Today, we’d like to introduce you to Chris Sutton.
Hi Chris, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Born and raised in Boston, MA, to two baby-boomer-era parents. My mom, the daughter of a classically trained pianist, and my father, born to a London commoner and a U.S. soldier from North Carolina, continued to raise me along with my three siblings before relocating to Greenville, SC, in 2001. After finishing high school at Mauldin High in 2005, I moved to Atlanta to pursue a music career.
In 2010, I was an up-and-coming audio engineer and music producer in the Atlanta hip-hop scene. After a few placements with budding underground artists, I left the music industry and began a career as a Sound Designer in the live theatre industry, which then pivoted to being in the audio-book industry. While finding my voice in professional live theatre, I also began to learn the ins and outs of audiobook production and briefly opened a recording studio just outside of downtown Greenville.
Shortly after that, I closed the studio to dive deeper into the theatrical world by accepting a position at Boston’s Emerson College’s Office of the Arts, where I went on to serve as the Assistant Sound Supervisor, where I went on to help build shows in the city’s famed Paramount Theater and Cutler Majestic Theater. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down theaters across the globe, so I decided to use it as an opportunity to lean into audiobooks again. 4 years later, I was the Senior audio engineer for Spotify’s newly launched audiobook department.
In 2019, I had the idea to throw exclusive RSVP-only themed parties that celebrate the upstate’s leading creatives, cultural influencers, and young entrepreneurs while bringing them all under one roof. The name of this cohort of friends was called High Society Greenville, now High Society Carolina. We were able to host three events before the pandemic impacted everything. We were recently able to start throwing events again in 2023, culminating with our most recent kickback on New Year’s Eve 2023.
High Society Carolina is also expanding to serve as a digital platform for the leading young entrepreneurs, creatives, and influencers of the Carolinas, where their voices and work can gain the visibility needed to get their ideas from concept to reality. High Society Carolina intends to fill the void of credible and authentic diverse representation in the Carolinas.
We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not at all. Failing has been the best teacher. Wisdom gained from the struggles has led to gratitude in every moment. Successes from those failures have resulted in comfort, taking leaps of faith.
Learning how and when to ask for help, working smart beats working hard, and taking care of yourself while committing 100% to any cause are things only experienced when you’re willing to struggle along the way.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My time these days is split three ways. First and foremost, I am in my position as Senior Audio Engineer for Spotify Audiobooks. I help produce the audiobook available for everyone to stream on the platform today and grow the catalog of the company’s publishing arm. When not knee-deep in audiobook stuff. I run a talent management company and record label called Kids Who Disco. When not keeping musicians happy, I am progressing with the cohort I helped to found called High Society Carolina.
Today, HSC serves as a resource and collective of creatives, entrepreneurs, and influencers from SC who come together to uplift and amplify each other’s voices. We throw RSVP-only themed events that highlight these amazing individuals. The ultimate goal is to turn HSC into a nonprofit that aims to close the racial gap in the tech industry through STEM training programs for under-resourced communities.
I’m most known for being a dot connector. There are so many people that I know who are now best friends with each other, and the only reason that happened is because I purposefully put them in rooms together organically. This is also apparent in other avenues in my life where I have people that I can use as resources for each other to accomplish professional goals.
I’m most proud of being someone who commonly takes the path less traveled. My parent’s unique upbringings had an impact on my worldview. I traditionally bucked systems while growing up, creating a very independent streak that I’ve yet to shake. There is nothing that I believe I cant accomplish
One thing that separates me from others is my general outlook on life. I move with a sense of gratitude in everything that I do. I come from black history on both sides of my family, and that instills a great drive not to let their legacies go to waste.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My parents for the wisdom and freedom, the city of Boston for the tenacity and will to win, and all the teachers who failed me because school was no longer interesting for giving me a chance to prove there was another way.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/highsocietycarolina
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HighSocietyGVL/?paipv=0&eav=Afaz6He6P7MDnLR5eNW97EiRFJ-JOX82uqhiC0bglldHfI56pQdnhZNWOmoDMX6pp8I&_rdr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-j-sutton/
