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.

Lolo deHaas | Fine Artist, & skier

Before I began to pursue an art career I was a full time skier within the industry (still am just in a different role now). Everyday was test in risk evaluation and commitment. I have had surgeries and injuries that have shown me both sides of pushing the risk factor. I have had injuries that have taken away from my art, but it was also an injury that forced me to take the time to allow myself to delve deep into my artist creations. The risk of becoming a professional artist has been harder in many ways than just making the decision to test a new jump or feature. Read more>>

Brianna Amigo | Founder & Lead Designer of Brianna Michele Interiors

I started my business in 2019 as a side hustle alongside by 9-5 corporate marketing job. No way did I think I would ever be able to step away from my corporate job and go all in on my business but just this past March, I took that risk and went for it. Taking risks are the reason why I am where I am today. I’m doing what I love and yes, hustling and working more than I ever have but it’s so much more rewarding when you’re working for yourself and directly helping others in return. Taking a risk is something we all owe to ourselves. See the opportunity through and if it doesn’t work out, that’s okay. You’ll aways walk away learning something and in my mind thats far more valuable than just letting an opportunity pass you by. Read more>>

Rebecca Roudman | Leader of the world traveling band Dirty Cello

Our current risk taking failure to success ratio is about 8 out of 10! My band Dirty Cello travels the world and makes a living playing our unique spin on blues, rock and Americana. Leading a band this unique, and making a living from it, has meant living in a world of risk-taking – and most of those risks pay off. My life as a professional musician started off in a very traditional sense. I went to middle school and high school where I played the cello, then went to college for music, and then started my career playing in San Francisco bay area orchestras. About a decade into an approved-of and fairly standard career, I had a desire to try something more. Read more>>

Priscilla Yu | Visual Artist

Risks are situations involving possibility of failure as well as a possibility of reward. You don’t know what you don’t know, and to me, shifting my viewpoint of failure as being negative, into failure as data towards my goals, has been a valuable way for me to learn and grow personally as well as in my career. Acknowledging that I’ve been privileged with friends, family, and a community who support/encourage me in taking risks, the leaps I’ve taken in my freelance art business have helped me shape the lifestyle and career of my dreams. Read more>>

Katie Larson | Master of Public Health- Community Behavioral Health, Master Certified Health Education Specialist & Certified Ethical Coach in Diabetes Care.

Risk seems to be the route I typically take. I think about risk not so much as the word ‘risk’ but as a trial. Something I am willing to attempt and if that attempt does not work, I will need to try again or find another way. In my life, risk has always been there. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on October 31st, 2000, at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and this has played a huge part in my life which and what sparked ‘Trials on the Trail.’ Trials on the Trails mission is to empower more people, especially those living with Type 1 Diabetes, to step confidently into the outdoors. When I was diagnosed there became another aspect of management and risk taking-, or as I would call it ‘trialing’, to see what works best and what does not. Read more>>

Serjio Gutierrez | Reiki Master & CBD/Cannabis Specialist & Content Creator

I love risks. There are certain levels of risks and some you want to stay away from. What I had to do us discern between comfortable and uncomfortable. I can have a 9-5 job and punch in and punch out, have a steady paycheck, and have a sense of security. However, at the end of the day, I was not fulfilled or living my highest potential. My purpose does not align with making other people money or achieving a quota to obtain a bottom line. Read more>>

Joanne Beaule Ruggles | Artist and Retired Univrsity Art Professor

Careful is Easy, Reckless is More Difficult. I know, I know…you think I have really lost it, don’t you? How could I possibly make such a statement? Because after a 55-year career as a professional artist and university art professor, I have found this to be true. If you wind yourself up tightly, use a small enough brush, erase often and aggressively, precisely position each mark, you can likely gain access to a reasonable but superficial likeness of the thing you chose to draw or paint. Read more>>

Malika Sengsavath | Owner, Avalanche Detailing

I think of taking risk as the chance to better myself and the opportunity to learn new things. The phrase “nothing in life worth having comes easy” has been a staple that I continue to live by. Taking risks has helped me gain confidence in anything I do because it shows me that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. Starting & managing a business while also being employed full time has been a test of perseverance and reflects passion in what I do. Read more>>

Eliana Alcocer | Cake decorator & Baker

When I think about risk taking, I think about how much your life can change. I think about how your whole life relies on a decision that impacts you as a person overall. Risk taking has always played a huge role in my life. However, it started to take a bigger and positive impact in my life when I was in middle school. I began taking risks with being in leadership groups, talking in front of big crowds, stepping out of my comfort zone. I realized I loved being social, I loved leading groups, I loved making an impact on many people at once or just one person. Once I began high school, I made sure I stayed making those risk taking choices. However, once I graduated high school COIVD 19 hit and I wasn’t sure where I was going with my life/career. Read more>>

Scott Houdek | Mountain Home Designer & Developer

Risk taking has always been a big part of my story. I’ve left comfortable jobs for new endeavors three times over my career. One failed. One worked. And the third one, well, I guess we will have to wait and see! But regardless of the ultimate outcome of this one, I have never regretted taking a risk because I have never known someone who achieved their dreams without it. Read more>>

Angel Johnson | ICONI CEO & Founder

I think risks are calculated leaps that can help your business grow. Taking risks in business is extremely difficult as a small business owner because of the lack of funding, resources, and experience. Although it has been difficult to take risks in my business, it has paid off because without risk, I would have never started a business, never launched multiple collections for my brand, and never would have progressed my business. Read more>>

Candis Lusk | Realtor- The Agency Denver

As Ginni Rometty once said, “Growth and comfort do not coexist.” From my earliest childhood memories, I have always been a risk taker! Growing up in competitive gymnastics, risk (and fear) were something I dealt with daily. Whether it was learning a new skill, with a higher risk of injury, or starting a new business venture in Real Estate, risk is not something I have ever shied away from. The sport of gymnastics really taught me to push my limits and to get comfortable doing things scared. I’ve taken those principal values I learned through competitive sports and have applied them into my real estate business practices! Read more>>

David Swartz | Painter

Risk is an unavoidable part of life. I think the idea of picking a risk free career, or avoiding risk in general is a myth. Covid certainly revealed how fragile our security is. That said, I definitely don’t take reckless gambles with my career or life. But there is a certain level of risk involved with being self employed that someone under contract or working for a firm doesn’t experience. I feel the biggest risks for me are how to invest my time and energy. Read more>>

Stephanie Hancock | US Air Force Veteran, Small Business owner, Citizen Servant

We take risks everyday simply by choosing to get out of bed. Everyday we have the opportunity to show up in the world honestly and with integrity. I trust God to direct my steps and my life has been filled with many challenges and many rewards. It hasn’t always been this way. It took me a while to realize that I have control over my destiny and not others. When I was younger I bought into the notion that you work a job for your whole life and if you do it well you will be secure. I stayed even when I was treated badly. Read more>>

Derek Pettus | Owner and Founder of Guardian Coffee Co.

Risk vs. Reward is definitely a real thing. I feel if you don’t take any risks at all, you will miss out on an exponential amount of life and opportunity. However, the same happens on the other end of the spectrum. If you take too many risks, you will lose either your life itself or the opportunities it will offer. I have many scars, have had many surgeries, etc. from the overly risky decisions of my youth. The older I get, the less I feel the need to take the overly risky path to my goals. You should never be afraid to take them, though. I just try to make sure that every move I make is purposeful and calculated, as growth simply does not happen in a comfort zone. Read more>>

Riley Wenger | Realtor & Real Estate Investor

I’ve always felt that we as humans typically regret the things we don’t do rather than the things we do that don’t go as planned. Inaction is one of the most common things the elderly dwell on, and for whatever reason, I thought about that early on in my life. I vowed I wouldn’t sit on my death bed and wish I had done more, or been more in my life. And so, I’ve always tried to do the things that called to me, but scared me. For example, right out of undergrad I moved to Spain. I didn’t know anyone else moving abroad or who lived in Spain, I didn’t speak Spanish, and I had never even been to Europe. Read more>>

Timmer Sam | Artist/Musician

Risk is an evaluation of probabilities, and probability always includes some ratio of all possible outcomes. This means no matter how big the risk is, there’s always a possibility for any outcome. Looking at risks in the creative world we’re talking mostly about how we spend our time and the ideas we present to others. Risk equals consequence for most people. The risk of creating outside ‘normal’ boundaries is the consequence of audience perception. The emotional context of the consequence relies largely on the artists perception of their audience. A two way street is created where the artist is risking the attention of the audience, and the audience is risking the work of the artist. Read more>>