As Managing Partner of Vaco San Antonio, Stephen Dyer is simply doing what comes naturally: matching problems to problem solvers . Even before entering the consulting field, Stephen was well known as the friend who’s always ready to grab a cup of coffee, assess a need or an opportunity, and make the connection that solves the problem. It’s in his DNA to bring people together and nurture the relationships that follow. Stephen is committed to leading our San Antonio team in that same spirit of peer-to-peer service. “I’ve touched a lot of industries as a business consultant, and I’ve also been in the client’s shoes,” he says. “I know what it’s like to try to make payroll, and I know that a solution is so much more than putting a person in a seat. You have to understand what people need, what motivates them, and what success looks like on all sides of the equation.” Stephen joined the San Antonio team, formerly Aventine Hill Partners, in 2014,a few years before the company became part of the Vaco family. With Vaco’s global resources at his fingertips, Stephen can more readily create and deploy change-making teams without losing touch with the work on the ground. “My favorite thing,” he says, “is that moment when the client finally exhales. I feel that relief, too. When deep care drives your actions, the business takes care of itself.” Stephen’s pre-Vaconian resume is action-packed: opening his own consulting business, helping start a cattle and wind energy company, leading at a general contracting firm, and even living and working in Singapore for a stretch. Through it all, he’s kept one piece of advice at the forefront: work your own field. Dig in and dig deep right where you are. We can say with authority that he does that here. When he’s not solving problems for our clients, Stephen is collecting passport stamps. He’s visited nearly every continent on the globe and if his son has a say, Antarctica will be next. (Penguins, right?) Stephen burns energy through kickboxing, or, as he puts it, “paying someone to punch me in the face, and also has a secret painting talent Stephen lives in San Antonio with a busy family: wife Alli, one daughter and two sons; a big rescue pup named Oliver Baggins, one lonely goldfish, Dado and a very aggressive lobster, Big Blue. We’re eagerly awaiting the Pixar film about a street-fighting dad and his seafood sidekick.