Chic To Chic Turn style into sales with a clothing-design company.

Of course, there are the horror stories. Like the times NewYork-based swimwear designer Malia Mills and her business partner,Julia Stern, spent long nights mixing kettles of fabric dye inMills' studio apartment because they couldn't affordcolored cloth. Or the time a factory breakdown forced them toconstruct 100 bathing suits by hand in two days.

Let's not forget the rejection. At the start of her career,Mills, now 32, offered to work for a top designer for free and wasturned down.

And did we mention the money problems? Mills worked as awaitress while trying to get her business, Malia Mills Swim Wear,off the ground but wound up with $100,000 in personal debt anyway.She's still paying that off.