Dina Simon brings deep HR expertise to Elevate Hennepin

Dina Simon brings deep HR expertise to Elevate Hennepin

Dina Simon, founder of Simon Says HR, has built her career on helping organizations understand how to manage their greatest asset: people.

“I’ve spent my whole career working with businesses to figure out what talent they really need, how to find it, and how to keep it,” Dina said. “Retention starts with being an employer of choice, creating an environment where people feel valued and can grow.”

Dina’s experience runs deep. Before launching her own firm in 2011, she spent two decades in the staffing industry, eventually managing 200 franchise offices and more than $500 million in revenue. She led national staffing programs for Fortune 100 companies like PepsiCo, Apple, and Amazon, and later shifted her focus to leadership development.

“I have a huge love for leadership development,” she said. “But my whole career really has been about people.”

Today, Dina works with Hennepin County businesses through Elevate Hennepin, offering up to 25 hours of human resources (HR) advising at no cost. Her approach starts with listening to operational headaches and uncovering the root causes.

“I look for signals,” says Dina. “If sales are down, are people not happy? What potentially is wrong?”

Through surveys, interviews, review of employee materials, Dina said she lets data guide her and her advisees to actionable explanations. 

“From there, we build solutions—whether it’s leadership training, process improvements, or culture work,” said Dina.

Dina also facilitates HR Next, a cohort program that brings business leaders together to tackle HR challenges collectively. Each session covers practical topics like recruiting, compliance, and leadership, while fostering peer-to-peer learning.

“We’ve created a journey,” Dina said. “The strength of HR Next is the cohort itself, business owners helping each other solve real problems.”

Whether through HR Next or advising, Dina said she likes to give business owners tangible tools because HR does not come naturally to most entrepreneurs.

“No business owner gets into business to handle HR issues,” Dina said. “But they always come up. Having resources and tools makes a huge difference.”