Rizzi Eyes Expansion

Rochelle Rizzi knows what it's like to run a small business. Now a second generation entrepreneur, she got her feet wet working for her father's company in Ohio. While just a 16year-old looking to make a few extra dollars for spending money, she found herself with an important job-convincing those in her community to buy from the family business. "I guess that's where my interest in marketing began. I realized how important it was for a business to brand its product," she said. "The first person you meet at the door or the quality of your first project ... that's what leads to a first impression, and ultimately a reputation."

Despite that knowledge early on, Rizzi's career in marketing happened in a roundabout way. She graduated from college with a degree in psychology and biology. It wasn't until she followed her future husband to Michigan that she took a job with a consulting firm in Milford. Even that was short-lived. "Shortly after 9/11, the company went under. I found myself unemployed again," explained Rizzi. It was then that she realized that following in her father's footsteps and running her own business was her future. She went back to school, getting a degree in business from Michigan State University, and launched Rizzi Designs.