Sometimes, building the life you want requires a big risk.

That's what Keri Gardner realized when she cashed in $100,000 of her retirement savings to buy a franchise. It was November 2020, and she had just been laid off from her executive role at a health company. A franchise recruiter called her and asked, "Do you want to work for anybody else?" Gardner replied, "Absolutely not. I work really hard. I want to do it for me."

She was passionate about the environment, so was drawn to Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions. The company, which has 127 franchisees in 348 territories, cleans fryers in commercial kitchens and filters impurities from their cooking oil so it lasts longer, swaps out the oil when it's spent, and recycles oil for use in biofuels. Gardner used the money from her 401(k) to buy two territories on Long Island. Six months later, she was getting so much business that her........

© Entrepreneur