When the economy throws you lemons you have to make lemonade. Or if you’re Charlie Johnson, you make pizza. 

Johnson owns Jimmy’s Pizza on Washington Street in northeast Brainerd. It’s a venture he undertook after retiring more than 15 years ago. 

“I said, ‘How hard can it be?’” Johnson said of owning a restaurant. But on a stretch of town that has an abundance of Jimmy’s, John’s and Pizza, it could be easy to get lost in the crowd. 

Not for Johnson.

Missy Ostrowski and Marissa Engisch shared future career ideas before they ever knew each other. 

Even as children. 

“All we wanted to do was push buttons,” Ostrowski said of her and Engisch’s shared childhood dream job. 

Ostrowski said she also wanted to be a spy or a lawyer, and Engisch a Latin gang intelligence officer. “I would have been killed first day on the job,” Engisch laughed. 

Sammy Hall has been working for years. Six years to be exact. The 21-year-old college student spent her summer vacation serving the patrons of Cowboys in Nisswa. When she wasn’t waiting tables, Hall spent her leftover free time in the lifeguard tower protecting swimmers at Whipple Beach in Baxter. 

But Hall doesn’t mind. She knows something bigger is just up the pipe. All she has to do first is graduate. 

Hall started her first job at the age of 15 working as a cashier at Schaefer’s Foods in Nisswa. “I was really young,” she said. 

By SARAH NELSON

Staff Writer

Mandolin Copa has done everything right. She is smart. She is educated. She is hard-working. But two years after finishing her college degree, Copa still can’t find a job. 

It’s not like she hasn’t applied. She has. Hundreds of times. 

“You name it, I’ve applied for it,” Copa said. 

Food service. Check. 

Office. Check. 

Housekeeping. Admin. Marketing. Call Center. Technical Assistance. Check. Check. Check.

“It’s super frustrating,” Copa said.