Generation Next: The Risk Takers

Successful women often have a complicated relationship with risk. I come by these words honestly. If I could send a note to my younger self, it would say (at the risk of bordering on cliche): Take more chances, choose discomfort, do the thing that scares you.

But as I get deeper into my career, I see that it’s not that women are risk-averse, it’s that the downside hits us harder – fewer second chances, louder scrutiny, shorter runways. We see it in the glass cliff, the reputational tax, or the funding penalty after a miss.

So for this year’s Generation Next, we chose to honor those women who faced the hard choices and decided to jump anyway. We’re calling it The Risk Takers. You’ll find “intrapreneurs” at legacy brands rewiring systems, founders building what the status quo ignored, and creatives and operators who made tough calls with uncertain outcomes – and pushed boundaries in the process.

Risk