(MONEY Magazine) – Although she spends her days curating art exhibits and visiting collectors, life was not always so peaceful for Erika Amoako-Agyei. At one time, war was part of the job. In 1996 the naturalized American took an expatriate position in West Africa with IBM. Having grown up in Canada and the U.S., Amoako-Agyei, 30, jumped at the chance to live near her Ghanaian family. But penetrating that market meant extensive travel, including in war-torn Sierra Leone. "I never knew when I would be stopped at military checkpoints," she says.

As regional sales manager, she generated $15 million in new revenue in three years, with embassies and multinationals as clients. Adorning the board room walls was the creme de la creme of contemporary African art. "The work was uniquely African but very sophisticated," she says. "I was amazed." She met artists and even bought a few pieces. By then, she'd met her husband Nathaniel, a pharmacist, and the couple decided to relocate to the U.S. and change careers. "We thought we'd try to bring the art we love to the U.S.," she says.

The two launched Gold Coast Imports in November 1999 with a stable of seven artists, funded mostly by Amoako-Agyei's savings and a bank loan. Their $60,000 stake didn't go far: four containers of paintings, sculpture and handmade furniture, and the lease on a new store. Hit by unexpected import costs, they had nothing left for marketing. Seven months pregnant, a determined Amoako-Agyei knocked on doors and sent faxes. "It was all word of mouth," she says. Local firms, including Bank One, responded by exhibiting the works in their lobbies. The strategy worked: They sold out their inventory by Christmas.

A second child hasn't slowed the pair down. Solidly profitable by year two, the business has nearly $200,000 a year in sales and imports art from 26 countries. And it's been fun. After helping basketball star Penny Hardaway build his collection, Amoako-Agyei says, "we were featured on MTV Cribs." --E.M.