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.

Benjamin Schrank | Personal Chef & owner of LuNo Culinary

I’ve always been a risk taker, since childhood. From jumping off of the roof into the pool or raising go carts, more recently my risk taking has been focused on my career, and building something on my own. Read more>>

Jonathan Yepez | Engineer & Entrepreneur

I’ve always believed that taking risks is crucial for personal and professional growth. The universe rewards those who step out of their comfort zones. Thinking about when I tried learning how to skateboard. When you drop in on a half pipe for the first time, it’s terrifying. But you commit fully, lean forward, and trust the board will catch up to your upper body and support you by the time you get to the bottom. That same philosophy applies to life and business. It’s about facing fears head-on and taking calculated risks. Read more>>

Eric Garcia | Musician/storyteller

I think risk is everything. I’m constantly betting on myself, in all aspects of life. If you aren’t a little scared, then you aren’t making the most out of life and the creative process. As far as risk, personally, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to lead a much more “comfortable” life than I have right now. Being 52, never married, and with no kids isn’t an accident. I was a caregiver for many years and I realized how fleeting life really is. Especially quality of life. Read more>>

Jake Michels | Commercial Real Estate Broker & Content Creator

Risk taking has always been an inherent part of my life, to some extent. However, I have come to reframe risks as acts of faith. Through personal growth and prayerful reflection, I have learned that without embracing risk and stepping out of our comfort zones, there can be no significant change. Read more>>

Scott McKinley | Artist

By nature humans are not static creatures. We relish novelty and the unexplored. We are evolved for discovery. So I believe that risk is a fundamental quality of life. Ideally we learn to embrace risk in order to expand our sense of life and to realize our fullest human potential. In my artwork I keep myself open to ways of working in order to discover form, to embody emotion and to affirm harmony. Read more>>

Robnitia Weekley | Entrepreneur

Business is all about taking risks. You live, and you learn. I have made a lot of money and also lost a lot. But those losses are learning experiences, and they taught me what not to do. Focus on you and your craft. Don’t worry about the next person and what they’re doing because you won’t be able to tap into your full potential. The only person you should be in competition with is YOURSELF!!!!! Stop trying to one-up somebody else and one-up yourself. That will make you work harder and elevate your own craft! Read more>>

Helen Maiyu (@cozymaiyu) | Twitch streamer, content creator, & tufter

Taking risks in my life/career has allowed me to experience and open doors that I initially didn’t think were possible. If I didn’t take risks, I know I’d always wonder “what if?”. Read more>>

Alberto de la Portilla | Risk Advisor, Entrepreneur, and Freelance Writer

Risk is part of everyday life. It’s all around us. Trying to eliminate risk completely from life is a futile effort. You have to learn how best to manage it. Taking risks brings out the best in us, challenges us to figure out solutions on how to manage it while pursuing what we want, whether it’s to scale a mountain or double your business’ profits in a short period of time. Read more>>

Crystal Fenton Yoga Instructor, Author, Writer | I am an E-RYT®200 YACEP® certified Yoga Instructor, Author of The Healing Power of the Pineal Gland: Exercises and Meditations to Detoxify, Decalcify, and Activate Your Third Eye Chakra & Freelance Writer

Taking a risk can be scary, yet the rewards are worth it. I truly believe everything happens for a reason. In my book, I wrote on this topic; in my previous role as a full-time beauty magazine editor, I was afraid to take the risk/leap into freelance life. Yet, when timing aligned and the magazine I previously worked at folded, almost at the same time I completed my yoga instruction certification, I was ‘forced’ into taking the risk. Becoming — and maintaining — a sustainable career as an entrepreneur/self-employed is something I never would have done had I not taken risks. Read more>>

Jessie Castillo | Cook, Traditions and artist

If you don’t take the risk you will never know if is what you really need and want; moreover, when I take a risk I make sure that I keep in the same path to give it a fare shot. My whole adult life have been about take risks, is just part of my personality Read more>>

Prahasi Kacham | Product Delivery Sr. Manager

I have always been. a risk taker and live by the philosophy that “at least I have to try”. I truly have always believed that without risk, there is no reward. My story was filled with risks. Whether they were professional or personal risks, they made me who I am today. Recently, I took the biggest risk of my life and it hopefully is setting me up for the future. Read more>>

Kevin Kistner | Executive Sous Chef and CEO of TasteInfusion.

Taking risks is an essential part of living- without risks we stay in our comfort zone and there is no growth or development there. Taking the risk to start my business was daunting, being that I was investing 100% of my own savings and the food industry is quite fickle. There is the thought of “what if I fail?” However, that’s when I have to remind myself of the reason I started in the first place and focus more on the “what if it’s a success?” Read more>>