The IBR Interviews of Highly Effective People: Shawnda Huffman

When looking at what makes a person more than successful, what does that look like? Idaho Business Review wanted to know what makes a person effective; what drives someone to be the best version of oneself, not only for the betterment of the self but for the betterment of others.

This is the first in a new series of interviews focused on just that: Being an effective person. But who would this series start with? Idaho has almost no end to the people who make a difference all throughout the state. Who would show drive, determination, dedication and, of course, effectiveness through words and actions.

With all that in mind, we start this series with Shawnda Huffman, CEO of Tuuti Agency in Boise.

Rather than list her accomplishments and tell her story through this introduction, we will let her answers do that.

This interview has been edited for length.

Idaho Business Review: What inspired you to pursue the career you are in?

Shawnda Huffman: I was in the media for 22 years. I hosted major market morning radio, and I did entertainment segments for Fox and NBC and CBS affiliates as far as TV is concerned. And when you’re in the media, and I think anyone that is currently in media or past can say that you have to do everything — you’re a vlogger, blogger, influencer, social media expert, and that’s just your side gigs. And then, obviously, your ultimate job is to connect with people, is to connect with an audience, tell stories. For me, my No. 1 passion is connecting with an audience by telling stories and connecting. With that, being in the media industry for so long, there are a lot of things that I loved about it, but there are also a lot of things that I disliked about it. I decided, once I retired in 2019, to take those really good things and my passion of connecting and storytelling, putting those together, and then building a company that really just focuses on that as the driver. So here we are. Here’s Tuuti.

IBR: What are some of the challenges you’ve experienced during your career and what have those taught you?

SH: I’m a CEO, but I’m also an entrepreneur. I mean, I’m the founder of Tuuti and I thought I had an idea of just how hard it would be. I had no clue. I was completely naive. And every single day as an entrepreneur is different, so no two days are the same. That has been the biggest rollercoaster ride for me: Just every day I’m learning something. Which, if you’re not learning, you’re not growing; if you’re not failing, you’re not growing.

But the thing that is most important through this process that I found is your mindset. Your mindset sets the ceiling. And if you walk around the office, you’ll see that saying in pockets of the office, because it really is a good reminder that if you don’t come into this with a good mindset and understanding that you have zero control over most things, you’re going to be OK.

At first it was a little chaotic for me, and because I have such a high-performance team now — and it took me a long time to get there — where everybody’s in the right seat doing the right things and everything just kind of stays more calm-ish. It’s getting a little bit easier to handle because of the mindset.

IBR: When you encounter a roadblock on the path to reaching your goals, how do you circumvent it?

SH: I am a big fact-finder-follow-through [person]. I also enjoy a puzzle; whatever that looks like in business or a puzzle that I’m doing with my son. I’m really data driven, so I want to see the facts and then follow through by taking action. I’m very decisive, so once I see the clear picture of that roadblock, it’s squashed, it’s eliminated with my decisiveness, and then we move forward. I waste no time. I quickly get the data, I look at it, put the puzzle together, “OK, that’s not going to work,” and we just move forward.

IBR: So, you’re more of a go-straight-through person.

SH: Go straight through. One thousand percent.

IBR: Talk about your most recent accomplishments, the significance of those accomplishments, and how you got there.

SH: One of the proudest accomplishments is building the high-performance team that we have at Tuuti. It took me nearly four years to get us here in this spot. That’s a hard thing to do because you just never know with us being a startup. I like to say that we pay well, but to find good talent and us paying the salaries of a startup is a difficult thing, so we’ve had a lot of ups and downs on just finding that sweet spot and the right people, and we’ve grown substantially. We had 287% growth year over year. And then to be able to bring the team on to fit that workload but do it at such a high level and with the quality and performance. We do sell a service, but we sell time, most importantly, so you have a certain amount of time to be creative and have that output that’s highest quality, with the customer care being No 1. I’m so proud of that because that could take 10 to 15 years. Everybody’s coming from different walks of life, but coming together for the common good of connecting and really telling a client’s story and doing it really, really well. That gives you purpose.

IBR: How would you define your leadership style?

SH: I am definitely a visionary servant leader. I am very clear on the vision and the direction, but then I will also go above and beyond for my team to make sure they have the resources and the care to be able to get that job done. For that, people are No 1. Your people are absolutely No. 1. I’m very focused on our team, for sure.

IBR: Do you mentor others? If so, what do you look for in a mentee?

SH: Twenty-five years ago, I launched an internship program when I was doing morning radio, and that was around the time when media started to shift a little bit, and job cuts and things like that. I went from having four producers to one producer. We had all this work to do to be able to do this huge show and syndication and things like that, to where we didn’t have enough bodies. So how can we get the support without a huge budget? With that, I found my love for mentoring and built an internship program out of that. That internship program that I built when I was 20 years old still lives today. It’s vastly improved because of my incredible team. My director of PR, Caylie Shelton, has just finessed it to the point where it is just top notch. Who, by the way, started out as one of my interns from Boise State. She’s been with me from day one. She took over the internship program that she was a part of, and how her and I met, and she’s enhanced it and built it through Tuuti. Each summer, we select five interns who gain hands-on experience across all levels of the agency. They build portfolios, work with nonprofits, and develop meaningful professional networks. I look for curiosity, initiative, and a genuine desire to learn.

IBR: How do you plan each day to be successful?

SH: I am an early bird, so I get up at 3:30 a.m. every morning. Some people are like, “How could you do that?” Doing a morning radio show for 22 years, I could set an alarm for 6 a.m. I’m up at 3:30. It doesn’t matter. I get up and I just start the day, and that day looks different every day. Sometimes I’m getting up, going straight into it with work. Sometimes I’ll go for a walk with my husband. He’s not a morning guy, so it depends on if he’s willing to get up and go for a walk with me. I will have coffee and journal, but the most important thing for me is just get up and get moving almost instantly. And I couldn’t have success in the day-to-day either without my executive assistant, Alanah Warrington. I think anyone, if you’re able to have an Alanah in your life, it’s absolutely necessary, especially if you wear multiple hats in your leadership role. She’s a huge part of my day-to-day success. She does my priorities for me. She does my email communication. She makes sure I know we’re going to be on time. She takes care of me, to make sure that I’m not letting anything slide. She’s a big part of my success as well.

IBR: What will you accomplish this year?

SH: This year, my focus is on continued growth. It’s strengthening our team, deepening client impact, and expanding Tuuti’s reach while staying rooted in our culture and values. Success for me means scaling with intention.

IBR: If you had to retire tomorrow, how would you describe the entirety of your career, and what would you do in retirement?

SH: There’s no way on this planet I will ever retire. I can’t even think about it. Yes, if something happened to Tuuti tomorrow, I would shed a tear and start all over again. I’m not a retired type of person. I don’t foresee it ever happening. I will be a part of Tuuti until Tuuti is no longer. I built the company for legacy. I hope to hand it over to my son one day, who’s studying business. And if that doesn’t happen, then I’ll be on the board and hire another CEO, whatever that looks like, but I will always have a part in the business, and until I’m not medically capable. So, no retirement for me.