Rock & Roll Refugees: 10 People Who Escaped the Music Industry

NAME: Simon Baeyertz
FORMER JOB: Head of international, V2 Records. "I've actually been in the music industry 23 years — my entire adult life. I was working for V2 U.S. and it went under. I thought, 'I could go back to being a manager, or I could do international consulting. Or maybe, at age 45, I could just go do something completely different.' "
CURRENT JOB: Building El Blok, a 22-room hotel on Vieques, an island off Puerto Rico. "My wife and I started going there five years ago and slowly came up with this idea. I am learning permitting, environmental assessment, contracting and designing a building — none of which I've ever done before. If God and the planning tribunal of Puerto Rico is willing, it'll open December 2009."