We asked some brilliant folks from the community to talk to us about how they think about risk and the role risk has play in their lives and careers.

Jill Stoddard | Psychologist, Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Like 70% of high achieving individuals, I’m intimately familiar with the Imposter Syndrome–that feeling that at any moment everyone will find out I don’t really deserve my success and I’ll be revealed as a fraud. Imposter Syndrome could have been a major stumbling block to my success, but I use the same psychological principles in my life that I use with my clients–one of which is to become a curious observer of that critical inner voice without letting it boss me around. So when I decided to start my own anxiety clinic and that voice said “who do you think you are, you’re not really an entrepreneur” I noticed the thought and took the risk anyway. I now have a successful multi-site practice with a team of 5 incredible women. When I had an idea for a book and that voice said “you’re not a writer! you’re not an expert in that topic!” I thanked my mind for trying to protect me from failing and I took the risk anyway. Read more>>

Billy Economou | Owner

Taking risks is very important and it is key to growth and happiness in life & business. For me it was very scary to start a new business. The fear of failure was definitely present to the point where I actually wanted to quit before I started. If it wasn’t for the encouragement of my wife to take the risk I wouldn’t have taken the leap of faith but i did and the rewards and success has been immeasurable. This has further encouraged me to take risks within my business. Venturing into video production which was something completely new to me a few years ago has completely taken off to the point where clients contact us soley for videography. I’ve also grown a team/brand which has been able to handle multiple events on a single day. Read more>>

Jake Skolnick

I think the music business is inherently risky. When I was at NYU studying about the music industry concert promoters and talent buyers were described by several of my professors as “professional gamblers.” I’ve never been much of a traditional gambler (aside from the occasional family games of poker/blackjack) but somehow I ended up as a talent buyer for 6+ venues in San Diego. Before I made the leap into working for myself full-time I had to take the calculated risk of quitting my minimum wage job and going full force into music. I wasn’t quite making enough money to support myself just on music, but I was running low on time and resources and spreading myself a bit thin the way things were going. I had talked with several friends of mine (and mentors) who had successfully made this jump and they all told me the same thing — namely that you’re never ready 100% to make the switch, and at a certain point you just have to go for it and put all your eggs in the music basket. Read more>>