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.
Marine Selenee
At 22, I left France, with my first husband, to the US. I didn’t think I could do it on my own. A month later, in Miami, we broke up. I decided to go to Los Angeles and spend a few months there to feel if I really wanted to live my life in the US. The answer was yes! I then moved back to Miami and discovered the Family Constellations method. Read more>>
Alexa Ritter
I’ve always been someone who believed in the idea of taking a risk and failing rather than not trying it and living in regret. One of the biggest risks that I feel like I have taken, especially professionally, was just quitting my full time job – a job where I had consistent hours, consistent income, and more stability – to pursue a freelance role. Read more>>
Ana Gómez Villafañe
There have been several instances in my life in which taking risks has been proven to be the right course of action. The biggest one I can think of was moving to a new country. I was born and raised in a small city in Patagonia, Argentina, and decided to move to the United States at the age of 19. I had to look for a job as soon as I arrived, and put myself through school. I put a lot of effort into assimilating. Everything was new and very different to the way I lived back home. For example, getting a driver’s license in the U.S was a whole learning experience all by itself. Even though I had been driving since the age of 15, driving in California and learning all of the rules of the road was a challenge. To give you a contrasting image: there are no traffic lights in my hometown! We have no freeways either! So yeah, it was quite the adventure! Everything I did as a newcomer to the United States was met with excitement and effort. I was so eager to learn everything and absorb it all. I am glad I took the risk of leaving the familiar and stepping into the unfamiliar. It all contributed to shaping me into the adult I am today. The experience gave me grit, perspective, and humility. I now consider this country my home. I’ve spent exactly half of my life in Argentina and half of my life in the United States. I hold dual citizenship, and I am grateful for all of the opportunities this country has provided me with. Read more>>
Deb Stanley
In 2015, I took a giant leap of faith when I left a career as a Special Education Teacher in order to start my business, Transition Bridges. Parents and former students often came to me in desperation when they couldn’t figure out how to navigate life after graduating from high school. Many of them were sitting in their basements playing video games, uncertain of next steps. I decided to plant myself in the community as a resource, connecting individuals with local resources and organizations. Read more>>
Kathleen Smith
I have travelled extensively throughout my life but have always lived in Montreal, Canada. After many years as a successful IT Project Management Consultant, my family and I moved to the United States to pursue new opportunities. I left all that was familiar behind – my career, family and friends and decided to use this opportunity to pursue my true calling which is everything wine. I registered for the WSET Level 2 program, to Level 3 and finally Diploma which I completed October 2022. In tandem I began a blog called The Happy Vine to share my wine knowledge, stories and discoveries. Keep in mind this industry was new to me and operates much differently than the IT world. The people, their stories and the relationships are what makes opportunities happen. Diving into my studies and wine knowledge, I began networking in the wine industry through wine fairs, judging at wine competitions both in USA, Canada and Europe and the doors started opening. The journey has led me to where I am today- a proud ambassador of Concours Mondial des Féminalise, a published writer and wine judge. Read more>>
Recquel Mack-Randles
The risk aka leaps of faith I will be discussing is the ones I took when embarking on my journey as an entrepreneur. As a single mom, it has been quite challenging being able to keep a steady job due to a number of obstacles, but I have never been the type of mom to let anything get in my way or keep me down. Seeing that it is very important that I continue to work so that I can provide a roof over my son and I head, I decided to jump into entrepreneurship. My journey as a business owner first started in November 2022 when I had the amazing opportunity to become apart of a business entrepreneurship program called “Equity in Entrepreneurship”. This was a 6–8-week program that gave us an opportunity to learn all the beginning stages of entrepreneurship, how to get our business legalized in the state of Florida, getting our ideas on paper, etc. This program really helped to push and challenge me in the best ways possible and helped me to get where I am at today. If it wasn’t for me taking these risk and huge leaps of faith, I would have never been able to see this beautiful but still developing version of myself. And guess what, I am absolutely loving me, flaws and all. Read more>>
Codey Holliday
I had a house fire in 2010 a year after graduating from university. Before this, I had this vision of myself, a creative person, using my art for the tangible good of the world. (At this point I was just a painter) Read more>>
Dr. Arielle Caruso
Most people who know me now don’t know that I was once an art dealer in New York City. I finished my undergrad degree in art history and helped open and run a high profile gallery in New York. I loved finding talent and helping bring an artist’s career alive, but the day to day running of a luxury sales business wore on me. While I was an art dealer I worked a side job leading outdoor excursions outside of the city. This was the way I found inner balance. All week grinding in the city with the weekends filled with trees and the fresh smell of nature. It was the kind of job you do for the love of the experience, not the money. Part of that job was taking a wilderness first responder course and it was at that time that I discovered my love for medicine. Read more>>
Hetal Acharekar
I moved from India in 2006 to a small town Aiken, SC. I spent years working for many reputable rehabilitation center, honing my skills and treating patients with compassion and care. Over time, I developed a deep fascination with golf and the potential for physical therapy to enhance performance on the greens. Read more>>
Alondra Saucedo Espinno
April of 2020, in the very middle of the pandemic chaos when schools and work were starting to close, my husband and I took a gamble on moving up to Tulsa from the Houston, TX area. My husband and I had met in Tulsa at church, but after I moved out-of-state for college to Amherst, MA, he moved back to Houston and was there for a few years while we did long distance. I grew up in Glenpool and my parents were thankfully still there, however, I didn’t have a lot of adulting experience in the Tulsa area. It just so happened that during this time, my college had sent all of its students home in March, right before Spring Break and my husband’s job was slowing down significantly because of the regulations that the City of Houston was implementing. We didn’t have a plan at all. We knew that we wanted to get out of the city and my parents very graciously gave us a place to stay while we searched for a rental. My uncle offered my husband work in the meantime, and it was enough for our rental application to get approved, meaning we were at least stuck in Oklahoma for the next 12 months. I really wanted to make the best out of the situation and my husband had always told me that his dream was to have his own company. He didn’t know for what, but he knew he wanted to be his own boss. I was still a full-time student working three part-time jobs, yet something told me that was the moment for us to start our company. In August of 2020, we opened Allan’s Remodeling Services LLC as my husband had years of experience working in the remodeling industry. There was only one small limitation, being that my husband had all the skills and knowledge with very limited English proficiency (at the time) and I had all the English skills but absolutely no knowledge about the industry. To many, it may seem like that would be the end of it, but we saw it as the perfect combination as long as we worked together as a team. Thankfully, we never looked back. People around us were very critical because of our age (my husband and I were in our early 20s) and painters were very easy to find. That doubt is what led us to search for our specialization, apartment properties. We have been blessed these past few years with mentors who have taken us under their wings and specifically shown me how to navigate the industry as a young woman. I hope to be able to do the same. Read more>>
Benjamin Mehr
Life is a risk. Every action we take is a risk, and the only way to avoid taking a risk is by essentially doing nothing. To me, doing nothing isn’t life, it’s death. Read more>>
Claire Weaver
I’ve always been a fan of horror movies, ghost stories and all things spooky. For a long time, I wanted to try my hand at paranormal investigating – going into haunted places at midnight, headlong into danger, to seek out the things that go bump in the night. Call me weird, but that kind of adventure is 100% my cup of tea! Read more>>
Luna Rey Hall
one of the biggest risks that i’ve taken would be trusting in the format of my book “the patient routine”— it is a novella-in-verse and features very strange, odd structural choices. i don’t think it would have received nearly the positive response if i watered down the idea to fit the standard prose template. Read more>>
Joey Jamesley
When you’re younger, you’re told there’s an “order” to things. That you graduate high school, go to college, get a job, then work that job FOR-E-VER. My journey had me do things a little differently. I did go to Cosmetology school after high school, but the risk I’m talking about came when I was about to be 40. I became a stay at home mom in 2018, but then 2020 and divorce happened and I had to go back to work. It’s a weird misconception that at 40 you’re “too old” to go back to college. But, that’s exactly what I did! I enrolled at SWIHA (Southwest Institute of Healing Arts) and began an entirely new career path. I opened my hypnotherapy and coaching business in 2022, with no clients, no marketing strategy, and being brand new to the space of holistic healing. It was super scary at first, (shoot still is sometimes!) but it’s one of those things where you just have to keep pushing every day! Success comes to those who are persistent! So I’m just taking it one day at a time, and keeping the mindset of Positive Mind, Positive Life! Read more>>
Bryan Holyfield
I was an athlete growing up and in college but I had never lifted weights. After suffering a very painful low back injury as a 28 year old dad, teacher and soccer coach, I realized I need to confront my fears of weight lifting. I had always been thin and felt self-conscious about working out in a gym. That injury was my wake up call to not put my health, mobility and strength on the back-burner any longer. I had put it off when my first son was born, during my master’s degree and into my early career. Stepping into the gym and recognizing I was starting a journey that was about bettering myself and not about comparison with other made all the difference for me. And it unlocked the opportunity to take the next huge risk in my life: leaving teaching to start a coaching business. Read more>>
Lauren Tuma
Becoming a full time artist was a day dream I never even considered nor taken seriously. Without fail when people found out I was an artist and saw my work, the first thing they would tell me is “What are you doing working there? You have a real God given gift! That job will only waste your time, you don’t belong there.” I always let the compliments roll off my back and continued along the easy path; having a nice home, having good comfy jobs and a stream of guaranteed income. The thing that really turned my view around and made me truly consider doing what I love for a living, was my daughter. After she was born I had a choice to make, try to climb the corporate ladder or follow my dream and work just as hard if not harder for myself. I dabbled in climbing the corporate ladder and I decided it wasn’t for me, I didn’t want to be a high up henchman for some company that saw me as replaceable, I wanted to do something amazing for my family, for myself and especially for my daughter. Before deciding to take this risk of following my dream my husband and I owned our own home, had comfy income and we both worked long hours. Deciding to follow my dream meant selling our home, moving in with family, my husband being the sole provider and me becoming a “stay at home mom” while being a full time artist. We left our comfy lives to follow this crazy idea that I could make money as a fine artist. My husband had no objection and continues to encourage me when I feel like I am not enough! I told him the idea and he said “Let’s do it!” Things are hard right now, and there are unexpected obstacles and unfulfilled promises that have come up, but I would rather live life knowing I tried and failed than never trying at all. Read more>>
Keith Reynolds
The biggest risk I’ve taken in my life (that I can recall anyway) has been moving from Virginia to Utah to pursue a career playing music. I’m a drummer and it’s been my dream to play professionally since I was about 14. I made the move in January 2018 to play in a band. I won’t spend a lot of time on that, but suffice it to say that I gained a lot of experience and made some great memories. Unfortunately, in December of 2021, that band broke up. Read more>>
Annette Figueroa
I spent 11 years working as a dental hygienist. It was a stable and respectable profession, but deep down, I always had a burning desire to pursue acting. However, I was held back by fear. Nobody in my family had ever taken that path before, and it felt like a risky venture. Read more>>
Nataline R Cruz
I am all about risk taking!! When I was 23 years old, I signed a good faith contract to buy a house — with zero money — well, with a rubber check and a prayer!! I had 2 days to make sure the check didn’t bounce but I knew the house was supposed to be mine. It was and I have always taken risks because my faith was my security. I take risks because I know I walk with the hand of God on all I do. Read more>>
Rebekah Kamauu
In December 2015, I discovered a newfound hobby and decorated my very first sugar cookie. It was a penguin, and I was completely smitten, not only with the adorable cookie I created but with the entire cookie decorating process—from the stirring, baking, creating, mixing colors, and the end result. It was a labor of love, but it was mine. At that time, I was a Project Manager for a Clinical Research Organization, as well as a mom of two under the age of 5. Within a month, my hobby quickly grew into a little business. I was taking custom cookie orders, as well as doing bulk holiday cookie sales. Between mommy-hood, my job, cookie sales, and the business of life, I was feeling overwhelmed trying to keep up with it all. I had an amazing job with an incredible company, yet, my cookies hobby was quickly turning into a passion of mine. The defining moment for me was when I shipped cookies to a store in NYC for them to pass out at their open house. I worked in a commercial kitchen and spent so much time and love on this particular order. My family and I flew to NYC to attend the open house, and the scene was a vibe. There was music blasting, a food truck on the corner, and people everywhere. As I took in the scene, my daughter looked up at me and said, “Mom, everyone is holding your cookies!” I looked closer, and she was right; everyone in the store had a cookie in their hands that she had seen me work so hard to create. I smiled down at her and said, “Love, you truly can be whatever you want to be in this life.” And it was at that moment I knew that this was more than a passion; this is what I wanted to do. I took the risk. I resigned from my position at the CRO and became a true stay-at-home mom, focused on building my small home bakery. I never looked back. Read more>>
Carla Macapinlac
I think of risk as a muscle that has the capacity to support your overall wellbeing when exercised in healthy ways. The more you exercise your risk muscle through thoughtful, calculated risks, the easier it becomes to approach risk opportunities with less trepidation. And sometimes, the risks you take end up having such a profound impact that they mark a defining moment in your life. Read more>>
Elizabeth Blake-Thomas
I’m staring at my daughter’s wall with a huge world map stuck on it. It is covered with markers showing my planned world adventures. In 6 months time I will be on my way around the world, visiting all of these places that I marked. You might think this isn’t really a big deal, maybe you did this when you were younger, maybe you’re waiting to do this once you retire. However for me, I’m taking this moment now. I’m jumping in with both feet. Read more>>
Ariana Pellegra
Growing up, my mother threw the best parties while my father was a natural hosting. So it came as no surprise when I started entertaining the idea of owning my own events venue. It wasn’t until my father passed away from Covid that I decided it was time to take a leap of faith. Before the pandemic, my father and I would plot about what type of space I wanted and how he would do the behind the scenes work while I handled all things front of house. At this time, I had spent almost a decade either curating public events for venues or jump starting an array of entertainment venues as a side passion all while working as a professional contemporary ballet dancer and teacher. Growing up, military prepared me best for juggling, so a full plate never scared me from dabbling in a large spectrum of interests. I realized that because of my current commitments I had zero room, time, nor energy to start anything outside of them to explore anything new. After everything begun shutting down, having my daughter and then loosing my father so quickly at the height of the pandemic, my life; like many others, had shifted drastically. I was rattled to the core in isolation and Covid ptsd with access to only a very small bubble. While the world was swirling with new ways to “do life”, I too knew I could never go back to the lifestyle I was participating in. I could imagine what I wanted for myself and family but I couldn’t see how it was possible when society proved otherwise. I wanted to be home to eat dinner with my family, do bedtime routines, and witness the milestones firsthand… A family and a career – I wanted the best of both worlds! After much prayer and divine conversations, I decided why not? And why not now? The world was shifting. Now is the time to color outside the lines, sink or swim, carve out a place that was uniquely mine. By this point, life seemed to have handed me the worst possible luck – alone and grieving not only my father but the life I had worked hard to build and genuinely loved. But like many, too much had changed without even a warning and it was time to acknowledge it for myself. So I begun casually looking for a space that inspired and excited me. I needed a space that would wake me out of the fog mentally and physically, (because by now our daughter was a little older than a year and hello.. new mom, barely out of sleep depravation and into an isolated, completely not normal routine was not how I envisioned motherhood.) As soon as I took the first step, doors begun to open, opportunities started falling into my lap, and my cup was starting to fill again. Fast forward to a year and a half into opening our family ran event space, Lumi is flourishing! We host an array of artists, both private and public social and corporate events, weddings, and receptions. Although I miss teaching young artists in the community terribly and I’ve drastically reduced my performance schedule at the moment. I know that I am exactly where I’m suppose to be at this exact moment in time – I’m a big advocate of following your heart. And after a scary two years, I’m excited to live again and am seeing that others are as well! There is so much to celebrate these days. I’m eager to continue making art more accessible to the Birmingham community, to provide space to artists of all mediums to create, and to share this beautiful space with the magic city to celebrate life’s milestones. Read more>>
ALEXANDER SINIAK
I was born and raised in Belarus, and I have been fencing since I was a 13 years old. I was a professional fencer, and Icompeted in national and international competitions. After his career as a fencer ended, I decided to pursue my goal of becoming a fencing coach. I knew that he would need to move to a country with a strong fencing tradition if I wanted to make that goal a reality. Read more>>
Alison Green
I have an adventurous spirit and have not been afraid to take risks and make changes in my life. After a twenty-year career I left my job as an art teacher in New Mexico, sold my house, and moved to Springdale, Utah, to pursue my art and live in beauty by Zion National Park. I loved being a teacher but felt compelled to make a big life shift. Read more>>
Carson Maki
The biggest risk I’ve taken so far in my life was to quit my job as a successful Engineer in order to pursue music full-time. There were a few knock-on risks that also came out of this major decision, but I’ll focus primarily on why I left my secure and high-paying job for an insecure career and an uncertain future. Read more>>
Jazmine Ricks
When witnessing some of my triumphs and successes, a lot of that materialized as a result of embracing risks. “Do the thing that scares you” would serve as my inspirational testament to the value of what it’s like embarking on some of those risky endeavors. There’s also balance when celebrating those achievements that I reflect on the lessons learned throughout my creative journey. It’s been an ongoing process of growing, learning and really trusting my intuition on if it’s worth seizing an opportunity that doesn’t really speak to who I truly am. Read more>>
Lisa Crawley
One of the biggest risks I’ve taken was moving to Los Angeles in January 2020. I’m originally from Auckland, New Zealand and have previously based myself in London and Australia. Read more>>
Alex McKinney
When I first started in real estate, I worked full time at a local hospital coordinating transfers of patients through the entire southeastern region of North Carolina. I had just “retired” a 12 year career in EMS just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. I realized I wanted to do more, I wanted to make more of myself. So one day I put in my notice and left my full-time job, healthcare, good salary, to start a new career in real estate. After I left I immediately had regrets, However I put my back against the wall and kept telling myself do the work and the work will take care of you. In my first year I sold over 1.3 million in volume. Doubling down taking no profit I re-invested everything in to my business and 2 years later we just closed over 10 million in sales volume. Read more>>
Tina English & Missy Caron
Starting 3West was one of the biggest and most rewarding risks we’ve taken. The Portage market was busy and finding enough stylists and clients was going to be tough, but there was no other place we wanted to be. Over the last four plus years we have been able to find amazing stylists and they have helped us grow a fantastic client base that has allowed 3West to find it’s own niche and flourish. Read more>>
Leslie Strange
Beginning a new venture of any kind always starts with risk. How will I get the word out about what’s happening? Will anyone be interested in joining? How will I recruit the right people to come alongside me? But, when you feel the Lord leading you in a direction, the outcome is really his from the start, so it takes the pressure off in many ways. When I first learned about the Embrace Grace organization based out of Texas I was intrigued. The Lord had already safely brought me through my own rocky journey with faith in my adolescence and young adult days, so he had given me a passion for working with young women many years prior. I spent several years as a Life Group leader to high school juniors and seniors telling them the truth that, as hard as they may run, Jesus is and will always be where the real joy lies. However, we are all human and our temptations get the better of us and when you work with young people it doesn’t take long before someone calls you frantically because they think they might be pregnant. In that particular case, she wasn’t, but my eyes began to open to the world of young, single women who feel completely isolated and alone not having the same outcome as this young lady. One year as a group, we volunteered to be childcare workers for a local organization that ministers to young single mothers so that they could enjoy their meal and group time together. Another year, our group volunteered at a local homeless shelter in downtown Nashville. Looking for ways to impact the community in the name of Jesus had become very important so when I felt the Lord leading me to begin a chapter of Embrace Grace at Judson, it felt like a risk in some ways, but I think he had been preparing me for greater service all along. Read more>>
Mary Picarazzi
I have always wanted to be on stage. I did theatre in college and felt very free doing it. Of course, when life hits and bills hit you have to get that “real job” and your passions fall by the wayside. It took a horrible moment for me to wake up. In 2019, I lost a good friend, Justin Paiz, and everything changed. He was young and full of life. He had just gotten married and had his whole life ahead of him. I remember sitting at the celebration of life service and realized that I haven’t been living. We are not promised tomorrow. A week later, I sat my husband down and said, ” I want to be a comedian.” He nodded and said, ” Ok, but if you do this you better not half -ass it..give it all you got.” I haven’t looked back yet. It is a risk to put yourself out there day after day. As an artist, this is something that I can’t help but do. Read more>>
Kayden Fitzgerald
That’s a tough one because I wouldn’t describe myself as risk-averse by any means. I graduated high school at 17. I had already declared my major at the college I was going to attend the following year prior to graduating, and I’d say the first risk I took in the direction my life was heading was shifting my trajectory and enlisting in the military a few months before graduation. And honestly, each decision I’ve made in my journey was a risk. I changed my mind about college, enlisted, stepped away from, and rejoined the field I got a degree in a handful of times, I came out as a trans man about 7 years ago and try to live my life as authentically as I can, I’ve explored a variety of jobs and industries, and I have been pursuing working for myself full-time with a long-term goal to work with folks in my community and provide access to woodworking to communities who are typically outliers in the trades. Each risk came with a reward in some sense, whether it be affirmation that I’m on the right path, or confirmation that a shift was something I needed to make. And all of those risks got me to where I am at now, and I’m grateful for that. Read more>>
Brandy Bradley
Before starting B. Blooming Floral Design Studio I was working as a General Manager in retail. My career in retail was 15 years! I knew that I could not grow my business to the levels I wanted working in retail and I had to decide to make a career change. Read more>>
Sydney Poll
The biggest risk I have taken was fully trusting myself and officially starting SYDPLAYEAT. It was always a dream of mine to work in the food industry and eventually in something that related to nutrition and health. I worked in the restaurant industry for about four years as an event planner for the largest restaurant group in Chicago. During that time, my father was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer. I wanted to know more about how you get cancer like that and how can you prevent it before it happens. I started listening to podcasts and reading food-related articles constantly and eventually enrolled in nutrition school while working at my job. Simultaneously, I was cooking a ton at home and sharing my amature recipes on my Instagram with friends and family, always coming up with new creations and telling everybody about all I was learning in school. Everything from healthy ingredients to look out for and which ones to avoid. I had dabbled in making a chili crunch but swapped out all of the inflammatory oils and used organic olive oil instead. I added truffle salt and it was so delicious I decided to start selling it on Etsy. Read more>>
YawnyBlew
My entire career has been a series of risk taking. I started as a 16 years old frequenting some of the most legendary studios in New York, eventually dropping out of college to pursue music at 20. I quit a job at 24 when I realized I was getting sidetracked, and moved to Los Angeles at 25 to go full force with my career. These days, I am taking even bigger risks. I have been betting on myself as an artist and thought leader and working to develop my brand in a way that gives me autonomy over my art and output. It has been hard especially since I invested the last 5 years solely on songwriting. Unfortunately, the songwriting game is tough and a lot of times I was taking risks just showing up and having no idea if i’d get paid or even place the song. Betting on myself has been equally difficult but more rewarding. Read more>>
Mitch Glickman
Becoming a professional musician is a major risk. Becoming a professional artist of any kind (film maker, dancer, visual artist, actor, chef) is a major risk. It takes 49% talent, 50% uncompromising work ethic, 62% belief in yourself, and 71% blind faith that even when things are looking grim, it will get better. (Alright, so math was never my strong suit.) Read more>>
JENNIFER GLASS
What would you do if you weren’t afraid. What would you do if you couldn’t fail? Look at it like this. What would really happen? So what…. Close your eyes and do it. So I’m always trying to push my own limits. The risk is just buckling down and getting to work! Stop sitting around waiting for some magical inspiration. You have to jump in the deep water and take the risk. You can’t sit around and wait until you feel inspired; nothing gets done sitting on the bench waiting and hoping and wishing. You have to get up and just start doing the uncomfortable work. Start doing something-anything. Once you begin, something happens and then something else happens. Usually it’s not the direction you intended, it probably sucks in the beginning but it has to for you to grow – but that’s when I just go for it and I get into ‘the flow’ and I allow the process because all the best ideas come from the process and the work itself. That’s always when the magic happens. Always. Read more>>
Tony Cross
When I had the idea to start Reverie, my idea was to batch and carbonate cocktails into 6 oz glass bottles. I would deliver them in six packs locally. I was obsessed with getting my idea off of the ground, telling everyone who would listen about my future venture. Problem was, I had no idea how I was going to carbonate cocktails without the juice separating and being shelf-stable. It wasn’t until right when all of my permitting became approved that I figured it out. Soon after I started delivering our cocktails, I found out through state officials that my bottle size was “too small” to legally deliver. As silly as it sounds, I had to cease operations immediately. Luckily, I was able to pivot the following month: while pouring drinks our of a keg at a local fundraiser, it dawned on me that I could deliver full kegs of our mix to bars and restaurants (adding the liquor upon delivery) to pour on draught like a beer. Read more>>
Natasha Gaspard
I guess leaving your job during the pandemic without a job in place or a plan to get one could be seen as taking a risk. For me it felt necessary and it seemed like a logical thing to do. I was working as a producer on local television news program and although I learned a lot and met some really amazing folks, I was miserable going into work everyday. I took the job because I believed that I needed to work a job in order to earn money and I was sort of in a desperate situation with not being able to pay my rent. I really didn’t want the job but I felt like I needed it which naturally had me feeling trapped and stuck. Read more>>
Pam Moxley
When I found myself in my late 30s wanting to make a career change and knowing that it was going to be artistic, I was every bit as nervous as I might have been in my early 20s. I knew that art was my passion. I was a wife and the mother of four children and had been working in the corporate world since I graduated from college. There were so many changes ahead and of course, this was scary. Read more>>
Nick Crossen
I took the risk of starting this business amidst absolute chaos. The story can be a long one, so I’ll do my best to abbreviate: Read more>>
Erin James
Growing up, I never thought I’d go to an art school. In fact, when it came time for me to choose which college I’d go to, five out of the six options that I had on my list were in-state and only offered graphic design in terms of creative fields. I had a very narrow expectation of what I expected to be in life, and I’m so thankful that that future was completely derailed. Read more>>
Khalia Aesthetics
As a young mother living in a city where I was not born and raised I take on a lot of risk. One of the most defining risk I have taken was the risk of attending Esthetician school as a mother. The time devoted for Esthetician school seemed impossible for me to accomplish with me having to still take care of my child and work full time because I still had bills to pay. The amount of support I received at the time was everything I needed to successfully get through Esthetician school. My sons grandmother Sydney and Ron supported me through this time and I am so thankful for them. During that time period it was very difficult and challenging. It’s one of those things I don’t even like to think about because it’s the past and when you are moving forward you don’t look back. My drive comes from loving skin but it also comes from all the challenges I faced while in Esthetician school. To see myself get through that time period of working my full time job from 8am to 5pm and rushing to make it to school by 5:30pm, not leaving school until 9:45pm and then I still made it home in time to tuck my son in at bed at night. There’s no way I can let myself down on my Esthetician journey from the risk that I took. I’m my own inspiration, it’s no way I can let myself or my clients down. Read more>>
Edie Beaucage
I took a high risk for my last solo paintings exhibition, “All Over The Time,” at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles last April. I filled a vast art gallery with nine oversized (nine-foot tall) shoulder portraits of invented characters and five large abstract floor sculptures. Interwoven in the exhibition was a personal story set to correct a long-standing painful memory into a reinvented positive one. Therefore it was a very personal story shared with extreme boldness. In the arts, risk-taking is the best and most rewarded action artists can do. The art world delights in spirited and resounding artwork. A show must balance the depth of the exhibition’s purpose and how it is presented. I had done a model of the display, and I knew it was going to work. I could imagine how the pieces would play off each other and how the sculptural works would move as a person walked around the show. I also felt each painting’s strength on its own, with the different brush strokes, watercolor details, and the character’s kindness and iconic stature. So my show, which, in fact, is a statement or a proposal to the public, was set positively in my mind with spirit and depth of meaning. They won’t tell you this in art school, but the test in the art market is getting great press and sales; it is a must if you wish to have an ongoing career. The stress test I do to know if I am doing the right thing is: I ask myself this question: if I saw this show, would I think it is incredible and the best show I have ever seen? Yes! My exhibition worked out remarkably well: ArtForum Must See, Artillery Publisher’s Eye, LA Weekly Artist Monday, Gallery Now International Banner and Must See, London Art Cube’s top 10 emerging artists April 2023, and Carla’s Instagram pick plus sales and a brilliant cameo of the whole exhibition in the television series “Good Trouble” (Freeform), where my paintings are sparkling off the walls of the scene where the main protagonist, who is trying to become an artist, meets a gallerist in a downtown LA art gallery. Read more>>