Ex-banker Terry Walsh isn't a victim of the financial crisis, so why did he leave his high-paying job to open a butcher shop?
"This is my dream, and I'm living it," he told CNNMoney.
While Walsh is one of many Americans who've started their own businesses since the financial crisis, he's part of the smaller slice that left a higher-paying job to do so. Since starting his new business, he's only given out paychecks to his three employees, CNNMoney reports.
Walsh is one of many entrepreneurs making a second career in the food industry. You need only take one look at the stories of new confectioner and chocolatier businesses made commonplace on SecondAct.com, a site dedicated to stories of people finding new careers after being laid-off.
In Ireland, a laid-off construction worker was able to get himself back on his feet when he started an artisanal bakery business, and hired many of his former co-workers. In Colorado, entrepreneurs are starting craft breweries by the dozens, now with about 130 in that state alone, KUSA-TV reports.
Indeed, despite butcher and restaurant positions counting among the worst jobs in America, according to a recent study, the restaurant industry seems like an increasingly smart bet for entrepreneurs. The sector has seen one of the strongest employment comebacks, adding 560,000 jobs since March 2010.
Still, wages in the industry have actually fallen over the past year.