Laura Hutfless: Seeing What Others Can't

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About the Episode

Entrepreneur and FlyteVu co-founder Laura Hutfless joins The Hope People Podcast to share how creativity, faith, generosity and the courage to take one step at a time have shaped her approach to business, motherhood and a life of purpose.

Creativity. Abundance. Generosity.

Laura Hutfless never imagined herself as an entrepreneur. But after 15 years of building a successful career, she began recognizing opportunities others couldn't see and eventually found the courage to act on them. 

That leap led to the creation of FlyteVu, a purpose-driven marketing agency built with generosity at its foundation. 

In this deeply personal conversation, Laura reflects on the creativity required to build something new, the faith that has carried her through life's hardest valleys, her journey to becoming a single adoptive mother and why she believes an abundance mindset can transform businesses and lives.

“I always saw what others didn't see,” she shares. “You have to see an opportunity and have the courage to act on it.”

This episode covers…

• How Laura found the courage to leave a successful career to become an entrepreneur.
• The role faith has played through loss, illness, motherhood and uncertainty.
• How an abundance mindset shaped FlyteVu's commitment to giving.
• Why Laura believes the biggest dreams are accomplished one step at a time.

Seeing What Others Can't

Laura didn't grow up dreaming about starting a company.

That changed during her time at a talent agency, when opportunities began appearing that didn't fit neatly into the existing business model. Laura could see both the problem and a potential solution.

“I think I had the courage to act on it. Most people don't,” she says. “I think we all have ideas and we all see things. It's the ones who are going to be bold enough to take that leap of faith to start them and to invest and take a risk.”

That ability to see possibilities where others see limitations became foundational to Laura's leadership. “The creativity skill of learning how to see and dream and be imaginative and turn pipe cleaners into a birdhouse or be able to make things is really valuable, even in later chapters of your life,” she shares.

At FlyteVu, that philosophy has even inspired an exercise in which employees are handed an ordinary object like a spoon and challenged to imagine everything and anything else it could be.

“It could be a hair wand, it could be a shovel, it could be something that's just not the spoon because you have to learn to see what others can't. And I think that's a skill that is useful in any field.”

Eating "No" for Breakfast

Laura finds inspiration in the imagination of children, including her young daughter. A piece of paper can become almost anything. A feather can become wings.

As adults accumulate disappointments and hear more reasons something can't be done, that instinct can begin to disappear. Laura works intentionally to protect it.

“We have a saying at my agency that, ‘We eat no’s for breakfast.’”

Rather than allowing rejection to become a dead end, she sees it as an invitation to find another route.

Faith, Purpose and an Abundance Mindset

Faith has been part of Laura's life since childhood, but she says it truly became her own during high school when she experienced a severe eating disorder.

That difficult season forced her to think deeply about how she wanted to live and where she would place her trust.

“If I make it through this, I'm going to believe that God has a purpose and a vision for my life,” she shares, “and that's what I'm going to follow.”

Her parents also instilled in her the belief that there is always enough, a conviction that continues to shape her life today. “We can always give, no matter how much or how little you have, you always have something to give.”

Laura has carried that abundance mindset into her businesses, relationships, philanthropy and parenting. Rather than beginning with what she lacks, she asks what she already has that can be shared.

Building Generosity Into the Business

When Laura and her business partner began mapping out FlyteVu, their giving strategy came before the rest of the company.

“You have to know your ‘why,’” she says. “Giving was our ‘why.’”

From the first dollar the agency earned, a portion was designated for charitable giving. As the company grew, so did its capacity for generosity.

But Laura wanted employees to experience giving personally rather than seeing philanthropy as something happening somewhere else in the organization.

One year, employees were given $10,000 checks to personally deliver to organizations they cared about.

“We're reminded of that as we work as a team, that we're doing something for others and for a greater purpose,” Laura adds.

Finding Hope in the Valley

Laura's success doesn't mean her path has been easy.

She speaks candidly about losing a significant other to an overdose, navigating COVID as a business owner, experiencing a severe head injury and other illnesses and, most recently, facing a cancer diagnosis. 

She also adopted a daughter who was born prematurely at just two pounds and faced significant health challenges.

Through those experiences, Laura's hope only deepened.

“We are not immune, nor did God promise that we would be immune,” she says. “But He did promise that he would walk with us through the valley. Not that there won't be any valleys. And so that is what brings me hope.”

Investing in the Next Generation

Laura's decision to adopt as a single mother grew from the same abundance mindset that guides her philanthropy.

Her sister's experience as a foster parent exposed Laura to the enormous need for safe, loving homes. As she approached 40, she began looking differently at her own life.

“I have empty bedrooms in my home, multiple empty bedrooms. And there are children who are waiting, who don't have beds to sleep in,” she says. “I have abundance. I have something to offer.”

Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the enormity of adoption, Laura started moving forward one task at a time. 

Less than six months later, Evelyn entered her life.

The experience also transformed Laura's understanding of her Christian faith.

“I don't think I ever really understood the depths of His love until I felt the depths of my love for my daughter, who is not my blood, not my DNA, but I have chosen her in the same way God has chosen us as his children.”

And while she is candid about the planning and support required to parent alone, she believes what children ultimately need most is remarkably simple:

“They want love and safety. And those are two things I think most of us can give.”

Laura’s commitment to the next generation extends beyond the walls of her home.

Through FlyteVu's internship program, she has made mentoring the next generation part of the company's culture.

“Let's continue to give: give our time, give our resources, give our knowledge, give our wisdom. That's what will live on long after we're gone,” she offers.

Taking the First Step

Looking back, Laura can see that her own accomplishments others might label “successes” were never achieved all at once.

Laura's advice to anyone staring at an intimidating dream is rooted in her own experience building a business and becoming a mother.

“Maybe you feel pressure that you need to have it all figured out, or you need to know what it's fully going to look like before you start,” Laura explains. “You don’t. You need to have a strategic plan, know your values, what you won't compromise on and just take the first step.”

Laura's story is ultimately about seeing possibility within an idea, within another person, within what we already have and even within life's hardest chapters. Her journey reminds us that hope doesn't require knowing exactly where the road will lead. 

Sometimes it simply requires enough faith, creativity, and courage to take the next step.