How do you think about risk? What role has taking risks played in your life/career? Check out responses from hidden gems from our community below.

Bri & Kellye Potts & O’Kelly

Risk has been a turning point at several stages of our lives. Choosing to pursue interior design as a profession, building a reputation largely through word of mouth, starting Honed Studio – all of these were risks. At the time, none of them came with certainty, but each decision opened doors we wouldn’t have reached otherwise. In hindsight, risk has played the role of catalyst. It’s pushes us out of comfortable situations and into spaces where we’ve had to innovate, stretch creatively, and trust ourselves. Some risks don’t unfold as expected, but even those teach resilience and sharpen our judgment. Read More>>

Dr. Nancy

As a first generation, low income student, I took my biggest risk when I decided to go to college. I was unprepared academically, financially and emotionally. I had a lot of ambition and desire but it wasn’t the only traits I needed. I gambled on my future, and I had no idea if it would pay off. As a consequence of my uncalculated risk, my journey through college and into my first professional job was terribly difficult, expensive and painful. Read More>>

Lena M. Johnson

I actually started my career as a scientist, not a writer. I grew up wanting to be a paleontologist, so I studied biology in college. That career didn’t pan out due to some hard conversations and a couple choices (although I did get to volunteer as a fossil preparator for a while!). Maybe if I’d taken a risk on a poorly paying career with few job openings, I would be answering this question differently. But I didn’t. I have some regrets because of course I do, but I don’t regret my life. The scariest thing about risk is regret, and I don’t want to regret. I choose to look to the future, not the past. Read More>>