Risk is the most common topic that comes up in our conversations with entrepreneurs and so each week we ask entrepreneurs to talk to us on the record about how they think about risk.

Olga Basanta | Singer composer violist pianist and vocal coach

Well, I grew up in a family os musicians, my sisters are music teachers and my parents sang in a chorus, but I decided to focus my passion as my work. And now, everything in my life is music. I am composer, singer, vocal coach, violist, pianist and I travel all around the world generating love through my music. When you do something you believe in, it’s easier to flow, because you have something stronger that makes you keep going. Read more>>

Kelli Bielema | Event Producer

It’s been a major part of my life. I’ve always been perceived as someone who takes risks, even if I don’t personally think it’s risky. I’ve moved to cities where I don’t know anyone and managed to find my way. I spent a good part of my 20s and early 30s not being very confident. Once I founded my first event business I had a real “fake it til you make it” mentality but as it turns out, Read more>>

Elizabeth Mywaart | Photographer, Makeup Artist, and Entrepreneur

Answers: I see risk taking as an essential part of running a business. I’m using the standard understanding of risk as “possibility of loss “. Everything we do in life carries a risk as we can never truly know what an outcome will be, therefore there is always a possibility of loss. More than that, I think that for every chance we take or decision we make, there is always inherent loss. Read more>>

Michele Salazar | Interior Designer

I have always believed that working hard and dedicating yourself alone will not result in heightened levels of success. A similar concept to assuming booksmarts alone will guarantee someones success. Many of the most successful people in the world have not only gotten there by hard work and dedication alone but also by believing in themselves and having the confidence to invest in their ideas and talents which ultimately always comes with risk, whether it be monetary or personal. Read more>>

Francisco Cornejo | CEO & Co-founder of Storybook App

While I have been a risk taker for most of my life, just in recent years, I have embraced and understood more deeply how and why to take risks. For some people, it is all about establishing in some sort of comfort zone. And while there is nothing wrong with trying to find the most predictable scenario for your life, I believe that you can only grow outside of your safe area. Read more>>

Sunny Dee | Parent, Cannabis Advocate, and Podcast Host

You could only live life by taking risks, and everyones first dance with Mary Jane was a risk worth taking. When we first started the podcast we decided not to show our faces, we thought putting the focus on the plant instead of ourselves was the way to go , but after meeting others and talking about really advocating for the plant the only real way to de-stigmatize Moms smoking weed was to actually show up and represent them. Read more>>

Laura Sylvia | Entrepreneur

I believe if you want to be rewarded, you need to take a risk. In order to receive opportunity, you must seek it. When you’re young, you’re pressured to figure out who you are and what you will become; although each of us grows up in a vast environment we all have the same pressure as we live out our lives. Read more>>

Kathleen R. O’Neill Schuler | Visual Artist & Freelance Graphic Designer

Both taking risks, and not taking risks have played a significant roll in my life and career. I have always thought for myself, remained true to my convictions, and that is a risk. Every time you create anything new and different that is a risk. Not thinking you are good enough to take the risk is a risk as well because at some point you will be faced with the reality that you never risked doing it. Read more>>

Maryna Kravchenko | Tattoo artist

Risk is a feeling you have to get used to. I feel Like I’ve taken a lot of risks in my life. I blindly moved to New York from Ukraine when I was 18 knowing very little English . Then again to Miami. Tattooing feels like a huge risk in itself but following a passion definitely worth it. Read more>>

Sarah Lucas | Artist & YouTuber

As a self-taught Artist and a Video Creator, I have learned through many trials and errors that taking risk doesn’t always feel great, but it’s the gift you didn’t know you needed because of the learning experience it has to offer. We all grow through taking risks and it’s only when we take a leap of faith that we will truly know what we’re capable of. Taking risks pushed me to start my own YouTube channel back in 2015 where I decided to document my skills as an Artist; Read more>>

Carolina Vengoechea | Stylist/ Entrepreneur

As an immigrant I learned to be a risk taker watching my mother come to this country with four children, starting all over, and losing it all. It was the best lesson of my life. I learned that if things don’t go as planned, you must keep trying other ways, reinvent yourself, be curious, be fearless, be creative, be different, work hard, and never give up. Taking small risks at a younger age definitely created a habit that made me stronger for more challenging risks, like becoming a mother and opening my own business in a way that has never been done before. I adjusted my operation and prices as I was working. I learned by experimenting and executing. I enjoy the process watching my vision come alive. It is part of who I am. Read more>>

Jenny’s Island | Makeup Artist

When you sit back & think almost everything in life has to do with risk taking. Taking the risks or not taking plays a huge factor in your life, Your life can literally change in a second just because you took that risk but if you don’t it can keep you in the same position as before. A lot of times people get comfortable & get too scared to take a risk, comfortability can literally keep you from reaching your dreams. I was one of those people but I had to snap out of it & realize i want more for myself so i took a risk & opened my own business. Taking that risk was the best thing i ever did & now i own my first official suite as MUA & physical store for my online shop. Read more>>