YOUR MONEY
CREDIT, COLLEGE, TAXES AND REAL ESTATE
PRINT
EMAIL
DEL.ICIO.US
DIGG THIS
Maybe a million bucks isn't what it used to be (there are nine million households worth seven digits in the U.S. today). But by the same token, making a million is a more-attainable goal than ever. Not there yet? Then let us inspire you with the stories of 11 men and women who started off just like you and then made it. Each of them offers advice you can use. And we'll add our own 12-point plan for launching you on your way to your first million. The rest, as they say, is up to you.
"Believe that it's going to happen"
As a young girl in Caracas, Venezuela, Lorena Garcia saw only one route to success: to follow in the footsteps of her mother and brother, both of whom were lawyers. She attended law school, and when her family moved to Miami 15 years ago, she completed a paralegal course and snagged a job offer at a local law firm.
RELATED LINKS | |||
 |
12 Steps to Make It Big on a Paycheck | ||
|
|
Slide Show: How I Made a Million | ||
She never took the job. Instead, her legal education indirectly led her to a career in the food business. Garcia, 37, had always loved to cook, but "cooking wasn't considered a career in Venezuela," she says. But while she was taking the paralegal course, she frequented a local bistro, got to know the chef and spent afternoons in the kitchen. Eventually, she enrolled in culinary school.
Today, Garcia owns her own restaurant in Miami's Design District. She has hosted several hit cooking shows on Hispanic TV networks, and she has built a net worth of more than $2 million through her enterprises and as a spokeswoman for Splenda and Nestle Hispanic brands. Her recipe for success: three-fourths hard work and the rest sheer determination. "You have so many opportunities to be discouraged, but you have to believe that one day it's going to happen," she says.
While in culinary school, Garcia also worked full-time at the Grand Bay Hotel. She interned at Miami's China Grill -- and suffered a major setback when she sustained third-degree facial burns after she was splattered with hot oil. Following a monthlong recovery, Garcia embarked on a six-month tour of Europe and Asia, where she volunteered in local restaurants to learn their methods and recipes.
When Garcia returned to the U.S. in 2000, she spent $5,000 to put together a cooking-show pilot. She enlisted the help of friends, who lent her a camera and edited the final product. Finding no takers, she moved on to her next goal: opening a restaurant. Garcia settled on Miami's revitalized Design District, an area 20 blocks north of downtown where there were few places to eat at the time. She took out a $75,000 bank loan and used $25,000 of her own money -- saved up in certificates of deposit and money-market funds -- and opened Food Café in 2002.
As the tiny restaurant (it had just eight tables) began to build a loyal clientele, Telemundo ordered 13 episodes of her cooking show, Vida Gourmet. Since her debut, she has done a variety of other cooking shows and judged competitions for Splenda.
In late 2005, when the lease on Food Café was up, Garcia decided to end its run. She moved just down the street and opened the much larger Elements Tierra, a Latin-Asian fusion restaurant, where she is executive chef. Her latest venture is Aqua Market, a deli where she sells her own sauces.
The icing on the cake came on a recent trip to Venezuela, where one of her TV shows was airing. Asked for her autograph, Garcia found it "exciting to actually feel what I've achieved." -- Jessica Anderson
Tip Number 1: Follow your passion. Cooking wasn't a career option in Venezuela, but former law student Lorena Garcia is a successful chef and restaurateur in the U.S.
"I was always a tinkerer"
It all started with an accident. Late one night, while experimenting with a jet pump and a nozzle for a refrigerator cooling system, Lonnie Johnson shot a stream of water clear across his bathroom. Where some people might have seen a mess to clean up, Johnson saw an opportunity. Thus was born the mother of all water guns, the Super Soaker.
At the time of his fortunate accident, Johnson was working at NASAUs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Cal., on integrating the power system of the Galileo spacecraft. But as a kid in Mobile, Ala., he had started on a much smaller scale, taking apart his siblings' toys and building things around the house. "I was always a tinkerer," says Johnson, 57.
Reprint Article
|
|
|
|
|
