Hutsell was born in Maryville, Tennessee where she attended Heritage High School, near the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, and she later the University of Tennessee. She began her career performing improv comedy at the Annoyance Theater in Chicago and also starred in their production of The Real Live Brady Bunch in 1990. The comedic stage show consisted of eight actual episodes of the cult classic TV show The Brady Bunch, with Hutsell cast as Jan Brady. The company toured to New York City, where Hutsell was hired as a cast member for the seventeenth season of Saturday Night Live.