Are you always playing by the rules? Want to play your own game? Want to overcome biases and microagressions?
 
Women leaders are often the victims of micro aggressive actions at work, such as hidden biases. These biases are nothing but opinions from different perspectives and are actually opportunities for us to maximize our skills and unleash our full potential. We shouldn’t let these biases limit us.
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz is currently serving as a residential faculty member within the Maricopa Community College District in the area of Business and IT. She is a recent recipient of the 2019 AACC Dale P. Parnell Faculty Distinction Recognition. In 2018, she was recognized with the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award. Dr. Preston-Ortiz has travelled and worked in 43 countries through her business, DEO Entertainment Group contracting entertainment and production for various corporate and government clients, such as the Department of Defense. Dina recently launched a book called, “31 Cents to 43 Countries: Hardcore Tips to Increase Profits”. As an entrepreneurial expert, she envisions this book as an instrument to empower leaders in various industries. Dr. Preston-Ortiz has a heart for global entrepreneurship and believes that everyone can achieve their maximum potential.
 
In this episode, Dina shares her insights on how to maximize your leadership potential and make the most of your skills. She also talks about microaggression and how to battle the biases women experience in work and life.
 
What you will learn from this episode:
  • Discover how to find your internal compass that can help you be at your maximum potential
  • Learn about microaggressions and why you should be aware of them
  • Learn more about why you should play your own game in work and in life
 
“Play your own game, and do it better by leveraging your own talents, and continue to get educated.”
– Dina Preston-Ortiz
 
 
Valuable Free Resource:
 
How you can find your internal compass and be at your maximum potential: Visit deospeaks.com or be the first to email her to get a FREE book
 
 
Topics Covered:
 
02:45 – Challenge is being in an industry or workplace that does not want to acknowledge their ability to lead which affect their careers, their status, oftentimes, their lifetime earning potential and lead to losing self-confidence
 
03:27 – Underestimating their talents and skills, as well as, being a victim of microaggression: the common mistakes business women leaders make in their industry or workplace
 
05:26 – One free and actionable tip you can do to hone your skills and overcome microaggression: Find your internal compass, scan the environment, be resilient, play your own game, and do it better by leveraging your own talents and continue to get educated and continue your training. I really believe in lifelong learning
 
07:31 – One valuable resource to help you find your internal compass and be at your maximum potential: Visit deospeaks.com or be the first to email her to get a FREE book
 
08:40 – Q: What role can mentorship play in breaking through some of the barriers that we face, especially when it comes to the glass ceiling? A: I think that women are often reluctant. And having a mentor can help you navigate both the political landscape and also provide you feedback to help champion yourself and your interests
 
 
Key Takeaways:
 
“Find your internal compass, and I can’t tell you how important that is because, oftentimes, you may not get selected for something that you’re very qualified to do, but you have to play your own game.” – Dina Preston-Ortiz
 
“By playing my own game and continuing to do it better than anyone else, by improving my talents, I continue to get educated, I continue to get training, and I continue to focus on my goals, and being aware of the moment, oftentimes, opportunities will present themselves.”
– Dina Preston-Ortiz
 
“Scan the environment for opportunities that might be outside the box.” – Dina Preston-Ortiz
 
“Your actual internal compass and your unique talents will give you your competitive advantage over your competition.” – Dina Preston-Ortiz
 
“It’s really important for us as women to be resilient until the right opportunity presents itself. We have to keep moving forward, even if they’re small steps. So, if we take two steps backward, we need to take one step forward, and being resilient allows us to do that.” – Dina Preston-Ortiz
 
“Having a mentor can help you navigate both the political landscape and also provide you feedback to help champion yourself and your interests.” – Dina Preston-Ortiz
 
 
Ways to Connect with Dina Preston-Ortiz
 
 
Ways to Connect with Sarah E. Brown
 
 
Full Episode Transcript:
Sarah E. Brown 0:47
My guest today is Dina Preston-Ortiz. In addition to owning a global entertainment company, Dr. Preston-Ortiz is currently serving as a residential faculty member within the Maricopa Community College District in the area of Business and IT. She is a recent recipient of the 2019 AACC Dale P. Parnell Faculty Distinction Recognition. In 2018, she was recognized with the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award. Dr. Preston-Ortiz has travelled and worked in 43 countries through her business, DEO Entertainment Group contracting entertainment and production for various corporate and government clients, such as the Department of Defense. She has also lectured globally and as a workshop moderator on behalf of the U.S. State Department under President Obama’s Statecraft Initiative. As a global award-winning entrepreneurial leadership expert, Dr. Preston-Ortiz brings a message of how to guide and lead success in the dynamic environments of business. Dina recently launched a book called, “31 Cents to 43 Countries: Hardcore Tips to Increase Profits”. As an entrepreneurial expert, she envisions this book as an instrument to empower leaders in various industries. Dr. Preston-Ortiz has a heart for global entrepreneurship and believes that everyone can achieve their maximum potential. Welcome, Dina. Thanks for being here!
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 2:32
Hi. Thank you so much! That is so nice that you have me this morning. Appreciate you having me.
 
Sarah E. Brown 2:38
So, what is the biggest challenge you help female business leaders face today and what might be the symptoms of that challenge?
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 2:45
So, I think one time or another, most women in professional careers find themselves in an industry or workplace that does not want to acknowledge their ability to lead. And by not doing that, there is a trajectory that will affect their careers, their status, oftentimes, their lifetime earning potential, in getting any clients in their small business. And oftentimes, they will lose their self-confidence. So, what I try to do is I try to help women find their internal compass and use their passion to define their purpose so that they can evolve through talent mastery and focus effort.
 
Sarah E. Brown 3:19
Great! So very needed today. And what would you say are the biggest mistakes your clients make before working with you?
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 3:27
Well, like many women, they often underestimate my talent and my skill. And so, I work in two industries. I work in the entertainment industry, and I work from an academic standpoint. So, in the entertainment industry, even today, oftentimes, some previous story, I just- before COVID hit, we were booked at a casino, like we often are. And I was going through security because entertainers have to go through the back door to get into the staging area. And when I went through security, they looked at me and my husband went ahead of me, they looked at me, and said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Wives can’t go on with musicians.” And I thought that was so funny, because the name on- the name of my band is the Dina Preston Band, and so we were scheduled and should have been on his docket. And I looked at him, I said, “Excuse me, what do you mean? We’re scheduled to perform.” And he said, again, “I’m sorry, but wives are not allowed in with their husband musicians.” And I said, “This is my band. I’m scheduled to perform tonight.” And he looked very flustered, and you know, very apologetic, and he said, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” But even today, I still get that. From an academic standpoint, although I see less of it, oftentimes, people assume that my Doctorate is in Liberal Arts. And by the way, I love Liberal Arts, but my Doctorate is actually in business. And so sometimes people make assumptions about me that will affect, oftentimes, my ability to lead in certain situations or won’t have the opportunity to lead certain situations.
 
Sarah E. Brown 4:49
Very interesting. I’m sorry. I’m just chuckling at that anecdote!
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 4:57
I was going to say, do you see, and I’m sure many women out there do see a, what I would call a microaggression. And that’s a good example of a microaggression, where it’s not out and out bias, but you will see bias in it. You know, when people try to process you or try to put you in a leadership position or running a company or even as a team number sometimes.
 
Sarah E. Brown 5:16
Mm-hmm. So, what is the number one free and actionable tip you can give women who are listening today to address to this challenge now?
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 5:26
Some may say, go back and find your internal compass, and I can’t tell you how important that is because, oftentimes, you may not get selected for something that you’re very qualified to do, but you have to play your own game. And I have found by playing my own game and continuing to do it better than anyone else, by improving my talents, I continue to get educated, I continue to get training, and I continue to focus on my goals, and being aware of the moment, oftentimes, opportunities will present themselves. So, I also scan the environment, and I tell women to scan the environment for opportunities that might be outside the box. So once my band was actually sent, by accident to Singapore, we were actually lost in Singapore with no visas or abilities to leave the country. And so, I had to act very quickly to address that challenge with my team members. When we did that, we did such a good job at it, even though it was you know, pretty challenging and scary. When we were done with that opportunity, we actually formed a 15-year relationship with the Department of Defense and continued to be sent overseas because they knew that we could handle those issues, that I could handle those issues as a leader. And that, you know, started way back in the 90s, so you can imagine some of the challenges as a female fronting a band, leading a band through various countries had to face. Also, I think you need to leverage unique talents, and by finding your internal compass, you can do that. Your actual internal compass and your unique talents will give you your competitive advantage over your competition. And then finally, I think it’s really important for us as women to be resilient until the right opportunity presents itself. We have to keep moving forward, even if they’re small steps. So, if we take two steps backward, we need to take one step forward, and being resilient allows us to do that. So again, scan the environment, be resilient, play your own game, and do it better by leveraging your own talents and continue to get educated and continue your training. I really believe in lifelong learning. It really has made all the difference in my career, and my professional and personal life as well.
 
Sarah E. Brown 7:20
I love the slogan, “Play your own game.” That’s great.
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 7:23
Right.
 
Sarah E. Brown 7:24
Yeah. So, what is a valuable free resource you can share with the women today to help them understand this challenge better?
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 7:31
Well, there are two resources. One, you can go onto my website, my speaking website, deospeaks.com, and under the ‘publishing’ tab, there is a free top 10 hardcore tips to increasing profits. And there’s actually information about finding your own compass, being purposeful, but there are other top 10 tips that I use for increasing profits in the organization. And then the other thing I’m going to do today too, Sarah, is the first person who contacts me via my email, my website and mentions your podcast today, I’m actually going to send them a free book, either a paperback or an Audible that has our music in it or an eBook. So that would be the second thing I’d like to share with your listeners today.
 
Sarah E. Brown 8:08
That’s terrific! So, okay for me to publish your email then in the show notes on this?
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 8:13
You bet, and it’s on my website, deospeaks. And again, I’ll just- the first person who reaches out to me, I will go ahead and send the book. If you reach out, and you’re second, third or fourth, I will, at least, give you the resources that you can go and kind of take a look at the book on Amazon and see if it’s something that you’re interested in looking at.
 
Sarah E. Brown 8:30
Terrific. Thank you very much! So, what’s one question that I should have asked you, Dina, that will help our audience take action to address this challenge, and then would you please answer the question?
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 8:40
Sure. I think one question that’s important is, what role can mentorship play in breaking through some of the barriers that we face, especially when it comes to the glass ceiling? And I think that women are often reluctant. I see this a lot when I work with my students to promote their accomplishments. And having a mentor can help you navigate both the political landscape and also provide you feedback to help champion yourself and your interests. And I also recommend not just female, female mentors are really important, but I think male mentors are very important, as well. Oftentimes, male mentors can help you break through some of those challenges that we face, because they can get their foot in the door oftentimes when we cannot and they can actually champion you. And so, I recommend both female and male mentors that have really made a difference both in my entertainment career and in my academic career as well.
 
Sarah E. Brown 9:28
That’s great. Now I have to ask you two other questions. One is what’s behind the name of the title, “31 Cents to 43 Countries”?
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 9:38
So, as I shared with you earlier, I actually started my career, my music career at 18 in San Francisco and I would go and I was going to City College ended up in San Francisco, I was busking on the street in front of Ripley’s Believe It or Not San Francisco. I moved down to San Diego and started my own country-rock band. We won a regional Music Award and an agent out of Minnesota picked us up. So, we were- I was toying with my group all over the Northwest and also Canada. I lost a very important steel guitar player and I picked up, went to my parents’ home in Phoenix to rest and find a new player. And I actually found my husband, who I’m with now for 31 years. I actually hired him to play guitar in my road band. And he actually saw the talent I had, and in my leadership quality, he said I wanted us to start something together, but we need to go back east to do that. And he got a hefty speeding ticket, I broke up my band, he got- we got a hefty speeding ticket. He got the speeding ticket all the way back to Delaware, which is where we’re going to start over again. And literally, when we arrived in Delaware, we had 31 cents in our pockets. We actually had to go bypass a toll road because- no, we didn’t have the 50 cents to put in the toll road! So that’s how it started. And we actually had developed our band and started working. And we understood right off the bat that music was a business. And so, we started with 31 cents, but we ended up touring 43 countries successfully. And so that’s the background to that.
 
Sarah E. Brown 11:03
Wow, what a great story!
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 11:06
It’s a fun story, isn’t it?
 
Sarah E. Brown 11:08
Yeah. And tell our listeners what’s behind the “Where is She?” because I’m going to put- you sent that to me ahead of time, and I’m going to put that link in the show too, in the show notes as well, so that people can access that YouTube recording.
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 11:23
So, we had a client a few years ago that picked us up and flew us out to Mexico for a non-profit organization. We work in the meetings and events, and distribute forms in the meeting and event industry. And this particular client, I believe had been working with Oprah Winfrey, and in addition to the song that we wrote for her client called, Boys from Casa Hogar, which is an orphanage in Mexico that they used for the non-profit, and then they gave to people who attended the event. She also shared with us that there was an idea that was floating around in her group for a title called, “Where is She?” And there was a project they were thinking about building, and so we thought, “Wow! That’s a great title to a song.” So, we actually developed the song called, “Where is She?” And we wanted to support women, of course. There are so many roles that they play in our lives as mothers, daughters, sisters, but also roles that they play in business and education, in fighting for all kinds of things that they believe in making differences both at home and globally and nationally. So, we wrote that and we posted it on Monday along with our lead video, it’s all for Field of Blue album. And so, we hope that our listeners- your listeners will enjoy it and give us some feedback. We always appreciate the feedback.
 
Sarah E. Brown 12:35
Great. Thank you so much. Dina, thank you for being with me today!
 
Dina Preston-Ortiz 12:40
Thank you. I sure appreciate it!
Sarah Brown
Sarah Brown

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