Meet the Winners
The top four contenders in our contest take the next step.
By Mary Beth Franklin, Senior Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, July 2006
Advertisement
After Northwest Airlines filed for bankruptcy last fall, commercial pilot Richard Ahlquist of Woodbury, Minn., worried how he would support his family if his job disappeared. Then he read about the Kiplinger/Dream in You Dream Job Contest and came up with a plan.
Ahlquist, 50, submitted an essay about using his MBA and law-school training to become his own boss and start a business that would provide paralegal services to law firms. "My current dream job of being a pilot for a major U.S. airline is exploding," he wrote. "Controlling and operating my own business would be equivalent to the exhilaration of flying -- or controlling and operating an airplane."
RELATED LINKS | |||
 |
Read Their Essays | ||
|
|
Vote for Your Favorite | ||
Ahlquist's professional credentials and solid business plan landed him one of three winning slots in our Dream Job Contest out of more than 3,500 entries. Contestants submitted short, online essays describing their dream jobs and the steps they had taken to make them come true -- such as enrolling in classes to develop new skills, launching a sideline business or identifying an untapped market. Contestants were judged on their passion and creativity as well as the soundness of their plan. In February, we chose 25 semifinalists, who submitted videos expanding on their aspirations. We'll introduce you to the winners here, and you'll meet them all again in our November issue, when we report on their progress.
Niche markets. Jean Duane of Centennial, Colo., is a passionate cook who discovered years ago that she cannot tolerate dairy products and gluten. That eliminates most processed foods and restaurant meals from her diet. In her essay, she outlined a plan to create a series of instructional videos and cookbooks on preparing menus without dairy or wheat products. Duane, 48, noted that millions of Americans have to monitor their diets closely because they are lactose-intolerant or suffer from food allergies, heart ailments or gluten intolerance. Her plan scored high on our barometer for creativity and for identifying a niche market.
We also selected Cecilia and Jason Hilkey. Cecilia, 31, envisions building a resource center where she can provide physical therapy to disabled children while Jason, 36, a computer engineer, assists disabled adults in test-driving the latest adaptive technology. Currently, Cecilia and Jason operate their individual businesses from their home in Torrance, Cal., and take turns caring for their two young daughters.
The Hilkeys' passion was obvious, and their video clinched their win. In it they showed two of their clients, including Jaedyn, 3, who was brain-damaged as an infant but has almost fully recovered after three years of physical therapy with Cecilia, who taught her to stand, walk, jump, color and draw.
Another client, 17-year-old Eden, is severely disabled from cerebral palsy. Jason attached a switch to Eden's wheelchair that allows her to operate her computer with just a touch of her knee. With that, she can communicate by e-mail, balance her checkbook, and compose and perform music -- including the soundtrack for the Hilkeys' winning video.