The capacity to take risk is one of the biggest enablers of reaching your full potential and so we want to create a space where risk-takers can come together to talk about how they’ve developed their capacity for risk taking.

Tori Rivera

Taking risk can sound like such a negative when it’s really where most people have found the most success. I was raised, among many things, that we as people have to figure life out for ourselves, and no one is going to come save you. That life is tough, and it takes a lot to succeed. And as much as your upbringing can teach you, each of us have to figure out different levels of life on our own. Life really becomes about the safe, easier choice or the harder, riskier ones. Read More>>

Zander Holefield

I believe it’s better to try something and go with whatever is thrown at you than to not try something and regret it the rest of your life. Read More>>

Ana Vázquez-Landeros

I believe it began as a teenager when, at the literal last minute, I accepted the offer to attend my dream music school.

I severely struggled to make that decision because I was scared to leave behind the comfort of my small hometown and the possibility of not meeting academic expectations. At the time, my training was quite limited for pursuing a major in writing music instead of clarinet performance which was expected from my high school career. Accepting the offer, despite fear of failure, ended up being the best decision of my life. Read More>>

J’nez Thomas

through highly structured environments like the military, airport, and government sectors where risk aversion was the norm, and the stakes were often life or death. It was a sink-or-swim situation that pushed me to break free from that rigid mindset and embrace calculated risks in other aspects of my life. Read More>>

Fancy Jones

One thing I live by is, “We only get one life. So do exactly what you can while you are here.”. I am most def a risk taker. I mean I literally up and left my city of Houston one day and moved to a hotel to pursue acting in Detroit for a year, which eventually led me to Atlanta awards. I’m literally on the move chasing a dream that I’m going to catch. I had no plan but I knew what I wanted to do. It just took me to move to make it happen. Read More>>

Laura Zander

Growing up as a latchkey kid in Raleigh, North Carolina, I learned early that if I wanted something, I had to make it happen myself! One of my first big motivations? Ice cream cones from McDonald’s. At just 26 cents, they felt within reach—but finding a full quarter was a challenge!

One day, a neighbor asked if I could help carry her groceries. When I finished, she handed me a quarter, and in that moment, something clicked—I could earn what I needed. That small realization sparked a bigger mindset shift, and soon I was knocking on doors, offering to help with anything I could. I heard “no” more times than I could count, but every so often, someone said “yes,” and that was enough to keep me going. Read More>>

Wendy Crim

I have never wanted to be satisfied with a “normal ” life. It didn’t take me long to come to the realization that I wouldn’t be happy within the confines if a corporate structure. To me life is about experiences rather than acquisitions. Once I realized no one would hand that to me, I started working on getting it myself. Read More>>

Isaac Huerta

In 2023, we decided to quit our jobs and chose Smashed-Up as a full time career. This was not an easy decision. We started this company when we were just 19 years old. We just turned 21 about 3 weeks ago. Being young in the small business community has been difficult at times. Some people may not take us seriously because of our age.  Read More>>

Richard Sparks

My biggest risk was taking a job on short notice and moving 3 hours away from everything and everything I’ve ever know.

Since then the risks seem a lot easier. It allowed me to take the biggest risk of my life by giving up a close to six figure income 10 years ago to pursue my dream. I started training with just one client twice a week. Read More>>

 Snehesh

I feel I can best answer this through an analogy. In Hindustani classical music, which is my primary musical background, we are improvisers constantly taking leaps of faith. We often attempt to execute spontaneous musical phrases three times (a sort of magic number in this tradition) that must resolve on a very specific beat in the rhythmic cycle — a moment that feels like “coming home.” Read More>>

Pyro Lucain

I developed the skill of taking risk, is because I was tired of playing it safe and watching things go by me thinking that I was going to come to me, so as the old saying goes “no risk no reward.” Read More>>