Yes, that's right. We in the Detroit area are a winning combination of classy and funky, tough and tender, and funny (sometimes, even comical). We are much more, of course. Detroit's Nicole Rupersburg, 29, who relaunched herself as a culinary tour guide after being laid off, was quoted in Fortune magazine as saying "This city is a blank slate. It's not a world of wealth and prestige and structure. Detroit is what you make of it, and here you are what you make of yourself." Who could ask for more than that?
In an article entitled "If You Can Remake Yourself Here...You Can Do It Anywhere," Fortune details the careers of 5 different people in our area who have reinvented themselves in "the toughest place for second acts." See if you can recognize the cities they come from, and realize just how close they are to you:
Canton, MI: Daniel Gizaw, 53, was hired as an engineer at GM to invent their first electric car, the EV1, in the 1990's. From there he decided he could innovate more nimbly outside a giant company and recruited two colleagues to help him build Danotek, a company which is building super efficient wind turbines. With startup funding from sources like Detroit's Automation Alley, and a renewed emphasis on wind power world-wide, the company is enjoying a power surge of growth. Says Daniel: "Don't limit yourself to the sector you're in. Look into growing industries and ask, 'What can I offer?'"
Plymouth, MI: Gerry Cox, 47, was finance director of drug giant Pfizer's R & D unit in Ann Arbor, but lost his job due to a major downsizing. Rejecting an offer to continue with the company in New York City, he decided to pursue his dream of starting a new company. He and another former Pfizer scientist went through entrepreneurial "boot camp" at Ann Arbor SPARK's Business Accelerator, refining their plan to offer early-stage drug-testing services to medium-size drugmakers. Their firm, Velesco, hired other Pfizer laid-off scientists and got $800,000 in loans from a state development fund. Their timing was good, and profits are taking off. Cox says, "You have to be mentally strong and focus on the right business niche. If you spread yourself thin in this environment, you struggle."
Detroit, MI: Angela Davis, 38, put her dream of working in the medical profession on hold when she had her first son at age 21. Instead, she went to Chrysler and worked assembling engines. She kept her dream alive by taking classes to prepare for nursing school, so when Chrysler laid her off in 2007, she was ready to get back on course. In a two-year nursing program for displaced autoworkers, run by Detroit's Henry Ford Health System and Oakland University in Rochester, Angela completed her training and will be taking her certification exam in November. From there, she will pursue her master's degree and become a nurse practitioner.
Bloomfield Hills, MI: Sheila Ann Wright, 43, left her engineering job at Chrysler to stay home with her two young children. Just as the kids reached school age and she was ready to return to a job, Chrysler began cutting them. Luckily for her, however, her engineer's mind never took a day off. While caring for her children she came up with a tiny recording device she named the Talkatoo, that could capture her voice and be played back by a small child. When Amazon named the device as a "top holiday gift pick" for 2010, Wright produced an inventory of 15,000 units, at $16.99. Her advice to new inventors: Hang in there. "It's going to take twice as long and cost twice as much money as you think."
Detroit, MI: Allan Gilmour, 76, came out of retirement in 2002 to return as Ford Motor Company's vice chairman. His goal was simply to bring stability to a place wracked by financial turmoil. Eight years later, the board of Wayne State University, shaken by the sudden loss of its president, asked Gilmour to step in again to bring stability, this time as its interim president. Gilmour was not an academic; his life had been the auto industry. But he said "I am a believer that most people are less able to decide what they can do than outsiders are. So if the board thought I could do this, they were probably right." Ten years ago Gilmour was seen as a force for diversity, as one of the few openly gay top executives in America. Now, he's seen as a critical link between education and Michigan's economic future. He has no patience with whining, or complacency in the workforce. "There's a sense of 'Why do I have to adjust? This will come back; I'll be fine again.' But no, they won't be fine. They need to train-not for today's jobs but for tomorrow's."
What does all this prove to those naysayers of our fine state? That just because someone moved our cheese, doesn't mean we won't find it. Look out world! We are unstoppable, once we remember who we are.
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