E is for Entrepreneurship

Good teachers can stay with you your entire life. For entrepreneur Charles Best, Mr. Buxton, his high school wrestling coach, inspired him to become a teacher. "I looked up to him. I wanted to have that same thing happen to me," says Best of his former coach, English teacher and assistant principal. Just like he planned, Best graduated from college, traveled the world and then returned to his home state of New York to be a teacher.

Teaching is a selfless career. For some educators, changing a student's life makes all the hard work worth it. But endless piles of papers, insufficient planning time and meager salaries can leave some teachers feeling helpless and unrewarded. A 2007 report from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics found that half of teachers who left the classroom after the 2003-2004 school year found the workload at their new careers more manageable. Of those who left to pursue a career outside of education, 22 percent went on to become entrepreneurs.

San Mateo, California-based photographer Monica Michelle can understand that financial struggle. But unlike Witengier, she found herself making more money in a weekend with her hobby, photography, than she did in a month of teaching. That's not to say teaching didn't help her transition into her new venture. In fact, the founder of White Rabbit Portrait Studios is best known for her work with children. Thanks to her time in the classroom, Michelle helps children feel at ease so she can capture them being themselves.

Though her family was appalled at the thought of her leaving her eight-year teaching career after spending so much time preparing for it, Michelle didn't let that stop her. She dabbled in jewelry-making before opening her own at-home photography studio. She became profitable within the first five or six months and thrived on setting her own schedule. "I do miss teaching literature," she says. "But now, I don't miss any time with my kids. I can still go on field trips with their school. I don't miss a beat."

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