Nina Vaca, CEO of Pinnacle Technical Resources, Inc., one of the 27 winners of the w2wlink 2009 Ascendancy Awards for Business Women, two-time winner of Hispanic Business Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award as well as Ernst & Young’s 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year award for Technology and Communications for the Southwest Region, founded Pinnacle in 1996.
Pinnacle is an information technology services provider to the Fortune 500. The company’s client base includes industry leaders from the telecommunications, financial services, health care, technology, consumer products and business process outsourcing sectors. Pinnacle’s services include enterprise data warehousing, custom application development and architecture, system/network integration and installation, and call center technologies.
Under Vaca’s leadership, Pinnacle has become the second fastest growing firm in a $20 billion dollar industry, and now includes approximately 1,500 consultants across 38 states. She is a graduate of Texas State University with a B.A. in Speech Communications and Business Administration where she was honored as the youngest Distinguished Alumna in university history. Dr. Vaca also holds a Doctor of Laws "Honoris Causa" from Northwood University.
All of this amazing accomplishment, and yet Nina Vaca is one of the most down-to-earth people one could hope to meet.
w2wlink.com Question from the editor: Nina, you came from a family of entrepreneurs. What values have you adopted that you attribute much of your success to?
Nina Vaca: Accept people for who they are and surround yourself with like-minded people who sincerely want to see you succeed.
w2wlink Question from the editor: What was their attitude toward risk and do you think you adopted it?
Nina Vaca: They had faith that if they worked toward their goals, they could achieve them. So I grew up believing that if I wanted to do something, I needed to work to achieve it, and I would. I learned that money follows effort.
w2wlink Question from the editor: How important do you find relationships to be in building and leading a business?
Nina Vaca: Relationships are everything. Take the time to build personal relationships.
w2wlink Question from the editor: Your degree is in the non-technical field of business administration with a communications major. How did you gain credibility in technical circles, especially in the male dominated technology industry?
Nina Vaca: I became a technical recruiter and learned the language. It's a business.
W2wlink Question from the editor: Taking taking risks can lead to ups and downs. What attitude should people maintain when their choices lead to financial pressures?
Nina Vaca: Always be proud of who you are and where you came from.
w2wlink.com Question from the editor: What is your final piece of advice if you could tell the professional women reading your interview anything?
Nina Vaca: Value yourself and your self-worth. Confidence, along with walking the talk, goes a long way.
Nina Vaca, Chairwoman and CEO Pinnacle Technical Resources, Inc., is a member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council,wbenc.org, Young Presidents Organization, ypo.org, and the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, ushcc.org .
Jean Lewis,
has edited and written for consumer Web sites and publications reaching nearly 50 million people. Her credits include writing and editing online and print articles, sales and training materials, marketing collateral, and advertising and PR for conusmer companies including BeautiControl, a Tupperware subsidiary's publications to women ages 20s through 50s, the WHO Foundation, Women Helping Others, MCG Magazine, Los Angeles and Seasonal Living Guide for Sam’s Club, a retailing subsidiary of Wal-Mart. Her career also includes working and living in Canada and Japan. Jean is well regarded for her market-research based approach to managing story development enabling consistently original, relevant and timely content.
