“When I look up ‘risk’ in a dictionary, it’s framed as a negative thing. The bad stuff that could happen to you, or your company, if you choose to risk it all. But risk, to me, is more of a positive thing; it’s exciting and fun, not boring and mundane. Risk is life.
“Our generation gets frozen sometimes; really stuck. I personally think it’s because our world has opened up so much. You have social media, you have all these outlets to find the answers to everything you ever needed. But it can be totally paralyzing. We can forget who we were starting to become as we first entered adulthood, lose focus, get distracted by all the different possibilities.
“This organization we’ve created is our roadmap to adulthood. Because life should be an adventure, it should have purpose – but that takes focus and direction. So we try to help young adults in five areas of their lives: spiritually, personally, emotionally, professionally, and financially. Whether they’re lost in one area or all five.
“The message here is: learn to love the uncertainty and don’t play it safe. Take risks, have adventures, celebrate the victories. We’re not saying you have to go skydiving everyday – it’s the little adventures you choose as much as the big ones.
“If I could speak to my whole generation, I would tell them this life isn’t meant to be a flat line, it’s really not. These ups and downs are what it really feels like to be alive, so embrace it. Life is short; take a risk and go explore.”
— Ariel Mantelli // Co-Founder @ The Integrated, Costa Mesa
