We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jon Sullivan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jon, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I was 17 years old, a senior in high school and in a reggae/rock/hip hop band. I was just accepted to ASU on a psychology scholarship but wasn’t sure if I was going to go that route, or what I would do with that degree honestly. And I wanted to make sure I was happy doing something I loved everyday. Talking it over with my girlfriend (my wife now), she suggested I do something with music since I had a passion for it.

I ended up graduating high school and decided to take a leap of faith and enrolled at Phoenix College for their audio engineering program.

Originally wanted to go to school for the live sound aspect of things, I’ve always wanted to be a sound engineer at one of the festivals, but once I got there I was immediately drawn in to the recording studio aspect of things. I knew ultimately that that’s what I wanted to do.

I graduated with honors with my associates degree in audio production and decided to start my own recording studio with only a laptop, microphone, and interface.

Through school I had also earned an internship at a music distribution company that allowed me to have flexible hours, so I could work part of the day, pop out for sessions and then come back to finish the work after I was done.

I ended up being let go from the music distribution company after 5 years but by that time I had built up my studio clientele. I then put the beacon out that I was available full time as an audio engineer.

It took me 6 months to build up my clientele enough to go full time. Starting Jan. 2017 I was able to work for myself 100%.

Jon, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Jon Sullivan, I’m an audio engineer and business owner.

I got into the music industry by starting my own recording studio Sullivan Audio, after going to school for audio production.

We provide high quality audio recording, mixing and mastering services to artists and musicians.

One of the biggest things that set you apart as an artist is the quality of your music. And if your music doesn’t sound on par with radio quality unfortunately the playability and range of the song can be hindered.

The quality of the song and overall feel of the song is so important to impact the listening as well as to deliver the message behind the music. It’s super important for things to sound a certain way for that to happen and make the most out of it, that’s where I come in to make sure it’s the best it can be sonically and for overall feeling.

We strive for the best, taking things to the next level and try to get better and learn everyday.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The best way to build to build a solid reputation is to do good business and let the work speak for itself.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele was being obsessed with music and making it sounds better. The product then comes out and then other artists ask where they recorded that song or who mixed it and that helps bring things full circle.

Contact Info:

• Website: SullivanAudio.net
• Instagram: @JonSullivan_
• Twitter: @JonSullivan_

Image Credits
Caity Sullivan