Her Story
About Dina
I've spent over 30 years building my career in telecommunications and fiber optics. I started at what was 9X, which became Bell Atlantic and then Verizon, where I worked for 27 years. They put me through school for telecommunications, and I learned the work from the ground up, even climbing poles and putting in copper and fiber. I did a Fios fiber optic build in New York City and worked extensively in the field. After Verizon, I worked for IBH Smith doing subcontracting for AT&T, then joined Allied Universal's fiber division. Now I'm with Mortensen Construction as the quality manager for structured cabling for AI hyperscale data centers being built all over the country. I manage 8 teams, travel about 95% of the time, and handle one of the largest projects in the world. My typical day involves fielding questions, guiding engineers, teaching them the work since many are new to it, and creating inspection forms so they know what to look for to ensure quality. I work with a company that has higher standards than the average for this type of work, which pushes everyone to work at their best capacity. I've always worked in male-dominated environments, having three older brothers helped me learn how to handle that dynamic. Throughout my career, I've kept climbing up the ladder and accomplishing more and more. I think I'm probably at the top of my game right now.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dina
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think learning the work and working hard has been key to my success. Always working hard, no matter who next to you isn't working, working hard for your goals. I think being personable helps, having a good personality, staying positive, and trying to connect with people in a positive way. Just doing a really good job for people. I'm always educating myself and learning. I think everything that you do helps you become better at everything that you do. Having the knowledge is so important because a lot of leaders lead but they don't have the knowledge. I like the fact that I have the education and the knowledge of the work.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell any female that is going to get into a male-dominated field two things: you have to prove yourself, because they're very difficult. Make sure you know more than they know. Make sure you educate yourself as much as possible, because as soon as you make a mistake, or as soon as you say or do the wrong thing, they're gonna come right at you. We have not come as far as women think we have, unfortunately. I would tell her to learn as much as she can and know the job better than any man, and I would tell her, as soon as somebody gives you a hard time, you don't take any crap. Let them know right then and there you're not dealing with it. You have to put a man in his place the first time something happens. Otherwise, they think it's okay to do it every time.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Teaching and helping is really, really important to me as a leader, instead of saying I'm the boss kind of thing. I believe in a team effort, like being a team instead of being the leader who just commands. I think treating people properly and nicely is crucial, and even if something's done wrong, I think it's important to approach it as a team. I never say to my team, who did that? I just want to know what happened, and as long as nobody got hurt, I'm okay. I don't want to know who did it, let's just fix the issue and move on. I can't watch people struggle, so for me, I have to know what I'm doing so I can help them. I think paving the way and helping somebody else come up, teaching, helping, supporting them as a woman or anybody, they need that support, especially when they're younger.
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