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.

Rachael Rage | Musician

I wrote my song “Daredevil” to remind me to take risks. My music career started from a risk I took. I had a job as a singing bartender at a now closed venue on South Beach called The Cabaret. We were in need of a piano player and I played a bit so I auditioned. I was pretty nervous. I didn’t know that many songs and I was a pretty novice player but Edison Farrow, the owner of the Cabaret, also took a risk and hired me as a piano player. I ended up playing piano with the company for 3 years until they closed in 2017. That risk I took to push myself outside of my comfort zone was the best decision I’ve ever made. It has taken me to gigs from Maine to the Keys, a cruise ship and as of recently, from my living room to yours during quarantine times. When I sing Daredevil I remind myself to get back up and dust off the bike if anything knocks me down. When it comes to physical risks I’m a little less brave. Read more>>

Anna Lustberg | Illustrator & Designer

We always hear that without risk there’s no reward, but that never truly resonated with me until recently. In the most uncertain year of 2020, I took some risks to feel happier and more aligned with my purpose. In October, I left a steady full-time job that I knew wasn’t the right fit with the goal in mind to go on Unemployment and focus on building my illustration career (a huge risk for a budding artist with almost no savings!). Almost immediately, though, I happened upon a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I can’t even share much about yet. A good friend of mine brought it to me, and I just kept telling her, “Yes, I don’t know how, but yes. Let’s do this.” My next risk was pursuing a business opportunity I truly wasn’t prepared for and, while it didn’t unfold exactly the way I’d initially hoped, I learned SO much in such a short time about starting a new business and making it a reality. It was the kickstart I needed, the fire lit underneath me, that got me going and headed further in what feels like the right direction in my life and career. Read more>>

Cristhian Fong | Founder & CEO

I truly believe in the “no risk no reward” mentality. I’ve taken risks in every one of my career advancements from switching companies to starting new roles. We never know what’s really ahead of us and therefore we get that knot in our stomachs to change. It makes you second guess your decision, but looking ahead regardless of the outcome is what we need to focus on. Once you get there, make it work regardless of obstacles. Risk is GROWTH whether positive or negative. If you fail, you now have the know-how going forward. Recently we have grown our team and I now have had to delegate. This is time-consuming and challenging. It forced me to let go which is hard to do, but I realized that by doing so it allows me to focus on the overall of the business. You need help in order to grow and you need to trust those around you. Building a team and a good environment is the key to success. Read more>>

Samael Tejada | President & Founder

For you to progress in life, taking risk is something you have to do. Regardless of what it is, whether it’s participating in sports or business or education, there is some kind of risk that you’ll have to take to get to that end goal. When it comes to business, I think it’s very important to take calculated risks where you list the positives and potential negatives. From there, you decide to take the risk when you find you have more pros than cons. When you’re younger, you can afford to take more risks that will have a greater negative outcome. But, when you’re older, you have certain responsibilities that will make you think twice before taking that kind of risk. In business, you of course risk losing money, but you are also risking your time because once you lose it, you never get it back. I have taken a lot of risks career-wise.I first started the company while I was working as a firefighter paramedic in Broward County. Read more>>

Daniel Rodriguez | Product Designer

From dropping out as a third-year accounting student to taking out personal loans to join the second cohort ever at a design bootcamp I’d never heard of, my early twenties were defined by the risks I took from 2016 until now. These risks may appear reckless, and in some ways they were, but like Henry Thoreau puts it, “We must walk conciously only part way to our goal…and then leap into the dark to our sucess.” Read more>>