Taking Risks - Design Life Podcast Interview

While I was passing through Europe last month I had the pleasure of staying with my friends Femke and Owen.

Femke is a New Zealand-born graphic designer based in Amsterdam, and she's also 1 of the hosts of the awesome podcast Design Life. I love Femke and Charli's podcast because it's different from other shows. They get real and about issues surrounding the design industry, from the point of view of two women, mid-level designers.

We talked about taking risks with your work, going through change, skateboarding and delicious donuts. Hope you enjoy it!

Check out designlife.fm or your podcast app of choice for more episodes.

Key Takeaways

1 | It takes a certain amount of risk to achieve success. People who are successful have something unique about their work, a smart decision they made, or perhaps a great work ethic. All of those things can be seen as risks (of trying something new, of not working out, of missing out on other things) but if you don’t risk the failure, you don’t get a chance at the success that comes as the flipside.

2 | Risks don’t have to be something spontaneous. Doing risk assessment is a smart idea. Write a pros and cons list and think through the impacts before you take a big leap.

3 | Put yourself out of your comfort zone. Taking risks builds character and courage, and it opens your mind to new possibilities. You don’t need to turn your life around 180 degrees to get out of your comfort zone; risks can be small-scale too. Take small steps to add some new elements to your life and work and it will do wonders for your learning.