Men Weigh In On Their Backup Plans

Submitted by Lisa Steadman on April 19, 2010 - 7:08 am

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Recently, I blogged about some amazing women and how they implemented their Backup Plans when Plan A no longer suited them. Now, the men weigh in on their Backup Plans…

“After a PhD in physics and 9 years of holding corporate roles in the software industry, when my company had to close the Atlanta office, I decided to fully pursue my passion – photography. Now, over a year later, I own a thriving portrait photography business (lifestyle portraits of babies and families).
- Oana

“I had been in the military and Corporate America as an engineer for 12 years and it just wasn’t working for me. I was fed up with poor leadership and micromanagement and finally realized that engineering, manufacturing, and Corporate America weren’t my passions. My passions were teaching, speaking, coaching, small business and personal finance/debt free living. So, I left the corporate world to found two companies: one to coach clients through the process of eliminating debt and staying debt free, and one to launch an invention that a friend had created. The results? I’ll never work for someone else again! The coaching business is growing rapidly. I’m helping families change their lives and for the first time have control over their money. It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. The invention is gaining popularity and has a huge potential as a money maker. We expect to release the website and full production later this year.”
- Matt Wegner

“In my job with Intel Corp., I traveled around the world, doing technical demonstrations on stage with chairman Andy Grove. I was nervous about speaking and decided to take a comedy class to get over my stage fright. The comedy kind of took off, and I left Intel to pursue my dream. Since then, I’ve performed my 100% clean comedy at the Democratic National Convention, three inaugural events, at the United Nations, etc. (Plus, I just shot a commercial for Apple). Essentially, I live the lifestyle of George Clooney in Up in the Air, except instead of bringing people misery by laying them off, I bring people joy and happiness!”
- Dan Nainan

“I left my steady bi-weekly paycheck and concrete job to open up my own consulting business. Business is booming and we’ve had to hire several people. My firm helps federal agencies and major Fortune 500 companies make their technology accessible for people with disabilities. We hire folks with disabilities with IT/Computer Science backgrounds around the country who telework and audit software, hardware, and websites from our clients. It’s been going and growing great and I’m so glad I made that decision.”
- Dana Marlowe

Do you have a story of how your Backup Plan ROCKED? Share it here!