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From This Collection

This banker needs an airplane to provide service to customers

Sep 26, 2018
In the latest installment of My Economy, a dispatch from a far-flung group of Scottish islands.
Anne Rendall, the flying banker, with a plane that takes her to work every day.
LoganAir

An educator takes her frustration to the streets

Sep 10, 2018
Teresa Danks is known as the "panhandling teacher."
Teachers rally at the state capitol in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on April 4.
J PAT CARTER/AFP/Getty Images

For a recovering restaurant in Puerto Rico, sometimes it's just about making it through the day

Aug 29, 2018
An executive chef in San Juan describes life in the food industry post-Hurricane Maria.
An American flag and Puerto Rican flag fly next to each other in Old San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

For small commercial fishermen in Alaska, the business can be boom or bust

Aug 22, 2018
Why one fisherman in Alaska won't leave the industry, despite the ups and downs.
Salmon fishermen hauling in salmon on July 1, 2015 in Newtok, Alaska.
Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Tuning pianos to fill in the financial gaps

Aug 6, 2018
Instead of relying on a single income source, one music teacher took up a new trade.
Michael McTigue listens to a concert grand Model D piano in the final tuning room at the Steinway & Sons factory in Long Island City, New York, in 2005.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

The jean jacket startup aimed at Latina millennials

Jul 25, 2018
Patty Delgado started with $500, working from her parents' couch.
Patty Delgado, founder of Hija de tu Madre, poses next to her signature denim jackets in her Los Angeles showroom.
Courtesy of Patty Delgado

A longtime British steelworker describes how the industry has changed

Jun 28, 2018
"At the moment none of us know what the future holds."
In Port Talbot, Wales, the sale of the Tata Steel plant put thousands of jobs at risk and hit the already floundering U.K. steel industry hard in 2016.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Employed, but still homeless

Jun 17, 2018
One formerly-homeless barista describes working while living out of her car.
"But no, I never thought I'd be here," said Charlene Long, a barista who was formerly homeless. "And here I am, knowing how to make cortados, espressos, macchiatos. I didn't even know what a macchiato was last year. You know, it's crazy." 
HELENE VALENZUELA/AFP/Getty Images

My Economy: Leaving the big city life behind

May 8, 2018
One former journalist left the newsroom for the family business. The reason? A lower cost of living.
Matt Schewel traded a job in Washington, D.C., interviewing senators and congressman for work in the family furniture business. 
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Homesteading in the digital age

Jan 9, 2018
Is there a future in growing our food and trading it for the things we want?
An urban farm in Berlin, Germany.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images