In our experience, most folks, including ourselves don’t have enough of an understanding of risk and the role it plays in our lives and careers and so we have made a concerted effort as a team to have conversations about risk with our interviewees. We’ve shared some highlights below.

Vernesha Ruffin

Absolutely every decision we make is a risk. “Playing it safe” is a risk. “Following your dreams” is a risk. It’s all about making the choice of which risk you want to take. If I would not have taken the risk of picking up my phone and recording my first podcast episode because of fear, I’d still be trying to find my purpose. Taking the right risks has completely changed the entire trajectory of my life. It has changed how I view myself, how attainable the “unattainable” actually is, and taking it up a notch in my career without fear. Read More>>

Mohammad (Talal) Shaikh

Risk, to me, is less about recklessness and more about believing in yourself enough to pursue something others might hesitate to do—while still having the discipline to prepare for the worst. Taking risks has been the backbone of my career. It’s what pushed me to start Digital Dominance and it’s what drove me to take an even bigger leap: buying The Tech Guys, and betting everything I had on turning it around. Read More>>

CAMERRON BLOW

To be honest I was fed up. A lot of people that want change only reflect on words. I had the equipment, the idea all I needed to do was apply the effort. At this point taken a risk is really just called living . Read More>> 

Anushka Velala

I think of risks not as a danger, rather as an opportunity to create change. It’s definitely easier said than done, but my logic is that a finite amount of time exists. Given this fact, we might as well use this time to better systems and uplift people rather than being scared of a new reality. Fear stops change, so if given the choice it’s always better to ask those questions and attempt to make changes. Unless something changes about the way something is being done, then we can’t just expect systemic equity to just occur.  Read More>>

Erin Hanrahan

Personally, I am not a risk taker. It was very hard for me to quit everything and go after my dreams of starting a bakery. I like stability and starting a business is not the most stable career. After lots of prayer and talking with my close family and friends, I decided to take the risk and begin my bakery. Without this leap of faith, my business would not be going today. Read More>>