Name: Danna Quinto
Please describe your current role.
Managing Partner and Head of Litigation and Family Law at Deo Volente Solicitors. I am a lawyer by trade.
What is the maxim you live by?
At all times, aim to add value to people’s lives, to those around you. At the very least, be kind.
Tell us the biggest challenge that you faced and how you overcame it.
Moving to the UK on my own and then building a life and a career here was the most tremendous set of challenges I faced, but equally have been the most fulfilling series of adventures. I would like to think that I survived these by being perennially stubborn, making the most out of every experience, and giving something back to our community. However, the humbling reality is that I was also very lucky with employers and mentors who gave me opportunities, with friends who became family, and just with the general kindness of people who came into my life, not to mention the support given by my family.
Make a stand. Have a purpose. Be kind. Laugh a lot and live – be truly alive.
What is the one achievement that you are most proud of and why?
My biggest achievement is interestingly a “failure.” It made me realise the depths of what I am willing to go through and how far I can evolve to achieve what I dreamed of. I once wanted to be a British Army lawyer – I was inspired by the brilliant Major General Susan Ridge, the first woman to reach that rank and the former Director of Army Legal Services.
After successfully passing the first round of interviews at Andover Army Headquarters, I trained for 60 days to prepare for the Army selection board. I transformed physically, psychologically and emotionally after 60 days of brutal cardio and conditioning. Towards the end of this two-month “suffer fest” (whilst I was still working full time as a high street lawyer), I was able to pass the standard physical tests for a soldier. This was quite a feat for a lifetime nerd. When I was growing up, I was a proper geek (still is and proudly so) and was the last person you would think of if you mention sports or the military.
However, I realised in my adult life that we do not need to stick to our default settings. That we can transform and evolve so long as we put our minds into it. The Army did not pan out due to my history of asthma. I did not reach the dream. Although, I was invited back months later to retry, the timing was not great. In the midst of this “failure” or “non-achievement” is the biggest and most potent breakthrough of my adult life: I learned that our capacity to evolve is dependent on our capacity to dream and that there is no such limit to that capacity. Learning how to break my “default setting” will always be my biggest achievement.
What would be your advice to young Filipino girls of today?
Find your voice. Take space. Make a stand. Have a purpose. Be kind. Laugh a lot and live – be truly alive.
