Name of company: Search Wizards
Name of woman leader: Leslie O'Connor
Based in: Atlanta
Description: Recruitment firm
Began: 2000
2003 sales: $359,600
2007 sales: $12.2 million

How did you start out?
"I arrived in the United States from Canada in 1999 with $2,400 and my child and my dog," Leslie O'Connor says. She has a high school degree, but her father encouraged her to go into business instead of to college. "He thought I should be selling. He told me, 'You got street smarts.'" She decided to take her father's advice while working as a branch manager at a large tech staffing organization in Atlanta. "My son was 11 at the time, and I was working from 6 in the morning to 8 at night, so I was looking for something I could do at home."

How did you grow so fast?
"I actually deterred growth. I wanted it to grow organically. As I started earning fees, all my money went back into the business." She started with a handful of consultants and now has 135 of them compared with the handful she used to have. "I never bit off more than I could chew. I never wanted to have cash-flow troubles. We're debt free--always have been--which matters in this market. Also, we're all-virtual. My consultants work in five countries. We have the personal touch and good customer service."

How's the economy treating you?
"[Two months ago] we started to see an impact," O'Connor says. "The first person to be impacted is always the recruiter when they decide to freeze hiring." But Search Wizards is holding steady. "We launched a new website with more of an RPO [recruitment process outsourcing] model, and we're having more appetite for that. The pipeline of talent is hot for us, and it will be a growth area."

By keeping her overhead low via her virtual model, O'Connor has kept her margins lower than the competition, allowing clients to get the same service or better. It also allows her to retain her people. "We've never had a layoff. I take care of my people. I didn't build this myself--I've had help along the way." She does expect to cut back on advertising in the next 60 days but will continue doing e-mail blasts. "Everybody here is taking ownership and being creative about how to deal with tough times."

What's on your iPod?
"My iPod is everything--jazz, funk, reggae, soul, R&B and classic rock. I just shuffle it all the time."

Click here to see the Top 50 list.