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

NAME: Debbie Southwood-Smith
FORMER JOB: Vice president, A&R, Interscope Records. "My boss comes into my office and the first thing he says is, 'Listen, we gotta talk.' I look at him and roll my eyes and say, 'Now what?' I'm thinking Jimmy [Iovine, head of Interscope] wants to drop Kristin Hoffman again. I had defended this singer-songwriter like three times. And my boss says, 'We have to let you go.' I just looked at him: 'What?' "
CURRENT JOB: Working on master's degree in education, Fairleigh Dickinson University. "I have made urban education my focus. I've worked in three schools. If you can speak [students'] language, they're really going to get it. If you can use hip-hop to teach Shakespeare, they're going to understand the themes in Shakespeare."