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It’s work, and they love it
BY MILDRED L. CULP

(View this interview as posted by the NY Daily News here)

For most of us, job satisfaction means finding work that isn’t too much of a daily grind.

But your name doesn’t have to be Jeter, Buffett or Oprah to make going to work a pleasure. Finding work that not only pays well — but you enjoy — is possible. Your Money talked to three New Yorkers who found their way into jobs they love, and their stories demonstrate how determination and luck can pay off for lots of others.

Rachele Benloulou-Dubin, Comix Comedy Nightclub

"Rocky," as 37-year-old Rachele Benloulou-Dubin likes to be called, works with some of the funniest people in the world.

As president of Rockster Productions, she helps program six nights a week of comedy while also scouting out new talent for the Comix Comedy Nightclub on W. 14th St.

"I always wanted to be in the entertainment business," said Benloulou-Dubin. "When I was really young, I wanted to be in ballet, but I had knee problems."

After school, she followed her family into the fashion industry. Briefly. Then, she was a waitress in a comedy club.

She inched up, becoming an assistant to the booker, then moved into events production in corporate entertainment, where she arranged comedians as well as the likes of Jerry Seinfeld and Greg Giraldo. Now she makes in the high-five figures, spending much of her work time laughing.

"When I went into comedy, it just felt right," she said. "I work for the hottest, coolest comedy nightclub in the city and the most booming emerging neighborhood in the city. Part of my job is to [have others] make me laugh."

Benloulou-Dubin, who was born in Montreal and now lives in Forest Hills, Queens, plans on starting a family some day but for now is having too much fun.

"I’m not looking to go there fast," she said. "I’m having a blast."

Sharmen Lane, SharSpeaks Sharmen Lane has always had her eye on the ladder’s next rung, and now she earns her living helping others make the climb. At 15, she worked at Little Caesars Pizza, in Southern California, often turning over her meager paychecks to her mom to help with rent. A year later, between her junior and senior years in high school, she trained to be a manicurist, work she loved until she discovered a pay ceiling of about $50,000.

Lane spent most of the 1990s learning the mortgage industry and, by 2003, was earning more than $1 million a year as a sales manager at a financial services firm, arranging home loans with mortgage brokers.

Now, at 36, she’s selling her knowledge and experience as a motivational speaker. She has regular Internet radio programs on and authored "The 7 Secrets to Create Your Fate."

"I don’t know that there’s any job better than one that empowers others to think outside of the box," said Lane, who lives in Turtle Bay in Manhattan.

"It doesn’t matter who you are or where you came from. You can do anything you want if you know what you want, set your goals, make a plan and take the steps necessary to make it happen. I think that this is the most amazing job that anyone could ever have."

Bruno Jamais, Bruno Jamais Restaurant Club

Fifteen years ago, Bruno Jamais came to New York from Paris with a few thousand bucks and a brain full of recipes.

Today, at 47, he owns more than half of the Upper East Side restaurant featuring his name and earns in the high six figures.

"I wake up every day and feel that I’m going to do what I want to do," Jamais said. "It’s a dream job."

Jamais grew up in the kitchens of his father’s restaurants. After a military hitch, Jamais worked in Paris as a maitre d’ and manager before coming to New York. Once here, Jamais "got very lucky," and got work in two of the city’s toniest eateries: Daniel and Alain Ducasse. He made contacts who financed his own place, on E. 81st St. between Fifth and Madison Aves.

Serving French food with an Asian accent, and featuring a wine list whose offerings run from $40 to $9,000, the restaurant has won acclaim in its six years.

Having conquered the New York culinary scene, Jamais has a new goal in mind. Cryptically, he allowed that it will blend three of his loves: food, antique cars and, most importantly, his 24-year-old daughter, Jessica. A veteran of the Paris restaurant scene, she plans to come to New York to help with his next project.