Harvard MBA. Fluent in Spanish, German, and French (plus a little Dari). Expert multi-tasker as deputy director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Women and Foreign Policy program, contributing editor-at-large for Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and mom to a 10-month-old baby. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a woman who got up at 4 a.m. to squeeze writing a (NY Times bestselling) book around a full-time job and actually conducted an interview for a Newsweek story from the hospital when her baby was five days old. She’s driven by some wise words her cousin once told her. “He said, ‘Changing your life is supposed to be this hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.’ In other words, don’t try to go around the work. You have to go through it,” she says. I caught up with Gayle one morning to learn a few more of her secrets.

I believe in having a plan A, B, and C. You can’t say I’m going to “follow my passion” unless you can also make sure the rent gets paid. I learned this because my mom and aunt were single moms who worked more than one job to make rent.

I try to work out six days a week. It really helped me manage the hormone swings after pregnancy. I do a combination of yoga, dance, and classes at the Tracy Anderson studio.

I recently switched to an iPhone. But I miss my Blackberry keyboard! Now it takes me an hour to send one message.

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was little, to the horror of my family, and try to follow a vegan diet. When I’m traveling [to far-off places], I eat a lot of protein bars, especially Think Thin ones. Afghan food is great. Airplane food is not.

I live by the words of strong women in my family. My mother used to say, “On a scale of major world tragedies, yours isn’t even a three.” Meaning, keep it all in perspective. My aunt would say, “After the dance [i.e., once you make your dream happen], they can’t take it away from you.” And my grandma always encouraged me to take big leaps and not dwell on the downside. She reminded me, “McDonald’s is always hiring.”

To learn more about Gayle, visit her website. And, check out her fantastic TEDx speech here.

Ofelia de La Valette always wanted to be a dancer, but after marrying young and having kids, the Cuban native chose a sensible path– insurance broker– and built a successful career. But when she was 34, some stubborn baby weight led her toward the pulse of a dance exercise class, and reignited her dormant passion. One weekly class soon became twelve. In 2004, she opened Atlanta-based Dance 101, a studio geared toward adult dancers that is now the largest of its kind in the country. Here, Ofelia shares three lessons learned during her dramatic reinvention.

Start where you are.

“I began training at an age when most professional dancers are retiring. But, I had mentality that if I kept this up, by the time I was 50 I’d be a phenomenal dancer. I was going to make up the 20 years I lost. It’s never too late to get really good at something no matter how old you are when you begin. The age you start is just your starting point. If you layer consistency and practice, you’ll move forward.”

Chase the purpose, not the paycheck.

“When I started the studio, I had the moral support of my students and family, but nobody was going to pay my bills for me! But, I felt the future is today, and if I don’t follow my dream now I may not get that opportunity. I wanted to do something that got me out of bed and gave my life a deeper sense of purpose. I understood the financial sacrifice that goes with it. It’s hard in the beginning but, having been a businesswoman for years, I knew that it would get better. Now, the studio supports me [financially] at a level greater than insurance did.”

Make friends with your fear.

“Hands down, fear is the greatest deterrent to happiness. It keeps you confined in a box. You won’t accomplish anything if you can’t come to terms with fear. I dealt with fear by welcoming it into my life. I said, ‘Fear, you’re going to be my constant companion. I’m going to acknowledge you– but that’s it. I’m not going to let you talk me out of anything that is in my plan.’”

To learn more about Ofelia (and her amazing dance studio), visit www.dance101.org.

Growing up around her Italian family in Michigan, Michelle Bommarito— best known as a cake design guru on Food Network Challenge— learned to love being in the kitchen. As a child, she helped out on weekends at her family’s Italian Market, Bommarito Brothers CO, and just enjoyed being around food.

“Whenever I wasn’t at my dad’s store, I would be in the kitchen with my Mom and my grandparents,” she says. But she never thought food would be her life’s calling. Instead, her dream was to one day own a bed and breakfast in Europe.  Michelle graduated with a Marketing Management major and a Psychology minor from the University of Michigan, and her first job out of college was for Marriott.

She resisted being around baking and cooking, but her heart kept being pulled in the direction of the kitchen. After working in the marketing and hotel business for years, Michelle decided to take a bread-making class, just for the fun of it.

“I didn’t think I was going to culinary school to change my career,” she says. “I thought it was to have that backbone and knowledge as a woman.”

After a nudge from a coworker to pursue cooking school, she attended The Institute of Culinary Education in New York. Then, she moved back to Michigan, and opened her own wedding and pastry business called Michelle Bommarito LLC.

It was a slow start; her first year she had just 17 wedding cakes.  “But then, it grew to 35 and then to 55 a year. It just kept building,” she says. “Whatever you want to do, go out there and do it! Volunteer, do charity work; I can’t tell you how much charity work I did to get my name out there. I was doing what I loved even though I wasn’t getting paid.”

After running the business for 10 years, Michelle got the itch for something new. “I always loved what I did for a living,” Michelle says. “But then I started feeling that figurative tap on your shoulder, you know, that feeling that says ‘Hey, you are not doing exactly what you should be doing, ‘ I knew it was time for that transition, to take a risk.”

In 2009 she closed up shop and decided to try her hand as a traveling chef, teaching her vast knowledge of cake design, and also conducting “Eating Well” Speaking Engagements and Super Power Food Culinary Demonstrations.  Years earlier (before she even opened her cake company), Michelle had found herself bed-ridden from working too much. “After about a couple months of putting up with it, my cousin took me under her wing and said, ‘Michelle, you’re going to my Holistic doctor,’” she says.

The doctor put her on an extreme diet that consisted of grains, lean cuts of meat, nuts, flaxseed oil and vegetables.  After two weeks on the regimen, Michelle was filled with bouncing energy– and she’s kept up the healthy lifestyle for fifteen years. (Yes that’s right: the cake designer doesn’t eat cake–except of course to test each batch of her creations for quality, and the occasional “just a bite” at a party to celebrate!)

Making wellness her primary career focus was a natural progression. Says Michelle, “I just decided one day, I really think I’m supposed to follow in the wellness direction. I lived it for so long and I believed in it. It’s good for my body and it made me be who I am as far as my high energy.”

As for what’s next in Michelle’s life, only time can tell.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do next,” she said. “It happens to be every 10 to 12 years is when I evolve; ironically it’s what happens.”

Inspirational, that doesn’t even begin to describe this risk taker, but ambitious and courageous . . . that’s a start.

Needs some inspiration for taking the plunge in your career?

Check out The 9 steps of getting started the Bommarito style:

1.     Find your strength and your passion.

2.     Invest in your knowledge and skills.

3.     Create your own style and niche.

4.     Develop (figure out what is good for you to make you a success).

5.     Impress quality in every aspect of your job, career or passion.

6.     Not all business is good business, check who you will do business with.

7.     Know your competition.

8.     Price yourself correctly (competitively and accordingly to what’s right in the market).

9.     Put yourself out there and market yourself.

–Erin Lucido

Andra Hall’s grandmother once gave her some advice: if you’re going to do one thing, make sure you do that one thing really well. For Andra, she loved to bake since childhood—and unexpectedly made it a career when she left the corporate world to care for her daughter Camille, who was ill at the time. Her decision to start CamiCakes Cupcakes has brought sweet rewards, generating $1.1 million in revenues in 2009. There are currently three locations (two in Florida and one in Georgia); plans for a fourth location; and celebrity fans including music producer Jazze Pha and actor Boris Kodjoe, whose favorite flavor, btw, is the Chocolate Raspberry Almond Cream.

We were able to pull Andra out the kitchen for a bit of cupcake conversation.

What’s in a name: I played around with a few names in the beginning when I wasn’t sure if I was going to do cakes or cupcakes, so some people said why not call it CamiCakes, after my daughter Camille. I liked it, so that’s where the name came from.

Cupcake craze: I think there has always been something special about cupcakes. People can still enjoy their favorite flavored cake–or two, or three flavors at a time–just as a cupcake. You no longer have to invest in a whole 50 or 60 dollar cake, and people just got excited about that.

Back-up Plan: It’s hard to know what else I’d be doing right now. I knew that I didn’t want to go back into an office environment, so I think maybe the focus would have been on wedding cakes or other specialty cakes.

Shop talk: I really don’t focus on what other people are doing around me. I just do what feels right, and I go with the things that I like to eat.  Half of the flavors that we have are combinations of flavors that I enjoy eating [such as Sweet Potato, CinnaSwirl, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream]. Before opening my first doors I also held what I called cupcake socials, and I received lots of feedback from others on which flavors to throw out and which ones to keep exploring. But I never paid any attention to what other shops were doing in terms of creating our menu and deciding what to do in our stores.

Entrepreneur’s secret ingredients: Owning a cupcake shop takes a passion for baking, cakes in particular. Personally, knowing that I had more in me [besides working in an office] and really wanting to do my own thing helped me to get where I am today.

–Arlice Nicole

Photo: Darnell Wilburn

Arlice Nichole is a freelance writer and editor from the Midwest working for digital destinations that include Clutch magazine, BlackEnterprise.com  and NBC Universal. Her work has also been picked up by USAToday, EbonyJet.com and Lifetime Moms.

With 15 internships under her belt before graduating college, Lauren Berger gives new meaning to the phrase professional student. Her busy college life may not have left a lot of time for socializing, but it did pay off.  Her college experience in the world of work gave her the idea to start Intern Queen Inc., where Lauren and her team help students land the hottest internships. Read on to see how hard she works to help others live their dream.

How did you build this empire of opportunity for yourself and others?

It’s been one step at a time. I had the idea to start Intern Queen when I was graduating, but I didn’t have the means to fund it full-time yet. So, I worked on one small project after another until I had a website created. Then, in 2008 I left my job at Creative Artist Agency to do Intern Queen full-time.

What’s a typical day like for you?

I’m on the West Coast, so when I’m not traveling, I’m usually up no later than 6 a.m. I try to start my day with a writing project. I’m working on a few book proposals, and I blog daily so that my users always have fresh content. I might work on an article for a different website; tweet a new internship; then I’ll check my e-mails for the day.  I also run a virtual internship program, so my morning could involve a phone call with my interns. Another big part of my day is press and marketing, and my eyes are always on the traffic of the website.

You did 15 internships before graduating! Was that always the plan?

I started interning during my freshman year, and I just loved it! I was challenged in a way I’d never been challenged before, and I wanted more experiences like it. I was learning so much about myself and what I wanted in my life personally and professionally.

I didn’t realize how much weight things like networking and mentorships carried when I was in college. Do you help students maximize their time in school in any other ways?

We just try to supply them with the tools that will help them make the most of their internships. I think a lot of the tips we offer are ones students can apply to their everyday lifestyle, like learning to talk to everyone, always introducing yourself and giving your first and last name. On the Intern Queen Blog, we talk about all sorts of college issues; it’s not limited to internships. Right now, I have a campus ambassador program with more than 40 students from universities around the country that are passionate about Intern Queen and its message. They contribute to the blog a few times a week on what they’re experiencing in their lives, so other students have someone to relate to.

What’s the Intern Queen Phone about?

It’s a new paid service– a conference call series that I actually named after the Dream Phone board game! Students can sign up for any three phone calls that interest them. We have a different intern coordinator that’s our featured guest on each call, and students have the opportunity to introduce themselves to the employer and say why they’re interested in learning about the company. I send questions students have for the coordinator ahead of time, and it’s basically me interviewing the employer about the internship, what stands out to them on resumes, and about how [the interviewee] got started in their own career. It’s such a great way for students to connect directly with the people who read their resumes. We’ve already spoken to the internship coordinator for BWR Public Relations. Next week we have MTV and VH1, then K/O Productions (who did Transformers and Star Trek), and the series wraps up with Marie Claire magazine.

Do you agree that the economy is almost forcing entrepreneurship?

In some ways, I would agree with that. I think the economy has put a lot of people in a situation where starting a business is just the better option for them, which I think is great. No one ever said to me, ‘you know Lauren; you can start your business today. You don’t have to wait until you graduate.’ I really think more people should tell high school and college students that.

Why do you think many young people have a sense of entitlement?

We want things fast, we want it now, and we’re going to do whatever we can to get it. My hope is that this sense of entitlement is really confidence—the confidence to take initiative, go out there, and make things happen. If that means having a sense of entitlement, then I think that’s OK.

–Arlice Nichole

Arlice Nichole, who had her first internship at 30, is a freelance writer and editor from the Midwest. Her work has been picked up by USAToday,  EbonyJet, and Lifetime Moms.