Denise Couling finally listened to the creative voice inside of her and traded in her career as a lawyer for that of a jewelry designer. She has her own web site, but she also opened a jewelry store, which is an unusual step for many beginning designers. Couling also had a little extra something in her corner - a cool idea for interchangeable jewelry.

From The Detroit News: " Couling grew more and more frustrated. "I just could no longer stomach every day doing something that I wasn't excited to get up and do." She also knew that she would be beside herself if, someday, she opened a jewelry catalog to see someone else had brought her interchangeable jewelry idea to market.

She found herself reading Po Bronson's "What Should I Do With My Life?" Then one night she was watching a taped episode of "Oprah" that featured a federal lawyer who had chucked his Washington career to open up a cake bakery.

"After that show was over," she recalls, "my husband looked at me and said, " 'You just picked the wrong job.'"

Read more: For frustrated designer, jewelry career rings true