Boise State Alumni Head All-Women, Boise-Based Startup

When five businesswomen from five different backgrounds, three of them Boise State University alumni, get together, connection happens. With the recent launch of their new marketing agency Tuuti, Makayla Beaudoin (’16), Jessie Ceniga (’17), Caylie Shelton (’21), Shawnda Huffman and Mackenzie Hendricks bring fresh perspectives to the business scene in Boise.

“The five of us came together with our different skill sets and hidden talents to create harmony, but in business,” said Director of Social Media and Influencer Marketing Jessie Ceniga.

“Tuuti” is a play on the musical term tutti, which means “with all voices or instruments together.”Jessie Ceniga

Each employee brings skills that allow the team to offer a wide variety of services in communications and marketing, and the company’s name represents their drive for connection and creative collaboration. In content marketing, public relations, social media and traditional media, Tuuti aims to reach the right audiences for its clients through storytelling.

The five owners first met while working for Meridian, Idaho-based startup Microbe Formulas. They clicked immediately, and Tuuti has been in the works ever since. When a capital investment group bought out Microbe, the stage was set to start anew, and not five days after the remaining few lost their jobs, they secured office space of their own in downtown Boise. Tuuti CEO Shawnda Huffman believes there’s a reason they were brought together.

With their previous experience in the corporate world, the marketing experts at Tuuti have learned the importance of connecting with their clients in order to best engage them with their audience. Tuuti’s mission, “To empower and amplify brands — one voice, one message, one connection at a time,” is reflective of it. The five pride themselves on being compassionate and proactive, but their work isn’t about them. The team understands the challenges businesses face in promoting and expanding their brand, and are dedicated to addressing these hurdles, hence the company’s slogan, “Your voice, our megaphone.”

With a few clients already onboard, these five believe the welcoming and positive atmosphere about Boise makes it the perfect place to start. Community interest and support offered the business the push it needed to hit the ground running.

Inspired by the connections and networking opportunities Boise State provided them, Tuuti is working with the university to provide internships in the future. Having secured her first job through a senior design show in Boise State’s School of the Arts, Makayla Beaudoin, Tuuti’s creative director, said, “I feel like if I didn’t have that show, I don’t know where I would be.”

“We care a lot about giving back to Boise and the Treasure Valley because of all that they’ve done for us. From going to Boise State, to our careers, to right now. The launch of Tuuti, or the pre-launch, has been beyond successful because of our connections and the community here.” —  Director of Public Relations Caylie Shelton

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