Courtney Brownie

When the pandemic hit, Courtney Brownie found ways to keep money flowing into her company. When a sustainability report needed to be crafted, she found a way to get it done. And when cattle needed to be herded, well, who else would you call?

“While based in Denver, Colorado, our Rocky Mountain leadership team embarked on a real, live cattle drive in Wyoming,” she said. “We went to a ranch, saddled up horses and moved cows on horseback. It required lots of teamwork to accomplish the goal of moving all cows from one pasture to another while containing a few unruly ones that tried to escape, and certainly came with a lot of laughs.”

Wrangling cattle may not be a prerequisite for fast-track executive success, but effectively handling corporate “unruly ones” definitely is. Brownie subscribes to a methodical approach.

“I believe how we respond to challenges, especially as women, is how we can build credibility and trust from our teams and senior leaders in the organization,” she said. “When I’m faced with challenges, I like to gather as many facts and data as I can to analyze the situation and work towards a data-driven decision versus an emotional decision.”

That type of response was particularly valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic, when emotions ran high and operations slowed. Brownie was tasked by her company with helping to collect cash and minimize bad debt.

“I knew this was critical to the longevity and success of the organization, and I didn’t take that lightly,” she said. She worked with sales representatives, customers and the legal department to ensure liens were filed, and engaged in countless phone calls with customer accounts payable departments. It was a hard fight, she said, but a successful one. 

When NexTier launched its first sustainability report, Brownie jumped in to help. At first, she worked with third-party consultants hired to prepare the document.

“We received the draft, read it and agreed it wasn’t a true reflection of our company, narrative and culture we were proud of and wanted to share,” she said.

So, not allowing her lack of prior experience writing sustainability reports stop her, she and a co-worker tackled the assignment themselves, starting with a blank sheet of paper. With support from senior leadership, the two composed the report and met the deadline. 

Brownie offers three pieces of advice to young professionals, particularly women, in energy:

Be knowledgeable. Be credible. Be memorable. “I set a personal goal in my mid-30s to be a vice president at a large publicly traded company by 40. I didn’t have a clear path, but I knew I needed to be impactful and stand out amongst very talented and experienced peers.” 

Don’t be afraid to tell people what you want. “I had several discussions about my career goals with Kenny Pucheu, currently Chief Integration Officer at Patterson-UTI, at the time CFO at NexTier and my manager, and how to work towards achieving them.”

Build a network both internally and externally. Brownie was selected by Pucheu to provide financial support to newly-hired Aaron Hilber, NexTier’s Vice President of Power Solutions, to organically build a natural gas fueling business.  Hilber invested countless hours sharing his knowledge of compressed natural gas with Brownie. When the need for a commercial role in power solutions was identified, she was tapped to fill it.

“These two men helped me achieve this milestone in my career, and I will never forget it.”

Brownie said she has always set high goals for herself. When she entered the industry, she wanted to be a CFO or senior vice president of finance at a large publicly traded company. Her goals today are similar but more ambitious.

“Remove the word ‘finance’ from my early goals and extend it to all functions within an organization, all the way up to CEO,” she said. “I’ve learned that you can be a highly effective leader of an organization, regardless of your background or education.”

Check out the rest of Hart Energy's 2024 Women in Energy here.