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Tykra focuses on the corporate transition from a small company to a big company, she says. "We've coined the phrase `wind tunnel' for that phase because it's when a company moves from a chaotic environment to a non-chaotic environment. "We take the craziness out of a startup and put in the sanity of a mature corporate environment," she says. In 1997, before starting Tykra, Ms. Wear co-founded DocSpace Co. Inc., a Toronto firm that developed secure business systems and file management for the Internet. She was vice president of marketing and headed its beachhead in the United Kingdom. "It was a business play," she says. "It was an extranet, essentially, on the Web." And it caught the eye of Critical Path Inc. of San Francisco, which bought the firm in 2000 for record amount. The deal included Critical Path stock and a reported $35 million in cash, taking Ms. Wear from a life of eating Spam and hot dogs to one of driving a BMW and not worrying about her next meal. Ms. Wear chose not to stay once the sale was complete. But rather than retire to the beach, it wasn't long before she and Marissa Dobozy, a DocSpace executive, were brainstorming a new company that would become Tykra. "I like the beach, but not full-time," says the 32-year-old Ms. Wear. "People like Bill Gates or Larry Ellison don't need to be working either. It's that drive to be working, to be challenging yourself, to be having fun." "She's got way too much energy, way too much raw energy -- which would be damaging to anybody sitting next to her on the beach," laughs Michael Serbinis, who worked with her at DocSpace but stayed with Critical Path and is chief technology officer. This energy and a determination to never take "no" for an answer will help both her and her consulting business, he says. "She aims to win. Beyond having energy, beyond even not taking `no,' there is this almost insane self-driven desire to win," Mr. Serbinis says. Mr. Serbinis says he's not surprised that Ms. Wear has started a new business instead of taking it easy with her profits from DocSpace. Being a consultant in an economic downturn is difficult, even for established firms, say those in the business. Despite the challenge, Ms. Wear is optimistic. "In this really depressing and bleak market environment, the last thing we should be doing is just hunkering down and waiting for the storm to pass," she says about what she tells high-tech businesses. "We've got to determine how we're going to fight the storm. Part of that is building up revenue and becoming profitable, making sure that you're being cost effective and you're not spending on areas that are not going to benefit you in the short-term." She says too many businesses seem to have panicked over the decline in the stock market. But she says the decline "has flushed out the crud and left behind the true entrepreneur." Small technology companies in business today are often powered by leaders with a strong, entrepreneurial vision, she says. "Consulting boils down to a personal relationship," says Paul Paolicelli, a veteran consultant and author. "You've got to have a firm base and a real clear definition of what [is needed] based on research." Like any business, running a consultancy has its downside, says Mr. Paolicelli, who has been both a staff consultant with major firms and an independent. Financially, the biggest negative is "your overhead. How you charge and how much," he says. Any new consulting firm will have to concentrate on that balance, he says. "They're going to have to be very shrewd in how they price it." Another aspect of consulting at first may appear exciting but can wear on the consultant and his family, he cautions. "You're living out of a suitcase, on airplanes," he says. Ms. Wear says she lives in airplanes and cars, shuttling between clients. She hopes to make San Francisco her home base "and not travel so much." Fair warning: Don't invite her to sing. Ms. Wear says she's "completely tone deaf" but still loves to sing at the slightest invitation. But while music is a passion for her, the newest interest is kick boxing.