Meet our Leadership Team
at Fuse.Cloud
GARY WATTS
CEO and Founder
MICHAEL FOWLER
Chief Revenue Officer
CHRISTOPHER GOOLSBY
Chief Financial Officer
Ben Sims
Chief Operations Officer
olivia kuhn
Director of Sales
Dustin Lassiter
VP of Technical Operations
Walter Donald
Director of Project Management
Nic Carpenter
Director of Product Management
LeAann Deavours
Director of Employee & Vendor Relations
Collin Hurt
Director of Marketing
Jimmy Maulding
Sales Engineer
Taylor Berry
Customer Experience Manager
GARY WATTS
CEO and Founder
Bio:
Gary Watts is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fuse.Cloud, a Jackson, Mississippi-based business passionate about helping other businesses regain their focus.
Over the last three decades, Watts has led a number of organizations through periods of significant growth. He founded Fuse.Cloud under the name Broadband Voice in 2006. The company soon gained recognition as one of the fastest growing Voice over IP (VoIP) technology companies in the Southeast. Today, Fuse.Cloud serves over 2,000 business customers in 40 states throughout the country.
For the first decade of his career, Watts established a dedication to hard work and honed his business skills by owning and operating a popular restaurant franchise. Then, in 1995, he started a concert promotion business. This business grew to national recognition and, within its first few years, Watts promoted over 100 performances nationally while still running the restaurant. In 1997, Watts began in the sales division for startup technology company Unity Communications, based in Jackson. He was rapidly promoted to VP Sales in 2000. After nearly a decade here, Watts recognized that the next generation of telephony would be rooted in hosted VoIP solutions. This vision for advanced business technology solutions was catalyst for him starting Broadband Voice (now Fuse.Cloud) in 2006.
MICHAEL FOWLER
Chief Revenue OfficerBio:
Michael Fowler joined Fuse.Cloud in July 2006 and today serves as one of the longest tenured employees in the company. Fowler has pioneered a number of initiatives for the organization and led the company through periods of significant growth in revenue for nearly a decade, establishing Fuse.Cloud’s reputation under the Broadband Voice name as one of the fastest-growing Voice over IP companies in the Southeast. Now, Fowler continues to lead the company’s revenue growth with the expansion of cloud-based products and services. Fowler began as a sales consultant before becoming director of sales in 2013. Currently, as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), Fowler oversees the entire revenue generation process for the company. He leads efforts to generate new revenue and gross profit, oversee partnerships, product expansion and work with marketing leadership to collectively create, drive and manage customer acquisition. Active in the community, Fowler has served as a Parish Council member of Holy Trinity St. John Greek Orthodox Church since 2011. He is also heavily involved in Greek Fest, serving as the sponsorship chairman since 2012, and he is set to be the chairman in 2015. He enjoys traveling, softball, spending time with his family and supporting Alabama Football.
LAURA JOHNS
Chief Strategy Officer
Bio:
Laura Johns serves as Fuse.Cloud’s Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and has been with the company since 2014. Johns has nearly a decade of experience in the study and practice of integrated marketing. She has nine years of expertise driving marketing efforts for the utility and telecommunications industries, and extensive background in marketing strategy and implementation for technical products. As CSO, her responsibilities include marketing, human resources, customer success and corporate culture. She oversees the execution of all relationship-affecting strategies within the company to ensure success in reinforcing relationships as one of the company’s core values. Prior to joining Fuse.Cloud, Johns drove marketing efforts for the electricity business line at Itron, a global utility technology provider based in Liberty Lake, Washington. Johns also served as the advertising manager for the Unversity of Alabama campus newspaper, The Crimson White.
CHRISTOPHER GOOLSBY
Chief Financial OfficerBio:
Christopher Goolsby serves as Fuse.Cloud’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He has been with the company for over a decade and has contributed to managing the company’s cash flow and financial planning during that time. As CFO, Goolsby oversees all finance and accounting, as well as assists with the execution of Fuse.Cloud’s strategy to drive revenue growth and continued margin expansion. Goolsby previously served as Vice President of Finance for the company.
Goolsby holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Mississippi College and a Master of Divinity degree from New Orleans Theological Seminary.
Originally from Clinton, Mississippi, Goolsby currently resides in Madison, Miss., with his wife, Alletta, and their daughters McKenzie and Avery. Goolsby serves as worship pastor at Grace Crossing Baptist Church in Madison and loves to hunt, fish, golf and support the Atlanta Braves and New Orleans Saints.
Ben Sims
Chief Operations Officer
Bio:
Ben Sims serves as Chief Operations Officer for Fuse.Cloud. In his role, he is responsible for leading the day-to-day operations and technical implementation for the company Sims joined the company in 2008 as Director of VoIP and has been instrumental in the company’s success by driving efforts for product development and executing strategic initiatives to position the company for rapid growth. Prior to joining Broadband Voice, he worked for Harrell Contracting Group. Sims has applied his technical expertise by installing audio, video and network equipment throughout the Southeast. Sims enjoys New Orleans Saints and Florida Gators football, traveling and hunting. Sims is originally from Byram, Mississippi and currently resides in Brandon. He is a graduate of Terry High School and earned his degree in Engineering from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Walter Donald
Director of Project ManagementBio:
Walter Donald brings a decade of technology expertise to Fuse.cloud, having a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Accounting from Mississippi State University.
His position as the Director of Project Management plays a key role in ensuring smooth transitions for new customers by managing both the onboarding team and phone number porting process.
Outside of work, Walter comes from a large family with five siblings, noting that he and his twin sister are the youngest in the family!
Dustin Lassiter
VP of Technical OperationsBio:
Dustin (Dusty) Lassiter joined Fuse.Cloud in 2019 and currently serves as the Vice President of Technical Operations. He oversees all technical operations and customer services, manages our Managed IT solution, and assists with executing Fuse.Cloud’s operational strategies.
Prior to working at Fuse.Cloud, Dusty had eight years of experience in the technology industry working as an IT Support Specialist and Tech Manager.
Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Dusty now lives in Jackson, Mississippi, with his wife, Natalie, and son, Henry. He is an avid gardener and enjoys cheering on his Tennessee Titans every Sunday during football season!
Nic Carpenter
Director of Product Management
Bio:
Nic Carpenter brings over six years of dedicated service to Fuse.Cloud. Nic started out as a Voice Project Manager and steadily climbed the ranks to assume the pivotal role of Director of Product Management. As the overseer of day-to-day voice operations, Nic maintains the voice platform, spearheads new product development initiatives, and ensures seamless customer onboarding experiences.
Nic is a proud graduate of Mississippi State University, where he earned a dual major in Business Information Systems and Marketing in 2018. Originally from Holly Springs, MS, he resides in Madison with his wife, Hannah, their son, Grady, and rescue dog, Coco.
Beyond his professional commitments, Nic showcases his culinary skills as the designated Company Cookout Chef, delighting colleagues with his smoked barbecue during company events. In his free time, Nic finds joy in perfecting his smoking techniques, a testament to his dedication and attention to detail in all aspects of his life.
LeAann Deavours
Director of Employee & Vendor RelationsBio:
LeaAnn serves as our Director of Employee & Vendor Relations and has been with the company since 2021.
She brings an extensive background of over 30 years in finance and telephony. Starting in the paging industry, she led a group that administered ordering, installation, and removal of telecommunications services in the SouthEast. She then merged the telecommunications systems of MCI and WorldCom, auditing and eliminating substantial duplication of data circuits. Prior to joining Fuse.Cloud, she managed the general accounting and reconciliation for a local oil and gas company.
LeaAnn is currently responsible for building healthy relationships with our vendors to maintain the successful growth of Fuse.Cloud products and services. She also serves as the HR director who oversees the execution of all relationship-affecting strategies within the company to ensure strong employee relationships as one of the company’s core values.
Currently residing in Jackson, MS, LeaAnn is married to her wife, Margaret, and has two grown daughters and two granddaughters. She is an active member of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Fondren. She enjoys hiking, cycling, traveling, and spending time with family and friends. LeaAnn also finds great passion in serving the community through church and other local organizations.
Collin Hurt
Director of MarketingBio:
Collin oversees the overall marketing strategy and implementation for Fuse.Cloud. He joined the Fuse.Cloud team in 2023 to become their Director of Marketing.
Collin is a graduate of Madison-Ridgeland Academy and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Southern Mississippi. When not cheering on the Golden Eagles or exploring new destinations, he enjoys spending quality time with his wife, Audrey, and their daughter, Olivia, along with their dog, Sako.
Prior to beginning at Fuse.Cloud, Collin held marketing positions, such as Marketing Director and Marketing Operations Specialist, in both in-house and agency environments.
Collin’s passion for building connections and creating engaging experiences translates into his work, making him a valuable asset to our team.