Executive Team Member Spotlight - Courtney Lewis

Name: Courtney Lewis             

Title:     Executive Vice President       

Courtney has been part of the Fuse family since 2019. Courtney fell into direct response marketing through an internship during her senior year of college. After being offered a full-time job after graduation, she took it — thinking she’d figure out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life later — and 17 years later, here we are! She loves working with organizations to build up their fundraising programs not just for the next fiscal year, but for years to come, through holistic long-term planning that will help maximize revenue raised to create lasting change long into the future!

Getting to Know Courtney:

1. Q: How do you like to spend your free time away from the wonderful world of direct response?
   A: With all of my boys. My husband Michael, sons Graham (7) and Reed (4) and two labs (Buckeye and Handsome) keep me busy! But, when we aren’t on the baseball field, playing outside, or on some other adventure, I LOVE reality tv and reading!

2. Q: Tell us about a favorite campaign that you’ve worked on.
   A: Oh goodness! This is a good question but also an unfair question! I honestly am not sure I’ve had a favorite campaign, but I can say my favorite types of campaigns are those that tell the amazing stories of the difference our clients are making in the lives of people and animals around the world. Hearing those stories firsthand is incredibly inspiring, and I feel so lucky to be even just a little part of their work!

3. Q: What do you think is in store for our industry in the future?
   A: The only thing certain about the answer to this question is … change. With the all the channel opportunities (and, no doubt, more to come!), AI capabilities, technology advances, privacy laws (just to name a few …) – no one is going to be sitting down any time soon. But, change is certainly not new for our industry – and it’s important for us to remember that as we think about how to adapt and innovate. This industry is full of so many smart people doing amazing things – and with all of this expansion comes even more opportunity to learn, grow, and make change that will drive fundraising programs forward.

4. Q: If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
   A: The ability to freeze time – is that a thing?

5. Q: If you had to choose a different career path, what would it be?
   A: Psychologist, Teacher, or Nurse

6. Q:  Tell us about a time you failed.
   A: Um, just one? I messed up in a high school musical and sang the wrong words (yes, I still think about that today and that is the first thing that came into my head when I saw this question!) Professionally, the times that come to mind typically all have to do with moving too fast or not asking enough questions. I’ve been so fortunate to have some incredible mentors along the way who have been patient and used any failure as an opportunity to learn and grow.

7. Q: Tell us about a unique or impactful test that sticks out in your memory.
   A: Testing a new tagline on a logo that I was SURE did not need to be tested but that tagline dropped response rates at a significant confidence interval. It seemed like such a small change and I remember thinking – why do we even need to test this? That was one of the best lessons I had early in my career. It wasn’t about what I thought might depress response or not – it was about proving it out and letting the data tell us what would happen before we made some assumptions that could have had a detrimental impact on the program. I use this as an example to this day when I think about how small changes can really have a pretty big impact whether we think so or not.

8. Q: What would be your entrance song?
   A: It’s a Great Day to be Alive

9. Q: If you were a brand, what would your slogan be?
   A: Let’s make it fun!