Alumna says Smith Gave Her ‘The Toolkit To Thrive’

If there's one thing to know about Foluké Tuakli ’16, it's that she's never going to "apologize for living."

Tuakli, a creative strategist at Meta, acquired the motto during a random encounter with a houseless man on the streets of Washington, D.C. What could be perceived as a seemingly innocuous comment was actually one that liberated her from previous trauma from life-threatening experiences she suffered in her youth. The wisdom empowered her to be a changemaker in her career.

In her role at Meta, Tuakli uses her voice and perspectives to provide expertise to lead industries in new ways to build storytelling ideas “at the speed of culture.” This creative expert supports advertisers to optimize their content on Meta platforms to increase brand awareness and engagement. Her path to success in this rapidly changing media landscape is one that began at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. It was her experiences in the school’s Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams Honors (QUEST) and Entrepreneurship in Innovation programs that now help her envision “opportunity in otherwise gray spaces.”

Early in her career, Tuakli was proactive and intentional about taking on projects related to social media content, understanding its impact as a medium for branding and storytelling. As a page for the Today Show on NBC, she saw opportunities to expand reach and “unlock new audiences by mastering storytelling on digital platforms.” She developed the “Read with Jenna Book Club” as well as laid the foundation for “Open Book with Jenna Bush Hager” and “Through Mom’s Eyes with Sheinelle Jones”.

She parlayed that experience into a digital content producer role with Comcast NBCUniversal to help “reimagine its digital presence to more effectively tell stories around digital equity and its sponsorship of the Olympics.” She also launched “Connection through Creation”, as well as Comcast’s TikTok page to coordinate with Olympic strategies, earning her team the recognition as the inaugural winner of the TikTok Culture Drivers award. Tuakli notes that through her work on the Olympics, she was able to use connections from her very early days at NBC and beyond to create a “truly symphonic moment with Comcast at the helm.”

Since graduating from the Smith School, Tuakli has prioritized giving back by returning to Van Munching Hall for keynotes and engagement opportunities with students, including two appearances at the Future Women in Business Conference (FWBC), an event for female high school students interested in business held annually at the Smith School.

During her first FWBC appearance in 2017, Tuakli imparted her motto to the next generation of women in business by stressing the importance of “living in their purpose” and preserving their authenticity throughout their careers. Her advice resonated with attendees and Tuakli gained a deeper appreciation for empowering others upon learning years later from a student that her talk inspired them to attend the Smith School. 

“You never know when you are planting the seed or helping it blossom when it comes to influencing the trajectory of other people's lives, which is wild,” says Tuakli.

At the 2023 FWBC, Tuakli returned to campus to share more valuable insights from her career with students, including the value of investing in themselves. She added that the Smith School helped her achieve success because it made her the best version of herself because it gave her “the toolkit to thrive” and “amplified what I had.”

As Tuakli progresses in her career, she continues to carry herself with confidence and lend her voice toward sharing impactful stories, be it professionally or personally. She’ll forge ahead with the same mindset she has shared with others–unapologetically.

“It’s not lost on me that my life was a gift and is a gift,” says Tuakli. “More good things will come, challenges will arise, but at the end of the day, it’s actually what I have inside of me that will bring me the greatest joy. I’m just honored to be able to share that joy with others so that they can unlock it within themselves.”