Samantha Hernandez, 39

Samantha Hernandez is fascinated by how companies use psychology in business. It’s why she chose to specialize in industrial organizational psychology in school.

After working as a benefits administrator at food distributor Sysco, Hernandez decided to join a background check company, Ad-Vance Screening, as vice president of operations. When 2008 stalled hiring, Hernandez looked for a new position and ended up leading human resources at Southeastern Guidedogs Inc.