Founding, Managing, and Growing a Company – an Interview with Rebecca Andino

Ms. Rebecca Andino, founder and CEO of Highlight Technologies, LLC has supported Federal agencies as an IT professional, program manager, and business owner for more than 15 years. She got her start working as a database developer for the Department of State, and led technology projects for national security missions after 9/11. In the last 8 years, she has led Highlight Technologies to achieve steady, profitable growth, currently managing 14 prime contracts across a dozen federal agencies. Ms. Andino is passionate about creating a customer and team-oriented environment that takes chances on talented and hard-working individuals, invests in employees’ careers, and provides opportunities for professional growth.

What inspired you to found Highlight Technologies?
Coming up, I had some really positive experiences working with small companies. You can have a lot of impact, you can learn a lot and own your growth. The small company for which I was working ended up growing, but I wanted to use the skills I had learned to recreate that environment. I hire a lot of talented junior level employees, and mentor them in the world of government contracting, providing them with lots of opportunities to grow.

You win the lottery for $10 million. What do you do?
Oh, wow. I would save some of it, pay for my house, my kids’ college, travel around the world a little bit. I like to concentrate on a couple of key areas rather than have a lot of small fires going, which can sometimes be ineffectual. I would spend time and money to reduce homelessness, especially among populations with families and children. I really would like that. Now you’ve got me thinking.

You’re at a 48-hour hackathon. What would you love to create?
I would love to be a coder! But speaking from the business side of things, I would create something very user-centric. I work in the government sector, so I’m always thinking about solutions to help customer-facing agencies. It would be so useful to help people that need information from a particular agency to access what they need.

What music are you grooving on recently?
In my head is Meghan Trainor’s “No”; my daughter is always playing it and it’s really catchy! I don’t have a lot of chance to listen to my own music, but I get a great variety listening secondhand to what my family has playing.