Rachel Whitley Sutton '91 moved to Hawaii in 1999 to teach and surf, and soon discovered her true calling: casting in the entertainment industry. Her casting credits now include such hit television shows as Lost, ER, and Hawaii Five-0, and films including Aloha and Just Go with It. In 2017, Rachel won an Artios Award for discovering and casting Auli'i Cravalho, heroine of the Disney film Moana. (See her full credits here.)

What are your fondest memories of Berkshire, and what are the most important life lessons that you learned as a student?

My fondest memories definitely include the Mountain in general, and the natural beauty of the School. And of course my friends and time playing sports.

In terms of life lessons, my love of the environment and our responsibility to be good stewards of the Earth came from Berkshire, and Mr. Kinne in particular! My memories of him are all about taking responsibility for our impact as humans on this planet, as well as learning about the food and meat industry. (I became a vegetarian for seven years because of a video he showed in class! And I still eat very little meat to this day.) Learning about sustainability with Mr. Kinne actually drove me to Santa Cruz, CA for college because they had such a strong environmental studies program.

Can you tell us about your career and hobbies, and why you are passionate about them?

I moved to Hawaii in the fall of 1999 with every intention of becoming a teacher—less because it was a calling and more because of the path and lifestyle it would lead to. But after some time in that field, I realized it really wasn't for me. At that time there was a movie being filmed in my backyard called Blue Crush, and I was shocked by how many people were part of the production. I've always loved TV and film but really only thought of actors and directors as being the ones involved in making them. Then I learned that there were literally hundreds of other people and roles involved.

Soon after that I submitted my resume to a casting director here in Honolulu and started working in her office. Within a year or so we were booked on Lost and that's when things really changed for me. That was the fall of 2004. I started out doing extras casting for Lost and several other shows like ER, and a series called Boarding School, but then I had my daughter in 2006 and took some time off to be a mom. In 2008, I was asked by my former producers at Lost to come back to the show as their casting director in Hawaii. While I had never done principal casting, they believed in me. So, I signed on in the fall of 2008 for Season 5. From there, the work really poured in: I began work on The Descendants, Just Go With It, and of course the final season of Lost. In the fall of 2010 the reboot of Hawaii Five-0 came out, and I was offered the job to lead the Hawaii Casting Department. We are now on our eighth season, and over the years I've been lucky to work on several other shows and films. I even discovered Disney's newest heroine, Moana (actress Auli'i Cravalho)! I won an Artios Award for that achievement in 2017, a career highlight for sure. So here I am a decade later with almost 300 TV episodes, several movies, and numerous national commercial campaigns behind me!

How did Berkshire help you shape and pursue your goals, and what advice would you give to today's students?

I'd say Berkshire gave me my independence and kept me grounded during my teen years so I could focus on school and not fall into the traps that a lot of teens do.

My advice to today's students is: read and interact with people. Take in as much information as you can from as many sources as you can, and use critical thinking to think for yourself what your position on the issues is. Secondly, stay away from social media! Use it for artistic expression or as a business tool, not for validation of your self-worth! Social media isn't going away, but it's all in how you use it. For instance, I have three Facebook profiles—and an Instagram account! But I'm a grown adult, and I use them for different strategic purposes.

I think many young adults don't realize that as potential employers, we look you up online to see what you are putting out there. Remember that. Be proud of your content, and as I tell my daughter: don't say or post anything you wouldn't want Grandma to see. Lastly, do what you love. Success and money will come at some point. Travel as much as you can while you are young.