Host: Carrie Tuttle

Guest: Courtney Johnston-Naumann

Can you name someone who has mentored 10 or more people? I can.

Courtney Johnston-Naumann is the founder of Weave Strategy and a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO) who has led brand and marketing teams at Edmonton Economic Development, Service Credit Union, and CashCo Financial. She helps organizations move from scattered marketing efforts to focused, purpose-driven growth.

Some leaders treat marketing as an art form. Courtney has spent her career proving it's also math. Courtney explains how she built a bridge between marketing and sales, why she says every strategy starts with intention before it touches a spreadsheet, and what it really takes to lead a team through a founder-to-management transition.

The juiciest part of this episode is when Courtney shares her approach to mentorship, including the concept of a personal mentorship board. She sets the expectation that mentees own the relationship before they start and believes in having a framework.

You’ll walk away with a clearer picture of how to lead people through ambiguity without losing them, and why the words you choose at work matter more than you think.

QUOTE-WORTHY MOMENTS

• “I find mentees who want to work harder than I'm going to work for them.“
• “There’s a lot of math in marketing. When you really look at your pipeline and your growth objectives, you have to reverse engineer it and then connect it with what’s the story we’re trying to tell.”
• “If you’re on my team, I will train you to take my job. Because at some point that’s going to happen and that’s okay.”

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• Marketing is both head and heart.
• Strategy starts with intention, then reverse-engineers tometrics.
• Build a strong sales–marketing partnership to align on shared organizational goals.
• “Words matter” and miscommunication often happens when we assume others share our definitions.
• Create a personal mentorship board: peers, seniors, experts, and people younger than you all have a role.
• How Courtney structures mentorship relationships: ground rules, a starting package, and the expectation that mentees own the pace.
• Trust and know how much “gray” each team member can handle.

LINKS FROM EPISODE

Courtney Johnston-Naumann on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjohnstonnaumann/

Brené Brown — brenebrown.com

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