Master of all trades

If we could describe Adrienne Victoria in one word, it would be ‘multi-faceted’. The versatile Adrienne is a dental professional, pianist, model, actress, yogi, tech expert, and media manager, among others. Above all, she’s a successful entrepreneur and Founder-Director of the ‘Adrienne’s Learning Centre Inc.’

Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Adrienne Victoria was named after the late British Queen by her family, who originate from Hong Kong. In her early years, Adrienne was placed in ballet and piano, and was given the choice between which to pursue. She chose piano and was classically trained by the Royal Conservatory of Music from the bright young age of 4 to 14. She competed in the Kiwanis Music Festival annually till she gave it up in pursuit of academics. Fortunately, she went back to the piano during the COVID-19 pandemic. When in school, Adrienne also took choir, band, performing arts, musical theatre, cosmetology, and mini university, while maintaining an Honour Roll in her studies.

Adrienne grew up in a predominantly white neighbourhood, which came with its own challenges. She was bullied as a child for being different, so she hid in the library growing up. Her parents encouraged her to focus on her studies so she grew up immersed in books. After achieving membership in the Honour Society at Bowness High School, she didn’t know what to pursue in post secondary, so she took everything available.

She did her undergraduate studies at both University of Calgary and Mount Royal College. Her mother suggested that she shadow her dentist to see if she would like that career. She ended up with a certificate in General Arts and Sciences, but by then had invested so much time into post secondary that she decided to take Dental Assisting at SAIT as a shortcut into dentistry. Alongside her dentist(s), she then took post graduate studies at LVI Global – the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, and hasn’t stopped pursuing continuing education since.

Adrienne has two decades of experience in the dental field and is passionate about dentistry and technology. She loves helping dentists and specialists with the integration and implementation of CAD/CAM technology in the dental field across North America. She trains on CEREC Primescan full system, 3 Shape TRIOS, MEDIT i500/i700, and Virtuo Vivo.

Clinically, she works in a comprehensive CAD/CAM treatment centre with multiple mill units for single visit dentistry, and multiple 3D printers for fabrication of clear aligners, whitening trays and occlusal splints. She also assists with facial esthetics for Botox and fillers.

At the beginning of 2020, she established the Adrienne’s Learning Centre Inc., through which she contracts as a CAD/CAM Specialist Trainer, registered dental assistant, high fashion model, and actress.

How challenging is it to have a multi-tasking career, we ask her. “My biggest challenge in business and profession includes compartmentalizing my life, social media management, and separating professional life from personal life. I wasn’t big into social media in its initial days, but work necessitated its application and I’m now across all platforms with multiple accounts. A way to triumph this is to limit time spent on social media, and to learn to create content and not consume content.”

Adrienne achieves her work-life balance by doing #bunsofsteel aka running up and down the stairs, going to the #dentalsweatclub aka the gym, and ‘Yoga with Adrienne’ on her livestream. She does all of this before she heads to work. She incorporates her lifestyle into her daily living and that in turn helps her establish balance between home and work.

On a typical weekend morning, you can find her at the gym or doing yoga. Her hobbies include practicing the piano, playing games, doing yoga, learning new skills, etc. She is also a PADI certified scuba diver and hopes to pursue the rescue diving certification one day.

Speaking about how women can achieve it all, she says, “Strategies to help women achieve a more prominent role in their organizations comprise working hard and always improving. This includes continuing education, clinical training, webinars, seminars, study clubs, dental podcasts, courses, conferences, and just staying abreast of the latest developments in their respective fields.”

By constantly pushing the envelope, Adrienne has bagged many laurels all over the globe. Some of these are: