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MICHEL MARTIN, host: From handling the pressure of school to handling the pressures of finding work in a down economy. The unemployment rate in this country may have fallen a tiny bit in December, but huge numbers of people still face tough economic realities. The job market has proven particularly grim for those with limited job experience - namely, the young.

Author and self-described serial entrepreneur Scott Gerber has some advice for those young people. Stop looking for that ‘real job’, and create your own. Gerber is the author of "Never Get a Real Job," and he joins us now from our bureau in New York. Also joining us is Tina Wells. She's an accomplished entrepreneur herself, who's the founder and CEO of Buzz Marketing(口碑營(yíng)銷) Group, a youth marketing agency. And she joins us on the line from Philadelphia. Welcome to you both. Thank you so much for joining us.

Mr. SCOTT GERBER (Author, "Never Get a Real Job"): Thanks for having me.

Ms. TINA WELLS (Founder and CEO, Buzz Marketing Group): Thank you.

MARTIN: So Scott, I think it's fair to say that you started this book long before the recession.

Mr. GERBER: Correct, about 18 and a half - wow, almost two years ago now.

MARTIN: Yeah. And the subtitle of the book is "Not Sit on Your Parents' Couch and Eat Chips Forever."

Mr. GERBER: No, no, it's not become a hippie（嬉皮士）, makes no money and does nothing with their lives, no.

MARTIN: No, so how did you get the idea, and what is your advice?

Mr. GERBER: You know, basically, I believe the economic outlook for what Gen Y（Y代） has been through has been worse and worse by the day. And frankly, you know, why folks like myself and Tina are putting together a movement through the Young Entrepreneur Council - which is another initiative that we're spearheading- is because we need to think more about creating a job to keep a job.

You know, the average open position for an entry level position, you know, can be going anywhere from 75 to 1,000-plus resumes. And the chances of getting that opportunity at any given point,?almost to 1 percent, so I think we have to become the most self-sufficient, entrepreneurial generation in history or we're going to become a lost generation.

MARTIN: Tina, let's hear your story. And I think a lot of people who read magazines like Essence, for example, or business magazines may already have heard about you. You're in your 12th year of business at the tender age of - you don't mind my telling - 31.

Ms. WELLS: No. I'll be 31 this year. That's right.

MARTIN: You'll be 31 this year. You've been in business for 12 years.

Ms. WELLS: Fifteen years.

MARTIN: Fifteen years. How did you start?

Ms. WELLS: You know, my story is similar to Scott's. I never thought that I would ever actually own a business. I always tell people my business is a result of my passion for pop culture. I started out as a writer for a newspaper for girls, called "The New Girl Times," and started writing product reviews, which turned into market research.

And when I was about 18 years old, someone gave me a tip and said listen, I just paid someone $25,000 for a report that's not even a tenth as good as yours. And you have a business; go figure it out. And so I went to the head of the business department at my college and said, this is what I've been doing for two years, and can you help me out? And she, thankfully, with her guidance and independent study, turned my little idea into a full-fledged business in about three months.

MARTIN: Really? You know, what's interesting too, is we noticed the data shows at least until the downturn, that women were starting small businesses at a faster rate than men. And also, women of color are among the people who have the fastest rate of business formation. And I'd like to ask each of you - Tina, I'll start with you. Why do you think that is?

Ms. WELLS: I have to say, I agree with you. And I think that, especially when it comes to women and entrepreneurship, I think we've learned that we really have to create our own opportunities. You know, we hear about a glass ceiling and I'm often asked, do you experience that? And I have to be honest and say, no, I don't. Not as a young woman, not as a woman of color, you know, and not just as a woman in general, because I created my own opportunity.

And I always say, the only color people see in my business is green. And my business is about creating information that really, you know, in essence, helps other people make money.

MARTIN: And Scott, are there areas - well, first of all, I want to get your take on that question. And I also want to know if you think there are any particular fields that are amenable to, or offer particular opportunity for young people who want to start thinking about creating their own jobs, as opposed to getting a job.

Mr. GERBER: Absolutely. Well, the first thing I would say is, you know, what the Young Entrepreneur Council is doing right now, with Buzz Marketing Group in partnership, is basically creating an expansive study of youth unemployment and young entrepreneurship, and how the two have come together. And what we're finding, you know - and the survey results will be announced in a couple of weeks - but what we're finding is that

MARTIN: Speaking of a little marketing.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. GERBER: Well, most people we find are not joining, you know, the entrepreneurial ranks en masse because of the fact that they think that there's no resources. They think that there's something that's not available. But those that are very up to date and educated and realize that they haven't had opportunities in the traditional workforce, they have proceeded. And we were shocked to find how many people have jumped into the entrepreneurial ranks from multiple different areas, where you wouldn't necessarily expect it.

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