Legend holds that Cornelius Vanderbilt had built a massive fortune in the steamboat shipping industry, but then realized the railroads were the way of the future and invested almost his entire net worth into railroads. The gamble paid off and made Vanderbilt one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs ever. But risks are inherently…risky. How do you think about risk and how has it affected your life and career? Some of our community favorites share their perspective below.

Burandy J. Wine | Drag Artist

Without taking risks, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. Risks have helped me gain new relationships, experience, life lessons, etc. We take risks everyday, and it’s about the execution. Read more>>

Fiona Tran | Founder & CEO @ LOCO Wetsuits

Risky business is always such an interesting topic because it’s not super black and white. I think risk is a gut feeling that requires you to trust yourself and your intuition to bet on yourself fully. What prompted me to work on LOCO Wetsuits full time is that I got laid off from a job that was no longer fulfilling me. I had to consider either finding another full-time job or taking a gamble on myself. Read more>>

Joaquin | Entrepreneur & Owner

Risk is damn near everything. People are too afraid to fail. It’s better to take action with less of a plan than it is to sit around and wait for everything to be “perfect” or end up never taking action on your ideas in the first place. Something I’m still guilty of with other ideas I have. Read more>>

Mary Thomas | CFO, HR, and Business Manager

When I think about risks, I have no fear. The worst thing that can happen is that I’ll fail in a particular decision, but it won’t sink the business. You have to be okay with failure, sacrifice and suffering if you’re going to have a successful business. On the flip side, if you take the risk and it has a positive result, you’ve furthered your business and stretched your mind and way of doing business. Read more>>