The Risk Takers is about ordinary people, all with good ideas, who faced daunting challenges, but took a leap of faith and started their own business. The book tells the stories of the personal and professional journeys of sixteen fascinating men and women who built hugely successful, multimillion dollar companies. They started with very little, opted to strike out on their own, and struggled with disappointment and failure. Yet, they overcame adversity and through persistence and resiliency determined their own destiny.

You’ll meet the founders of companies familiar to most Americans: Geek Squad, Curves, Liz Lange Maternity, Kinko’s, Paul Mitchell, Spanx, Amy’s Kitchen, along with nine others. Don and Renee Martin, successful entrepreneurs in their own right, personally interviewed these men and women whose inspiring stories demonstrate it’s never been easy to start your own business and navigate it through all the inevitable storms to ultimate success—in any economy, in any era. But can be done.

The personal stories in this volume remind us of what is possible when you combine an inspired business idea with faith and tenacity. It’s the right book at the right time—it’s time to resurrect The American Dream.