Catherine Boudreau for BI; Alyssa Powell/BI
BI
When Robert Howey joined the US Navy right after high school, he didn't expect to return home anytime soon.
Howey, now 30, grew up in northwestern Georgia near Dalton, a small city known as the "carpet capital of the world." If he'd stayed in the area, he likely would have pursued a career in the carpet industry.
"That's one of the reasons why I wanted to leave," Howey told Business Insider.