Ski Guru
Kristen Ulmer
38, Salt Lake City, UT

Job Description: A former big-mountain freeskier and film star, Ulmer founded Ski to Live in 2003—the first-ever spirituality-based sports clinic for alpine skiers and snowboarders. Through STL, Ulmer and her Buddhist mentor Genpo Roshi, 61, hold multi-day retreats focusing on yoga, skiing, and personal growth.
Why This Work Rules: She gets paid to ski (though not nearly as much as when she was making six figures as a pro) and practice yoga, but Ulmer also gets to give something back. "People usually come to the clinics to learn how to ski better," she says, "but they leave having had their minds blown open."
Turning Point: After 15 years making films and tearing up the freeskier circuit, Ulmer outgrew the extreme-athlete limelight. In 2002, she attended a personal-growth workshop in Sundance, Utah, and then went to the Burning Man festival, in Nevada, where she explored her creative side through performance art. "I realized at Burning Man that I wasn't living an authentic life. As soon as I got home, I wrote a resignation letter to my sponsors and decided to focus all my energy on Ski to Live," says Ulmer. "It was a complete 180."
The Balanced Life: Winter finds Ulmer skiing in Utah's Wasatch Mountains, practicing yoga, and hosting STL. In the summer, she rock-climbs and kiteboards. Ulmer feeds her philanthropic streak by raising money to help cancer survivors attend STL and taking underprivileged teens climbing and skiing in Utah.
Reality Check: Known for taking big risks in perilous places, Ulmer says STL is the biggest leap she's taken yet. "I have so much of my heart invested in this and want so much for it to be successful," she says. "If it blows up tomorrow, I'll be devastated."
The Bottom Line: The rewards of becoming a guru—ski or otherwise—are more spiritual than material (STL earns Ulmer $15,000 to $20,000 a year). Books like The Power of Now (New World Library, $14), by Eckhart Tolle, and Why Aren't You Your Own Boss? (Three Rivers Press, $16), by Paul Edwards, Sarah Edwards, and Peter Economy, can help you turn your creativity into your livelihood.