Lisa Song Sutton is an American entrepreneur, attorney, real estate investor, motivational speaker, model, beauty pageant titleholder and former congressional candidate.

Early and personal life

Sutton was born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

to an American father (

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

veteran) and a South Korean mother. She moved to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, age five. She was involved in multiple extracurricular activities, including tap dancing, piano and flute lessons, ballet and gymnastics. She attended Buena High School in

Sierra Vista, Arizona Sierra Vista is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 45,308, and is the 27th most populous city in Arizona. The city is part of the Sierra Vista-Douglas Metropolitan Are ...

. She has a political science degree from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from the

University of Miami School of Law The University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law or UM Law) is the law school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. Founded in 1926, the University of Miami School of Law is the oldest law school in ...

. Sutton was in a relationship with

MMA fighter Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

Cory Hendricks in 2018. She is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Career

In 2005, she was a congressional intern for

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

, handling calls or office visits. Shortly after graduation, Sutton moved to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and worked as an attorney and vice president of human resources at Atkinson & Associates P.C., and then as vice president of business development for SSK Holdings, Inc. In 2012, Sutton together with a modelling friend from

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, started her first business called Sin City Cupcakes, specializing in alcohol-infused cupcakes and desserts. She went on to launch Ship Las Vegas, a shipping company and Liquid & Lace, a swimwear line. She is a licensed real estate agent, working at Elite Homes - Christie's International Real Estate, which she also co-founded. Her real estate business expanded in February 2022, following the purchase of Engel and Volkers, and is now called Elite Homes - Engel & Volkers. Sutton is a general partner of The Veteran Fund.

Modeling and pageantry

At age 19, Sutton began modeling part-time while in law school. She has been featured in multiple publications, including

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

, GQ, Maxim, and

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

swimwear advertisements. In 2013, she was crowned Miss Las Vegas, and Miss Nevada United States in 2014.

Politics

Sutton was a Republican congressional candidate for Nevada’s 4th District in 2020, finishing third in the primaries behind Sam Peters and

Jim Marchant James Carl Marchant Jr. (born May 28, 1956) is an American politician in Nevada. A member of the Republican Party, he represented the 37th district in the Nevada Assembly, covering parts of the northwestern Las Vegas Valley, from 2016 to 2018. A ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Lisa 1985 births Models from Seoul Living people Nevada Republicans University of Miami School of Law alumni University of Arizona alumni American beauty pageant winners Female models from Nevada American models of Korean descent South Korean people of American descent American women in business Businesspeople from Las Vegas American motivational speakers Women motivational speakers 21st-century American women American women of Korean descent in politics Catholics from Arizona Catholics from Nevada South Korean emigrants to the United States