>>

Ari Monet

Deciding to take the risk of uprooting and moving to Houston has been the biggest life altering decision I have made thus far. Originally, I am a Boston , Ma native . I was born in raised in the inner city and quite frankly never seen myself moving out of state. I was very complacent where I was but was actively building a name for myself there with my first business venture, which was an e-commerce boutique. Read more>>

Shaynie Rhoads

Last year, I signed a lease on a new space for my lessons studio. I had been running my business out of a tiny office for two years before it got to the point of needing to relocate and expand, and after several months of searching, I finally found the perfect spot. But it was going to be a huge commitment, and a lot of money was on the line— money I had worked hard for and saved over the years. Read more>>

Breonna Roberts

I took a risk to book a solo trip to costa rica and it changed my life. I have met such a beautiful group of souls that I nkw consider my family. We have never met before but the universe definitely guided me there to meet them because we all have lessons and challenges that we can find solutions to together. Read more>>

Utsav Bajgain

I was in the 10th year of my corporate career working at Panasonic as manager after working in Japan, Mexico and US. Having practiced TM for 5+ years at that time i felt the transformation in cognitive capacity, awareness and joy of life is real. If i could offer this transformation to others, it would add a new dimension, purpose and meaning to my life. Read more>>

Chris Elder

“You have to jump! Every successful person has jumped.” A quote from Steve Harvey that has always stuck with me. I decided to act on that in September of 2021 after 8 years of working for company that I absolutely hated. One may ask, why did you stay so long? My reply would be, simply because I was afraid to jump. I was afraid to fail, so I wouldn’t take the necessary risk required to catapult me to the next level. Read more>>

Sappho Le Fae

When I first started doing drag, a local competition was announced that was accepting auditions. Although I was incredibly new to the scene, I knew I wanted to push myself and try something new, so I sent in an audition. Aaaand I got in! I ended up competing in the first season of Mx. Zephyr in Kent, Ohio and making it all the way to fifth place… Read more>>

Daniel Stephfon Wade

After taking a much needed break from the music industry for almost 10 years, from 24hr studio sessions, performing at any and every open mic in town and out of town. To writing and doing background for artist and friends with no paperwork, just the love of creating and utilizing my gift. Also with the main goal in mind, the tireless task of being signed to a major label. Read more>>

Danny Joe Rose III

Risk has always been an integral part of my practice. I approach each series with fresh eyes and allow the work to evolve as it needs to. This could mean that one day I am working with canvas, another with digital processes, or sculpture, collage, etc. In the early phases of a new series, I don’t really know what’s going to emerge, so being open to the outcome takes trust and most certainly risk. Read more>>