How do you think about risk? What role has taking risks played in your life/career? Check out responses from hidden gems from our community below.

Rob Marchand | Visual Artist

For me, taking risks is just a by-product of living a fulfilling existence. I have never been one to be satisfied by my accomplishments. I work hard to reach a goal and I may even stop to celebrate reaching that goal, but then it’s on to the next one. I need endless objectives in my life to keep me going. I tend to get bored and feel worthless when I’m not actively pursuing something. This ambition comes with risks. Sometimes you have to take chances in order to take leaps. I would rather gamble on a new goal and lose, than just be complacent and not know what could have been. With my current art career I have taken a risk. I work hard every day to progress but it’s tough and sluggish. I spent several years in another career that was not fully satisfying. So I decided that the career change was a risk I wanted to take. Read more>>

Chris Hunt | The risks of being an artist

physically live without risk, but very little living will take place. A life without risk would be one without experiences, love, joy or sorrow, which are all needed to have the other. In order to see the beauty of life we must take risks, we have to venture out into the world to see what awaits us, which is the biggest risk of all, going into the unknown to see what happens. Read more>>

Jessie Pegueros | HR Professional/Small Business Owner

I am a planner! And I used to be so afraid of risk. I started taking risks when my family and I literally left everything but the clothes we had back home in Chicago and decided to move to TX. We had no idea if it would work out, we had no idea how we would start all over but we took that risk. And now I can safely say it has been one of the beat decisions I’ve taken. Fast forward to 2 years later and now I push for all of us to take risks. GO FOR IT! I keep telling myself and my kids the worst that will happen is you’ll get a “no”. But the important thing is you tried it. Read more>>

Shauna L | Publicist & Firm owner

I’m a firm believer that without risk there is no chance of success. I don’t know one entrepreneur that isn’t a risk taker. I consider myself a pretty fearless person due to life circumstances. At 18 years old I was on life support after having my twins. Having a second chance at life has pushed me to live life to the fullest. That outlook helps me tremendously in business. Read more>>

Walynn Collins | Business Coach & Entrepreneur

Taking a risk has played a major part in my career, I wouldn’t be where I am. if it wasn’t for me taking a risk. I’ll prolly still be depending on a paycheck. Read more>>

Stephanie Briggs | Nail Technician | IG: @Klawzbysteph

I honestly believe taking risks goes hand in hand with opportunity. For example, if I didn’t take the risk to start my career and work towards something new, I wouldn’t have been anywhere close to where I am now. Everyday I take the risks to fight through doubt on my craft and keep pushing forward. Life is essentially nothing without risks. Read more>>

Janay Towles | Owner of J. LuxBoutique LLC

I think of risk as being uncomfortable and in life being comfortable sometimes can make one become complacent. I never want to be complacent, the only time I want to be comfortable is when I’m being comfortable being uncomfortable. I begin taking risk at the age of 17 being pregnant in high school , while everyone said all the things I couldn’t do I knew I could . Taking risk led me into becoming an entrepreneur. Read more>>

Stephen Mendoza | Photographer

If you aren’t taking risks then you aren’t trying to better your life. I believe that taking risks is what life is all about. When I first decided i wanted to become a photographer, I knew it was a risk going into a field where you don’t have a set payment schedule. You can’t always be guaranteed you will be getting paid at the end of the week but when it’s something you love to do, why not take the risk? As I am typing this, I’m in my new studio that I just built out, another risk being taken. Will people actually book studio sessions when I mostly shoot outdoors? Only time will tell and it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Read more>>

Blossom Walker | Health & Fitness Coach

I have a very positive view on taking risks. A phrase I live by is “feel the fear and do it anyway”. I take all the (calculated) risks I can. Life is meant to be lived! I also see risks as leaps of faith and experiences that I usually learn something very valuable from. That mindset shift helps me to see the positive side of every risk I take. 🙂 Taking risks have played a major role in my life and career. I recently moved to Houston, TX by myself without knowing a single person and started a Health & Fitness business! Yep, I would say I’m a risk taker! Lol! Read more>>

Desi Rodgers | Coffee Influencer & Coffee Bestie(friend)

I am daily thinking about the risk it takes to operate Desi Daily Coffee Instagram page, soon to be a blog. Many believe Instagram is just pictures and short video clips but I dare to say it is so much more. I have to be aware of my audience and what they desire to see from me. It could be all about me but then how do I engage with people all over the world if I only have me in mind. I daily goal is to influence my coffee besties(friends) to enjoy their daily coffee and to also venture out and try different kinds of coffee. The world of coffee is constantly growing and I want to be apart of it all. Read more>>

Karishma Naidu | REALTOR, RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL

As many people say “taking risks, leads to Rewards” and that is true from many angles. My whole life i have i have been the risk taker, the adventurer, the bold and curious and i am thankful for being who i am. Without taking risks you cannot push yourself to be better today and cross barriers that would normally slow many down. Sometimes it is about taking a risk and getting a reward at the end, but i truly live a life where change may be needed; and when i see an opportunity to grow and learn from that i am not going to shy away from the success or the failure that may come my way. Read more>>

Monica Patel | Co-Founder of The Bougie Bag

My business partner Sangeeta, and I have been discussing starting our own business for several years now, and because of our risk- averse personalities, we never did, until now. We have both gotten to a point in our lives where we realize that we have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Our kids are growing up. We have spent years focused on our families, which has been very rewarding, but we were both searching for more of a sense of personal accomplishment. We are still in the beginning, but the experience has already been so rewarding, humbling, exhilarating, challenging, terrifying and everything in-between. Ultimately, we are most proud of taking the leap and would advise anyone who is intimidated, to flex your risk muscles a little bit and watch the magic happen! Read more>>

Danielle Brown | Instructional Designer & Minister

I view risks are opportunities in which I can respond to that unveil the strengths I have within. I believe we often don’t know the abilities we have until we make a conscious decision to choose a path in which we do not know the expected outcome. My faith has given me the boldness to respond to risky opportunities with a knowing that despite the outcome, it will all work out for my good. I believe success has benefits as well as the moments when the plan doesn’t work out as expected. I’ve learned when taking a risk and the outcome is opposite of what was expected, to view it is an opportunity to learn and grow. Life is a journey full of possibilities but they remain only possibilities without taking risks. Read more>>

Israel Ochoa | President of Ochoa Home Building & Design

Risk taking played an important role when we decided to start our home building company. there is a saying in Spanish that says, “el que no arriesga, no gana” which translated to English says “nothing ventured nothing gained”. This was true on the year 2020, when Covid hit. After getting laid off from my designing position of almost 8 years and struggling to find a job, or a simple interview really, i realized that i needed to do something in order to provide for my family. My first professional job was designing homes for a local company back in 2007 and have never stopped doing that, and i even did it as a side business. Read more>>

Nicole Beasley | President

Lol! I love this question because being an entrepreneur is essentially being a risk taker. You start a business with a passion and a dream. You take a risk by launching your business, in hopes that it will greatly exceed your expectations of success. So that’s me..the risk taker. Read more>>

Arlene Vega | Cosmetic Tattooer

All of my past work experience is office related. I had no experience in the beauty industry. All I knew, was how to apply my own makeup, but the interest was always there. Cosmetology was an option. However, it did not fit my lifestyle at the time. I am a mother of 5 kids, I didn’t have the option to pursue my dreams, my career was always put on the back burner. Permanent makeup has grown so much over the years! Powder Shading became a big hit! After seeing a brow procedure in YouTube video, I fell in love!! Immediately showed interest and had an “I can do that” attitude! I would love to bring that kind of joy to women! However, it just was not in the cards for me at that time of my life. That was my reality. It started to become just a “dream” of mine. Read more>>

Marina AKA Mar | Belly dancing Instructor / Health and Fitness Coach

You must take risks in your life. You have to get out of your comfort zone and do things that do not feel or look familiar to you in order to grow, get to different levels and get different outcomes. If I can be honest, I am not a big fan of taking risks because it is scary, but I know that taking them is absolutely necessary. I would not be here today if I did not take risks. I am very aware that stepping out of our comfort zone brings anxiety and it isn’t the greatest feeling to have, but we have to push through that feeling. It is absolutely worth it because when you go for it, something so magical always happens. Read more>>

Heidi Sears | Grazin Board/Table Designer

Planning, hosting, creating or whatever you want to call it has been apart of me for as long as I can remember. Every job that I have had in my career has led me to planning events and I have loved doing it, but never thought that I would be doing this as a side job. Back in December 2020 I did my first Charcuterie Board for my family. I posted a few pictures and the response was overwhelming. I started thinking of what I wanted to call this little side business. Grazin was stuck in my head, all I heard from family and friends is they could graze for days on my boards, so Grazinfordays had to be the name. I had no idea how to even price my boards, this was just a hobby but I have to make some money at it or I knew it wouldn’t last. I did tons of research and lots of mistakes but I came up with a price list. My family has been behind me 1000%, the support they have given me has been tremendous. As for now this is a hobby but you never know what the future holds for this little side business. Read more>>