Carol Eikleberry

Carol Eikleberry graduated from Stanford with a major in English—and then wondered how she could have been so impractical. She tried paying back her student loans while teaching composition; she tried surviving on beans, rice, and food stamps; she tried cursing herself. Nothing worked until she discovered that classic career book, What Color Is Your Parachute?

Emboldened by Parachute, Carol embarked on an adventure that led to becoming a psychologist with a vocational specialty. Later she wrote her own book to help kindred idealistic spirits: The Career Guide for Creative and Unconventional People. Her insights on creativity were hailed by her hero Dick Bolles (the author of Parachute) as "quite dazzling."

The Career Guide is now in its 4th edition with Random House. And Carol is trying her hand at writing fiction for children.