Are you a risk taker? Do you think you have a stronger appetite for risk relative to your friends and family? We asked some folks from the community about their approaches to risk and have shared their thoughts below.

Bryan Jimenez | Actor

I believe RISK is a big factor in my career. I’ve taken on a big risk already by wanting to be an actor. I was going to school to be an X-ray tech and dropped out because I wanted to chase my passion which is Acting. I have lost good jobs, dropped out of college and lost friends and relationships along the way because I am willing to risk it all for this dream I have. This career is not ordinary, it’s not promising and it has a lot of ups and downs. You can easily move to LA take on your acting classes, pay for your headshots, work on your demo reels and attend every audition and still might not make it to be a big star. Read more>>

Ali Filippelli | Ceramacist & Embroidery Artist

Traditionally I have not thought of myself as a risk taker. I have not thought of my self as many things, and have learned that ones self-perception doesn’t often align with reality. How you would describe yourself might be quite different than how others do. Back in 2017 I had been working as Collections Assistant and Database Manager at a museum for over 6 years, I had always in my adult life been surrounded by art in my work at museums and galleries. Archiving, recording, digitizing, and always wondering what it would be like to be an artist, a maker, a creator. At 31 years I felt that my identity was fully formed by the work I had chosen. I knew people who identified as artists who had trained in school, who lived their waking moments sketching, painting, designing. I wasn’t doing that, so I wasn’t an artist. I wasn’t really happy at work, and I didn’t know what to do about it. Read more>>

Victoria Brunacci | Director of Synergy Yoga, Reiki Healer & Life Coach

Taking Risks is what moves you forward in life. Without that you will be always on the same place, maybe comfortable, but still stagnated. I guess I learn that from Mom, we move from Argentina to Brazil when I was 3, and then then I was 20 i decide to come check Miami Beach, with only $300 in my pocket. I had to hustle and I also feel that is part of taking risks. I didn’t speak very good English, and I work from selling Pizza to Commercial Financing until finally found my calling sharing the wisdom of Yoga and Preventive Holistic Healthcare. That was actually a crucial moment where I quit a 6 figures job and i literally move to India for a all year, which was definitely crazy and full of risks in every sense. Life is happening right now, and the universe will send you opportunities and is up to you to take that leap or not. If you don’t , you will always wonder how it could have being. Read more>>

Claudia Castillo | Artist

Risk taking is a part of life. Thing happen in life that are unexpected and takes us out of our planned path. One has to take risks to move forward beyond the moment and find new opportunities to create our destiny. In my life, I have taken risks that were uncertain but I knew they were necessary for me to pursue what I had really wanted for my career and life. I changed my career as a radio and television producer and left Colombia to come to this country to expand my studies and pursue a career as a designer and artist which was something that I had always wanted to be. Though I navigated many challenges with this risk, my desire to succeed guided me get through the challenges and I never gave up. The risks that I took were well worth it as I have my family and my studio which is a lifelong dream that I have fulfilled. Read more>>

Ellen Marchman | Marketing Specialist

Being an entrepreneur is essentially a 24/7 risk taker. You are consistently seeking opportunities while walking a tightrope without a net. Get Ink PR was born in 2005, and it’s been a joyous journey. Miami is a fantastic city to be an entrepreneur, with many championing start-ups and applauding new ideas. When we celebrated the first day of 2020, there was so much hope and excitement. While this has been one of the hardest years for each and every one of us, I’ve resolved to take more professional risks than ever, because there isn’t a bad idea to be had. Read more>>

Yanyn San Luis | Author & Owner

Risk-taking is absolutely critical to success. I don’t know who to credit for this quote, but more than ever “you either innovate or die”. Innovation and risk-taking go hand in hand. For me and my business at the core, my values include courage, innovation, community, freedom, and resilience. These are values that infuse my messaging, the way I onboard clients, and more importantly how I show up. Showing up authentically can be perceived as a risk, it takes courage to show up, be vulnerable, and deliver your best self. What have I been up to in 2020? Besides contemplating my next moves, hoarding an obscene amount of paper towels, and finding new ways to stay sane… I’ve written a book! I wrote a whole book during this very quarantine all about BADASSERY and how to sustain it. Read more>>

Rob Brady | CEO & Design Director

I love risk – apparently – but it can be a bitch! As a product designer and studio CEO with globally based clients for over 25 years, we are ALWAYS asked to push the status quo and deliver to a new ventures or fortune 100 company that “market disruptive, game-changing, iconic thing that will reset our world” … Yea, no problem … dependent on your appetite for risk that is. Read more>>

Michael Novilla | Globetrotting Entrepreneur

Since everything involves risk, I don’t focus on it. Instead, I focus on how much I really want to do this thing. The more I want to do/accomplish something, the stronger the drive to complete it is. For example, the risk of betting my entire financial future on purchasing a disgusting, run-down dog kennel, and spending every nickel I had, borrowing $2.5MM more, plus working 6-7 days a week, for almost 3 years. There was RICK GALORE involved, and if I focused on any of those risk points, I would have NEVER opened NOVA 535. The now #1 venue in St. Pete / Tampa since 2008. Read more>>

Andrew Kiaroscuro | Producer, Director & Founder

Opportunity isn’t given, it’s created. I’m a firm believer on this, and one of the best ways to create opportunities for yourself is to take a chance on YOU, your dreams, your relationships, or anything else you’re after. However, when you bet on yourself sometimes against stability, against the known, against what is safe it can many times feel risky. But, is playing it safe the least risky path to success? When I was growing up, I had no affiliations, ties, or connections to the entertainment industry. My family wanted me to join the family practice of medicine. To go become a Doctor. Unfortunate for them and myself I am ghastly sensitive to the gnarly smells that radiate from surgical rooms. I knew I wasn’t a good fit after my mother took me to watch a surgery when I was young and I smelled flesh being cauterized back together for the first time then immediately ran away to vomit. Read more>>

Claudia Roman | Happy Brows Miami Owner & PMU Artist

Fear paralyzes you, if we don’t take risks we would not get too far. Taking risks has played a very important role in my career. I decided to open my own studio in the middle of a global pandemic; was I scared….. Yes! But I trusted myself and decided to go for it! Even though inside my head I was thinking who is gonna come? People are loosing their jobs… No one is gonna have money for beauty… but I took the risk and it has been amazing!! Read more>>

Annette Mesa Acosta | Sales Person & Educator

My background is a preschool teacher. I also worked in children’s ministry. I love teaching children and its so rewarding to see them learn. I never thought that I could work in a weight loss and hormone balancing clinic. When I was a kid I was told that all I could do is minimal work. Have a 9-5 job and get paid a salary. My way of learning is visual learning and doing one thing at a time. I get flustered when I have too many things to do that I try to do them all at the same time and everything comes crashing down. I have learned to make myself lists and tackle them one at a time. I thrive in making goals and try to complete them. The reason I am telling you all of this is because I took a risk on a job that society told me that I could never do. I took the risk of making my own hours and working hard to make my money. Read more>>

Rochelle W Stefanovic | Artist

I’m Rochelle W Stefanovic a female artist in South Florida. the question .of Risk or risk not? That is an interesting dilemma. Who or why would anyone become a professional artist? Surely its not a safe, secure, nor easy accomplishment. Art is one of the most difficult markets, and trying to achieve success as an artist in today’s business world is extremely risky business. My parents appreciated art and music so it was always around me, I was extremely shy and I occupied much of my time painting I loved it, however I never considered to “become an artist”. I believe one is or is not. My true gift was to have the opportunity in my life time to share something I love so much to do. Art, in essence is the act to create. Read more>>

Phoenix Spiritiva | Fine Art Soul Photographer

For me risk-taking is the not so secret ingredient that has made all the difference in achieving anything worthwhile in my life and career. Although I never really think of myself this way, I find that others do and, in fact, many of my collectors call me “intrepid”. I am simply being me. Perhaps it is this essence of my being that allows me to connect with and capture the soul of animals and environments in my fine art photography. Throughout my various careers as an educator, school system administrator, business coach, radio talk-show host, speaker and more and now as a professional photographer, a curiosity, sense of wonder and willingness to explore, perfect and master the “new” and unchartered path has always directed my actions. Not everything has always worked out as expected. Read more>>

Brian Galton | Chief Fun Officer

My brother’s have always told me I am “The Risk Taker” in the family. It felt like a compliment while at the same time realizing that something is always at stake. Meaning I always knew that I needed to be able to accept my losses or consequences and not to gamble unless it was something I could afford. You start off small and you gain confidence. I’m still not one to go to Vegas with plans of winning millions and instead enjoy the art of creating my own luck. In fact, it is important to consider as many options as possible and then try to select the path that is most likely to achieve the results you want. That said, if your first option is wrong then you have to be willing to go down the next best path. Read more>>