What Do You Really Want to Do With Your Life?

That's the question the women here asked themselves at a point when their days were filled with the same old, same old. And then they jumped—sometimes without a clue as to where they were heading(feeling as though that is what I am doing or about to do). The upshot was, each found herself one step closer to connecting wholeheartedly with the person she was meant to be.

Meet some women who started over..and to think I am 23..

From bottom to top Pic 3

From Marketing Executive to Stationery Store Owner—Chandra Greer, 49Know when to fold 'em: I was an executive at an ad firm, and I felt as if the space between who I was and who I had to be for my career was huge. In 1997 I quit with no idea what to do next. I spent several weeks in despair, convinced I'd ruined my life. Then I went shopping. I was drawn to paper stores, places that sold all the things you needed to make greeting cards or little books.Put your stamp on things: I started making my own cards because they're such a positive product. You send them to make people feel better. When I took my designs to retailers, I was rejected. I knew I needed my own place. In 1998 I opened Greer in a tiny space in a wealthy suburb north of Chicago, with money my husband and I had saved up.Play your cards right: The store did well enough, but my taste wasn't completely resonating with my suburban customers. My sales weren't as good as they could be, and the people who were buying had come up from the city. Obviously, I needed to move downtown—but Chicago has a lot of great stationery stores, and rents aren't cheap. Still, in 2005, I did it. My sales went right up. We started getting press, which generated even more business. Today we sell stationery and paper goods as well as soaps, pillows, vintage scarf button pins, even a little book called George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour. I should never have been in business anywhere else.

Pic 2 the calling

From Nonprofit Staffer to Nonprofit Founder—Rosanne Haggerty, 47In 1982 Rosanne Haggerty took a volunteer job with Covenant House New York, a shelter for at-risk youth. Eight years later, she would create Common Ground, an innovative solution to housing the homeless in Manhattan. Did she know this would be her life's work when she started volunteering? No, I kept thinking I'd do it for one more year, then go back to a conventional career path. I bought an updated LSAT study guide every summer.Why didn't she go to law school? When the 735-room, filthy, decrepit Times Square Hotel (a.k.a. Homeless Hell) went bankrupt in the late 1980s, I wanted someone to turn it into quality supportive housing—with employment services, a clinic, and caseworkers right in the building. Not a shelter but permanent, dignified housing. Because I'd been development coordinator for Catholic Charities of Brooklyn, I knew what questions financiers, tenants, and the city would need answered, and I wrote up a plan. Everyone I talked to was too overcommitted to take it on. They all agreed, though, that someone really ought to do it. Finally, I thought, "Oh, someone is me." In 1993 the first new tenants moved in. It became the largest example of permanent, supportive housing for individuals in the country. We've opened four others in New York [including the Prince George, above] and are helping to create similar projects in Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Australia.Ever think about becoming a lawyer? No, I bought my last LSAT guide in 1985.

pic 1 lawyer to baker

From Attorney to Bakery Co-Owner—Norrinda Brown, 29In 2004 Norrinda Brown and her mother were both feeling a little empty: Norrinda had just started practicing law and missed the creativity of school; her mother and father had split up after more than 30 years of marriage. Baking became their sweet weekend escape—then their business plan.The basic ingredients: Many of our products are based on my grandmom's recipes. We wanted to see if our cakes would sell, so for months we held tasting parties for friends and family. We asked guests to write comments anonymously on cards. Mostly, people said nice things, but they also said "too moist," "too sweet," and "needs to be more pineapple-y"—which sort of got my mom's back up.Sift gently: My mom worked on the recipes until people thought the cakes had just the right amount of moistness, sweetness, and flavor. Now she's meticulous about her instructions—down to the number of minutes you mix things and how much you sift them.Set in a cool place: We took out a home equity loan to buy equipment and rent a space [for the Brown Betty Dessert Boutique]. We picked the Northern Liberties area because we could afford it, and it's the Philadelphia neighborhood that's supposed to grow the most in the next 10 years.Watch the dough rise: My mom and I are both very risk averse, so she has kept on teaching and I still practice law. She works in the bakery after school and we both work on weekends. We're tired a lot. Four employees hold things together when we're not around. It's working. Last year we were voted "Best of Philadelphia" by a city magazine and a newspaper.The icing on the cake: Opening the business gave everyone in my family a new way to talk to one another during a difficult time. Even my dad helped out with construction and finance.