Michelle Goodman wrote "My So-Called Freelance Life" (Seal Press, $15.95) to teach people how to survive and thrive as a creative professional going it alone.

» EXPRESS: How do they know they're ready to cut the cord and jump in?
» GOODMAN: The hardest part is knowing when to jump ship. That's a decision that has to go with their comfort level. But they shouldn't be holding out for the very best gigs only. If they're a writer, they shouldn't say, "I only want to do travel writing." They need to be willing to do work that is not their first choice, because that's the kind of work that's going to be their bread and butter, and will get them out of their day job.

» EXPRESS: How do you make the leap from a steady paycheck to freelancing?
» GOODMAN: For me, I always felt four months' salary would be enough. I've heard 12 months is the appropriate amount, but four months' worked for me. But a lot of people are making the leap right now through no fault of their own — they've lost their jobs and are faced with this decision. Some people have a full freelance workload in a few weeks or months, and sometimes it takes a couple of years.

At least, that's how Frank Gunion has done it. South Moon Under began as a surf shop in Ocean City, Md., in 1968, but the company has grown beyond surfboards to include designer labels in clothing, handbags, decor and jewelry. It's also moved beyond Ocean City, with 11 locations — including Bethesda, Clarendon and Reston — and a lucrative Web business. The company plans to open more stores in the next five years; the first will open early 2009 in National Harbor.

The stores are stocked with Joe's Jeans, Lacoste polos, Ugg Australia shoes and Shoshanna dresses. And although sparkling jewelry cases have replaced the surfboards, the company pays homage to its sandy roots: It carries bathing suits and flip-flops year-round.

Pvt. 1st Class Jamie Anderson was there. A week before, the city of Bowie police officer had made a routine traffic stop. "The driver bailed and ran," she says dryly, "and dropped a pound of marijuana."

The driver had run toward this house, and research linked the car's registration to this address. Anderson wrote up a search warrant, laying out probable cause for a raid and outlining public dangers of not investigating. Among them: "The house was 200 to 300 feet from a school and right in front of a playground."

"I was so nervous," Schadegg, 24, recalls. "I had to stop and take a deep breath because I knew ... it would be a botched job if my hands were shaking."

In the end, that jittery first cut "turned out fantastic. The client loved it," says the Alexandria resident, who is currently in her fourth of 13 months in a cosmetology degree program at Paul Mitchell the School, Virginia, in Tysons Corner (8090-L Tysons Corner Center; 703-288-0008).

At age 12, he began working for his father's graphic design company in Ohio. He became a partner at 19, married at 20, launched his own company at 21, attended college but didn't finish, went into debt but climbed out, got divorced, sold his company and moved east.

"It was a lot of changes at once," Hollingsworth says. So, "when I hit my early 30s, I went to Margaritaville, like everyone wants to."

First he went to Rockville — his brother lives near White Flint Mall — and considered his options.

"Around 33, I realized I didn't want to do that the rest of my life," he says, referring to the business he'd been in for two decades. "If you don't count sleep, your job is what you do most — and you want that to be something you like."

What did Hollingsworth like? He'd always enjoyed being a home bartender, giving parties. A friend's suggestion led to an Internet search, which turned up the Professional Bartending School near Arlington's Court House Metro station.

In its 40 years, the Professional Bartending School (2440 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 703-841-9700; Bartending-school.com) has trained tens of thousands of people, says manager Dave Oremland. Its 40-hour course is flexible: Though most students finish in two weeks, some pack in two classes a day for a week — or five Saturdays — or evenings from 6 to 10.

» NAME: Anne Leahy

» JOB: Freelance American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter

» SALARY: Salaried interpreters are usually paid by the hour. The Department of Labor estimates that interpreters make an average of $18.02 per hour. Freelance interpreters can set their own rates, and the average hourly rate for interpreters in the D.C. area is $36.87.

» WHAT SHE DOES: She interprets speech into ASL, and ASL into speech. Sign language interpreters must be fluent in American Sign Language, which is more than just memorizing finger symbols. Each interpreter will typically establish an area of expertise, Leahy clarified. Her niche is interpreting more abstract subjects such as religion and academics. But she said it's important for interpreters to have a strong base of general knowledge. "People talk about everything," she says.

» WOULD YOU WANT THIS JOB?: The ability to translate words into signs is separate from interpreting conversations. Like any language, ASL comes with its own culture and ways of communicating. Leahy compares it to the difference among regions. "It's not exactly like going to a foreign country," she said, comparing the culture difference between spoken English and ASL, to the culture differences someone might see when traveling between New York City and Georgia. "Language is more of an art than a science," she said.

» HOW YOU CAN GET THIS JOB: The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf requires its members to have at least an associate's degree. Leahy became interested in interpreting after a friend asked her to step in as a substitute for a class he taught for the deaf at a community college in Utah. With only three semesters of ASL under her belt, Leahy was surprised the experience wasn't as difficult as she had anticipated. "I didn't die," she says. After taking classes at Gallaudet University, Leahy went on to work as a full-time freelance interpreter beginning in 1992. There are two-year programs at many community colleges, and in recent years, four-year and post-graduate programs have become more available at institutions such as Gallaudet.

Written by Express contributor Emily Barton
Photo by Regan Kireilis for Express

The 28-year-old Mt. Pleasant resident, a former accountant and Peace Corps worker, found himself discovering the National Zoo, volunteering in the Small Mammal House on weekends and using the experience not just to teach visitors about golden lion tamarins but to learn more himself.

Then he found the classes.

"They're one of Washington's best-kept secrets," says Posie Beam, 67, who's been taking classes at the zoo for a few years. Indeed, only about 20 to 25 people take the natural science classes offered about every quarter by the Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ).

Sorey's first class this spring was on coral reefs, taught by experts Mary Hagedorn and Mike Henley (the latter is a keeper in the invertebrates exhibit). Though most of the courses are lecture-style and held in classrooms, in the coral reef class, Sorey and his classmates participated in a hands-on session based on Hagedorn and Henley's research in coral reproduction. "We got to frag coral — that's short for 'fragment' — and break it apart and start new coral." He's not quite grinning as he says it, but the "kid on Christmas Day" look is definitely rising to the surface.

And, yeah, it is pretty cool. Who but these students can say they spent a weekend afternoon tying animals to rocks? Seriously. "You cut them with scissors," says Henley, 31, "and secure them with a piece of fishing line or rubber band to a rock."

CRAFTING ISN'T making a comeback — it's already back. For years, students, hipsters and other DIYers have been reclaiming sewing and such from the crocheted tea cozy group. With that in mind, Karen Kormondy at Ipso Crafto in D.C. has recently begun offering quick classes on techniques from embroidery to stamping. A recent class covered, in 30 minutes, "shisha" embroidery — a technique seen on Indian clothing in which stitchers attach colored mirrors to fabric.

» EXPRESS: Why do people have such trouble with grammar and usage?
» FOGARTY: It's very unfair, because people are just expected to know it, yet teachers don't have a lot of time in class to spend on grammar and, especially, usage. I'm Grammar Girl, but a lot of what I talk about is actually usage, word choice and things like that.

» EXPRESS: Are there any grammar mistakes that really get on your nerves?
» FOGARTY: Things used to get on my nerves a lot more than they do now. You would think since I'm spending so much more time on grammar I would become more annoyed with everything. But with every topic I research, I realize the rules often aren't hard and fast. Many things people think are rules are style issues or something that's changed in the last 200 years. I've become much more tolerant. It used to bother me when people used "while" to mean "although," but there's not a hard and fast rule. It used to really bother me when people capitalized nouns unnecessarily, but it's actually that way in our Constitution. Back then, it was the way people wrote.