Nancy Ortiz

I've had very great mentors throughout my career. Having experienced professionals guide me through the challenges and complexities of the legal field has been instrumental in my success. These mentors have helped me develop the knowledge and confidence I needed to navigate this industry effectively.

The best career advice I've ever received is don't be afraid to take chances, ask questions, and learn as much as you can. This advice has shaped how I approach my work and has helped me grow throughout my 27-year career in the legal field. Being willing to take risks, stay curious, and continuously expand my knowledge has been essential to my professional development.

I work with a lot of young women today, and the advice I give them is don't apologize, number one. Speak with confidence. In this male-dominated industry, you have to kind of step up your game. Even if you don't know what you're doing or what you're talking about, pretend. Just don't apologize and don't ever say the words 'I don't know.' Use the word 'I will look it up and come back to you.' Women are trained to say sorry, but I've learned not to say words like 'well, I think.' I just tell them straight up: this is what we're going to do, this is the course of action, this is what's going to happen. And it's helped me in my career.

The challenges as a paralegal are that we're not looked at as having the knowledge - we have the knowledge of an attorney, but we just can't give legal advice. It's not so bad because I know what I'm doing. If somebody comes with a different challenge, I'll work on it, and I have counsel that will guide me through that process. In this male-dominated industry, it's a little bit difficult to maneuver the different scenarios or different language that goes along with it. One of the best things that I think inspired me was the fact that we have a woman CEO in our company, which is really a great achievement. We're kind of moving towards - we're moving from a male-dominated business into recognizing that women can do it too.

The values most important to me are honesty, integrity, and doing the right thing. These principles guide both my professional work in the legal field and my personal life.