Rosetta Mitchell, a furrier

Rosetta Mitchell (left) loves the fashion world. She also has a passion for Chinese culture. So the twentysomething native of Gary, Indiana, decided to merge her interests by designing, manufacturing and importing fur accessories from the Far East. Her company, Atlas Imports, LLC, not only handles her own line of goods but also provides full-service production management for other businesses. How she got started: While in Beijing in 1988, where she was exporting pears to the United States, Mitchell spotted a group of Russian women wearing gorgeous fur scarves--and had an entrepreneurial epiphany. Mitchell, quite familiar with fur, having endured the extremely cold winters of the Midwest, knew the scarves would be a hit. She found a manufacturer and added her own panache to the design. Within a year her items were in more than 185 boutiques around the world. That was in 2000. Now she also offers pieces for the home. Her goods range from $10 mother-of-pearl spoons to $1,100 mink ponchos and are available on her Web site, zeetta.com.