In the late 1990s, Kerry Hannon, a Washington, D.C.-based personal finance reporter and editor, got a call from a photographer friend who needed a writer to help with a book about an American Indian trading post.

For Ms. Hannon, 49, a Fox Chapel native who has spent most of her career covering business and consumer news for national publications, including USA Today, Forbes and U.S. News & World Report, the experience of profiling three female weavers at a Navajo reservation located at the Four Corners -- the juncture of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico -- was a sort of epiphany.

There was a peace and contentment among the women as they pursued their traditional craft, she said, and their sense of serenity stayed with Ms. Hannon long after she finished the 1999 book, "Trees in a Circle: The Teec Nos Pos Story."

Back in Washington, Ms. Hannon didn't abandon consumer-oriented journalism, but she eventually landed a steady gig with U.S. News, writing a feature about people who change careers to gain more personal fulfillment.

Among them were a Pittsburgh mortgage banker-turned-schoolteacher; a Wall Street financier-turned restaurateur who operates an Italian bistro near Aspinwall; and a Capitol Hill lobbyist-turned entertainer.

In spending time with subjects who became disenchanted with their jobs and decided money wasn't enough to motivate them, Ms. Hannon found inspiration and decided to compile 16 of their stories in a book that was published last month, "What's Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job" (Chronicle Books, $22.95).

By sheer coincidence, she landed a book contract about switching careers in late 2008 as the world economy was reeling and unemployment soared.

"In a time of economic unsettledness, I find this book hopeful," she said in a phone interview.

In "What's Next?" she writes about individuals who sought change for personal reasons and took time to plan their new ventures -- as opposed to people laid off in the recession who may not have expected to change jobs. But Ms. Hannon believes that their stories offer appropriate advice to the unemployed. Many of the individuals cut their living expenses and all of them "had to be very diligent about money management."

Tim Sheerer, for instance, spent more than a decade working for Merrill Lynch in New York and at one point earned $500,000 a year plus bonuses.

But the events of 9/11 -- in which some of his colleagues perished -- combined with his father's quadruple bypass surgery and a relentless work schedule, motivated him and his wife to relocate with their four children to his hometown of Pittsburgh.

He bought and operated a restaurant franchise and later separated from the franchise company to open his own eatery, laCappella, on Freeport Road, in the city near Aspinwall.

When the stock market crashed in 2008, the Sheerers' investment portfolio tanked, but he feels fortunate to have his health and time to be involved with his children while he runs his business.

Mr. Sheerer, who resides in O'Hara, and others in the book offer practical advice on planning for a career change that Ms. Hannon includes at the end of each vignette.

"You absolutely have to have your finances in order," she said. "You may take a cut in pay or have to come up with the cost of a startup. ... That's the biggest barrier: money."

In a few cases, money was not much of an obstacle to a more satisfying career.

Take the former Microsoft executive who retired in her 40s with enough savings and stock options to live comfortably without working. But though she had ample financial security, Trish May was motivated to do something else after surviving a bout with breast cancer.

She launched Athena Partners, a Seattle nonprofit that raises funds for cancer research by selling bottled water and specialty chocolates.

It's tough to name the most inspiring among her subjects, Ms. Hannon said. But they shared a few common threads. "They were all spurred by crisis," whether it be death of a loved one, personal health concerns or a catastrophic event such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"And they had complete confidence. To be a success at this, you have to have a clear vision and introspection. I never met anyone who second-guessed [himself or herself]."

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