Twenty-five years ago, HumCap started with a simple belief: Business success is determined by how well companies attract and retain the best teams, by keeping people and people systems as a top priority.

I didn’t have an MBA written business plan or a step-by-step roadmap to 25 years. What I had was a call to start a business that served clients in their areas of need, a willingness to work hard, and faith that if we did right by people, the important things would follow. Our first office was in my garage that I rebuilt to be a workout room to train for Ironman triathlons. The office had 3 desks, 3 phones, a window unit for AC, and a portable heater for the winter. I was, and am still, convinced that serving people and their needs will always matter more than transactions.

Long before training for Ironman triathlons and starting a business in the garage, I learned about leadership at West Point and in the Army.  Military service teaches you that great teams accomplish far more than great individuals ever will — and that integrity, accountability, and perseverance aren’t just talk. They’re how you accomplish the mission to serve with excellence when it’s hard, and you’re hungry and tired. Serving with excellence became HumCap’s foundation in that garage in Dallas and remains so still to this day, 25 years later.

Every chapter of HumCap’s story has so many names on it besides mine. Team members, past and present, who stayed through hard times and lived out our values when our clients needed us. Clients who trusted a small but mighty firm and let us grow alongside them, some of them for more than twenty years. Most of all my family, who sacrificed more than anyone will ever see, and who became part of the HumCap story themselves. I’m grateful for every one of them. It has always required a strong team that includes family, friends, excellent employees, trusting clients, community and business advocates.

Somewhere along the way, giving back to the community stopped being something we did and became part of who we are. I’ve always believed a strong business is meant to help build a strong community — a triple bottom line — and that this work is both a blessing and a responsibility. Supporting our community, our nonprofit partners, our veterans, and the people of North Texas has been one of the great privileges of these past 25 years.

So much has changed since we started. Technology, recruiting, HR, the workplace itself — almost none of it looks the way it did in 2001. But the things that matter haven’t moved an inch. People first. Relationships over transactions. Be better every day, deliver results, persevere with grit, and win as a team. Those values were there in the garage, and they’re still here today.

As proud as I am of what we’ve built, I’m even more excited — honestly, a little overwhelmed — by the opportunity ahead. The future belongs to organizations that never lose sight of their people, and I believe the best chapters of HumCap’s story are still unwritten.

To everyone who has been part of this journey — whether you’ve been with us for 25 years or 25 minutes — thank you. Thank you for your love, your trust, your advice, your partnership, your friendship, and your belief in what we’re building. HumCap’s story has always been about serving people, and you are the reason this milestone is worth celebrating.

Here’s to the next 25 — and to being a little better every day.

 

Sincerely,

— Tad McIntosh

Founder & President, HumCap