Staff Alumni Spotlights Alumni by State Alumni Groups Tiger Troops Spirit Alumni Benefits Around Auburn Auburn Traditions

ALUM Spotlight Chris Korotky '92

After many succesful years as a marketing executive in the corporate world, Chris Korotky went out on his own and founded Inside Publications, which publishes two unique and popular national magazines Inside Gymnastics and Inside Cheerleading. His business is headquartered in Atlanta, a city he truly loves he says, "for all of the great sports, concerts and entertainment, great people, and every kind of restaurant option you can imagine. I grew up all over the world, but after Auburn, I'm convinced I'll be in the South forever!"

Q. What inspired the creation of Inside Gymnastics and Inside Cheerleading?

A. To go back in time a little bit, I graduated from Auburn in 1992 and went to work at the corporate office of Dothan-based Movie Gallery, and eventually I ran the Marketing Division for the company. One of my favorite projects during my time at Movie Gallery was the launch of an entertainment magazine called VideoBuzz, that contained celebrity interviews, movie reviews, promoted our corporate programs and so forth. It was really energizing to see everything that we worked on coming together in a magazine format that really connected with our customers. I enjoyed the publishing initiatives so much that I later accepted a job as Vice President of Marketing for Birmingham-based Books-A-Million and after that was a partner in a marketing firm in Atlanta. Now to go back even a little further in time, growing up I participated in all kinds of sports - soccer, cross country, gymnastics, baseball, tennis - and I've always been a huge sports fan in general. Eventually, I decided to combine my personal interest in sports with my business interests in publishing and marketing to launch Inside Publications. We started with one niche title in 2002, for the gymnastics market and then out of that came a second title for the cheerleading market, which is a lot larger. We also have a custom publishing line and we're looking at launching another niche sports title within the next year and a half, likely for tennis, which, conveniently, is another passion of mine!

Q. What is a typical day at work?

A. One of the things I like best about doing what I do is that there literally is no typical day at work, which suits my personality perfectly because I get bored really easily with things of a "routine nature." Though I'm President, all of us at the company wear multiple hats. One day, I'll be in editorial meetings, planning the next year of issues with our team and the next day I'll be on a plane to Europe to cover the gymnastics World Championships. We have a number of former Olympic gold medalists that are columnist for us and it's been a lot of fun to work with athletes of that caliber. We're working on a story now on Cirque du Soleil and Cirque allowed me to go behind-the-scenes of their shows Mystere and "O" in Las Vegas to watch training, see the mechanics of how the stages work and interview performers who come from all over the world. There are so many times, like when I was at Cirque, that I think to myself "Wow, I can't believe this is my job!" I also really enjoy the creative side of things as well and work closely with our Creative Director to make sure the look and feel of our publications is connecting with our target audience and that's one of the things I enjoy most. As we work on growing our custom publishing side of the business and launching a third magazine, I'll turn a good deal of my attention to developing those segments. The storylines that we cover change daily and our business model evolves continually so that makes for never a dull moment!

Q. How was your Auburn experience?

A. My Auburn experience was absolutely amazing! I came to Auburn not knowing a single person and left with the best friends and best memories of college a person could ask for. Everything about Auburn was exceptional, from the people and the campus experience to the instruction itself and the opportunities for involvement. I really enjoyed being involved on campus and my senior year had the privilege to serve as President of Student Recruiters. That really brought the Auburn experience full circle, sharing my experience with others. We had a great team and a great advisor in Debbie Shaw and I think we really made an impact on campus, around the state and around the southeast for Auburn and that was really rewarding. I have memories from those days that will forever be etched in my mind.

And my recruiting didn't stop while I was at Auburn. Two of our staff members(Tara Owen and Courtney Wilkes) are Auburn alums and most of our other team members happen to be graduates of SEC schools!

Q. What do you miss the most about AU?

A. Without a doubt, I miss the people. I think I really connected with Auburn from the moment I walked on campus for Orientation. I remember hearing Dr. Barnes speak and thinking right away, "Yes, this is the place for me." After Dr. Barnes spoke at my Orientation, I talked to her very briefly one-on-one. Then, a couple of months later, I had just moved into Harper Hall on campus and one day a group of us were throwing the Frisbee around in the Quad and I hear someone say "Well, hello Chris." I turned around to see that it was Dr. Barnes. I remember being blown away that she would remember me, much less my name, out of the hundreds of people she talks with. But that really exemplifies Auburn and the Auburn spirit. People take a genuine interest in others. You always hear people talking about the Auburn Spirit and it's not just some catch-phrase. It's authentic and true like nothing else I've ever experienced.

Many of my good friends in Atlanta that I spend time with are friends from Auburn days.

Q. Where did you grow up and why did you choose AU?

A. My father was a pilot in the Air Force, so I actually grew up all over the world, literally. I was born in Germany and eventually lived in Florida, Hawaii, Korea and Oklahoma before landing at Auburn. My mother is from Alabama originally so I spent summers on my grandparents farm in Troy, Alabama where I have some of my fondest memories. A number of my relatives had graduated from Auburn, so I actually grew up an Auburn fan. I remember even as a kid rooting for Auburn in far and away places and before my family would move on, I would have people who had previously never thought about Auburn wearing t-shirts, sweatshirts and rooting on the Auburn Tigers. My senior year of high school in Oklahoma, I looked at a number of colleges, but knew in my heart that I wanted to go to Auburn. By the time I had graduated, I had lived in Auburn longer than any other place I had ever lived, and yes, I did graduate on time, unlike my brother who stretched his experience out an extra semester to get in one more football season!