There is a wealth of academic research that suggests that differences in risk appetite are at the heart of differences in career and business trajectories. We wanted to go beyond the theory and ask real people from the community about their perspectives and experiences with risk and risk taking.

Michael Oliva | Composer & Recording Artist

No risk, no reward. This is something I truly believe. There is no creative field without risk, and while risking things doesn’t guarantee success, doing nothing or never taking chances absolutely guarantees failure. Read more>>

Bradley Schultz | Music Producer/Engineer and Singer for “The Corrupted Hearts”

I grew up with Baby Boomer parents that told me i could do anything I wanted to. So as a young person in my 20’s I took a lot of risks. I had zero fear of failure. After suffering a lot of losses I started to understand that risk taking can’t be careless. It has to calculated. Once I made the adjustment and started taking smarter risks, things started to work in my favor. But most people are not raised with a safety net. Most people I assume are not conditioned to be risk takers at a young age. You have to bet on yourself to win big in life, but it doesn’t mean you have to be stupid about it. Read more>>

Kirsten Oviedo | Vintage Market Host

It’s always important to define terms and here I’d like to say that the thoughts I share after this are for risks…not mindless gambles. A risk is just the cost of taking an opportunity, and those costs should always be counted. I think that risks are good and healthy things to engage in on occasion, but they should always be taken given ones past experience and carefully measuring all the known factors. Read more>>

Antoine Price

Risks taking is what helps define your success and foundation. Without taking the risks I have in my life, I would have never been able to find my passion or venture into my own business with the mindset and different skill sets I’ve learned along the way. I’ve taken risk in many different jobs and avenues that have all led me to utilize what I’ve learned today in the business I’m pursuing and currently growing in. Read more>>

Sarah Chahy

About 10 years ago I just purchased a travel van. My crazy idea was that I was going to sell everything and live in the van (trust me – this was way before vanlife was cool and took over Instagram). I decided if I was going to live in my van I needed to sell most everything I owned. One day I noticed my neighbor across the street was having a garage sale. I had never met her, but she looked cool enough, so I strolled over, introduced myself and asked if I could sell some of my things at her sale. She said yes, of course, and we started talking. As an absolute animal lover, I, of course, noticed her two adorable cats in the window.  Read more>>