The Dunedin student might only be in the early stages of a start-up business, creating biotech jewellery, but her innovation and enthusiasm have captured the interest of the organisers of entrepreneur conference Morgo, which is being held in Queenstown tomorrow.
Ms Sutton's foray into entrepreneurship started with a random entry in a Startup Weekend in Dunedin in March and she had ''no idea'' what she was going to pitch.
But then she thought about a ''random idea'' she had with a friend about whether it would be possible to make living jewellery, so she pitched that.
Since then, Ms Sutton (21) has traded doing an honours degree in biotechnology, for studying towards a masters of entrepreneurship at the University of Otago.
She has managed to get some funding through PledgeMe as well as attracting some interest from other funders.
Now working from a laboratory at St Kilda, she was testing the idea ''at every stage'' and she was grateful for all the advice and assistance she had received, including from Citilabs which had been ''amazingly supportive'' by providing space for her.
Initially, her focus was on a living locket and while she also liked the idea of earrings and possibly charm bracelets, the range would be dependent on what customers wanted.
The project required two elements - the element of life and also everything it needed to live. The hardest part was ''keeping it beautiful'' over time.
She was not aware of anyone else doing the same sort of work, either in New Zealand or internationally.
''I'm really excited about it. I hope it will work,'' she said.
It had been a ''whirlwind'' since the beginning of the project and she hoped to be selling biotech lockets by the end of the year.
It was all about working out how to scale up quickly and cope with demand, while ''not being cocky'' about it.
''I'm hoping to go global. I know that sounds really ridiculous ... this business has the potential to sell in every country overseas,'' she said.
While it had been hard leaving science, Ms Sutton reckoned she had found her ''dream job'' in entrepreneurship - ''it's so much fun it doesn't seem like work at all'' -although her science background had proven very useful with her project.
Originally from Wellington, Ms Sutton was drawn to the South to study. She said Dunedin had also been a ''really supportive place'' to grow a small business.
She needed to source some funding for research and development and was looking for investors who would be able to provide their talent, as well as money.
She expected her attendance at the Morgo conference would be a ''life changer''. Now in its 11th year, Morgo was founded by venture capitalist Jenny Morel who felt that a lot of entrepreneurs did not know each other because they spent so much of their time ''super-focused'' on their businesses, one of the conference organisers, Sandra Lukey said.
The aim was to get them together to meet each other, in a supportive and collegial environment. Not only were they motivated by the speakers' stories but also through catching up with each other, she said.
About 120 people were expected to attend this year's conference in Queenstown, from September 4-6.
Each year, two spots were offered to students or ''cool'' companies that would not otherwise get to come and Ms Sutton was one of those sponsored place winners.
Conference speakers include SLI Systems chief executive and co-founder Shaun Ryan, Wynyard Group managing director Craig Richardson, Comvita chief executive Brett Hewlett, Glidepath chairman Sir Ken Stevens, Social Code founder and chief executive Siobhan Bulfin and ARANZ Geo chief executive Shaun Maloney.
Ms Sutton will also be speaking and mentoring at a second Startup Weekend in Dunedin on September 20-22.
One of the organisers, Rueben Skipper, said it was a great experience for anyone interested and it could be ''quite life-changing''. After attending a Startup Weekend in Wellington in February, Mr Skipper began a business, Swift Social, managing Facebook pages for small businesses.
