10 People Who Rose from Employee to Business Owner

Candi Wingate, Nannies4Hire

On TV it takes one of two things to be a great nanny: mirth (Fran Drescher) or girth (Mr. Belvedere). But in reality it takes serious determination, and Candi Wingate has that. She's spent her entire adult life wrangling other people's young children.

After graduating high school in Norfolk, Neb. (population 24,210), Wingate went straight to work as a nanny for a family with five kids in Texas. That's a tall order. But she knew she could do more. "Even at a young age my entrepreneurial spirit kicked in," she says. "There had to be a better way for families." Seems there wasn't, so Wingate invented it.

She saved her wages and bought her agency (for cash), then launched Nannies4Hire.com, which is now the largest business of its kind. Wingate also runs online matching services for babysitters, tutors, caregivers, dog walkers, housekeepers, and house sitters, all from her hometown of Norfolk.