4 lessons: What we learned in Detroit
In a region hard hit by the Great Recession, people are taking risks to build a brighter future. Here are four families' big chances.
Big decision: Starting a business
When Paula Batchelor took a buyout last year -- figuring she was likely to be laid off if she didn't -- she wasn't worried about landing another gig. Having worked 11 years as a graphic-design project manager for a health insurance company downtown, "I knew I had skills," she says.
But Batchelor, a single mother of a 6-year-old, quickly realized just what it meant to live in one of the worst job markets in the country. By year's end, the resident of Royal Oak -- a suburb north of the city -- still had no work and couldn't make her mortgage payment. "I was feeling the pressure," says Batchelor, who's now 55.
So she harnessed her skills, and Batchelor and her sister founded Color Me Social to help small businesses with social-media marketing.
Read her whole story -- and how the experts say to make it work.
NEXT: Big decision: Switching careers
Last updated October 29 2010: 12:22 PM ET
