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10 People Who Rose from Employee to Business Owner

From the Mop to the Top

Of all the iconic stories about the United States, none is more enduring than that of the "American Dream," that we live in a land of endless opportunities where anyone can make it big through hard work and determination.

Of course, this rags-to-riches tale is a little frayed in recent years, as more Americans struggle to make it to the end of the month, let alone reach the top. But it can be done. This is still a place where a penniless immigrant can go from pushing a mop in a fast food restaurant to enjoying life as a multimillionaire mogul.

We proudly present the true, inspiring stories of 10 ambitious employees-turned-business owners who are living the American Dream for real.

Atour Eyvazian, Jack in the Box

Think inside the Box. That's how immigrant Atour Eyvazian found his way to fortune.

Eyvazian owns more than 100 Jack in the Box restaurants and is the top U.S. franchisee. But it wasn't easy. He left Iran when he was 19, fleeing persecution as a Christian. He made for Turkey but was arrested at the border and jailed. He bribed a guard with $200 sewed into his jeans and eventually arrived in California, where he landed a job as a janitor at, yes, Jack in the Box. He eventually climbed to shift leader to manager to executive, as head of guest services for 677 restaurants.

Five years he ago he bought his first Jack in the Box and he hasn't stopped since. He recently acquired all 58 franchises in San Antonio, Texas. "This is the promised land," he says of his adopted country. If anyone deserves a swelled head, it's this guy.

Melody Stevens, Academy of Music on Main Street

The music stopped but Melody didn't. When she was turned down for tenure as a public school teacher in New Jersey, it was "a beautiful thing," she says, because it spurred her to go to work full time at the Academy of Music on Main Street, a private music school in Spotswood, N.J. And the very next day the owner offered to sell her the place.

She admits she made "a ton of colossal mistakes" early on, but today her school practically runs itself and this has given her the chance to orchestrate new startups, including her life-coaching venture the Time Millionaire.

The plainspoken Stevens has some no-nonsense advice for anyone who wants to go from employee to owner: make use of experts and be open to learning. "Just because you can do the work in the business doesn't mean you know squat about running the business."

Candi Wingate, Nannies4Hire

On TV it takes one of two things to be a great nanny: mirth (Fran Drescher) or girth (Mr. Belvedere). But in reality it takes serious determination, and Candi Wingate has that. She's spent her entire adult life wrangling other people's young children.

After graduating high school in Norfolk, Neb. (population 24,210), Wingate went straight to work as a nanny for a family with five kids in Texas. That's a tall order. But she knew she could do more. "Even at a young age my entrepreneurial spirit kicked in," she says. "There had to be a better way for families." Seems there wasn't, so Wingate invented it.

She saved her wages and bought her agency (for cash), then launched Nannies4Hire.com, which is now the largest business of its kind. Wingate also runs online matching services for babysitters, tutors, caregivers, dog walkers, housekeepers, and house sitters, all from her hometown of Norfolk.

Richard Tatum, Midsouth Consulting Group

Have you ever worked at a place where some know-it-all intern thinks he can run the company better than anyone else? Richard Tatum has. He was that intern.

He started at Midsouth Consulting Group, a business-services firm in Nashville, as a college sophomore in 1998. He watched how it ran and decided he could improve it by implementing the technologies he was learning in class. He increased efficiency by several notches and, rather than spend his newfound spare time on Facebook (which didn't exist yet anyway), he learned everything he could about Midsouth Consulting. In 2002, when the founder retired, Tatum bought the business -- because by then no one knew it better than he did.

What advice does he have for other would-be entrepreneurs? "Start acting and thinking like a business owner while you're an employee. Focus on how to work on the business, not just in the business."

Lea Bailes, Guier Fence

So you're working at a law firm, you're bored, and you're looking to shake things up. What's the first idea that pops into your head? Of course! Become an accountant at a fencing company.

That's what Lea Bailes did in 2005 -- and he's glad he made the move, because today he owns the company: Blue Springs, Mo.-based Guier Fence. "I joined as the controller to clean up the books," he says. "It seemed like a good short-term challenge." But he really took to fencing. And when the owner said he wanted to sell, Bailes took him up on the offer. (It didn't hurt that the owner was his father-in-law.)

The two set a price and a monthly payment schedule to avoid a bank loan. Bailes' only condition: Dad had to take the exit gate. "I had some ideas he wasn't thrilled with," Bailes says, but he got his way and today Guier is one of the top fencing companies in the country.

Jason Finley, Smoothie King

Make your time fruitful. That's Jason Finley's advice for anyone who wants to move from hourly employee to proprietor. "Treat the business as if it's yours, because one day it could be," says the owner of two Smoothie King branches in New Orleans.

Finley started working part-time at his local Smoothie King in 1992 after seeing a "help wanted" sign in the window. He worked there through college and when he graduated in 1995, he switched to full-time at the urging of the owner. He learned stock control, scheduling, accounting, and inventory. And when the owner approached him in 1997 about buying the place, he was ready to take over.

Finley got a $100,000 loan from the SBA, blended in $25,000 from his family, and by October 2000 had both loans paid off. He doubled sales and bought a second Smoothie King outlet. "Work hard," Finley says. "You never know what opportunity is right under your nose."

Hubert Barroso, Medical Electronics

It takes a measure of perseverance to get from employee to CEO. It takes even more to get there from Cuba, across 100 miles of open ocean in a small boat with your wife and two young children. That's the journey that Hubert Barroso made.

After landing safely in Florida, he got his first job working in the warehouse at Miami's Medical Electronics, a medical equipment and supplies distributor. Although he had a degree in electrical engineering, it was not cutting-edge knowledge that got the attention of the then-owner; it was some vintage Cuban savvy. "He had purchased some old medical machines and I was able to fix them," Barroso says. "I was familiar with the technology."

From there, Barroso moved up in the company. When the elderly owner ran into cash-flow problems and was looking to sell, Barroso and a co-worker bought him out. Today, annual revenues are $2 million. "If you do a good job, people will notice," Barroso advises. "You can't apply for the CEO job, but you can climb up a step at a time."

Olivier Perrier, Curbside Cafe

Most people buy a business because the numbers are right. But when Olivier Perrier took over the Curbside Cafe in San Francisco, romance was a strong factor. (He is French, after all.)

Perrier had worked at the Curbside for five years and had met his wife there while waiting her table. So when the owner told Perrier he was closing, Perrier decided he couldn't stand to part with the place.

As the new owner, he's making changes to inject more fizz into the business. He's introduced a happy hour with cheese and $5 glasses of wine. He's added a prix fixe menu for $20. And he's switched to local suppliers to get fresher ingredients. "It's always a big step to take on a restaurant but I've been in the industry for so long," Perrier told the New Fillmore neighborhood newspaper. "In life you don't get so many chances like this one."

Kevin Pernice, LaZBoy Comfort Studio

For Kevin Pernice, the choice was not to work at the business or own the business; it was, as he says, "Either buy the business or be unemployed."

After almost 20 years as manager of the LaZBoy Comfort Studio & Slumber Shop in West Springfield, Mass., Pernice was told in 2009 that the store was closing. "I'm 59 and not too many people are looking for someone like me," he says. "Then it dawned on me. Maybe I could buy the business."

He certainly knew how to run it, but after raising a family on an hourly wage, he had no cash. So he went looking for a loan. He tried the SBA and every bank in town with no luck. Finally, one bank gave him a $200,000 line of credit. He got another loan from LaZBoy, which didn't want to see another of its outlets close. Now he's putting some money away for his reclining years.

Todd Adelson, Bolduc's Apparel

Some parents give their kids the family business; some parents are less generous. "I didn't inherit my family business. I had to buy it -- after working there more than 20 years," says Todd Adelson, owner of Bolduc's Apparel in Agawam, Mass.

It's the only job he's ever had. His father bought the T-shirt-printing business in 1989 -- the same year Todd finished high school -- and the younger Adelson started in the stockroom. Eventually, he moved up to head of sales and grew revenue to $5 million.

Last year he approached his dad about buying the business. They agreed on a price and a 60-month payment plan. "It's exciting to be an owner," he says, "but you can fall on your face anytime. Before you take the plunge, make sure you know the numbers inside and out."

Wireless Business Solution Zee Tawasha