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.

Betty Diaz | Cinnamon Bread Connoisseur

“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali We are firm believers in risk-taking (we opened up in the midst of a looming pandemic). Risk-taking is what pushed us into starting Wicked Bread. We sat on the Cinnamon Bread recipe for years before realizing what we had. Inevitably, it was roughly 3 months from our friends telling us, “this is really good, you guys should sell it.” to the day we opened our booth at the Yellow Green Farmers Market. Our vision, definitiveness of purpose, and betting it all on us, have helped us persevere through the ups and downs that the past year has thrown at us. Once the market closed, we could have easily said, “the timing just wasn’t right.” and called it a day. Instead, we began our e-commerce site and started shipping and delivering our loaves. It kept us busy during the pandemic and, in the long run, it saved our business. Read more>>

Batia Lowenberg | Painter, Public Artist, Coach, & Enthusiastic Creator & Participant of Live Art Events

I truly love this question. Artists take so many macro- and micro-risks in both their lives and their art on a minute-by-minute and daily basis and perhaps the public does not realize this. So many of the risks that we take are invisible unless you look closely and listen deeply to artists’ stories. Firstly, it is a risk actually realizing, admitting, and defining and identifying yourself as an artist. For many, it starts at a young age, for others, once they are older. I also find that one doesn’t always to choose to be an artist, the artist self calls you into being, Higher Power somehow chooses you. Read more>>

Stephen Cuington | Recording Artist

As they say “No risk. No reward.” I think risk plays a huge factor in everything we do in life. As a working artist your career lives and dies by the risks you take. You have to be willing to be open to criticism from people you don’t know and don’t know you. Just getting started is a risk. Every connection and good thing in my career has been from taking chances and believing in myself and what I have to bring to the table. Read more>>

Bloodline Franco | DJ to the stars

Venturing out in this space that is entertainment and music, you must acknowledge that it may not work out. So many things can go terribly wrong and poof, there goes your career, dreams and livelihood. The great thing about it is you’re not a soldier going to war, you won’t die (hopefully). The risk and the fears attributed to it serve as a daily motivation, you earn your stay by your daily contributions and work effort. Read more>>

Jaclyn Franceschini | Exotic Wraps Owner / Vinyl Installer

Risk has always played a large part in my life. Many successful entrepreneurs such as Tony Robbins, Warren Buffet, and Tarek El Mouss love the quote: “No risk, no reward!” Growing a business is a time of excitement, anticipation and risk. As a small business owner, it’s tempting to prioritize sales over everything else in the name of keeping your business afloat while developing its capacity. Read more>>

Lady Sabo | Artist/videographer/producer/entrepreneur

I feel like taking risk is a very important thing to do when it comes to your life and career. I took a risk and sold everything the first time and went to live in florida. If I never taken the risk to move to a different state I never would have networked out there. I feel like if I dont take a chance another might not come. I learned to seize the moment and own it. Read more>>

Lola Klova | Permanent Make-Up Instructor & Artist

For someone who loves to plan, prepare, and map out the future in every possible way, taking risks can be very frightening. Just as well, it can be extremely rewarding. In life and especially in my career, I am the girl that prepares Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C – just in case Plans A & B don’t work out. I like to have an order and a routine in my daily life because not knowing the future makes me very uncomfortable, therefore, you can imagine, venturing on new and untried ideas for your career is sure to bring on some discomfort.
Being a young entrepreneur, I didn’t realize that taking risks was already in my nature, because I took myself for someone who lived in my comfort zone, but looking back, having started my own business at the age of 18 is the prime example of my nature for experimenting with new possibilities. Read more>>

DANIELA YEPEZ | CREATIVE STRATEGIST, DESIGNER

MY ENTIRE PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL LIFE HAS BEEN MARKED BY TAKING RISKS AND GETTING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE. JUST TO HIGHLIGHT A FEW: STARTING FROM CHOOSING BETWEEN GOING TO STUDY ABROAD (SCAD) OR PLAYING IT SAFE AND STUDY IN MY COUNTRY (ECUADOR). CHOOSING BETWEEN FINDING A JOB IN NYC OR FINDING A JOB BACK HOME. LATER, LEAVING MY STABLE NYC FULL TIME JOB FOR OPENING MY OWN DESIGN STUDIO ¨DAYE¨. Read more>>

Kahkashan Ansary | Muralist, Graphic Designer & Photographer

In the words of Yvan Byeajee, “Risk and opportunity are two sides of the same coin.” Risk has played a very crucial role in my personal life as well as my career. I took a risk to move to the US by myself five years ago to study art and pursue a career in it. Ever since, every time I’m faced with a situation or opportunity, I take a calculated risk and more often than not it worked out in my favor. Not to say things never went wrong but because I didn’t go into it blindly, I was more or less prepared for it. Every time we take a risk, we move forward in life. If we never took chances, we’d be stuck and that, in my opinion, is way worse. Read more>>

Michelle | Photographer & Social Media Content Creator

Risk has played a monumental role in my career. I went to college and received both a Bachelors and Masters in Interior Design amounting to roughly 7 years of studying. I then proceeded to work in the industry around 8 or 9 years. Like many people I was in a comfortable position, with a steady routine and steady paycheck, but every morning when I woke up I could not shake the feeling that I knew I was not doing what I was truly passionate about. Read more>>

Eliza Torres | Fashion Designer & Entrepreneur

I think taking risks is very important. I tend to be a bit impulsive, so when I have an idea I literally just go for it. There isn’t always a plan in place, but a vision that I know I can achieve or will achieve as long as I focus on it. If you don’t take risks, such as starting that business you dream of, then you will never know the potential success you can create. Read more>>

Ashley Andre | Hairstylist & Future Midwife (Nursing)

I think Will Smith said it best “On the other side of fear is success.” I took a chance on myself when I decided to hop in the beauty industry for several reasons; When you go to school to become a lawyer, Nurse or whatever it is you may want to become. 99% of the time your position is promised to you. Well that’s my thought process with everything in life! My two main ingredients is be willing to take calculated risk and work hard! These rules have applied to my life because I always had to sacrifice something to get to the next level. I haven’t lost anything and obtained something better or bigger. Read more>>

Cecilia Pazmino | Cosmetologist, aesthetician

I believe that in order to succeed you must take risks! That is the only way to keep moving forward. My father told me “if you don’t jump into the water you will never cross the river”. He said this to me when I was thinking about opening my business and leaving my 10 year job but I wasn’t sure. This gave me the push, it was a big risk because what if the businesses didn’t go as planned. As a single mother of 6 year old twin boys, I had to make this work in order to provide for my family. I’m so grateful I made this decision, otherwise I would have stay making very little money, with a complicated schedule and missing a lot of my kids important days! Read more>>

Ronice Rucki | ADMINISTRATOR , ENTREPRENEUR AND BUSINESSWOMAN

I always learned how to deal with the risk. I lived in Brazil and moved to Canada. I had to start all over again. After 10 years at Canada I moved to the United States where I started all over again. I started my company in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. What makes me confront the risks are: Hard work and not giving up on that work, patience and planning. Read more>>

Jessica Cook | Mother, Invisible illness warrior & advocate, Owner of Hair Heart Home lifestyle brand boutique

Everything thing I have ever accomplished is because I have taken a risk. It’s been something family and friends have said they admire about me. Not saying every risk has panned out in my favor but sometimes if I don’t jump, I’ll overthink my way into a missed opportunity. I asses risk like I’m playing double dutch, I never played as a child because honestly I don’t have rhythm lol and even then I suffered from chronic migraines so I was always afraid of getting hit by the ropes or my feet getting tangled up. That was the first in my life where I felt like I missed an opportunity at something I really wanted because I wasn’t willing to take a risk. So now every risk becomes double dutch in my mind, I tell myself that I cannot sit on the sidelines forever so when I see my time I jump! Read more>>

Dawn Wilcox | Founder & Executive Director | Women Count USA: Femicide Accountability Project

In late 2016 founded Women Count USA: Femicide Accountability Project after I discovered there was no comprehensive tracking or documentation of women and girls murdered by men in the United States. I didn’t wait for permission to begin doing this important work no one else was undertaking at that time. Read more>>

RaSheba Jones | Account Coordinator & Content Creator

I think about risks everyday, I think everything in life is a risk between being the person that you currently are and stepping in to the person that you desire to be. The first big risk I took was moving to New York City on my own and telling very few people, not even my parents knew I had moved. I consider this to be a bigger risk than moving away for college because I did that risk with the help of my parents. Driving myself to New York City and not knowing what’s on the other side was a scary thing. I did this with no job, little savings left over after getting an apartment and moving costs. Read more>>

Lesly Ordonez | Bakery Co-Owner / Manager

When I think about risk, I think about it and understand the implications of it. I am fully committed to the end result of a risk. If it doesn’t pan out the way I envisioned it then there is something to be learned no matter the consequence. Risk has been a mainstay in my family. My parents came from Honduras 28 years ago with nothing but $3 to their name. That is a risk unimaginable to most, myself included. The need for a better life was worth every moment of that risk for them. 12 years later came the idea of opening our own bakery and we risked everything we had for this dream. Read more>>

Ariel Gonzalez | Freelance illustrator/Artist

I think about risk all the time. As an artist, taking risks, both physically and mentally, comes hand in hand. “Should I sell this piece?” “Does it spark anything in me?” “Will this be the right color scheme?”. Risk is practically ingrained in my everyday life and I love every second of it. Taking risks has opened doors I thought didn’t even exist. I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember and that passion stayed with me well into my senior year of high school. When college rolled around and the impending doom of adulthood settled in, that fire burned out. Read more>>

Brucie | Masterbarber

Taking risks and going against the grain has opened alot of doors for me. When you have a vision of where u want to be in life, it seems almost a guarantee that opposition will come your way. I believe this is to see how bad u want something Read more>>

Rosa’Lilly’ Napolitano | Mother,Artist,Business Women,Owner

Leaving yourself with a ‘what if’ question will haunt you. God did not create us to stay idled in our life. If we stay due to comfort where is the growth? Teaching your children to take chances is an important lesson. They watch everything we do. Read more>>

Heather Gregory | Real Estate Broker Associate

Taking risks has played a huge part in my career and life. It all started as a child. I was never one to go with the flow, to follow the crowd, or do what everyone else was doing. It continued into my adult life. I grew up in Southern California and I was one of the only people to leave where I grew up and pursue a life in different areas. I never returned to where I went to high school. 35 years later I landed in South Florida to be closer to family, but I did not know a soul. My first career was an elementary school teacher. I taught all grades kindergarten through fifth grade for 20 years. Read more>>

Lisa Hylton | Real Estate Investment Fund Manager

Risk taking has played a huge role in my entire life. I feel that as time as progressed I have upped the anti of risk that I have been willing to take. From Moving from Grand Cayman to college at the University of Georgia as school whose population is the size of my country to 3 years later moving to Boston to work for an international public accounting firm and adjust to a new way of life. Then 4 years later moving in LA – scared but knowing I needed to begin a new chapter. To 7 years later still in the City of LA – walking away from a six figure stable and “secure” job to pursue entrepreneurship – figuring out the path as I go. Read more>>

Matthew Aniska | Broker // Developer

The process of analyzing and taking risks has proved to be important to my growth in business and in life. Where there is risk – there is an opportunity; the ability to decipher whether the opportunity is worth the risk starts with self-awareness. The self-awareness to know who I am and what fulfills me has lead me to proportionally value rewards to the risks. Risk is part of the adventure of life – it’s what makes life interesting & exciting. The amazing thing about risk is, the outcome is either what I want or a life lesson. Taking calculated risks is always a win/win situation from my perspective. Read more>>

Georgette Mousalli | Content creator/Blogger

Honestly I was never a girl who would take many risks, but when I left Venezuela and left my family when I moved to Miami four years ago, it took me out my comfort zone and it was a risk that made a huge difference in my life. I wouldn’t have found my true self and I wouldn’t realized what I wanted to accomplish in my life. So, nowadays I try to take risks day to day to reach my goals Read more>>