Laura Mason-Smith, President and Principal Consultant
Laura Mason-Smith is an insightful consultant, facilitator, and coach supporting clients across a wide array of industries – businesses, associations, public agencies, and community organizations. She excels at helping people turn challenges into opportunities and move their organizations to new levels of success.
Prior to forming Mason-Smith SUCCESS STRATEGIES in 1988, Laura was a founding officer with Point West Bank, an independent commercial bank in Sacramento, California. As a vice present and member of the Bank’s senior management team, she developed and implemented strategies to grow the Bank to achieve Premier Performing Bank status. Laura also has direct public sector management experience with the University of California system and board-level experience with associations and non-profit organizations. That unique combination of hands-on business, association, public sector, and non-profit expertise is invaluable to her clients
Laura is a member of the Institute for Management Consultants, International Future Search Network, and Polarity Management Network. She is an honors graduate in Business Administration from California State University Sacramento. Committed to community service and professional development, Laura is a board member and senior fellow with the American Leadership Forum-Mountain Valley Chapter, a national non-profit organization dedicated to revitalizing leadership within communities across the nation. She is a member of the 2010 Leadership California Emerging Trends and Issues Program; a past-chair of the Leadership Sacramento Program; and, a co-founder of the Point West Area Business Association. Laura has served on the board of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and has chaired the board of Junior Achievement of Northern California.
What’s the most interesting thing you do in your work? I love the variety and fast pace! We support so many different kinds of outstanding companies and organizations, and every client situation is unique. It’s always exciting to help clients deal with challenging situations, achieve something that they may not have thought was possible in record time, and then see those positive results sustained.
What do you love to do when you’re not working? I’m passionate about physical challenges and the wilderness. I love whitewater rafting down rivers from California to Alaska, hiking in the Sierras, camping at Donner Lake, and new adventures. Climbing up Half Dome last year in a hail storm was a little too much of an adventure, though!
What’s your biggest success? Working with great people and building a business that has continued to grow and flourish for over twenty years is pretty darned exciting! Outside of work, raising two wonderful kids with my husband is definitely my biggest success.
What are important things you’ve learned over the past year? They sound like clichés but have been especially true this past year… Work hard, give back to the community, have fun, and be grateful!
