Gainesville, FL (March, 2011): On the surface, the career moves of Monica Chiarini Tremblay (BS ISE 1993) and Tom Tremblay (BS ISE 1993) seem a bit risky. At least that is how they explained it to current ISE students (Monica to Intro to ISE students and Tom in the Sales Engineering Seminar). First, Monica gave up her IT career with Exxon in Houston and they moved to Milan, Italy as Tom accepted an offer to become Director of Sales in Europe for Environmental Remediation Inc. It worked out, as Monica had no trouble landing consulting jobs and Tom flourished. Four years later, they returned to the states (Tampa) and another risk: Monica quit working to pursue her PhD in Management Information Systems at the University of South Florida while Tom sunk their savings into starting Florida Turf Support, a firm that supplies products and services for maintaining fine turf grasses (i.e., golf courses and sports fields). They both admit that it was bold, but now they are reaping the benefits of flexible lives (something that comes in handy when raising two children). Monica is an Assistant Professor in the business school at Florida International University in Miami and Florida Turf Support is doing well — well enough that they are considering other new ventures. “The level of stress has taught us to deal with a lot,” explained Monica to students in the Intro to ISE class.