By far, the topic that comes up most in our conversations with entrepreneurs and creatives is risk. We’ve had conversations about risks that worked out and risks that did not. We’ve seen eyes light eye sharing about career-trajectory changing risks as well as folks sigh about the risks they wish they had taken. Below, we’ve selected and shared some of those thoughtful conversations.

Johnny Muñoz | Artist also known

Risk taking for me has always been a game of opportunity and failure, The amount of risk one takes is based on your willingness to open yourself up to an opportunity where you may fail but that failure is worth more than the feeling of regret of restraining reward and passion or the potential of. As an older brother and as THE oldest grandchild on both side’s of my family, most of my life has been about taking risks, per se, and becoming the example of the consequences of those risks, success or fail, whether intentional or not. I got accustomed to failure but my support system was amazing and a great source of comfort in those failures to stave off the resentment of life. Read more>>

Nesita Myles | Cake Decorator

I am a very big risk taker. I don’t believe you’ll ever truly reach your full potential until you have taken risks that get you out of your comfort zone. Although, I absolutely think of the probability of my success with whatever risk I am taking more often than not I am willing to take risks in order to achieve my goals. Taking risks has been a necessity this past year alone. With the uncertainty of the economy and Covid-19 everything has been very up and down. I have since quit my job to focus solely on my passion and what I have been called to do which has been the ultimate risk of all for me. Read more>>

Brianna Ikner | Teacher & Handmade goods business owner

When I think about taking risks I immediately get anxiety. Change is scary for everyone ! Every risk I have taken has benefited tremendously. For starters, in 2017 my life was in shambles, in my opinion. My mother had been begging me to move from Houston to Arlington to be closer to her but I was stuck in my comfort zone. Too scared to take a risk, well hurricane Harvey hit in October and I took that as my sign to take a risk and move. Which is exactly what I did, since moving I’ve been so blessed. Another risk taking situation was when I decided to start my business, Butterfly Muse. Read more>>

Alioune F. Ndiaye | Real Estate Developer, Investor and construction company owner

There goes a common saying in life “no risk, no reward”. I am a believer in this saying as I believe if you don’t take a chances in life, there may be no big rewards to be discovered. I am at this position in my life at the moment due to me coming up with an action plan as to where I want to be in my future and how I was going to get there. If it were not for that, I could have still been a project manager working for another company not capitalizing on my full potential. Read more>>

Ryan Adams | Team Lead and CEO of the Adams Group at Compass

My entire life, I have had to take risks. Risks in my personal life, risks in my professional life, and risks in my business life. I have never been one to shy away from a challenge, and I firmly believe that the only way to achieve success is to be willing to take risks. In my opinion, the biggest reason why people are unwilling to take risks is because they allow fear to control them. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, and fear of taking risks can all lead to a person remaining in their comfort zone and never achieving their full potential. Read more>>

Kyli Boyd | Cosmetic tattoo artist & Esthetician

For me taking a risk was really how I ended up in my career today. I have always been a part of the beauty industry since getting my esthetician license in 2016. Only part time though. My day to day job was in an office. I hated it. I thrive in a creative environment which is hard to do in a cubicle. When I decided to start doing cosmetic tattoos that’s when I just said “alright let’s see where this goes” I just kind of went for it. Read more>>