Taking Risk is essential, but how much, when and why? Taking risks effectively is as much of an art as it is a science and we’ve asked some of the brightest folks in the community to tell us about how they think about risk taking.

Sarah Guarino | Earring maker, and Photographer

Everything in life has a risk to it. If we spend our entire lives basing our decisions off of a possible downfall- we set ourselves up for failure. I’d rather try new things, go for that goal, and take that “risk”, because otherwise things will just stay the same. Without stepping your foot out onto the ice, you will never know if you can skate! So go for it. Read more>>

Amanda Starley | Charcuterie Specialist and Owner of Social Spreads

Risk taking and entrepreneurship go hand in hand but I have been a risk taker/adrenaline junkie my whole life. Before deciding to stay home to raise my family I was a commercial Pilot. Four years ago, my husband and I moved our 3 young sons to Guam and traveled all over Asia with them. Deciding to jump into a unique career path always requires a big dose of courage. When I decided to open my business, everything about it was new and exciting to me. Since making that choice, I have learned about food photography, food styling, cheese pairings, accounting, marketing, branding and the list goes on. My approach to life is to say yes to opportunities that excite me and then put in the work to make those choices successful. Read more>>

Cindee Travis Klement | Visual Artist

At 63, when I am deciding what my next project should be, I tell myself If it does not scare me to take it on, I am not pushing myself enough. It is now or never; how will I know what I can achieve if I don’t try. I embrace the butterflies. Read more>>

Victor Luna | Professional Photographer

Taking risk can be very uncomfortable, we get very accustomed to the warmth familiarity gives us, however making though decisions can change our life’s for the better or worse. When there is a possibility to improve your life, then why not take it If you fail you can learn from your mistakes. Read more>>

Shelbi Nicole | Artist + Entrepreneur

I’ve learned a lot from taking risks in my career and believe it’s absolutely necessary to, to grow my business. I am not someone who ever wants to have regret, I can’t live wondering “what if” and that alone has driven me to take risks. I want to know that when I’m in my 80’s I look back on my life knowing I tried it. Read more>>

Armando Castelan | Artist

I feel that nowadays I still take risk but these are more calculated risk. This due to the fact that I am older and with more responsibilities and I cannot just take any risk. I do take advantage of those moments when they present themselves as I know that the reward is likely to benefit me. Whether I am pitching a concept to a client or submitting to a competition I like taking risk with new ideas. Although I don’t always get rewarded, it just takes one time for me to feel that it was worth it and I do not get discouraged. Read more>>

Joy Lola. | Model

Risk, I believe is how you choose to perceive it. Life in itself is a risk, in order to grow in life you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable because each levels of life comes with its own challenge. Someone else would look at 2020 overall and say its a bad year because maybe they lost something or someone, but another individual like myself could choose to perceive it as a year of personal growth because quarantine forced us all to consider the risks of being out of a job or losing a job. Risks taking has played a major role in my life and modeling career. Through taking risks i broke free of limiting beliefs i placed on myself for a long time. Through that same risk taking i’ve been able to achieve so much in my career as a model during this pivotal time in world history. Read more>>

Jae Nichelle | Writer & Performer

Risk-taking is something I’m becoming more and more comfortable with. It’s the best way to grow, to me, and it’s been an inescapable part of getting to where I want to be. I took a big risk in 2019 when I dropped out of my graduate program for speech pathology to pursue writing and performing. Up until then, I thought I could do both. However, I came to a point where I needed to dedicate the majority of my time and attention to one of them to truly thrive in one and not just get by. Since my artistry felt and feels more urgent, I chose to pursue it wholeheartedly. It was difficult to choose to put my prospects for a (potentially) steady income on pause, but I know myself. If I didn’t take the risk, I would have always wondered “what if.” The experience has altered my risk-taking mindset. Read more>>

Crystal Bessix, MBA, ABD | Founder and President of edOpp Solutions LLC

I’m a jump head-in-first type of a person when it comes to risk-taking! I go all in and go fast when exploring new markets, acquiring new clients, or launching new services. I believe it has helped me to remain confident, remove fears or self-doubt, and be resilient. Often, people over-think decisions and situations and this can paralyze action. While I believe you should be aware of all risks involved in any decision, you should not allow the risks to limit your ability to get things done or approach a new client or expand your business. My high tolerance for risk has helped me to launch and grow a successful business, navigate during the new normal of COVID19, embrace change, adapt to unknown situations better, and build my business acumen. Read more>>

Kayla Logan | Makeup Artist & Hair Stylist

I truly believe that playing it safe is just as risky as taking chances to achieve your goal. When I made the decision to become a business owner, I knew that the fate of my success laid in my hands. Taking that risk ignited a drive within me that I didn’t know I possessed. There were quite a few obstacles along the way but I don’t regret any decisions I’ve made. In fact, I credit a large portion of my business’s success to those pivotal learning experiences. Read more>>

Brittany Lampe | Artist, Painter

Risk taking is essential. I think about something my painting professor told me in university- he said “paint what you know”, and I have found myself living by that in my practice, but this brings up something important: if I limit myself and my experiences then I have less to paint! I think about risk taking in my life as getting outside my comfort zone, via travel, or just doing something out of the norm to gain more personal experiences that will hopefully inspire me and impact my art. I would not be making the art I am if I hadn’t taken some risks, both personally and professionally. For example, when my husband and I were moved to Okinawa Japan for his military service, I had to really start over with a lot of things, and try to find my artistic voice while learning about the island, the art scene, and building relationships and connections to learn how to grow in this new environment. Read more>>

Levi Craig | Founder of Ship Channel Trading Co.

Risk is something I’m always trying to better understand. Almost every decision we make carries risk, and a lack of action or delaying a decision is also a risk. In my previous career as a commodities trader at an investment bank, risk was always defined in financial contexts. We spent a lot of time evaluating risks in our businesses and trading portfolios, but life and business carry a multitude of different risks well beyond the financial ones. Entrepreneurship is risky, However, when that risk is weighed against the amount of time we have on this earth to try new things or attempt to accomplish our goals, it feels much less so to me. We all only get one spin around this blue marble. I want to take a few risks and try and enjoy it. Read more>>

Bryan Nwami | Photographer

I’ve come to learn that having peace, balance, and rhythm internally, might require moving before or behind the pace of one’s surroundings—connected, but out of sync. Choosing yourself in these instances is a risk. You risk relationships, loosing your audience, not stepping into potentially lucrative scenarios. But you have to stay true to your work. You have to stay true to who you are—your creative energy. This doesn’t have to echo sacrifice and heaviness. I’ve learned that I can very much look like exploration and play. There came a point where I decided I was willing to risk losing at my old ideas and markers of success, if it meant freedom, authenticity, and remaining human, in my life and in my work. Read more>>

Latoya Pruitt | Singer & Songwriter

For me, risks produce all types of outcomes from good to bad, but when it comes to pursuing your life-long dreams and goals, risks are going to be what you need to take at certain times to push yourself past your comfort zones. That’s where faith kicks in. For me, taking risks have worked out good, but also not so good, but I would have never known what could or could not have been if I didn’t. Read more>>

Kasm78 | Graffiti Muralist

When it comes to taking risks, I probably don’t do it enough. I’m learning to take more risks now as I lean into wanting to do more mural work and as I want to push my art more into the public realm. In the past, I’ve found it easy to believe those insecurities that lie to me and tell me that “your work isn’t good enough” or “why paint that–no one will like it anyway.” Over the past year, I’ve made it a part of my growth process to try new things and to simply create art. I also find it easy to compare myself to people that do similar art to myself (especially in the graffiti culture) and to believe that my work doesn’t translate to the public. I’ve taken several risks this year to step out and be more creative and to work with outside of my comfort zone. Read more>>

David Sanders | Homebuilder

Well you’ve heard it over and over, the greater the risk the greater the reward. I believe that to be true 100%, when you start a business there is usually a great amount of risk involved but entrepreneurs don’t necessarily view it as risk, it usually just viewed as what’s necessary to move forward. Risk can lead to failures as well but failure is inevitable if you are truly trying to grow and see your vision through. Risk and failure should be an embraced part of the “sport”. The other side of this is that great success comes from your wins and the risk is all worth it! Read more>>

Sandra Duran Wilson | Artist, Writer and Explorer

Risk is in my blood. I say that I survived 2 older brothers. This set in play at a young age how I approached everything in life. I survived many dares from my brothers and in my desire to keep up I pushed past my fears. I was still afraid, but I did it anyway. This has been my best tool at inventing and reinventing myself over the decades. I have used the knowledge that I survived the last challenge and that I can rise to the next. When you build upon your experiences you keep climbing it is amazing the heights you can attain. When you walk away because of fear, it becomes more difficult to return to the challenge and accept it. Read more>>