First Selectman Toni Boucher Becomes Published Author as “The Husky Effect” Hits Bookstores

After a long career in both the public and private sectors, First Selectman Toni Boucher has one more accomplishment to add to her impressive résumé: she is now a published author.

Her first book, titled The Husky Effect: How UConn is Creating the Entrepreneurs of the Future, is “an inspiring business story of two interwoven legacies: one family’s journey in entrepreneurship [and] UConn’s unique culture of innovation and excellence,” according to a press release.

In an interview with GOOD Morning Wilton one day after the book launch Tuesday, Mar. 18, Boucher spoke at length about the book’s evolution, which grew out of writing she began in her teenage years to record some of her childhood memories and family history in rural Italy.

Over time, she had enough material to bring in a collaborator, author Josh Young, to help organize and edit the book.

“We come from different political backgrounds, but yet he and I aligned on almost everything and it was just meant to be,” Boucher said.

As the chapters added up, Boucher said the duo realized the material would be best divided into two books. (The second book, which will be titled Stone Doll, is expected later this year.)

“So we carved it out, and I started writing again,” Boucher said.

That enabled Boucher to focus the book on what she called “the business miracle” she experienced in her life, along with her late husband, Bud Boucher, which culminated in her philanthropic work at UConn to support entrepreneurism.

“And at that point, I was doing so much work with UConn and their business school. I was invested heavily in it.” [Editor’s note: In 2023, Boucher made an $8 million gift to UConn’s School of Business, which then named the “Boucher Management and Entrepreneurship Department” in recognition of her generosity.] 

Boucher, who earned an MBA from UConn in 2002, has the deepest appreciation for the school.

“UConn had a big part in my getting my MBA in a way that was really not common,” Boucher said. “They waived deadlines for me because I was juggling a full-time job, working in the legislature and raising three kids.”

“They saw my pain,” Boucher continued. “They wanted to empower me to get this. It was my goal.”

Boucher credited her success story to her education and the lessons she and her husband had learned from some professional failures.

“It’s actually a business miracle at the end of the day,” she said. “It is a story like a million other immigrant stories, it’s just mine has a surprise ending.”

“That is what this book is about. It’s about really all the good that’s coming from this business miracle story, to translate it into good, for other students that would learn these skills.”

Boucher said she applies some of the principles in the book to her work as first selectman — notably creative problem-solving.

“I’m trying hard to see what’s wrong, and try to fix it,” she said, citing Wilton’s infrastructure challenges as an example. “I try. It is not an easy road.”

She also believes the book has a strong social justice theme.

“My social justice effort is to have our students learn how to create a company or invest in a company that creates jobs — so people can be empowered themselves, to be self-sufficient, and to benefit at all levels of the economic ladder” she said, noting that her childhood began “at the very, very bottom of the economic ladder.”

Of course the husky reference in the book’s title is a nod to the UConn mascot as a symbol of UConn’s reputation for excellence in sports.

“UConn Huskies are the sports teams. These teams and these coaches, especially [UConn Women’s Basketball Coach] Geno Auriemma, are absolutely known and equated with excellence,” Boucher said. “I felt that they represented the excellence we strive for in the business school, in the program I’m involved in.”

“That’s what my financial and other mentorship contributions is all about — creating entrepreneurs of the future,” she continued. “It’s [about] creating jobs, creating a robust economy that will grow.”

Boucher said the timing of the book’s release with the “March Madness” basketball tournament was not a coincidence.

“The publishing company felt it’s always good to have a book [launch] around some special national event,” she said. “And this is a big event, and the sports teams have so much to do with the story.”

Boucher insisted that, unlike many other politicians who have written books, hers is not a signal she is running for higher office.

“I’m not using it for anything other than to get the message out, to talk about entrepreneurship, to encourage people to be involved…that’s it.”

Boucher said she expects publicity events will take place in some libraries and bookstores, as well as some TV and radio programs, but no specific dates have been announced yet.