Act 2 - From Executive to Pet Photographer!

Photography has been Corky Giambra's hobby and passion for many years, but today photography is her job... and she just loves it. Corky says, "it's a lot of fun, really enjoy it, it's nice to feel the gratitude of a customer, they really appreciate when you can capture the essence of a dog or cat and they appreciate it."

Corky is now the owner of Wild Eye Photos. Her company makes t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, plates, and of course keepsake pictures. Corky used to work in the corporate world for Fortune 500 companies like Motorola and GM, but the distant travel got old and the economy began to sour. "I was middle management and operations manager and when my job was eliminated, I decided I would make my photography business work that I did part time and a plan to retire early but never fulltime at this point."

Starting your own business is of course a risky affair, but Corky did her homework, bought a recreational vehicle as her rolling shop, and has never looked back. "Not knowing if it's going to work with the state of the economy, are people going to spend money on pet photos, it seems like people put pets first, and its a service people want and need and so far so good" says Giambra.

Many people like Corky are doing the exact same thing, reinventing themselves during these difficult economic times. Corky says, "I even started using my childhood nickname again... Corky... when I started the business I went fresh and going by Corks now and decided to start over."

Corky's advice to others is quite simple; do what you love to do! "Now I'm, even if i won't make as much money or get the benefits I had, I'm still a lot happier and enjoy what I'm doing everyday."