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.

Brady Enger | Landscape & Real Estate Photographer

I feel like taking risks is how I got to where I am today. There have been multiple instances in my life and business where if I did not take any of those risks. The opportunities I have been fortunate enough to have may not have come to me. Read more>>

Tyson Paul | Stand-Up Comedian/Founder of We Own The Laughs LLC.

Whether I’m a stand-up comedian or an entrepuner trying to succeed with a traveling comedy entertainment company, there’s never a moment in my career where I’m not taking a life-changing risk. Read more>>

Candice Laxa | Freelance Model & Financial Counselor

I was actually not much of a risk taker until the pandemic. For the longest time, I believed that playing the safest bet would give me a guaranteed outcome. It wasn’t until the pandemic that I realized nothing in life is ever guaranteed. Read more>>

Megan Giesbrecht | Circus Artist, Acrobatics Coach, & Single Mom

Risk taking really defines one’s priorities. Every decision we make sits on a scale and each of our internal scales is unique to our lives: personality, family values, personal history, and our own sense of self all sit on the scale. Read more>>

Lecreatia Alston | Artist CREEZYENT

You can never be scared to take a risk or you will never know. Read more>>

Romin Irani | Burger Smasher, Husband & Father

For the most part I’m pretty risk aversive. If you listen to all the people doing things the “right” way on insta or blogs you will hear over and over, “you gotta take risks, can’t win without risks, etc etc.” Read more>>

Roy Schwartz | Author, journalist, pop culture historian and critic

My army unit’s slogan was “who dares wins,” and I still live by that. I’d rather fail gloriously than settle for safe mediocrity. So much of my success in life has come from “going for it,” without hesitation, no matter how unlikely it was to work. Read more>>

Felix El Gato | La Familia Entertainment

Risk is a very fickle thing. I like gambling, but I hate gambling. It’s obvious that it can be very rewarding, or it can carry its own field of negative consequences. But I feel that without taking risks, there would be no progression. Read more>>

MICHELE MITCHELL, Ph.D. | Executive Director, Mission Viejo Nadadores Foundation. Former Head Diving Coach of the National Champion Nadadores Diving Team

Taking Risks? I won two silver medals for 10-meter platform diving (1984 and 1988). Hitting the water at 33 mph in front of global audience in a 3-ounce bathing suit. – yes – risk taking is in my DNA! However, risk must always be calculated; one must prepare to take the risk. Read more>>

Lenny Alpou | Rider

Bike life is a risk I think we have to take risks in this area and even in life in general if you want to feel free you will necessarily have to take risks, risk taking makes me fall is scary but above all it taught me. Read more>>

Victoria Philips | nonprofit Consultant/Fundraising coach

For me, taking risks involves doing something different from the norm, stepping outside of your comfort zone, and making things happen. I am a risk-taker because I believe everything good in life comes with risk, especially in business. working with nonprofit organizations as a consultant involves a lot of expertise, creativity, and the ability to network and build relationships. Read more>>

Missy Marlaire | Photographer / Journalist

The term risk is defined as “a situation involving exposure to danger.” Personally, I treat risk as a personal Return on Investment (ROI) strategy. I believe taking leaps of faith a.k.a. risks, are based on three main factors: expectation, process of that specific expectation and intended outcome. Risk taking has been one of the main drivers in my success, not only within my various business ventures but also in my personal decisions. Read more>>