Northern Nevada Business Weekly: Tell us about your company and your position.
Garrett Sutton: I am an attorney in Reno with offices in Nevada and Wyoming. My company, Corporate Direct, helps entrepreneurs and investors from around the world with corporate formation and asset protection matters. Along the way I became fortunate to become associated with Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad/Poor Dad organization and have written six books in the Rich Dad's Advisor Series. I now also edit all of the Rich Dad Advisor books. Our goal is to make business and legal topics accessible to all. The books are a great business card, and people seem to like them. My newest book is being released nationwide this week. It is entitled "Run Your Own Corporation" and it follows three teams of entrepreneurs through their first five years of business and illustrates the steps to be taken to operate your company correctly.
NNBW: How did you enter this profession?
Sutton: After graduating from Cal, law school was the next logical step. I had thought about entering politics (thank goodness I didn't) and law seemed like a good background for it. On the author side, I always found myself writing. So when the opportunity arose to write for Robert Kiyosaki's RichDad/Poor Dad series I was ready and certainly willing.
NNBW: What's the most important thing you have learned in your career?
Sutton: A big key is knowing which clients not to take. When you are starting out you want as much business as possible. But certain problem clients will be a drain on your time and focus. I am writing my next book on this topic so if anyone reading this has a bad client story that will help others please contact me!
NNBW: What was your first job?
Sutton: Besides being a summer camp counselor and waiting tables, my first real job was putting together a nine-month Cal student calendar supported by local Berkeley advertising. It allowed me to work for myself during the summers. Plus, no matter what your profession, you should be able to interact with people. Selling advertising taught me some good lessons.
NNBW: What was your first job?
Sutton: I was a junior in high school and I worked for a mortuary addressing and sending out postcards for advertisement.
NNBW: Tell us about your dream job. Why aren't you working it?
Sutton: While I am happy with what I am doing, an alternative dream track would have been to write screenplays and produce movies. I'm not working in film since (like anything else) it is a craft that one must learn over a period of years. I've been an extra in four movies but that is as close as I've come.
NNBW: Have any advice for someone who wants to enter your profession?
Sutton: For attorneys, try and be sure that you really want to practice law. While there will always be a need for good lawyers, the employment opportunities are significantly reduced. With advances in technology and our new normal, I don't see that changing any time soon. On the author side, be sure you have a way to promote and market your book. Brilliant content is nice but even more important these days is brilliant marketing.
NNBW: What's the most fun you have had on the job?
Sutton: With Robert Kiyosaki's group there are times when you have to go out and speak in front of various groups. The most fun was getting to speak in front of a large audience at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
NNBW: What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Sutton: Leave California.
NNBW: What are your favorite hobbies or pastimes? How do you spend your time away from work.
Sutton: My family likes to ski and so we are often at Mt. Rose in the winter. My kids are on the Wooster High Ski Team with a great group of student athletes. We also like to travel and take hikes as a family. Our next big trip is to Alaska in June.
NNBW: What has been your biggest professional accomplishment?
Sutton: Business Week ranked "Real Estate Loopholes", a book I co-authored, as the seventh best-selling business book in 2005.
NNBW: What did you dream of becoming when you were a kid?
Sutton: In elementary school all of my friends and I dreamed of playing for the San Francisco Giants. Then in junior high everyone wanted to be a rock star. Becoming a lawyer was never a part of that mix.
NNBW: Why did you choose a career in northern Nevada? What do you like most about working /living here?
Sutton: Although I grew up in the Bay Area, both my mother's and father's families had roots in Nevada. I spent all my summers at Lake Tahoe and really liked the area. I just knew that someday I would live in northern Nevada.
The basics:
Name: Garrett Sutton, attorney and author
How long have you been in this job? Attorney since 1978, author since 2001
Education: Undergrad at Colorado College for two years; B.S. in business administration at University of California-Berkeley in 1975; graduate of Hastings College of the Law in 1978
What's on your iPod? Pandora-Steely Dan channel
Last book read? At my daughter's suggestion, "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Favorite movie? "Monte Python and the Holy Grail," "The Outlaw Josey Wales," "The Twelve Chairs"
Spouse, kids or pets? My wife Jenny and I have three kids: Teddy, Emily and Sarah. We also have a Yorkie named Cappy.
