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.

Meghann Fletcher | Meghann Fletcher | Model By Day, Nurse By Night

I think taking risks is a must! In order to grow in life, whether it be mentally, physically or spiritually, you have to take risks in order to level up. Risks get you out of your comfort zone, and if you’re uncomfortable, you WILL grow. Taking risks has helped me so much in my life. For example, when I started college, I was a physical therapy major. One night, I just had a feeling that nursing was the right path for me and I switched my major right then and there and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Nursing has challenged me in every way and I have grown so much because of it. It has taught me how to handle so many human interactions and situations in my life. Another example of risk taking is when I decided to walk in a runway show for New York Fashion Week. Never in my life did I think I would do something so bold. I had no experience walking runway and barely any in modeling but I said to myself, “you have this opportunity, so go for it!!!”. You never know what will come from the risks you take. Even though I was not the best runway model, I met so many amazing people, I conquered my fears, and it helped to advance my modeling career. Read more>>

Beth Lynch | Mind, Body, Spirit Educator, Author, Intuitive

There are different perspectives in risk. One is fear based risk. Where every worse case scenario is put in front of it. This can hold you back for weeks, months even decades,from living in true happiness. Second is faith based. When the unshakable feeling of excitement, and confidence flows through you. You see it in your imagination, you feel it in your cells. And you follow it!. Read more>>

Maria Fernandez | Artist, Designer

I think risk is necessary in life. It has the power to move you forward or backwards, and it’s this movement that allows you to overcome your greatest fears, regroup and lift yourself up, and push yourself to your highest potential. My life, as well as my art, has been fraught with risk, but it has greatly defined me and strengthened me as a person and as an artist.
There have been 3 transcendental risks that I have taken in my life and they define who I am. They were worth taking. Read more>>

Melissa Mosheim | Boutique Owner of MVM Miami

Risk is something that you’re always going to be exposed to as a business owner. I think that the most important thing to know is that you’ll have to take some risks in order to succeed. Some will be worth it and some won’t, but its the knowledge that you get along the way that’s the most important lesson. Read more>>

J.Odell Also know as Jamie Johnson | Media Production & Creative

Risk are key elements to growth. Every successful person I have met or aligned with take risk. I used to look at risk and failure like it would be the end of the world but truly they are opportunities to learn and/or grow. I remember when I contemplated starting my first business. I depended on its success financially to pay my bills at bare minimum. Therefore, the option was to either believe in myself or get a 9 to 5 again. The risk was if I believed in myself enough and gave this business my all (physically/financially) would I be successful? Turned out that I took the risk of believing in myself and the business failed. What I gained from taking that risk was an experience of a lifetime, which was every lesson I needed to start my next business venture. Read more>>

Debora Rosental | Fiber Artist

I was born in Argentina where I studied Biochemistry and Pharmacy. During my professional career I took many risks knowing they were the only path to growth. With each opportunity presented to me, I considered what could be learned from the experience. From working at hospitals to pursuing my Phd or considering my own private practice, I always had weaving as my hobby. Emigrating to the United States with my husband and kids in 2001 was one of the biggest risks I ever took. It was a new start, new culture, new lifestyle. It was hard but worth the effort. When I look back at the early years of immigration I ask myself: how did we make it? Not long ago I decided to take another risk by creating my own brand for my handwoven products : Aieka Hand Woven Elements. The whole branding process was enriching, and putting the purpose of my brand into words was amazing. Read more>>

Kia Redman | Artist

My entire existence is a risk. I am a young, black, queer, woman living in the Caribbean. My youth means I’m underestimated, my skin means I’m racially profiled outside of my country, my sexuality means I’m sexually profiled inside of it and I’m a woman, which seems to come with problems no matter where you are in the world. These risks were not my choice yet I proudly take them every day. One might think that would make me risk-averse in other aspects of my life, yet I’ve found that conscious risk-taking is another part of who I am. My career as it now stands would not exist without the risks I’ve taken. My entire creative process depends on risk. I get bored when I know how to do something. For me, the thrill of creation comes from conquering the unknown. Every time I have a new idea or start a new project, it’s always something new that challenges and frustrates me. I find that when I master a medium or a technique there are fewer opportunities for creative problem solving and more than that, fewer opportunities for failure. Read more>>

T. Ryan Mooney | Stuntman & Stunt Coordinator, Your Favorite Action Director in The Future.

As a stuntman and stunt coordinator, I think of risk as a exposure. To me risk is not just making sure I can meet my budget goals every month, it’s also considering what physical danger I am putting myself and my coworkers in when we take on each project. I see our job as exciting the audience with something they haven’t seen before and take them on a vicarious roller coaster ride. To do that we have to set up film sequences that take on a tangible amount of risk exposure to accomplish. Being a professional means knowing when, where, and how much that exposure is tolerable, when to fake the risk factor, and giving our best performance under the knowledge of risk. No shot is worth ending up in the hospital, but we are tasked with stepping closer to the danger than an the average person. It’s a small zone and takes focus and awareness to get right, which is a skill you have to experience to learn. Read more>>

Andres Aguilar | Floral and Event Designer

In my personal experience I would had not succeed if I had not taking risks. I believe to be successful in business or anything you want to achieve in life you have to take risks, and not be afraid. Risks are bridges you build to get to the top; fear is a chain that won’t let you grow. Read more>>

Jaliyah Nobles | Entrepreneur & Creator of Juiced by Jaliyah

I believe that taking risks is an essential part of life. You cannot move through life without taking risks or making risky decisions. I think that great reward comes with taking risks. It is often said that the greater the risk, the greater the reward. I completely stand by that statement. I believe that taking risks can propel you to achieve the greatest success. Personally, taking risks has changed my life for the better. Just about every time that I have had to make a risky decision, I came out a better woman on the other end of it. Throughout my life, I believe that the risky choices that I’ve made have pushed me to wonderful experiences. The biggest risk that I have taken up to this point was starting my business late last year. While making the choice to become an entrepreneur was a risky and difficult choice, I have never been happier. I feel extremely blessed and fulfilled to have a business that helps women look and feel confident, and I enjoy leaving an impact on women and being an inspiration to many. Read more>>

Amanda Stein | Hair Stylist/Colorist

Every decision you make has some type of risk factor. Depending where you are in life and your situation is how you determine how much risk you are willing to take on. One thing I have found to be true, even if it is cliche, is that with great risk comes great rewards. If you are looking for a bigger payoff there is often more risk involved. I am a new businesses owner. I calculate every decision I make for risk. Interestingly enough, I have always been fearful of the unknown, I don’t like gambling or taking risks unless I am sure of the outcome. I think about so many missed opportunities in my past because I was too scared of the risk involved. I’ve had opportunities before to have my own business and have passed up on what could have been an amazing opportunity. Read more>>

Noel A. Zapata | Entrepreneur and Connector

Their is no such a failure, only feedback. Their a was a really Great man you may have accepted created the light bulb and it was him sharing that while doing so it wasn’t 10,000 failures, but just that amount of times of being closer to finding out what didn’t work and what does. That is why I share with others being friends with many other entrepreneurs who have made their millions and then some, and sharing my own experiences to that by impacting others and where they end up possibly because of the above. Their is no Failure, only feed back. Pivot and Adjusting. And in this alone their is many other ways In Mindset Noel can go, to give people those tools essential to manifesting what was once only a idea or a dream, now. Read more>>

Rachel Kaplan | CEO, H-PROOF

I started out wanting to be an attorney, and it wasn’t until just before graduating from law school that I realized it wasn’t the right career for me. When I thought about what my life might look like in 5-10 years, I knew that I’d be happier following in my family’s entrepreneurial footsteps. So, instead of joining a law firm and continuing on the path of the practice of law, I joined a startup to learn how to build a business from the ground up. Leaping from law firms to high-growth startups was a massive career shift, and a decision that was scary to make. On the sliding scale of risk, being an attorney scores fairly low. Working for startups and starting a business, score much, much higher. Once I made that choice, though, it no longer felt risky; it felt right. I worked for other people at other companies for several years, and at some point it actually felt riskier to continue doing that versus starting my own thing. At that point, I knew I was ready for the next leap. Read more>>

Ainsley Sheppard | Entrepreneur /Mum /The Cream Queen

The desire to pursue a dream has always outweighed the risk for me. There has never been a choice. If I envision something, and I will try my absolute best to bring it to life. I’m driven by passion and fueled by community. That’s my “jam”. Read more>>

Surbhee Grover | Entrepreneur, Strategy Consultant & Storyteller

Should I, shouldn’t I? – A question that haunts anyone contemplating change. If things are decently comfortable, should I really be looking to make a drastic change? In answering this question, I’ve found it best to look inward. Social norms and consequences only provide noise and distractions. The one thing that helps provide me clarity, is asking myself a different question: “If I didn’t do it, would I regret it?” That’s my litmus test. And if honestly answered, the writing is on the wall as to whether the risk is worth taking. Taking risks has played a huge part in ensuring I live a life without regrets. It doesn’t mean it’s easy (far from it!) to gamble everything you have (and more) – whether it was moving from Delhi to NY with little/ no resources and where I had no family, or quitting an incredible job in London and leaving a career path I’d worked so hard for, or walking away from a relationship which wasn’t all I wanted – the definition of risk is that you may lose it all, and that makes it incredibly hard to walk away from what you have today. But there is no growth without taking that gamble. And no new possibilities, without the pain. Read more>>

Orlando ( Landlord Miller | International Gospel Artist and Radio / Tv Host

i feel risk is a part of success . most folks never succeed because they were afraid to a take risk or fail . but the question is what if you took a risk and made it ? then that what you feared most now has became a dream come true . Growing up i had a low self esteem and was afraid of taking risk because of the mind set and the information that was taught to me . but after meeting dr myles munroe and the teachings he taught us about the kingdom wrecked my old thought process i got confident and started believing in myself to the point that risk was another word for faith . so nothing i wanted i felt was unreachable to me . i took major risk from becoming a employee to an employer running numerous business , from a follower into a leader , from timid to confident . so i recomend every individual who desire to be great to be ready to take great risk. Read more>>

Salomé Camargo | Singer

I feel that the world is made for risking people, and It’s important to get out of your comfort zone to accomplish something that you’ve always dreamed of. One of the biggest risk in my life has been running away of my hometown to further scale my project. This meant leaving my family, school, friends and my customs as well. Even tough I was a 13 I decided to understand that this radical decision would be part of my process to fulfill this dream, and actually I dont regret at all, these risks have taken me where I am now. Read more>>

Gabrielle, Jonathan Card, Gaspard | KÓCURE | Owner

We feel that taking a risk is necessary for growth in business and in life. If you had not taken a risk in starting our company we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to help so many people with our products. We continue to take a risks with our business by coming up with new products and testing them in the market, some of them work and some of them don’t but if we didn’t try how would we know and then be able to grow. Read more>>

Megan Wilson | Coffeeshop Owner, Educator and Culinarian

Taking risks is necessary for growth. If you want to be better at anything you have to give up something in return, whether it be your time, energy or resources. It’s an inevitable part of growing. For anyone with big ambitions and dreams, this is something you will need to learn quickly. Risks can be scary, but if you change the narrative and tell yourself that it is necessary, it can seem a lot easier to overcome the fear of it. We often psych ourselves out and make our fears a lot bigger than they actually are. I find that accepting the change and taking responsibility for what comes after the risk is taken, makes it a lot easier to face them head on. Practicing taking risks has taught me to act in wisdom, think things through, know my best case sinario but have my plan if all fails. Most importantly, taking risks has taught me that I will mess up sometimes, but that’s also a part of the process – learn my lesson and continue moving. Risk taking in my career plays the role of keeping me on my toes. Read more>>

Patricia Gil | Art Director & UX/UI Designer

I think risk-taking is present at different levels of our lives. When I think about it, I see it in the moments when I evaluate where I am, and what kind of direction I want to take. It usually starts by identifying an area of discomfort or a comfort zone I want to address. If I let my intuition and experience take the lead, the best ideals scenarios will pop in my mind. I like to see risk-taking as the opportunity to evolve, give the space to new perspectives, and think outside the box. Let me share an example about this, a few years ago, I started noticing as a designer and as a resident of Miami-Dade County, a hunger for branding and digital solutions. Through the years, I’ve been observing that local businesses truly make an effort to develop a brand experience, besides just selling a product or service. However, as a consumer/citizen/user, I’ve been in situations wanting to find an app that can support me on ‘x’ or ‘y’ scenario, feeling incredibly frustrated, and here is where my risk-taking comes to life. Read more>>

Tim Watson | Guitarist and Composer

I think I’ve really learned the most from jumping into really unknown territory, biting off way more than I can chew, and just pretending I know what I’m doing. My first experiences with putting together performances as a leader and composer were all disastrous in one way or another, and I used to regret those experiences, but now I’ve I appreciate the value of making mistakes. It’s pretty hard to learn anything as an artist if you don’t take risks. Read more>>