To understand Nina Vaca, Chair and CEO of workforce solutions provider Pinnacle Group, you have to begin long before the boardroom.
Her story starts in Quito, Ecuador, where her grandfather ran a hardware store – the first chapter in what would become a three-generation entrepreneurial legacy.
“I can tell you unequivocally, it’s not even about the destination or the journey, it’s about the people.”
The second began in the United States in the 1960s, when her parents immigrated with little more than faith and determination. Her father arrived with a job offer at the Pacific Games, but it was entrepreneurship that ultimately delivered their American dream. By age 10, she was working in the family business.
“I like to say I had a front-row seat to understanding all the subtleties of entrepreneurship: the risk-taking, the peaks and valleys and the hard work,” Vaca tells The CEO Magazine.
“So while my roots taught me resilience and to be personally responsible for my fate, I think that because I grew up as an entrepreneur, it was very natural for me.”
In many ways, she says, her entrepreneurial journey began before she was born, as she grew up inside the rhythms and realities of business ownership. Those early experiences embedded a conviction that still fuels her leadership today: connecting people with opportunity transforms lives.
Big break
It is now the stated purpose of Pinnacle Group and the thread that runs through her career. When she founded the company at just 25 years old, Vaca possessed confidence forged in experience but still faced considerable obstacles.
Her target clients were Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies, and as a youthful founder leading a new organization, she often encountered skepticism.
“One of the biggest challenges was not knowing what I didn’t know,” she says. “And sometimes not being given the opportunity because we were young.”
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She remains deeply grateful to the early corporate leaders who took a chance on her company, and decades later, Vaca can still name the chief procurement officers who opened those first doors.
Pinnacle Group’s response to that trust was simple but uncompromising: operational excellence. And the result is a business that not only wins clients but also keeps them.
People-centric
Today, as Pinnacle Group approaches its 30-year anniversary, it operates in 25 countries and serves 20 percent of the Fortune 100. Client and staff relationships are measured not in years but decades.
“I can tell you unequivocally, it’s not even about the destination or the journey, it’s about the people,” Vaca says.
“The most pivotal decisions that I have made are about who I’m surrounded by – our management team, our leadership team and the people who have been hand-selected. I’m grateful that we’ve had so many great people who have dedicated their lives to this company and to making us the award-winning company that we are.”
“Trust is our beacon.”
Pinnacle Group’s philosophy of ‘sharing the wealth’ ensures that when it succeeds, its people do too. For the first time, newer employees outnumber long-tenured ones, and therefore, preserving culture in such an environment requires deliberate action.
“When the company does well, people do well in it – they feel like they’re working toward something meaningful,” Vaca says.
“They know they work for a company that stands for people who are connecting people to opportunity. In our business, we consider our customers, consultants and community as stakeholders. And that means the more successful that we have gotten, the more we have the ability to give back through leadership, finances and programming.”
Adapting to change
Over nearly three decades, Pinnacle Group has endured and learned from seismic global events. And now, adapting to change is simply part of its DNA.
The aftermath of the September 11 attacks forced a reevaluation of reinvestment and delayed gratification, while the 2008 global financial crisis sharpened the company’s focus on leveraging technology alongside people and teams. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the power of transparency and communication, even when leaders lacked definitive answers.
“We don’t just embrace technology and innovation, we embrace change,” Vaca says.
“Again, when you have a company like ours, which has had sustainable growth, change is always in the equation. We have, as a company, built those muscles through conservative financing, through delaying gratification, and we have invested back in our people.”
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While exploring AI, automation and advanced analytics, Pinnacle Group is simultaneously preparing for the future while acknowledging that people and leadership development are essential and that the combination of both is going to be a powerful recipe for success.
“We’re constantly evaluating new software. We’re constantly looking at new things,” Vaca says.
“But nothing screams louder than performance. And so the tools that we use are for measuring performance, creating dashboards, giving people opportunities and allowing them to take personal responsibility for their work.”
“We don’t just embrace technology and innovation, we embrace change.”
Long-term partnerships founded on trust, transparency, performance and shared purpose, such as with Wick Phillips Attorneys & Counselors, have been essential to the success and breadth of Pinnacle Group.
“Trust is our beacon,” Vaca enthuses. “Many of our strongest allies have been with us for decades because we treat partners as an extension of our team.
“We collaborate early, communicate transparently and invest in joint innovation to deliver world-class service for our customers. Partnerships thrive when every party is committed to that excellence and when there’s a win–win for each of them.”
An edgy leader
Outside the office, Vaca trains as relentlessly as she leads. A seasoned triathlete who has completed a full Ironman, swum from Alcatraz and cycled punishing mountain routes, she draws direct parallels between endurance sport and executive leadership.
“Growth begins at the edge of your comfort zone,” she says with a smile.
Swimming, Vaca explains, mirrors entrepreneurial risk; you must throw yourself into uncertain waters and build momentum. Cycling reflects competitive reality – there will always be those ahead and behind you; the key is to keep pedaling. Running represents heart and endurance, the refusal to quit when the finish line feels distant.
At Pinnacle Group, competition is internal.
“It’s us versus us,” she says. “How can we be better than we were last year?”
“Growth begins at the edge of your comfort zone.”
Indeed, comparison, she believes, is the killer of joy. Progress comes from discipline, consistency and an unwavering commitment to personal development.
“Every year I’ve had to reinvent myself in search of the best CEO I can be for the company at that time,” she adds.
Asked about her legacy, Vaca resists grand declarations, instead hoping that “Pinnacle changed lives, elevated leaders and proved that immigrants can build a world-class workforce.”
Ultimately, she believes her legacy will not be measured in revenue or geography, but in impact – on her team, her community and her family.
The business’ growth has always been a by-product of investing in people, and if Vaca’s life story demonstrates anything, it is that opportunity, once offered, has the power to transform generations.
