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.

Mansi Joshi | Travel Facilitator & Marketing Consultant

My life is all about risk-taking, both personally and professionally. I moved from India to Canada and then from Canada to the USA, I felt that the USA would meet my needs. I moved to the USA just one year before the COVID-19 crisis hit. Every time I take a risk, it feels like I may be in a Mercury retrograde, but having a positive outlook, a never-quit approach, and taking healthy and calculated risks keep me moving forward. Read more>>

Rita Bhasin | Fine Art artist

I’ve been risk averse for much of my life, which meant I was unhappy with my circumstances. Woke up one bright day, and decided it was time for change! That’s the basis of risk – change. I quit my career as a project manager, and threw myself full time into the making of art. I took classes at Arapahoe Community college, Art Students League of Denver and workshops with amazing artists and studied books on artists I love. Painting and drawing has been a first love since I was little, and here I am, living the life I’ve always wanted and doing what I love best. Read more>>

Amanda Vagnino Bartczak | Realtor

The ebbs and flows of real estate are innately risky and often out of our control, but I do believe that by holding strong ethical values and connecting, business will thrive. Read more>>

Denzel Ortega | Tattoo artist & owner of BLVCK Cathedral Tattoo

When it comes to risk, especially in the tattoo industry you have to analyze a million and one outcomes and how each one can effect your future. Yet, at the same time you must know how to follow your heart and best instincts to reach your goals in not only life but in your career. When it comes to my life, risk has had a substantial role in every move I’ve made. From the ups and downs, I’ve learned when the best moment to take a risk is and when it came down to it, taking my career in my own hands from the get go was the best decision I’ve made. I took a risk, i taught myself everything I know and I’m very proud to say my career has been structured and created all from my hard work, dedication and my strength to not let anyone tell me I can’t do what my heart knows it can. Read more>>

Jennifer Carmack | Fort Collins Artist & Somatic Embodiment Practitioner

I think of risk in terms of trusting myself. How do I feel about the decision and direction I am taking? Does it make me feel expansive, excited and curious? Do I feel anxious, dense and in my head? Feeling myself out for the right risk is a practice I have used in my career and business. Even if an opportunity is a big risk but I feel curious about it, win or loose, it is worth the experience of it. Over the years I have practiced building the relationship to my process and my knowing what my yeses and my no’s feel like in my body.  Read more>>

T$unami811 | Rapper, Producer & Engineer

Risks are important in pursuit of achieving/attaining more for yourself and those around you. I believe risk looks different for everyone and it’s important to take risks that make sense based on your relationship to yourself. By that I mean relationship to your mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and financial circumstances. There are risks I’ve taken where I didn’t necessarily have the right financial circumstances, but I knew that my mental, physical, emotional and spiritual were all aligned so I wasn’t too worried about the finances. In risk based experiences things will get hard, but I believe in the toughest moments your true character is revealed. Without the risks I’ve taken I wouldn’t be so secure about my success. Risks are a measure of dedication to what I’m doing and the people I doing it with. Read more>>

Tiffany Hopkins | Innovation Strategist, Researcher & Medium

I’ve been thinking about this lately as I’m at an inflection point in my business. I feel growth coming! So I can get there, do I need to take more risk? Bigger risk? It led me to get specific about what I even consider risk. I realized that the riskiest things I’ve ever done for my business from an outside perspective didn’t feel like a risk. Maybe this means I’m not taking big enough risks? I think about when I moved to a country I’ve not seen for a job or when I funded my graduate degree using balance transfers and part-time work. Read more>>

Alise Versella | Poet and Author

I’m not one for dangerous risks, but taking the opportunity that scares you or you feel doesn’t fit you, often expands your horizons and opens you up to even better opportunities. The things you get to do and achieve and the people you meet along the way prove worthwhile. Read more>>