Shelley Huff
Co-Founder & CEO, The Interval
We're asking the wrong question when we obsess over severance and outplacement firms — the real accelerator through executive transition isn't money or a coach, it's other people who've been through it. The biggest misconception about burnout is that people know they have it — most executives only discover they were burned out after they've already walked away.
THE PROBLEM AFTER NEXT: Executive identity is shifting from 'builder confined to one system' to 'orchestrator operating across many' — leaders no longer measure impact by what they built inside one company, but by how they influence outcomes across boards, ventures, and advisory roles at once. That shift is exactly why executives are reclaiming agency, choosing where to go deep and where to simply connect rather than staying locked into one hierarchy for an entire career. What organizations haven't caught up to is that this makes a departing executive a competitive asset, not just a loss — the same pattern recognition that made them valuable inside your walls makes them valuable to whoever they orchestrate with next, including you, if the exit was handled well. Few companies have built any real strategy around executive exits, which means most are still treating offboarding as paperwork instead of an investment in their own future network.What draws me to this work is watching how much career experience shapes not just what a person does next, but who they become — and at the executive level, that question gets sharper, because identities built over decades get tested in ways most people never have to face, whether through involuntary job loss or simply the pivots every career eventually requires. I believe organizations have a role to play in this long before any crisis forces it — through rotations, secondments, board seats, and other experiences that broaden how an executive sees themselves while they're still employed, not just how they're managed on the way out. Spending time on how organizations can build that kind of identity flexibility into an executive's tenure deliberately, so pivots become something people are prepared for rather than blindsided by.
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BIO: Shelley Huff is a CEO, Co-Founder, and executive leader with more than two decades of experience driving transformational growth across retail, technology, and consumer-focused industries. She is known for identifying unmet market needs, building high-performing organizations, and leading through moments of complexity and change with clarity, integrity, and a deep focus on people.
Shelley is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of The Interval, a peer-driven community designed to support senior leaders navigating career transitions, intentional pauses, and next chapters.
The Interval was created to address a critical gap Shelley experienced firsthand: while leadership development and advancement are well supported, the space between chapters - where reflection, recalibration, and reinvention occur - is profoundly underserved. The Interval brings leaders together in high-trust, curated peer environments to turn reflection into clarity and meaningful forward action.
Previously, Shelley served as CEO of Serta Simmons Bedding, where she led the company through a complex strategic and financial restructuring and established a clear path toward long-term growth and stability. Prior to that, as CEO of Tuft & Needle, she led post-acquisition integration efforts, delivering significant cost savings while modernizing platforms to improve speed, scalability, and performance.
Earlier in her career, Shelley held multiple senior leadership roles at Walmart, including President & CEO of Hayneedle.com, Walmart’s largest eCommerce subsidiary. As Vice President& Global Officer, she played a pivotal role in Walmart’s digital transformation, helping launch its first omnichannel brand and leading initiatives focused on operational modernization, brand innovation, and customer-centric growth.
Across every role, Shelley brings a consistent leadership philosophy: that sustainable performance is built by investing in people, creating trust, and aligning strategy with purpose. Her work reflects a commitment not just to growth, but to impact - on organizations, leaders, and the systems they shape. Shelley is a member of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, the International Women’s Forum, and YPO.