The fast(er) track

Ask what jobs come with six-figure incomes, and most people will respond with "doctors" or "lawyers." Those professions do bring great financial rewards, but they also require many years of higher education.

Fortunately for those of us without legal minds or medical skills, the road to riches is much broader. Many occupations lead to wealth without extensive formal schooling.

Realtor

"You don't need a Ph.D. to make big bucks in today's economy," said Drena Hollingsworth, broker and Realtor with Hollingsworth Realty Group. "The best thing I did in college was get to know a lot of people. I've always heard that 'it's not what you know, but who you know,' and I've found that to be true."

The road to riches, it seems, is also paved with clichés — but someone once noted that they wouldn't be clichés if they weren't based on truth.

Having sold more than $6 million worth of real estate in 2006, Hollingsworth recently made Realtor Magazine's list of "Top 30 Agents Under 30" nationally.

Hollingsworth got a marketing degree from the University of Georgia, aiming toward a career in the hospitality industry. She hated her first hotel job, earned her real estate license in six weeks by taking classes at the Georgia Real Estate Institute and went to work for Harry Norman, Realtors.

She opened her own business four years later with the help of her husband, Adam Brouillard, who manages the company's marketing and Web site.

Hollingsworth realized that most of her business contacts were alumni of her college sorority or people she had met through the Junior League and women's business associations, so she branded her company toward the female market. It was an undeveloped niche in Atlanta, and she began attending national conferences to learn best practices.

"You have to keep an open mind," Hollingsworth said. Being new to the business and listening to more-experienced peers about what has worked in other places keep her on her game.

She describes herself as a classic overachiever, who always has had the mind-set to succeed.

"I'm goal-oriented. At first it was making enough to pay my bills, but when you do that, you set the goals higher," she said.

Financial services sales

To succeed, you have "to refuse to lose," said Kevin Duffy, vice president of direct sales for AdvanceMe Inc., an Atlanta financial services company that provides alternative funding for small and midsized businesses. It gives clients access to working capital for improvements, equipment or expansion without the headaches of bank loans.

Since 1998, the company has provided merchant cash advances of more than $750 million to more than 15,000 small businesses in all 50 states. Duffy is responsible for all direct sales, recruiting and training.

"If you're doing the job right, you're helping your customers grow, and, in turn, they're helping you grow. You can make a lot of money in this business if you approach it with a consultative sales attitude" of working with a customer, Duffy said.

That's easy for Duffy, who talks the lingo of small-business owners and knows the challenges of entrepreneurship. He owned a restaurant/nightclub in Philadelphia for 20 years.

Duffy had been a short-order cook at 15 and a bartender by 18. He took some short-term restaurant-management classes before opening his club. The rest was on-the-job training.

Wanting to spend more time with his family, he turned to an industry he knew, having been a satisfied customer.

"Selling financial services isn't a get-rich scheme. It's hard work, and it takes persistence, but I love it," Duffy said. "I love listening and talking with small-business owners, and I love seeing the results — whether it's a second-floor patio or someone being able to buy out his partner and move ahead."

Event planner

"What it takes to make it in business is good common sense," said event planner Tony Brewer, principal of Tony Brewer & Co.

Surprising words from a man known best for creating memorable events for Atlanta's nonprofit organizations (the High Museum of Art, the Arthritis Foundation, Zoo Atlanta) and major corporations for 20 years.

"Common sense" for Brewer meant dropping out of college and using his creativity and design sense to start a florist business. A weekend assignment led to 13 years with event planners Griggs, Van Horn & Associates, where he learned the business. He opened Tony Brewer & Co. in 1995.

"I didn't have a phone or a bank account when I opened, but the phone has never stopped ringing since it was connected," Brewer said.

"When I walk into one of our events and it is fairy-tale perfect, it's an indescribable feeling, but it's also very satisfying that I've been able to create a good working environment for 12 managers and 30 hourly people. I have a great life and love going to work."

Customs broker

For Bernell Grizzard, director of Frontline Customs Broker School, financial rewards came from having an entrepreneurial spirit and understanding that "we're happier when we're learning."

She first learned about customs brokers through a temporary job in 1987. Licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department, a customs broker is the liaison between the U.S. government and importers and exporters who need to meet federal guidelines to ship goods into or out of the country. They fill out the documents, submit taxes and fees on behalf of their clients (the importers and exporters), and earn fees for their services.

"You need to be able to read well, think critically and problem-solve. It's exciting, and you are constantly learning," Grizzard said. "The satisfaction of helping others get their goods to market just pulls you in. Getting my license was the best thing I ever did."

Grizzard made $135,000 the first year after she opened her own brokerage in 1994, which she sold in 2002 to start a school to train customs brokers. "I always wanted to teach," she said.

Her students' pass rate is much higher than average for the national exam. Customs brokers who work for others make excellent salaries, but "those brave or dumb enough to start their own companies can make more money than they can dream of," she said.

Public relations

You can't do everything, so decide what you want to do and do that well; Mitch Leff works by those words. He is president of Leff & Associates, an Atlanta public relations firm.

Leff earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Emory University but found that his event planning for campus organizations got him his first job.

"I didn't know I had been doing public relations, but a public relations firm hired me," he said.

After working for large agencies and Turner Broadcasting, Leff started his own agency five years ago, believing that he had the media relations skills to help small to midsized companies deliver their messages in ways that could improve their businesses. He also launched Mitch's Media Match, the first online service to help Georgia media professionals match story assignments to local sources.

"Understanding the value of long-term relationships is what has made me successful," Leff said. People in the media with whom he has worked for years know that when he pitches an idea, it will be appropriate to the subject and medium.

"It's challenging. I do a lot of research, but media work is what I enjoy doing, and I get the satisfaction of helping a lot of different people," he said.

Computer forensics

John Mellon, co-owner of Key Computer Service, a Virginia company specializing in computer forensic examinations since 1993, is a recognized expert in a very hot career field.

With computer and Internet crime growing, there's great demand for examiners, who make between $150 and $550 an hour, depending on experience and location.

"Experience helps," said Mellon, who had 28 years of investigative experience in law enforcement, "but sound forensic skills and knowing how to market yourself are necessary for success."

Mellon made himself a leader in the field. He established the standards used by the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists and also developed the certified computer examiner credential, and he still teaches at IACIS training conferences and at Kennesaw State University Continuing Education's CyberCrime Institute.

"I could fully retire financially, but I still enjoy it, so I work part time," Mellon said. "Every case is different; it's like pulling a thread to see what's at the other end. You learn something new with each one."

Hairstylist

For hairstylist and educator Tony Promiscuo, each customer brings a new 30-minute sitcom or drama into his day. But it isn't just his people skills that got him to the top.

"There's no substitute for hard work. Fortunately, in our business, hard work is a lot of fun," Promiscuo said.

"You can earn a nice living treating the business casually, but to really make it, you've got to have the focus, commitment and dedication."

A lifeguard and motorcycle shop worker in 1972, Promiscuo was sitting in a salon chair waiting for a $28 haircut. He watched six people come and go in two hours and began to do the math.

"So when I got into the chair, I asked the guy what I needed to do to get into the business," Promiscuo said. "He'd been a plumber and told me that, if I had the desire and commitment, I could learn the skills. It's a learned art."

Promiscuo went to the International University of Cosmetology and later the Vidal Sassoon Academy in London.

He opened Godiva Salon in Buckhead in 1981 and has shared his experience with more than 10,000 hairstylists worldwide as a master associate of John Paul Mitchell Systems. Learning to be a teacher helped cement his knowledge of the fundamentals.

"It sounds like a cliché, but you get out of something 100 percent of what you put into it. Out of 100 promising hairdressers, only about 5 percent will rise to their full potential," he said. "It's so simple: You've got to work at it."

ON THE WEB

For more information about these occupations, including educational requirements and salaries, see www.bls.gov and click on the Occupational Outlook Handbook.