Chris Mautz ’94 has never been one to take the conventional path. When he graduated with degrees in psychology and journalism, he looked at all the career paths set before him — and chose one that wasn’t on the map.
After spending about a year skiing near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, his then-girlfriend, now wife, Amy Mautz ’95, proposed a deal. They would move to Boston while she completed graduate school and, if they got married, would head west to start a new chapter. After Amy graduated with her master of social work in 1997, the couple got married, packed up, and moved to Salt Lake City.
Though Amy quickly landed a role through more traditional means, Mautz’s route was anything but.
After applying for a development specialist job at the University of Utah’s botanical garden, Red Butte Garden, he never heard back. One day, while driving nearby, he spotted signs for the garden, made a U-turn, and walked into the visitor center to follow up in person.
“Everyone else that had applied to the job wanted to be part of its concert series, but I was just into being a part of the botanical garden and university,” he says. “The job requirements matched my journalism skills. I’d never done anything related to the concert business, but I loved live music. My dad was a university professor, so I figured I knew something about that. The next thing I knew, I had the job.”
That unexpected opportunity became the start of a career in concert promotion. After a few years at Red Butte, he began working with a group producing shows across the country at other non-traditional venues, including a zoo and other gardens.
Then, another opportunity came Mautz’s way.
In fall 2007, a friend approached him with the idea of filling a void in Salt Lake City and opening a much-needed music venue — a place where the two of them could book the performances, bring people together, and build a lively community. Soon after the meeting, the two toured an old children’s theater for rent downtown. There, on April 1, 2009, The State Room was born.
“We opened The State Room during a difficult period of the economy, and we didn’t know if we’d survive,” Mautz says. “We took that chance. Seventeen years later, we’re still here, hosting more than 120 shows a year. People come up to us and say this is their place, that they love coming here. That’s incredibly rewarding.”
The venue’s success led to the opening of a second space, The Commonwealth Room, in 2018, and the evolution into The State Room Presents, which also includes the Deer Valley Concert Series, Live at the Eccles, and Fort Desolation Fest — a boutique music festival in Southern Utah.
Despite building his career in live entertainment, Mautz says the skills he developed at Lehigh continue to shape his work every day.
“Believe it or not, I still carry around a reporter's notebook in my back pocket,” he says. “A lot of my tools came from my journalism experience at Lehigh — organization, communication, and building rapport are skills I use daily. Jack Lule was my mentor, and he changed my life. I don’t think I would’ve succeeded on this non-traditional path without him.”
Nearly 30 years into his career, Mautz still loves what he does. And after what was supposed to be five years in Salt Lake, this Lehigh couple is still in this growing city with their three daughters: Charlotte (24), Claire (20), and Annie (17).
And he’s never lost his passion for skiing and still keeps one annual ski trip on the books with his Lehigh fraternity brothers.
“Try to crack open a door into something you really care about and believe in,” he says. “When you have a career, you should feel energy from it every day. It becomes part of who you are. You don’t spend your day staring at a clock.”
