We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Laura Somma a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Laura, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?
I think each one of us has been blessed with a lot of gifts, but most of us are not fully aware of it. We give everything we have for granted. I am generous because my parents taught me to give and not to expect anything in return. I don’t even realize I am generous, I am like that, and simply that gives me a lot of joy. A long-lasting joy. Generosity fosters trust and strengthens relationship, both professionally and personally.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
In the first part of my life I focused on studying (like everyone else) and learning as best I could how to be a good event & wedding planner and I must say I was very lucky because I had great mentor and generous leaders. I have been working with celebrities, royalty and people who had unique and bizarre requests, this put my creativity and imagination always in challenge and I always gave my best to achieve truly extraordinary results. Today after more than 25 years of doing events all over the world, I am dedicated to a few weddings that require work done with refinement, attention to detail, custom-made designs and unique venues (often never used for weddings), The events and weddings I am dedicated today, after all these years, are events for people who are aware that I do bespoken events, with the best of Italian design and exquisite artisans, from the florist to the photographer and all the vendors involved. I also decided to help many female start-ups by organizing events and seminars for them where they can learn how to better run their businesses, be more self confident and find financial independence.
I also continued a project started in 2015 in Qatar, speaking with panels and other targeted events, to kids, to young people, to give awareness on how healthy eating and eating well is crucial in their lives.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Determination, passion and humility. Definitely these three things have been my compass. I never thought of giving up even in complicated moments, I knew this was my vocation, my path and I never thought of doing anything else! Certainly goals change, we change, and you have to learn to be flexible, this I learned by living and working in many different countries with very different cultures and habits from mine. What I always say to young people and women to whom I give my support: even the longest path starts with the first step, don’t be afraid to ask, don’t be afraid of NOs, you will need them much more than yeses!
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I’m a book lover, I literally devour them! European and Italian literature is full of great masterpieces. I studied at the college German Literature and I must say that a writer who kidnapped and fascinated me was Goethe. I studied him a lot and I read in the original language his writings, in one of his biographies there is an anecdote that tells that a few hours before dying, after being in bed for weeks, had asked to open the curtains : “mehr licht ” more light. That’s what I think all of us need: light, positivity, the will to live and the will to keep growing and evolving every day. Don’t let anyone overshadow your light or diminish your worth!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lsevents.net
- Instagram: ellesse.events
- Facebook: LSevents
- Linkedin: Laura Somma
- Other: TikTok : LSevents
