Shoot your shot? Take a chance? Society bombards us with messages, phrases, examples and stories of how taking risk is the key to success, but is anything ever that simple? We asked some of the brightest folks we know to tell us about how they think about risk. We’ve shared their responses below.

Maurice Buchanan | Personal Trainer and Gym Owner

Risk is a fortunate opportunity that we are lucky to execute and do not take for granted. To be in a position to take a chance on something that is so meaningful and can have such a positive impact on both your life and career is a rarity and what we work so hard for. There would be no Wurk gym if we didn’t take a risk. Banks turned us down, said we didn’t have a good enough business plan, or SWOT analysis. Read more>>

Aaron Spence | culture leader & tech enthusiast

The only way to lead a successful life is to continuously take risks. Risk requires you to look at the edge of your comfort zone and make a decision to step forward into an unknown. Often, we want to stay where we are and take the path of least resistance. Risk requires looking in the face of the uncertain and daring to take the road less traveled. My life and career greatly improved with every risk I took. Read more>>

DJ Lantz | Founder & CEO, Cactus Hack Golf

Without taking risks I would not be where I am today. I turned down a great job out of college to get in my car and drive to Florida to pursue professional golf. In doing that I realized it was not my passion once it became my living. Instead of focusing on what some view as a failure, I saw that experience as a win. I was able to I meet some amazing people along the way who I would have never met if I stayed in New Hampshire. I also will not wonder “What if…?” Read more>>

Nicole Rowe | Miss Anthem 2022

Every decision we make in our lives can be classified as a risk, even the easy choices! Sometimes, taking the easy way out is a risk in itself. Every day, we wake up and make these decisions and make these risks so we need to stop seeing risks as something we need to be afraid of. As someone who grew up training to one day be on Broadway then all of a sudden gave it all up to do international service work, I know a thing or two about taking a risk. It doesn’t stop there. I took a risk by going overseas multiple times under the age of 20. Read more>>

Christopher Roche | Artist

I think as an artist you cannot be risk averse, you have to put yourself out there and do what is necessary to get your work seen. You can be the best artist in the world, if nobody can see your work, they certainly can’t purchase it. There is an old saying, “No Risk It, No Biscuit”, I believe that is true. Artists need to have a thick skin, not everybody is going to love your work, but the fact is you don’t need everybody to love your work, you only need some people to love it. Some people don’t love the work of Picasso, or Monet, so what? That doesn’t mean the work is not amazing. Read more>>

Dan Sheehan | Author

I think that every worthy endeavor carries a risk of failure–it is the yin to success’s yang–and the threat of failure has been a valuable source of motivation for me throughout my life. It didn’t matter if I was flying helicopter gunships in the Marines, struggling to find the right words to help veterans heal from war, or raising my two kids as the stay-at-home parent, the possibility that I might fail kept me focused on doing what I had to do in order to succeed. Read more>>

Josh & Abby Davis | REALTORS ®

Real Estate itself is a very risky business to be in. Doing Realty full time means we have no other income, no work benefits, and no safety net. We have to be successful, it’s the only option. It is scary, but it’s also highly motivating. There are over 60,000 realtors in Arizona so there’s plenty of competition as well. But we’ve both seen high risks yield fantastic rewards in our own personal lives. Abby sold everything and left her home in Hawaii to move to Arizona, without knowing a soul. It was risky, but she and Josh met and have two beautiful boys now. Ultimately we feel that risk will always be worthwhile if you’re all in 100%. Read more>>

Kristen Blue | Founder of Sonhab, Bean-to-bar Chocolate Maker and Sound Meditation Teacher

My life would look very different if I were scared to take risks and pursue adventure. I once walked off an unethical job, packed up my office in the middle of the day, and moved to LA on a friend’s couch with less than $50 in my bank account. I trusted it would all work out. Read more>>

Chris Kram | Entrepreneur

In life, risk in inevitable, and I have found that the amount of risk usually correlates with the amount of reward. Yes it is a little cliché, but it holds a lot of truth. To me you have to put some form of thought and research into whatever risk you are going to take, otherwise it can be unnecessary or disastrous! In my life I have been met with decisions that carried pretty significant risks, first was whether or not to go to college from high school. Read more>>

Dominique Villarreal | Licensed Aesthetician

I think risk taking is very important when it comes to making a big decision like starting your own business. Risk has played a big role in my life when it cane to opening Dominique Esthetics because I had no idea how it would turn out from starting off with no clients, products, machines and no real following or content, once I finally took that risk everything started to grow, and looking back I’m glad I decided to take the risk because I’ve accomplished a lot as I’m continuing to grow. Read more>>

Megan Rawlings | Owner of Bakers Bun

I can remember being around 10 years old making a box mix of lemon bars and pretending that I was a chef running a kitchen, I was hooked and have loved baking ever since. You could always catch me making desserts for my friends and family saying what a dream it would be to have a bakery of my own but I didn’t think it was actually a possibility for me, I was scared of the risk. What if I fail? I was pursuing a nursing degree when the world was flipped upside down in 2020 and after thinking back to that 8 year old in the kitchen baking, I knew it was time to try. Read more>>