Entrepreneurs: Legacy of Dreams

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In part because of such potential rewards, these days many immigrant children no longer view following their parents' path as a jail sentence. All the second-generation members of the Rama family, whose Greenville, S.C., JHM Group owns a string of more than 40 hotels, have worked in the family business since they could fold towels. Three are pursuing degrees in architecture, business or hotel management--by choice. "I knew I wanted to make the hotel business my career. My head was always in it," says D.J. Rama, 36, a Cornell M.B.A. and vice president of operations for JHM. "Work is the fabric that weaves the wealth the first generation built together with the next."

Others take more convincing. When he was called back to work for the family company, Peter Kim was less than thrilled. But one day he had an epiphany while driving down the freeway. "I was feeling sorry for myself," he says. "Then it hit me: You are such a coward. My parents and that whole generation come to this country with nothing--like, a suitcase and maybe, what, a couple hundred bucks?" His father, seated beside him, says, "Thirty-eight dollars."

"They don't know the language," Peter Kim continues. "They don't know the culture. They can't even find a bathroom. They know nothing but can build this. It was almost like somebody took a frying pan and smacked me on the head. I am born in this country. I am educated in this country. We can make a go of this." The American Dream, after all, is worth fighting for. --With reporting by Anne Berryman/Kennesaw, Laura A. Locke/Napa, Siobhan Morrissey/Miami, Constance E. Richards/Greenville and Sean Scully/Los Angeles