Huisentruit was born in and grew up in Long Prairie, Minnesota, the youngest daughter of Maurice Nicholas Huisentruit (1920–1982) and Imogene L. "Jane" Huisentruit (née Anderson, 1923–2014). In high school, she was considered to be very good at golf. Her team won the state Class A tournament in 1985 and 1986. After high school, she went on to St. Cloud State University, where she studied mass communications and speech communication and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 1990. Her first job after graduation was with North West Airlines. She entered broadcasting by getting a job at KGAN in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as the station's Iowa City bureau chief, then returned to Minnesota for a job at KSAX in Alexandria before returning to Iowa for her KIMT position.