Today we’d like to introduce you to Cynthia Schreiner Smith.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have always had an interest in the history of my hometown, Saint Paul. I started doing historical tours for another company in 1998, and worked there for 22 years, my husband Bick Smith worked there for 20 years also doing historical tours. We both worked there until that company closed due to the pandemic.
During the lockdown, a book I co-authored called “Alvin Karpis and the Barker Gang in Minnesota” was released. (Here’s a link to the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Alvin-Karpis-Barker-Minnesota-Crime/dp/1467146226). After a year of unemployment, I decided to start my own walking tour company since the future held no guarantees of getting hired back by our old job. We had previously mostly done bus tours and were uncertain how we would like to conduct a walking tour.
We have discovered that we love them! We also discovered that we love owning our own tour company and decided to just keep going rather than go back to work for someone else. Back in 2011, Bick and I filmed a documentary-style movie called “Gangsterland.” (which was shown locally on TPT) We decided to call our walking gangster tours “Gangsterland” since we already owned that name. We then branched into Haunted tours of Summit Ave and have continued adding many other tours since then including an F. Scott Fitzgerald tour, historic and haunted tours of Union Depot, tasting tours at the old Hamm’s Brewery, and more.
I am also an actor/writer/filmmaker who has appeared in many short films and a few features, most recently winning best female actor at the Crown Wood Film Festival for my performance in “You Are Here.” I have also written and produced several short films of my own including “Angel of Death” which won audience favorite at Z-Fest 2022. I have also worked on several commercials and other industrial films since the late 1980s. In 2020, I started writing my film scripts, winning several script competitions. I have also appeared on local stages such as Lakeshore Players, The Phipps, TRP, and The Guthrie.
Although my schedule does not allow much time for theater these days. From 1994-1998, Bick and I owned and operated a live theater: the Grand Theatre of Stillwater producing 29 plays in four years. From 1998-2000, I was drama director at New Richmond High School. At one time, I was a birthday party clown for about 8 years. For almost 25 years I have been in a writing group that for years produced text for greeting cards.
Most greeting card companies no longer accept freelance writing so now we write jokes and ideas for a nationally syndicated comic strip. I am also a jigsaw puzzle fanatic! I have competed in and won numerous jigsaw puzzle team competitions since 2010. I am currently chair of the St. Paul Winter Carnival puzzle competition, the largest jigsaw contest in the country.
My team still holds the record for winning the Winter Carnival competition 8 years in a row. My puzzle team was featured in the documentary “Wicker Kittens” which Sports Illustrated named as one of the top 10 documentaries about a sport you’ve never heard of.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Ha! It’s been a bumpy and winding road! While we’ve don a lot right, there have been some wrong turns. What has been smooth as silk is the writing and performing of the tours. That part comes easily to us. The hard part is marketing and hustling to get reservations.
It was frankly somewhat easier the first year. When we began doing tours in April 2021, there was not a lot of competition for people’s entertainment dollars. But as the lock downs eased and other entertainment businesses opened up, the competition got more intense.
So we have been busy building relationships with other establishments to partner with and experimenting with creative new experiences to stand out (such as our new “Baseball and That Ain’t All” Trolley Tour where we have partnered with CHS Field and the Saint Paul Saints). finding ways to let people know what makes us worth their time and entertainment dollars is a constant challenge.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have been a historical tour guide in St. Paul since 1998, researching and writing historical tours and articles. My husband Bick Smith and I founded CynCity Tours in April 2021 after losing our previous tour job to the pandemic in 2020. We specialize in fun, historical tours to show off St. Paul.
We are best known for our Gangsterland walking tour of Downtown St. Paul, the Ghosts and Gables haunted tour of Victorian Summit Ave, and our Tasting Tour at the old Hamm’s Brewery. We are also now the official tour company of Union Depot doing their bi-monthly history tours and their ghost tours. We feel that what makes us different as tour guides is that we don’t just talk at you, we want to talk with you. That is one reason why we keep our tour sizes small, to give each guest the best possible experience. We love to find interesting stories to tell while having a ton of fun. History does not have to be boring!
We research constantly to find new stories and to make sure we are as historically accurate in our information as possible. We also realize not every group touring St. Paul is the same so we love to customize our tours. We were recently asked to adapt our tours to doing Irish heritage of St Paul during the Irish Fair on Harriet Island. That was a great example of our adapting to create a fun partnership. While we are always up for doing a bus tour if asked, we are thoroughly enjoying showing the city “from the street” with our walking tours. A walking tour is a great way to truly immerse yourself in the city. And they are always full of surprises!
We’ve had fun random things happen like a street musician stopping to serenade us, meeting interesting people on the street to interact with like when a group of Latvian dancers stopped to talk to us, and shop owners inviting us inside for a treat. While we are interested in supporting ourselves with the business, we also have a mission to help St. Paul grow as a tourism destination and to help downtown St. Paul to bounce back after the shut downs. We love to do this by partnering with other businesses in an effort to help each other grow.
Floating everyone’s boat helps us all to do better. Some of the businesses we have partnered with are St. Paul Brewing, 11 Wells Distillery, The Union Depot, The Historic Hamm Building, the Irish Fair, the Saint Paul Hotel, CHS Field the Saint Paul Saints, and many more!
We are also the official tour company of the St. Paul Winter Carnival, doing Gangsterland and Haunted Rice Park tours in the skyways every day during the 10 days of the festival. In addition to the tour company, we also run CyBick Productions, producing commercial videos. And of course, as previously mentioned, I co-wrote a book about gangster history called “Alvin Karpis and the Barker Gang in Minnesota.” (This again speaks to my love of researching Minnesota history).
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
For help with navigating the business side of opening your own company, I highly recommend a group called SCORE. They will assign a business person to mentor you who best fits the type of business you are trying to open. We only met with our SCORE mentor once but you can have as many meetings as you want. All the SCORE mentors are volunteers so the cost is free. My other advice is to network like crazy!
During lockdown, I met weekly with my friend, Kamal who has experience running her own business. After many conversations, she was able to clarify for me that my own tour company was what I needed to do. I can never thank Kamal enough for that! Go to networking events, even if it is not in the exact field you are trying to start your business in. I joined a group called Women in Film and met the most amazing entertainment lawyer at one of their events.
Who knew I’d find the perfect lawyer for my tour company at a film mixer? I highly recommend hiring a good lawyer. She has proven to give invaluable advice on numerous occasions. We have also connected with some amazing partners by joining Visit Saint Paul. So definitely consider joining your local chamber or other organizations like the Rotary Club.
Pricing:
- Our prices vary depending on the tour, running from $20 to $45. (prices will be going up in the fall due to sales tax increases) It’s best to check our website.
Contact Info:
- Website: cyncitytours.com
- Instagram: cyncity tours
- Facebook: @cyncitytours
Image Credits
Diane Hoehne Photo and Carin Leonard-Gorill
