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.

Dawn Simmons

I’ve always wanted to be a “Superstar” growing up and somewhere, somehow it was going to happen. Had no clue on what, where or when but I was going to entertain people. Read more>>

Marko Jankovic

Immigrated to the USA at age 17, alone. Growing up as a Serbian in Switzerland was hard. Lots or racism towards me because of the war going on in Yugoslavia at the time. Kids always made fun of me and bullied me. Read more>>

Mark Hensley

I’ve taken several risks om my career path. I’m an American who grew up in the Netherlands. I always wanted to do something in entertainment, and started playing in bands in my teens, and started getting into recording our demos myself. Read more>>

Veronica Olga Hernandez

I believe that authenticity and brutal honesty is considered a risk. Sharing your truth is a risk because it is never scripted or planned . The real reason that I operate this was is because I have always felt like I didn’t belong. Read more>>

Big Mike Hart

I am from Sacramento, Ca a city full of talented and amazingly gifted people. My foundational journey in music is built on the stage and studios of Sacramento’s music scene, but I realized I was becoming a big fish in a small pond. Read more>>

Lamar Moore

Well being a chef is very risky About 20 years ago I left Chicago bought an Amtrak ticket and moved to to California with just a bag of clothes . The rest is history I tell People Chicago made me Cali raised me Read more>>

Bethany Brandys

I started photography when I was 18 years old. I found an old DSLR camera at a pawn shop for $25 and bought it. At first, I just did photography as a hobby and picked up the camera here and there. Read more>>

Ainhoa Benimeli

My life has been marked by taking significant risks on several occasions. One of the most significant was moving to a completely unknown country for the third time, where the language was new to me, and I had no family to receive or support me. It was like jumping into the void. Read more>>

Cynthia Reeves

Imagine sailing on a ship ten degrees south of the North Pole, the temperature well below freezing, the wind often whipping to gale force. Read more>>

Joe Rodger

I think one of the biggest, most prominent risks I’ve taken is opening the business I’m currently operating. I’ve been in restaurants, primarily kitchens most of my life. I’ve helped open numerous establishments in that time.  Read more>>

Brook Ray

When I was ready to start my travel business, I knew I wanted to offer a few special hosted trips each year, especially in Italy and Croatia. Read more>>

Tina Gada

Life often presents us with choices that define our future, testing our courage and resolve. One such turning point in my life was my decision to pursue a Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at SUNY Oswego University in the United States. Read more>>

Prosenjit Bagchi

Have you ever found yourself standing at the crossroads of life, unsure of which path to take? As I approached the end of high school, I was just like many others—lost and bewildered, grappling with the monumental question of what to do with my future. Read more>>

Ashley Freedman

Starting WomanAF, a pelvic floor physical therapy practice, feels like the biggest risk I’ve ever taken. I grew up conditioned to take a job for the benefits and financial security. Read more>>

Joyce Harduvel

After five years as a school social worker, I decided to leave the field and go full-time with entrepreneurship. I am not a risk taker at all and so this was incredibly scary for me! Read more>>

K-Quick

The music industry has changed drastically. It used to be that if you had the talent, a major label would sign you, take the risk and invest in you and your talent. Read more>>

Porsche Seals

Risk taking varies as we grow and learn. When I was a child, my parents were always searching for ways to offer my brother and I the best education they could offer and afford. Read more>>

Owen & Jennifer Johnston

In September 2021 Dr. Owen Johnston found himself without a job after being terminated by Kaiser Permanente in response to their mandates when his religious exemption was denied. Read more>>

Dr. Venessa Perry

10 years ago, I blew up my life. My long-term relationship ended after three years; my beloved Nana and estranged father died within a year of each other. Read more>>

Halle Ann Fernandez

Growing up on the East Coast going from the city to Ridgewood, NJ, a town that I always referred to as a “little dollhouse bubble”, I thought I knew who I was and at least had some idea about what I wanted to do. Read more>>

Janay Tyson

One of the biggest life changing moments I experienced was moving to NYC right after graduating college with little money, no immediate family or resources and a post-grad internship to jumpstart my career. Read more>>

Megan Meyerhoffer

It all began at a time in my life when I felt a profound calling to grow my therapy practice and build on what I had created over the last nine years in solo private practice. Everything seemed to be aligning perfectly: Read more>>

Jennifer Cooney

From the time I was born, I was indoctrinated in the beer business. My grandfather, a true force of nature, started a small drive-thru bottle shop in the ’70s—somewhere you could fill a case with “a bottle of this and a bottle of that.” Read more>>

Debra Driscoll

Hindsight is a powerful thing. I can see now through the lens of the past 5 years of my entrepreneurial journey that I have, more than once, fooled myself into believing that safety was in the structures built by others, not in my internal guidance system. Read more>>

Angela Marchant

I am the sole breadwinner of my family. My wife, an RN, left her hospital job in late 2020. Two healthcare workers alternating shifts to care for our toddler was difficult, to say the least. Read more>>

Jonny Hoffner

Since 2008, I have made a living as a photographer and starting in 2022, as a co-founder of the golf brand: Good Lion Golf. Any creative endeavor involves an incredible amount of vulnerability: Read more>>

Barbara Riethe

To choose my art was the biggest risk I took. I made this choice early in life. I began acting in professional theater when I was 16 yeas old and I began writing even before that. Read more>>

Mariana Marzolla

I grew up in an Italian immigrant family. My parents migrated from Italy in the 1940s and 1960s to Venezuela, looking for a better place to live. Read more>>

John Mossman

Risks. I’ve taken so many, I really need to apologize to everyone who ever cared about my well being, or that of my kids. Always something of an adrenaline junkie, emotional and psychological risk-taking became integral as I immersed myself in the arts, learning, not incorrectly, that there is no art without risk. Read more>>

Lori Hansen

Back in 2020 I had been working for a remote digital marketing company since 2013 in the personal development field. Although there were things I loved about it, I did not enjoy working from home and the lack of human interaction and work balance. Read more>>

Feral Yogi

I never liked going to the zoo. Even as a child I couldn’t bear the sight of animals held against their will, slowly drifting into the abyss of insanity. Read more>>

Loretta Caldwell-Thompson

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.” This quote from John Maxwell captures the essence of a pivotal risk in my career. It’s not just a story of a gamble but a transformative journey that reshaped my professional and personal growth. Read more>>

Kathleen Ashford

TAKING A RISK PART ONE: THE BACKSTORY Once upon a time in a land far away, I was a professional Mean Lady…more commonly known as a Dominatrix. Read more>>

Sweet Vicious

As the singer of Sweet Vicious, I took a huge risk when I joined the band, which ended up changing my life in the best way. My college band went through a nasty breakup, and I was looking for something new. Read more>>

Nancy Muralles

Since I was a little girl I knew I wanted to own my own business, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do I just knew I didn’t want to work for someone else. Read more>>

Alayna Carroll

Before I moved to Nashville, I had only visited the city twice. I really didn’t know anyone in the music business at all. I had no idea where to go to perform, who to talk to, who to write with, or who to go to for help. Read more>>

Jazz Sunpanich

When I was growing up in Thailand, I knew I only wanted to be on the stage, but my generation didn’t have any resources to get there. Read more>>

Lyn Barrett

After 20 years of decompensation and recovery from dissociative identity disorder (DID), and 20 years of living as an integrated happy person, I decided to write and publish my memoir called Crazy: Read more>>

Nico Oria

The best things in life, I’ve found, come from taking great risks. Leaping when you’re unsure where you’ll land. My entire adult life has been a string of risks that have landed me to where I am today. Read more>>

Tiana Valenzuela

Embracing the Unknown: My Journey to Los Angeles for a Styling Career! Taking a risk is never easy, especially when it involves uprooting your life and moving to a city as dynamic and competitive as Los Angeles. Read more>>

Candi Milo

I have always believed that “no stranger is going to buy you a birthday present”. The idea behind that is that you have to step into a room, under your power, with that power on full display, and take what you want from any and all opportunities presented. Read more>>

Emily Edelstein

During the pandemic, I left my job as a manager of a fashion boutique. I was not happy with my life or career. I suddenly had a large amount of free time and rediscovered my love of craft and creating things with my hands. Read more>>

Yevhen Shekera

I was at the end of my audition process to the Juilliard School. I received an email from Juilliard inviting me to a final callback weekend. Read more>>