Story & Lesson Highlights with Laura Massino Smith of Los Angeles

We recently had the chance to connect with Laura Massino Smith and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Laura, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Watching cooking shows on TV

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
We offer tours of Los Angeles focusing on architecture in the context of history and culture, guided by an architectural historian.
After completing a Masters degree in architectural history there were no jobs in that field. I thought it would be fun to drive around LA in various neighborhoods and look at the architecture. I started driving folks around in a 1962 Cadillac, which was really fun, but she proved to unreliable. Now we use a less glamorous, but reliable and comfortable mini-van.
Los Angeles is very large (LA county about 4,000 square miles) so we’ve broken it down into neighborhoods and spend about 2-3 hours in chosen neighborhoods. I’ve curated the tours to highlight the significant and sometimes “wacky” architecture in the area. All of it is put into historical context to make sense of it.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
There was a professor in my college that introduced me to the world of architectural history through his course and I finally started to understand how the world works.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Financial suffering has taught me to be frugal. Something that is important to understand in business.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
Preservation of historic architecture in cities. Large cities tend to value the “new”, but preserving the past is important too.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people tell the story of how I brought the best of Los Angeles to them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.architecturetoursla.com
• Instagram: architecturetoursla
• Linkedin: Laura Massino Smith
• Facebook: Architecture Tours LA
• Yelp: Architecture Tours LA

Image Credits
All photos credit: Architecture Tours LA