Risk is the most common topic that comes up in our conversations with entrepreneurs and so each week we ask entrepreneurs to talk to us on the record about how they think about risk.

Heather Edgar | Event Planner & Decorator

For fear of sounding cliché, life is risk. Living, going out each and every day is risk. Daily, we have to take risks by stepping out into the unknown. Trying a new skill, making a new friend, attempting something you didn’t think you could, each of these are risks. I have always been a risk-taker in this sense. I have never jumped into a situation blindly, but I have always been willing to put myself out there by taking calculated risks. As a student, I took risks that I knew would benefit my future. Rather than worry what others thought of me, I pushed myself to the very top (though speaking technically, my twin sister was the Valedictorian and I was the Salutatorian). Read more>>

Cydnee Patterson | Ph.D Candidate, Educator, And Social Media Influencer

Once Ellen Degeneres says that if you are about to embark on a new journey and it scares the crap out of you, it’s probably going to be the best decision you’ve ever made. Now, this doesn’t mean that during the journey, you won’t encounter failure or defeat. To me, it means that there will always be a positive outcome. This mindset has allowed me to take many risks and consistently identify my journey’s significance regardless of the outcome. Some things in life are simply learning opportunities to prepare you for what’s next to come. I always ask myself, what’s the worse thing that could happen? By removing anxiety around “risk,” I have been able to accomplish so much. Read more>>

Erin De Phunk | Movement Artist & Graphic Designer

You get what you put in. The risks you take and how big of a leap can decide how far You can propel forward. I’m not saying just quit your job and do what you want. I’m saying create a plan and follow that calculated risk. It’s partially calculated and planned. It’s not just out of a whim expecting nothing will go wrong. Don’t half way do things do things all the way. Read more>>

Corissa Barrow | Marriage & Family Therapist Graduate Clinician

In the world, the social narrative is that “if there is a will, there is a way”. While this is true, this concept fails to embody the idea of who’s will and who’s way? As a first-generational Latina student and brown clinical practitioner, showing up in the room as my full self amongst a crowd who did not look like me or talk like me was hoops I found myself navigating day to day. From lingo, to experiences, to wardrobe, I was showing up as not the majority. In these scenarios, my will and my way did not align to their will or their way. Redefining this idea of “will and way” was the essence that birthed the concepts of what risk looks like as a brown girl. Redefining what the idea of rejection means for me and reframing the perspective of what were to happen if I heard the answer “no”. Read more>>

Maite Candina Bradford | Owner of MAITETXU

Without challenging risk I wouldn’t be here talking with you today. Early in my business life, my goal was to play safe after the many hours I put in to achieve my initial degree, but finding without my individual risk I would not achieve my full potential. I needed the challenge to create and become what I envision for the future. It has only been after this long journey of dedication and perseverance that a huge satisfaction becomes a reality. I’ve learned to enjoy every step, win, sales order, happy customer, and the many friendships because that is where I feel the success lies. It’s the drive of my ability to handle the world of entrepreneurship. Read more>>

Sasha Nicole | Founder, Podcast Host & Blogger

I look at risk as secondary never primary. When I do things in business and my career I don’t see risk, all I see is opportunity. This type of thinking requires a lot of courage and belief in yourself, but when it comes to certain things, I have the faith that I am capable. Does that mean that I win all the time? No, in fact I have had many losses, but when I give it everything I have in to whatever decision I have made and it was made with the intention of betterment, then there is no loss and I absorb every lesson for the next risk I take. I have made huge risks in starting a brand, in switching jobs, in doing a Podcast tour and some have really helped me grow in ways money can’t buy. Others have cost me financially, but when it comes to money that’s the one thing I always feel you can recover. Read more>>

Tamari Lewis | Speech- Language Pathologist

The thought of relocating myself to a new environment thousands of miles away from family, friends and my comfort zone scared me. But, I could sit back with fear and think of all the things I would miss (that would more than likely change) and the fears of the unknown, or I could take the chance and see what lies ahead. In all aspects of my life, the risks that I have taken have offered great rewards. One of the biggest risk I took allowed me the most rewarding career. I took the risk to move thousands of miles away from my comfort zone to a rural community in a state I never visited to grow my professional experience. When I think about taking a risk, I think about two things it could go good or it could go bad, if it goes good, great if it goes bad, you tried and you more than likely can grow from the experience. If I don’t take the risk, I’ll always wonder. Read more>>

Linda Nguyen | Boss Lady

We believe in the importance of being “hands on” as business owner. In order to oversee or control the day to day operations. You must be the first to arrive and last to leave. If you are not transparent and visible to your business, the guests, your team .. how do you expect the business to run the way you expect it to. Its easy to open a business but it is very hard to build a solid team. Communication is also a huge requirement in what we do. We are not mind readers. If you can accommodate your teams needs and wants then they will be happy and provide the needs and wants for your guests. Once you dedicate the time and effort into building up your team, culture, and processes .. everything else will come into place and you then can go on vacation or step back. Read more>>