Ryan Perrone, 35

Ryan Perrone didn’t choose the expected path for his career. While still a tween, he started pitching in at his father’s Sarasota luxury homebuilding company, Perrone Construction. By age 24 he was a vice president. But instead of staying on at the company to take it over from his father one day, Perrone decided to start his own firm, Nautilus Homes.

“You only get that kind of challenge once in your life, and I’m a guy who likes challenges,” he says. “And seeing what it’s become gives me a huge sense of satisfaction.”

He started Nautilus Homes in 2010, so the timing wasn’t ideal. But he believed the recession made people take a different approach to their homes.