I feel a kindred spirit with many Etsy shop owners who want to be their own boss and quit their corporate jobs. Only it wasn't my choice in Jan '08 when I was laid off with 648 others in a conference call from the huge Wall Street firm that was "Too Big to Fail". Um, yeah, right...

We all know the story. As a middle-aged woman, with skills primarily in one area of business, I was a castoff, a throwaway...Interviews were dreary and hopeless. I was over-qualified. "You'll leave as soon as things pick up again." Whatever!

I had been frugal with my income and started going to estate sales to look for treasures I could turn for a profit. I started to get to know the "regulars" in line and the owners of the estate sale businesses. I even started working for a few of them. Some had gotten their start in the same way I had, from needing to change their income source. I eventually opened my own brick and mortar store that did very well but a family illness forced me to close it. I sell online and at street fairs and I couldn't be happier as I live my life every day as "I" want to live it.