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.

Jo Brock | Photographer

Generally in my life, when it comes to taking risks, I play things safe. Risk taking feels scary to me and I think about all the “what if’s” and what will happen if I make the wrong choice? This tendency has definitely been the case for my photography business as well. Keeping things easy and comfortable has been my jam. The issue with this though, is there isn’t much growth that comes in keeping things safe and comfortable. Read more>>

Kristen Massinburg | Make Up Artist & Future Esthetician

I think risk taking is the main reason why I was able to start my business. If I didn’t take any risks, I would still be in Shreveport, LA. I took a risk to move to Dallas and start doing makeup professionally. I then took a risk to get a job at MAC, with no past beauty job experience besides my own work. I then left MAC to work for myself after 2 years of working there. I feel if you do not take risks you will be stagnant and I refuse to allow myself so that. Read more>>

Lindsay Kline | President, Sakline | Host, By the Books Podcast

Every successful entrepreneur has become comfortable with risk, to at least some degree. Starting and maintaining a business is inherently risky. I have high risk tolerance and that is probably because I have intentionally determined to fail more, knowing that I will learn more from my failures than I will from my successes. The most successful people in the world have been propelled by a string of failures. Read more>>

Alan Mercer | Professional Portrait Artist

Risk taking has played an important and constant role in my career from day one. Virtually every move I made was a risk. I started my web site in 1997 with the hope that someone from Los Angeles would discover me and have me photograph them and that is what happened. That someone turned out to be Academy Award winning Director, James Moll. He then hired me to come to Los Angeles and photograph Steven Spielberg. Read more>>

Leisa Robotham-Reid | Dentist and Owner of Lakewood Dental Studio

I am no stranger to risk taking, especially when it comes to my career. Each risk I took terrified me more than the last, but the one thing I always told myself was that I had to keep going. No matter how scared I was, I never let it stop me from taking a risk. Mostly, these risks have worked out as I would have wished, but even when they didn’t necessarily end up the way I had planned, I learned valuable lessons from the experience. Read more>>

Tricia Lindsey | Content Creator

I believe that taking risks is one of the greatest ways we can grow in life. It’s so easy to sit back and stay comfortable where you’re at in life, but it’s one of the best feelings to accomplish something that once scared you. For me, Tricia’s Table is a mix of building relationships with restaurants, and most recently a way to promote my charcuterie boards. Read more>>

Charity Meregini – Medical Scribe & Entrepreneur | Timothy Abengowe | Engineer & Entrepreneur

As young adults, we tend to take more risks. I think risks are necessary for personal development. Whether we endure a successful or unsuccessful risk, we are able to learn and strategize for the future. Risk has definitely allowed me to be more open minded and versatile, especially when it comes to business, school, and relationships. Read more>>

Madison Paige | Hairdresser & Singer/Songwriter

When it comes to Risk Taking I feel like that’s my middle name. As a hairdresser life is about taking risks. Well calculated risks. I graduated from Cosmetology school in Dallas back in March of 2021. I was quickly at a battle with myself on wether or not I should go Commission Based OR Booth Rent. I looked at the fact that I was coming straight out of school with zero clientele. I feel this is something every hairdresser battles at least once in their career. Read more>>

Lauren Roth | Licensed Esthetician, Lash Artist and permanent makeup artist

To me, Risk can be an up and down emotional roller coaster. When you want to take a risk for a hopeful outcome you get over whelmed by thoughts of will this work out, but you will never know unless you do it. I took huge risks that were big changes for me. I moved away from my hometown, my mom and my dad at 18. Only a month after graduating high school I moved to Louisiana from Fort Myers, Florida to go to esthetics school. After Graduating from esthetics, I then moved to Dallas, Texas at 19 by myself. Those risks were the best decisions I could have made to be in the position I am today. It will be scary and new, but it is always worth it ! Read more>>

Joey Johnson | Stand up comic

I feel dumb saying this but any good joke worth telling there is a risk involved. I’m not talking about punching down, but if a joke feels too safe, or too agreeable is it even really a joke? Jokes aren’t facts, while most are based in some sense of truth any good joke has to have some absurdity behind it. Meaning it gets laughs because of its state of ridiculousness or being unreasonable to some extent and sometimes there is a risk in unveiling that. Read more>>

Tjay Johnson | Model/Actor and Nutrition Coach

Risk taking is what separates the average from the un-average . People have to understand in order to achieve your goals you have to step outside of your Comfort zone and take a risk if you want to be successful Read more>>

Gwendolyn Perez | 23 years old, Dallas, Tx, represented by ICON Studios

Risk can be challenging and scary, only because you don’t know the outcome, but it can also be rewarding because you expose yourself to new things. It’s important to take risks while you’re young because every risk you take comes with more experience. Embracing failure, however big or small, can help tell our next move, so the next time we take a risk, we’re one step closer to success. Read more>>

Ketan Nashit | Social Media Marketer

I am a firm believer that taking risks helps you learn and move forward in life. I wouldn’t be working in the marketing field today if I wouldn’t have decided to leave my comfortable job in just 11 months. A risky decision but it turned out to be a good one. A little bit about my background, I hail from a small village near Jamnagar. I have studied Electronics and Communication engineering. A field that is far far away from what I am doing today- marketing. Read more>>

Leslie Lutz | Author

The biggest risk you take as a writer is rejection. It wears at you over time and makes you question yourself as an artist and as a person. Before HarperCollins published FRACTURED TIDE, I’d received over a hundred rejections from agents on three other manuscripts. Ouch. My favorite email rejection was a single word: “pass.” Some rejections hurt more than others, but each time I got up, dusted myself off, Read more>>

Crystal Gonzales | National Advertising Sales Executive & Business Owner

Who starts a business in January 2020?! Well, that’s exactly what my husband and I did. Without knowing what the year was to bring, we took a big leap of faith by launching an art installation company called, Art Detail (www.artdetailco.com). We work with award-winning Interior Designers from across DFW and Texas, and projects that take us to every corner of the US. Starting a company in early 2020 was the biggest risk that had the biggest reward. Dallas was the perfect place to start our business! Read more>>

Desy Smith | Publisher & Social Media Editor

There’s a saying, “without risk there’s no reward.” For your business to succeed, you, the business owner have to take that chance. There have been plenty of times where I had to trust someone else advice, go back to school, rely on the assistance of others, or use my savings as a way to fund my dream and I do not regret any of it. Those risks paid off and made my business the success it is now. Read more>>

Elisha Hamilton | Licensed Esthetician

Esthetics hasn’t always been popular in every stare, but now it’s very popular all around the world. The summer of 2019 I was torn between graduate school and esthetician school. Everyone thought I was insane for choosing esthetics over getting my MBA. I was already in corporate America, but the ultimate goal was to always start a business doing what I love. Read more>>

Magda Ivette Trujillo | CEO & Founder

In life (at least for me) it’s all about taking chances or risks! I’ve always believed in taking risks with my career and goals in life. If you don’t, you’ll never know what could have been. I don’t like to be complacent or stagnant in life. That’s one reason, why I take risks., e.g. with leaving a job, it’s always for something better that will help me advance in my career. However, I always analyze everything and pray to God about it before anything. Read more>>

Achelle Joseph | Custom crystal jewelry designer and Tarot Card reader

In my experience, having an immense amount of faith allowed me to take risks most would be afraid of. I quit a pretty stable job with no plan in mind because I knew the plan God had for me was beyond my realm of thinking at that time. There would be inconveniences, and struggles, but as long as I held strong to my faith in God, my ancestors, and this beautiful vast universe I knew the possibilities for me were limitless. Read more>>

Laura Ortiz | Sign Maker

I grew up seeing my parents always take risk but I always liked playing it safe. I started working in the sign industry at the age of 18 and I worked for a small company for over 10 years where I learned all aspects of running a small sign business. I started my small business while working there and in January 2021 after spending so much time at home during the pandemic I realized I needed to leave my 9 to 5, to work on growing my own business and most importantly spend more time with my family. I was nerve wrecking at first, Read more>>