Nina Vaca, 35
Pinnacle Technical Resources
Dallas
Projected 2006 Sales: $60 million
Description: IT consulting and IT staff augmentation
Family Matters: Family is serious business for Nina Vaca. The list of key employees at her IT consulting company reads like a genealogy. Freddy Vaca, senior vice president of professional services, is her brother. Vice president of human resources Jessica Narvaez is her sister. And president Jim Humrichouse is her husband. Says Vaca, “I absolutely love it. We’re cut from the same cloth, and we all have the same work ethic. I’m just really lucky to have such a talented family.”
Born to Run a Business: Entrepreneurship runs in Vaca’s family. Her parents emigrated from Ecuador, and she grew up working in her father’s chain of Los Angeles-area travel agencies. “I quickly understood that my parents made their future and didn’t just collect a paycheck,” she says.
Boom to Bust: Pinnacle had its beginning in 1996 when staffing firms were booming; it soon specialized in system administration. The dotcom bust of 2001 came down on Vaca’s business like a ton of hard drives. She found herself facing a hollowed-out business with a handful of employees and uncertain prospects for the future.
Bust to Boom: Failure is not an option in the Vaca family. “I used it as an opportunity,” Vaca says. “I aligned myself with my family, leveraged their talents and we came together.” She followed the market, diversified Pinnacle’s portfolio and rebuilt its customer base with Fortune 500 clients. Pinnacle now employs 700 people across 30 states. “I see no reason why we can’t get in the billions in terms of revenue,” says Vaca. That’s some recovery.
All in the Family: The future of Pinnacle is about more than revenue, employee growth, new contracts and new market areas. It’s about a sense of dedication, civic responsibility and family strength that goes back to Vaca’s parents’ first travel agency in California. “I hope to fulfill a family legacy,” says Vaca. “I hope my daughters are in the business someday, and sons as well.” With her track record, look for Pinnacle to be a source of family pride for generations to come.
Follow Her Lead: The people you surround yourself with in business can be your greatest source of strength.
Originally published in the October 2006 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine