Job loss. Unemployment rate. Reinvention.  A pretty loaded concept if you’ve had to take stock in your career and deny that there is no recession.

There are people who talk about embracing change, but then there are those who do it. I’ve been asking people a lot about that lately since their careers took an unexpected turn due to job loss.

For those I have interviewed, most admit the unexpected twist in the course of their life was the best thing that could have happened to them. Scary, yes. Liberating, yes. This is what they told me, in their own words.

"I never thought I would be, shall we say, let go," says Bill Hashem, owner of Earth and Sky Bar. Hashem is one of many people television host and journalist Robin Hamilton talks to in a new series she produced about people who have come face to face with the recession – and are fighting back.

Shot in a documentary style fashion, each subject talks candidly about getting laid off, or walking away from the job. The men and woman vary in age, race, and class, and live in various parts of the country. Their businesses vary, from baker owner to wellness center proprietor. Carolyn McGee, who runs a pet concierge business, says that her change in a career came out of necessity. "If I’m going to be successful, and provide for my family, I have to take matters into my own hands."

The 2-minute vignettes follow each person in a day of their life in their new endeavor. "Some people told me they were blindsided, and that they never thought it could happen to them," explains Ms. Hamilton. "Others said that after being treated badly at work, this was the perfect opportunity to follow a dream they always had."

But no matter how they got there, all 10 say they are happier being their own boss.

Ms. Hamilton says, "I like to think of myself as a social commentator, journalist, writer and host - basically taking the pulse of the public. Bridging everyday news with what people are talking about, I bring the microphone to you!

Aside from my work on television and in print, I am a frequent moderator for town hall style meetings, forums and events."