Editor's note: This is a transcript of the audio file.
The recession produced tons of stories of people forced to think outside the box to survive.
But some actually thrived by starting a new career or striking it out on their own. I'm Janet Stauble with your Bankrate.com Personal Finance Minute.
Tiffany Aliche of "The Budgetnista" blog was working as a teacher until her school closed due to funding cuts. The disaster turned out to be a good thing. Since her job loss, she's traveled to 14 countries, written a book and started her own business teaching money management.
John Bryant was a banker until he lost his job. Remembering how poorly window cleaners cleaned windows at his previous job, he opened his own window-cleaning business. He now employs three people and says bankers are good businessmen.
Thomas Cantwell, another ex-banker, had been collecting tattoos since he was 15. When he lost his private banking job, he followed his passion. He hired his tattoo artist of many years and opened his own tattoo parlor, which now has top rating on CitySearch.com.
Want to find more success stories? Log onto Bankrate.com. I'm Janet Stauble.