100 days in office: Courtney Lewis, CEO and partner, The Variable

For the newly minted CEO of The Variable, Courtney Lewis, it’s all about the power of “yes.”

In 2019, Lewis started working for The Variable as an account director. Since then, she has climbed up the corporate ladder of leadership; serving as group business director in 2020, director of growth from 2021-22, VP of growth from December 2022 to February 2024 and SVP until September of that same year, all before being promoted to CMO and head of strategy in August 2024.

Now, she’s CEO and partner of the agency.

The new CEO told Campaign she credits her growth within The Variable to simply saying “yes” to any and every opportunity, such as new roles or new pieces of business.

Getting to that point wasn’t easy, though. With her previous experiences in management consulting and B2B technology, causing a problem was heavily encouraged to be avoided at all costs. So when Lewis came to this industry, she had to accustom herself to taking risks.

“The culture of the agency has always supported people trying new things and rewarded the risk rather than punishing the mistake,” she said. “It took some training of my brain to realize that I was in a safe, supportive environment for risk-taking and trying new things.”

Now that she has reached the top, Lewis set her sights on two priorities.

In-person connection

In her first 100 days as CEO, Lewis’ first priority was spending one-on-one time with every person who works for The Variable; whether getting coffee, lunch or just chatting. She told Campaign that she mainly wanted to get an understanding of the employees’ perspective; what is or isn’t working and potential opportunities to improve.

“I don’t lead a nameless, faceless group of people,” she explained. “I know the names of every single person that works at the agency. I know their spouses’ names. I know their kids’ names. I know their dogs’ names, cats’ names [and] other miscellaneous pets.”

Lewis’ second priority was to visit each and every one of The Variable’s clients, which she completed within 60 days. “There is no replacement for in-person connection,” she said.

“I can appreciate that in a post-COVID world, flexibility is paramount,” she added. “But we’re a small agency. [Some] of the things that clients buy from us [are] speed, chemistry and connectivity, and we can’t do that if we’re not spending time together.”

The CEO also added that her series of networking with both The Variable’s team members and its clients benefits all parties, because everyone learns about and connects with each other.

“On the client side, once you’ve built that connection, it’s a lot harder to fire an agency [where] you really like the people,” she explained. “You’re much more willing to put the effort in to resolve issues [and] get over speed bumps.”

Networking and hosting meetings and events in-person can promote more interactivity, thus a stronger feeling of connection. However, some of these events can be repetitive and boring. Why make it boring, when you can make it fun?

In a recent meeting she hosted regarding structural changes within The Variable’s account team, Lewis and three others rolled out the changes via a skit of an example project, complete with wigs, props and costumes.

“I’m not a creative, I’m not a writer [and] I’m not a designer,” she explained. “But if you want creatives to get behind what you say and what you want them to do, articulating what you need from them in a way they can receive it is super important.”

Despite her position as CEO including the necessity to make difficult, stressful decisions, Lewis said coming up with creative ways to get her messages across makes it all the more fun.

“Part of my job is to help navigate change management, where we’re making big organizational changes,” she said. “So it is hard, but it also is fun.”

CMO to CEO

Before her promotion to CEO and partner, Lewis told Campaign she was “perfectly happy” as CMO. However, she added, one being satisfied with their current job makes the ideal CEO candidate.

“The best candidate is when they’re totally happy, focused and fulfilled in their current role,” she explained. “It means they’re delivering really well [and] that they’re passionate about what they do.”

Lewis said the main difference between working as CMO and CEO is that the latter requires the same duties as the former, but with added financial and people responsibilities.

“Being the CEO of a small agency, part of my responsibility is to help advise our clients on how to build their brand [and] have success in the marketplace, as much as it is to ensure the agency’s success,” she said. “A huge part of being CMO was doing that.”

If anything, having experience as a CMO combined with in-person connection has primed Lewis for her CEO position. The senior-most contact for The Variable’s clients consists mainly of the CMO or the VP of marketing; as a result, connections and opportunities come easy.

“At the end of the day, being a small agency leader, my relationship with our senior-level CMO clients is incredibly important,” she explained. “I need to have a meaningful relationship with that individual, [so] coming from that background actually helps build rapport quickly.”