The Voice of Florida Architecture
Jul 31, 2026 · 49 min · 13 segments
Nati Soto, FAIA, reflects on the mentors, relationships and opportunities that shaped her career. She shares how service through AIA, along with a willingness to speak up, can help architects become…
Nati SotoGuest
Rhonda HammondHost
What first inspired you to pursue architecture? And when did you realize that this profession would become your life's work?
I'm not one of those architects that says, Oh, when I was 10 years old, I always wanted to be an architect and all this stuff.
I had no clue what architecture was, but in high school, my sister was in college already.
What kind of career are you going to have? And I said to my poor papa, uh, And again, my sister was studying philosophy.
It's like one in a million, you know, really make it to to make a living at this and being famous.
Why don't you look at something else and study that? And then if it doesn't work out, right, you have something to fall back on it because I was expected to make a living, right? My sister and I were brought up very much that we had to take care of our own selves, even from my grandmother, who was a peasant from the hills of Spain, third grade education, but she knew education was the key because she learned to read and write.
I says, well, have you thought of architecture? Because, you know, your art, you know, obviously you're interested in art and your math scores are fabulous.
What first inspired you to pursue architecture? And when did you realize that this profession would become your life's work?
I'm not one of those architects that says, Oh, when I was 10 years old, I always wanted to be an architect and all this stuff.
I had no clue what architecture was, but in high school, my sister was in college already.
What kind of career are you going to have? And I said to my poor papa, uh, And again, my sister was studying philosophy.
It's like one in a million, you know, really make it to to make a living at this and being famous.
Why don't you look at something else and study that? And then if it doesn't work out, right, you have something to fall back on it because I was expected to make a living, right? My sister and I were brought up very much that we had to take care of our own selves, even from my grandmother, who was a peasant from the hills of Spain, third grade education, but she knew education was the key because she learned to read and write.
I says, well, have you thought of architecture? Because, you know, your art, you know, obviously you're interested in art and your math scores are fabulous.
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