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.

Skye Prentice | Filmmaker & Photographer

I think that my perception of risk taking is a little different as a woman, because we’re taught that women going after what they want is inherently riskier than a man going after what he wants. Despite this, or maybe even because of it, I’ve always jumped at opportunities to take risks, and I always learn and grow from them, no matter the outcome. I think that being a gay woman has influenced my perception of risk as well – anyone who has come out knows that its something that you turn over in your head for a really long time, Read more>>

Sari Starr | Ceremonialist, Entrepreneur, Author, Plant-Medicine Alchemist, Product Developer, Integration Mentor

I mean my whole business has been built on risk. Even before I was working with plant-medicines I would take massive risks in my businesses. The thing is, “taking risks” is to me illusory b/c what is risk anyways? It’s just an act of saying I’m going to do something even if the odds aren’t in my favor. And yet the odds are always in my favor, if it doesn’t go the way that I planned then I was delusional in the first place to believe I had any control. Read more>>

Danira Quintanar | Contemporary dance and circus artist

Risk taking. Deciding to dedicate myself to art was completely a risk with my family, I knew that it would be difficult to convince my parents of the importance of my profession and teach them that this is not a hobby, it was not something common in my family and environment, the risk here was to leave my career as a graduate in tourism and dedicate myself completely to the arts, pay for my classes, look for professionals who will constantly teach and update me, live in the inconsistency of having life insurance and being a freelancer without any support in terms of illness or injury. Read more>>

Melanie Madden | Realtor, 8z Real Estate

What I have learned about myself through my adult life and in hindsight, what I learned when I was younger, is that there is not reward in life that doesn’t first involve risk. In order to truly connect to something that I am passionate about – growing and loving a family, building a career, developing a hobby – I must first be vulnerable. I must try something new, make mistakes and learn from those mistakes in order to thrive. In my career as a real estate professional, not only did I take a risk to embrace a profession that was new to me, Read more>>

Brady Pitt | Chef/Owner

No risk, no reward! Read more>>

Heather Toth | Owner Mojo’s Coffee

My background is pretty scrappy. I come from a poor working family and a pretty rough childhood. I had a daughter when I was nineteen, and have raised her on my own in a single-income household for the majority of her life. This background didn’t set me up well foundationally, but it did position me to see risk as a friend. It’s much easier to take big risks when you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Read more>>

Carol Mier | Fashion designer / collector of beautiful, unusual fabrics

Designing fashions, restyling garments & sewing has always come natural for me so it really wasn’t hard to pursue that for a living. Keeping a 9 – 5 job & being on time & doing the work exactly one way was very difficult for me because my mind works creatively with ideas & images. I feel I have to put these designs into a garment. It is a PULL I have that drive me to continue. Read more>>

Brit Cole | Realtor, Photographer, & Doula

Taking risks is no simple task. It feels like you have to go against every fiber of your being when taking risks. I think we tend to associate risk with loss, when in fact I think it can be the opposite. I think having a sense of “loss” when taking risks stems from a fear based response. It’s scary to take the leap but falling is the easy part. Once you let go and stop getting in your way, amazing things can happen. I think we take risks every day but we tend to measure them differently based on our comfort levels. Once you get out of your comfort zone, you can be anyone or anything you want to be and that’s when the real magic happens. Read more>>