Leaps of Faith
When best-laid plans go awry, Angela Dauphinais knows how to pivot.
In 2019, the industry veteran and Minnesota native achieved a career benchmark, joining Viejas Casino and Resort in San Diego as marketing director. “It was incredible,” she says. “I met so many wonderful people, and it really elevated my career.”
Covid made quick work of that plan, closing the resort and others around the country. For a time, Dauphinais worked from home while also caring for her two- and four-year-old children.
Abruptly, the plan changed again. The Viejas Band was the first in California to defy government shutdown orders, and Dauphinais was ordered back to work—an impossibility without reliable childcare.
So she took a leap of faith. She left the job she loved, launched a marketing arm for her husband’s Native American business consulting firm, and immediately began recruiting new clients.
“I was very fortunate,” recalls Dauphinais, a member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. “I
really didn’t skip a beat when it came to working.”
But in mid-2020, calamity struck again when the family home was destroyed in a Carlsbad wildfire. Again, time to leap. After three months living in a hotel, they pulled up stakes and headed home to Minnesota, where the consulting business continued to grow.
The plan changed again with a call from the chairman of the Red Lake Nation. Would Dauphinais consider accepting the CEO position?
For a moment, she paused. “Life was really great,” she recalls. “Entrepreneurship was exciting and flexible. It checked all the boxes for me.”
To honor her tribe, she offered to serve as interim CEO for six months. And that’s all it took. “I saw what I could bring to the table,” she says. She happily accepted the top job.
It was a challenging time for the tribal nation. Its Seven Clans casinos—in Thief River Falls, Warroad and Red Lake—were struggling to return to pre-Covid operations. An ambitious $26 million expansion at Warroad, on the still-closed Canadian border, had become cost-prohibitive.
Dauphinais sized down the Warroad expansion, dividing it into two phases. In March 2023, the tribe completed the $12.4 million addition, which added a 9,000-square-foot slot floor, a new restaurant and sports bar and other attractions.
She also successfully lobbied for alcohol sales at Thief River Falls, a family-oriented property with a water park. “It’s been incredibly profitable. We’ve done it very responsibly, and it’s definitely taking off.”
At the Red Lake location, she implemented property improvements and new training protocols. The proof is in the profits. In 2023, the tribal enterprise enjoyed record-setting revenues.
“In 2022,” Dauphinais reflects, “we were dedicated to growth and rebuilding. In 2023, we stabilized what had been ramped up. And 2024 was the year of property improvements.”
In the new year, the emphasis will be on people. “We’re planning to increase our wage scale,” says the CEO. “It will be expensive, but we’re one of the poorest reservations in the country, and we need a strong middle class. This is the year of reinvesting.”
In a state with 23 casinos, she is also developing guest services to boost loyalty, with promotions like a gift continuity program and regular VIP events, “so we can have the full share of their wallet, not split it with anyone else.”
The past few years have been “a bumpy road for me,” says Dauphinais. “But I’m very blessed on the other side of it.
“I work for my own tribe. I’ve brought great casino practices from the most competitive market in the country to rural Minnesota. I lead a women-led organization, leading with compassion and helping our team members grow.
“I’m thankful I was able to pivot.”
