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.

Monica & Kendall

The magic happens when we allow our fears to drop and go in the direction to fulfill the soul. One of the most significant risks we took was the decision to launch our psychedelic yoga training program. Read more>>

Dalissia Grothe

My whole life, I knew I waned to be in the medical field, as least that is what I thought! I loved medicine. I loved helping people and learning how to help people by understanding how the human body works. Read more>>

Dorothy Hartley

When I was 21, some friends and I began to discuss a shared goal of living simply in community, focusing on our artwork and creating a rhythm of life inspired by the Christian monastic tradition. Read more>>

Liz Lancaster

My journey into the realm of full-time artistry was not a linear path but rather a series of calculated risks and hard-earned lessons. Read more>>

Brandie Posey

Any career in the arts is a major risk if you aren’y already independently wealthy, that’s become more & more true as the social safety net continues to evaporate each year too. Read more>>

Arielle DeSoucey

With great risks come great rewards. I fully believe in this statement and have tried to adhere to this ethos throughout my career. Read more>>

Alicia Christine Beach

When I was a young girl my family always said that I am rambunctious. This word is defined as being uncontrollably exuberant. I can attest that today I am a woman who is exuberant in how I live, express myself, and live out my purpose. Read more>>

Alison Smith

I feel most, if not all, of the greatest moments in my life came from taking a risk. I was raised to be super independent, but I am lucky enough to have a strong family that I know will always have my back, so I’m fortunate to have a wider capacity to take risks. Read more>>

Elise Gaffney

I returned to school at 31. I decided to leave my hometown to complete my Fine Arts degree, something I always wanted to do, but never completed when I had whatever excuse I had at home, I enrolled at East Tennessee State University for Fall semester 2021, and I graduated May 4, 2024. Read more>>

Marion Simms

When I was finishing my aesthetics training in the UK, one of the other students who came from Johannesburg in South Africa wanted an aesthetician from the school to go and work with her there in her salon. Read more>>

Krists Saržants

I think, being in a creative field is a risk itself: the continuous search for stability in a neverending journey. Committing oneself to a career in a creative field is to surrender oneself to uncertainty. To the constant search for acceptance. Read more>>

Nicole Piemonte

It wasn’t until my mid-30s that I realized that none of my choices in life felt like they were my own. From the outside, it probably looked as though I had everything together. Read more>>

Kami Gonzalez

It all started 2017 EDC Orlando, where I became curious about the electronic music scene and it was my very first festival. I had never seen female DJ’s perform in my life and it became so fascinating to me as time passed by. Read more>>

Jessi O’Donnell

Taking risks has seemed to be a theme for me over the last few years and it continues to change my life for the better. Four years ago I was a bartender/server at Bluewater Grill in Newport Beach. Read more>>

Adrienne Maye

A significant risk I took was starting my own business. I have always wanted to experience running a business and helping others. Though uncertain about the specifics or how to start on the road to entrepreneurship, I believe in taking risks, especially on myself. Read more>>

Ryan Brant

One of the biggest risks I ever took was ditching my steady but soul-sucking job in retail and the food industry to chase my dream of being a designer. Read more>>

Jessica Van Roekel

Rejection had a hold on my life. I expected it, anticipated it, and experienced it repeatedly. I thought I needed to overcome it or eliminate it from my life so I tried being perfect which didn’t work because I couldn’t be perfect for everybody. Read more>>

Ria Patel

This biggest risk I have taken is being an actor. You’ve heard all the horror stories of the unpredictability, low paid jobs, sitting around and waiting to book, all the rejections and maybe working a side job you hate. Read more>>

Jessica Lawson

I’m a self-taught person and I haven’t had to rely on any sort of outside funding. I bootstrapped my business from the very beginning. Read more>>

Jeffrey Olson

I received my MFA in 1992, and immediately secured a teaching position at a small private art college. I was exhibiting my work locally, and along with teaching, I was on the accepted path of becoming an “serious artist”, the path that had been laid out for me, and many others, who enrolled in 4-year and graduate art programs. Read more>>

Maria Schaedler-Luera

Five years ago, I took a life-changing risk by leaving my secure full-time job as an arts administrator at a school district to start my own consultancy, Atomica Arts. Read more>>

Brenda Taulbee

Leaving my MFA Creative Writing program in May of 2019, I had no intention of starting a marketing career. Though I’d been recruited by a digital marketing agency after graduation, I truly thought it would be a stopover on my way to joining the ranks of academia. Read more>>

Ramon Fernandez

My father was a big player in 80s Wall St. I was groomed to take his place and push on with his dreams and accomplishments (Man of the Year, 1985, etc…) I got a degree in Business Administration, but minored in Theater. Read more>>

Laurelin Gilmore

There have been a couple of pivotal moments in my artistic and professional life that proved to me the adage, ‘everything you want is on the other side of fear,” is absolutely true. Read more>>

Emma Xu

At 17, I embarked on a journey as a K-pop girl group trainee, driven by a profound passion for being an artist, despite not fully understanding what “K-pop” entailed. Read more>>

Deion Galindo

The entertainment industry is all about taking risks. Prior to my relocation to Orlando, I resided in Houston, where I consistently performed in musicals. Read more>>

Christine Soussa

There are so many stories I can share on taking risks or leaps of faith, here is how I synthesize risk. Oftentimes, it’s viewed as two extremes: risk vs. reward. Read more>>

Maura Dunst

I recently took a big risk and quit my day job in order to be home with my baby. I didn’t want working in an office to interfere with my breastfeeding journey, so…I quit! Read more>>

Lewis Burch

I remember it like it was yesterday; it was December 10, 2022. I was at a standstill in my career, contemplating whether I should I go to Atlanta and invest in these classes to further my career. Read more>>

Andrew Childress Jr

To be honest, taking a risk for me was launching the podcast because you’re putting your idea out to the world, not necessarily in hopes of reception, but hoping that the message is clear. Read more>>

Sara Schroeder

My whole career as a practicing artist has been built on taking risks. From the minute I decided to start dedicating the hours my kids were in school to art, sharing my work on Instagram, selling my first piece of art, opening an Etsy shop and then establishing my own website, and switching gears a bit to teaching and coaching… these were all risks. Read more>>

Lindsey Loon

I’ve grown comfortable with the uncomfortable. I was born on the East Coast, but spent about ten years living in Australia, NZ and Japan— with a dash of Texas. My dad yelled “damnit Lindsey, pick a place, it looks like you’re running from the law!” Read more>>

Alek Minkis

Jumping from a stable job working for a GC in construction to natural surface trail building is one of the biggest risks I have take financially and socially. Read more>>

Jackelina Bonds

Taking risks have always been something I never shy away from. Taking risks is what creates lifetime memories regardless if it’s positive or negative, it’s something that never dies. It’s rewarding. Read more>>

Kalonda Cloyd

All my life, I have been very shy. Around the age of seven, I remember my grandmother asking my mother, “Does she talk?” while I sat there silently. Read more>>

Sheryl Espinal

“Be a dreamer and doer!” The first set of advice my mother Stephanie Wilson gave me in the early stages of my business. In the early stages of my business, I was afraid, insecure, and most of all scared to take risk. Read more>>