In 2003, Lyn Williams was working in the auto industry in the mid-west, but even then she saw the writing on the wall. So, she enrolled in an MBA program at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University and earlier this year took a severance package from her former employer about a week after she received her MBA. There was no question in her mind that she had to move west, to the San Francisco Bay area because of "location, location, location."

Lyn moved to Silicon Valley to become the founder and CEO of Soiree International and run an online art sales and home party business. She recently took on board two interns from a federally funded summer youth program - Berkeley Youth Alternatives - to support the venture's growth. Lyn encourages entrepreneurs to network as much as possible and reach out to the community to identify similar opportunities for themselves.