Shoot your shot? Take a chance? Society bombards us with messages, phrases, examples and stories of how taking risk is the key to success, but is anything ever that simple? We asked some of the brightest folks we know to tell us about how they think about risk. We’ve shared their responses below.

Juhi Bansal | Composer

It’s funny, because I don’t consider myself a natural risk taker at all, but it’s something I have learned to do over time. One of the places I find a lot of inspiration is in wild places – mountains and ocean – particularly hiking alone and traveling solo. I’ve slogged my way up tortuous mountains alone and sick because after a week hiking out there was no other way to exit than to push through, I’ve gotten lost alone in canyons and had to find my way out, I’ve fallen and taken beatings in the water surfing and learned to get back up. Read more>>

Susanne Rossler | Real Estate Broker Associate

Many of humanity’s greatest achievements would never have happened without risk takers of generations past, who defied norms and asked the questions “what if?” and “why not?”. I grew up in a family of risk takers – my father gave up a lucrative medical practice when he instead joined the World Health Organization and moved his young family to Africa in the late 60’s. I spent my first 16 years in several African countries, before completing my university degree in the US and starting what would likely have been a comfortable and upwardly mobile corporate career in business operations in Europe. Read more>>

Stefanie Garcia Turner | Entrepreneur

I’d say I was raised as a pragmatic risk-taker which sounds like an oxymoron. But I view risk as a given in life and the only difference in the risk level is how far people are willing to step into the unknown. Everything is a risk, for example choosing to go to college or not, and if you choose to go to college do you stay near home, do you go to the expensive school and amass loads of debt, or do you go to the state school that saves you from taking on that debt. Some people may think that these are just choices, but every choice is a risk taken or not taken. Read more>>