After college, Kimberly Ramsawak landed a job as a marketing promotions manager. But she immediately discovered it wasn’t for her.“After about a month at my cubicle job, I knew it wasn’t the life for me. I wanted to travel more than the two weeks vacation I was given each year. So I applied to an international graduate program where I would spend a year between Italy and Japan. I thought
For Larry Lee, law school wasn’t about pulling all nighters and burying his nose deep in books.“For a lot of students, law school is three years of torture. But I was lucky to have friends who went before me. They steered me in the right direction by showing how to work smarter.”“Even though I edited the law journal, served as a teaching assistant, tutored first-year students, and worked as a
Heidi Marie wanted to work as a fashion designer since she was a little girl.After graduating from college with honors and a double major, she quickly discovered the industry was cutthroat and highly competitive. So she settled for a boring administrative day job in a completely unrelated field.Meanwhile, she spent her nights sewing and designing her own collections, slowly building a portfolio. After 3 years, she had her big break.“I got
When Amy was in medical school, she was frequently ill. She visited doctor after doctor, trying to diagnose what was wrong. They all told her, “You’re fine. You’re just stressed.”She knew they were missing something, so she did her own research. Eventually she decided to overhaul her diet, and within months, she felt better.The entire experience made her want to help others go from tired and moody to energetic and
Karan is a bestselling novelist who loves to write. But his books don’t earn enough to pay the bills, so he has to work a full-time corporate job. With work and family taking up most of his time, it looked as though Karan would have to give up writing.“I couldn’t write all weekend anymore, and with our family’s expenses increasing, I couldn’t quit my corporate day job either. I had
Matteo Manferdini is an experienced iOS developer. As a freelance consultant, he realized many people lack the knowledge he has about creating great apps.“Most material online is about useless tactics like App Store optimization or running Facebook ads. It pained me. I’ve always been a natural teacher, so I saw this as a chance to show people the light.”He founded Pure Creek to take newbies through the entire process of creating iOS
In 1975, John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, introduced the world’s first index fund. These simple funds buy stocks and match the market (more precisely, to match an “index” of the market, such as the S&P 500), versus the traditional mutual fund, which employs an expensive staff of “experts” who try to predict which stocks will perform well, trade frequently, incur taxes in the process, and charge you fees. In
Paula is an Emmy Award winning television producer for health segments on Fox News. Her job required her to always meet deadlines and be on top of things.“Being a television producer, you have to be super organized. TV segments are always running. At any given moment, you have to know what’s coming up next and the exact deliverables to make it happen. Lists are key. I use them all the
When I want to sound smart and intimidate people, I calmly look at them, chew on a muffin for a few seconds, and then throw it against a wall and scream, “DO YOU DOLLAR-COST AVERAGE???” People are often so impressed that they slowly inch away, then whisper to people around them. I can only guess that they’re discussing how suave and knowledgeable I am.Anyway, “dollar-cost averaging” is a phrase that
Bushra is a Pakistani expat in Saudi Arabia with 2 children. Already earning 6 figures as a consultant, she wanted to make money with a business that gave her more freedom and flexibility.She followed every step in Zero to Launch — from finding an idea to launching her first online product — to create a side business in a brand new field.Bushra earns twice as much from her part-time online business than
