Successful second acts

When Susan Rubin first took up yoga, she didn't expect to turn it into a career. A former district attorney for New York City, Rubin had opened a firm north of the city practicing real estate law. The mother of three ran five miles a day to relieve stress, but started to experience pain from sitting at her desk for hours. Yoga seemed like it could help.

But Rubin gradually began to arrange her work schedule around yoga classes. Then, she trained to be an instructor. After several years, she gave up law entirely and opened a yoga studio. "I didn't hate my law career," Rubin, now 48, says. "But I woke up one day and thought, `I like yoga more.'"

The switch took her two years longer than planned. "It's very tough to give up something that's financially rewarding and pursue something that's a bit of a risk," she says. While she built up the gumption to make the leap, Rubin set aside savings and continued to train.

Her careful consideration has paid off. "It was very hard for me to close the doors of my practice," she says. "But once I did, I never looked back." Rubin's yoga studio has been open for five years, and she is now looking into opening another studio in Brooklyn. She attributes her success in part to her background. "People forget that I brought myself with me to my new job," she says. "I had very good business sense." Rubin points out that it also took zeal: "The community embraced us because they knew I was really passionate about it."