Executive edge: Ivette Dominguez; Daughter of Cuban immigrants breaks the mold with auto dealership.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: Attitude at altitude - Ivette Dominguez

Little did Ivette Dominguez know in 1990 that when she took her car in for service to a Southern California dealer, it would lead to a lifetime passion for cars and ownership of Alpine Buick Pontiac GMC, a $40 million dealership in Denver.

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"I had just graduated from San Diego State University, and they had a sign posted that said they were looking for people," recalls Dominguez, the daughter of Cuban immigrants who arrived in the U.S. in 1961. "My father was skeptical about me taking a job in a traditionally male industry, and I knew it was a risk. But when my parents came from Cuba, they had taken a risk for a better life and for freedom, so you could say it was in my blood to take a risk."

And within four months of signing the paperwork on the sale of her first car, Dominguez bought her first home at age 24. Her risk had paid off, and for several successive years she was named Sales Person of the Year at the BMW dealership in Camarillo, Calif.

"I have an entrepreneurial spirit and use some of my own experiences to help women buyers feel more comfortable when buying a car," Dominguez says.

In 1995, she joined the Massey auto-sales organization, where she was named one of the top Cadillac salespeople in the nation. In 1997, she transferred to Denver. After Sonic Automotive bought Massey in 2002, Dominguez became general manager--one of only two female general managers in the entire company.

In 2005, she took her biggest risk, using the equity in her California home to purchase the dealership from Sonic. Again, the risk paid off. Within the first year under her ownership, sales at the dealership, which she renamed Alpine, jumped 50 percent. Today, she is one of only six minority women-owned dealerships in the country.

"A lot of women, especially...