People in Fundraising, season 3, ep. 21: Karrie Swanson of CommonSpirit Health

Karrie Swanson is my first "People in Fundraising" guest from Arizona, and the first guest to talk specifically about branding and marketing. For those reasons, as well as the fact that Karrie recruited my friend and former Intermountain Health manager Jason Befort, I was excited to talk with her and now to share her fantastic interview!

Among other topics, Karrie discusses:

* How through mergers and related job relocations, Karrie "became a remote worker before remote work was a thing," and how she added prospect research to her graphic design portfolio. "I am a self-taught prospect researcher!" she excitedly adds. She is also the sole Brand Specialist for CommonSpirit Health!

* The variety of graphic design, branding, social media, and communications work that Karrie handles for CommonSpirit Health, which with 65 foundations and 80+ hospitals is the largest nonprofit healthcare system in the U.S.

* The turnaround time Karrie needs for her projects, such as gift proposals and events, with graphics, elevator signs, charts, and other visual guides for co-workers and donors.

* Being in charge of CommonSpirit Health's social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram), and using Google Chat to communicate with colleagues across the country to plan out projects of all sizes, paying special attention to the demographics of populations and the topography in the specific health facilities. Karrie has over 65 million branded images to choose from as she develops content!

* Serving as Vice President of SWARO, the Apra prospect development chapter that covers Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada - and how prospect research brings her a lot of enjoyment.

* Reflections on psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of "flow," and a quote from Talking Heads co-founder and lead singer David Byrne, who recently said (with the re-release of the band's 1984 documentary "Stop Making Sense"), "I think you can develop a willingness to try new things, but curiosity is kind of self-motivated." Karrie replied, "His first sentence is my life in a nutshell!"

Thank you Karrie for a phenomenal conversation! I learned so much about your work, and I am sure others in our profession will enjoy and benefit from the insights you shared. It was a delight to have you as a guest!