Meet Karla Guinn-Thompson | Orthodontist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Karla Guinn-Thompson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Karla, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I finished my residency, I worked at several different offices that saw a plethora of patients, each with differing and more complicated problems than just needing straight teeth. Although these offices helped pay the bills, they did not provide me with the fulfillment I longed for due to management disallowing me to treat the patients how I wanted to. Essentially, doing anything more than just straightening a patient’s teeth interfered with the offices’ profit margin. That was something that just didn’t sit right with me and was the impetus for me to go out on my own and found Smilehaus Orthodontics. Now that I am in charge of my own practice, I can treat patients just as I would a family member. With me, patients receive more than just straight teeth; they leave with a proper smile that will have them grinning from ear to ear.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Like they say… It takes a village. I would definitely like to give a special shoutout to my Mom and Dad (may he rest in peace), my sister who is a fellow orthodontist and colleague of mine, the San Diego public schools, UCLA, and Howard University College of Dentistry. I would also love to shoutout the dear friends that I have collected and stuck with me along the way. I have received endless love, support, and encouragement from the entirety of my village. Everyone is going to need some support one way or another, and I am immensely grateful to the people who have kept me balanced and grounded all these years. I am so unbelievably thankful for the opportunity that I have to give back everything that I have received and much more.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Provided there are no COVID-19 restrictions in place, it would go like this. Right out of the gate, for Day 1, we’d go to Universal Studios to take a look at the ongoing productions with one of the behind the scenes tours the amusement park offers. After that, we would, of course, have to check out the Harry Potter exhibits, Jurassic World, Revenge of the Mummy and the Secret Life of Pets. For Day 2 we would roll out to Palm Springs for a day trip and, on the way back home, stop by the Cabazon outlets to shop till we dropped. For Day 3, this would be our Griffith Park to check out the animals at the LA Zoo and Observatory. Day 4: we would check out the stars! This means heading down to Hollywood Boulevard where we will have a delicious lunch at my favorite restaurant while we people watch all of the interesting passerbys. For Day 5, we would go to the Getty Center during the day and cap off our evening eating at the rooftop bar and lounge at Perch in Downtown LA before we call it a night. On Day 6, we would head out again, but this time to the Santa Monica Pier to go shopping at the Third Street Promenade. For Day 7, we would take the Amtrak to the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego, eat at another one of my favorite restaurants, followed by walking around the beautiful city to cite-see, then head back home. Finally, for Day 8, they leave and I get some much-needed rest.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Like they say… It takes a village. I would definitely like to give a special shoutout to my Mom and Dad (may he rest in peace), my sister who is a fellow orthodontist and colleague of mine, the San Diego public schools, UCLA, and Howard University College of Dentistry. I would also love to shoutout the dear friends that I have collected and stuck with me along the way. I have received endless love, support, and encouragement from the entirety of my village. Everyone is going to need some support one way or another, and I am immensely grateful to the people who have kept me balanced and grounded all these years. I am so unbelievably thankful for the opportunity that I have to give back everything that I have received and much more.

Website: https://smilehausortho.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/smilehaus_orthodontics/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smilehausorthodontics

Yelp: https://yelp.to/aTV0QN9uggb

Image Credits
Lupe Valenzuela Mason Moore