Her hard work has paid off -- she weighs 208 pounds and wears a size 14 pants.

CNN: Zumba helps woman drop 123 pounds

Her hard work has paid off - the company now has 10 employees, and sales are doubling each year.

BBC: Women entrepreneurs: Starting out in your forties

She says Turning Point ended up hiring her fledgling firm, Prosper Public Relations in Chicago, to execute her marketing plan through paid consulting work.

WSJ: Helping Your Cause��and Your Career

Ms Kehoe told the court Mr Philpott did not work regularly and her wages would be paid into his bank account, which was controlled by him.

BBC: The defendants in court on Tuesday 12 February

It wasn't because we were leaving, just because she was overwhelmed that we'd paid her almost the exact equivalent of her life savings for three days work.

BBC: The closed city of Norilsk

Casie Stewart, a 28-year-old social-media consultant from Toronto, has earned a free Virgin America flight, a shopping splurge at Mark's Work Wearhouse and an all-expenses-paid trip to New Zealand fashion week thanks to her prolific tweeting and blogging about her life.

WSJ: Wannabe Cool Kids Aim to Game the Web's New Social Scorekeepers