A Career With Class : Genie Penn, 35, Culver City

After receiving an MBA in 1988, I joined my husband in the garment industry. We started a swimwear company out of our garage, eventually moving it to a larger warehouse and selling our designs to major chain stores.

I ran the company and performed many diverse tasks, from product design and development to marketing to customer service. It was a constant struggle to keep a garment company afloat, especially after the recession hit, and in 1994 we decided to close the business.

My husband stuck with the garment trade, but I decided that it was no longer for me and took a year off to search for a new career and be with my young children. During that time, I went for career counseling at UCLA, my alma mater.

I had a great career counselor who helped me heal from the trauma of closing my company. He also helped me see what things were important to me in a work environment, such as flexibility, variety, satisfaction and the ability to be my own boss.

He pointed me in the direction of new careers, one being teaching. I then pursued an internship through the Los Angeles Unified School District and volunteered one day a week in a kindergarten classroom.

I was selected for the district intern program and, when Gov. Pete Wilson reduced the elementary school class size to 20, I secured a teaching position in a top Westside school.

I have been teaching since September, and I love it. Yes, teaching is hard, but after my training in the turbulent garment industry I feel I can handle teaching first- and second-graders.

My career switch worked out for the best, and I am finally able to walk past the swimwear department in Nordstrom without stopping to compare suits.