How Shutterstock is Building at Scale Without Losing the Human Thread

Welcome back to The Friday Fortune! If you’re running on conference coffee, airport snacks, or the quiet confidence of someone who definitely didn’t read all their emails this week, you’re in the right place. This is your pause button. The moment where inspiration sneaks in before the next calendar alert ruins the vibe.

Each week, we sit down with the leaders shaping modern marketing, not just the ones chasing the next shiny object, but the ones thinking deeply about impact, transformation, and what it actually takes to lead through change. This week is no exception.

Here’s what’s on deck this week:

• A sit-down with Shutterstock Chief Enterprise Officer, Aimee Egan

• Why VaynerX is creating a ‘fraternal twin’ to VaynerMedia

• Purple x OpenFortune

📈 Marketer of the Week

If there’s anyone proving that modern marketing leadership is as much about inner growth as enterprise scale, it’s Aimee Egan, Chief Enterprise Officer at Shutterstock. With more than 25 years across data, software, and professional services, Amy has built a career defined by curiosity, customer obsession, and a willingness to step into transformation head-on.

Amy didn’t begin her career with a perfectly mapped-out destination. She began her career in law school, drawn to the rigor and intellectual challenge, before realizing that practicing law wasn’t where she wanted to land. That realization led her to Thomson Reuters, where she spent nearly two decades moving across divisions, industries, and roles, supporting lawyers, accountants, tax professionals, and engineers along the way. Over time, she built a career centered on understanding how professionals work and how data and systems can help them do it better.

That throughline made Shutterstock a natural next chapter. While the fundamentals of packaging, pricing, and product development felt familiar, the opportunity to combine enterprise leadership with marketing, creativity, and transformation stood out immediately. The creative and advertising industry, after all, is in the middle of a massive shift, and Aimee has always gravitated toward moments where industries are being redefined.

Since stepping into the role two and a half years ago, Aimee has helped formalize Shutterstock’s enterprise strategy, sharpening its focus on medium and large customers by starting with listening. Conversations with marketing teams and agencies revealed a shared set of pressures: rapid AI adoption, industry consolidation, leaner teams, and an uncertain path forward.

One of the most dramatic shifts during her tenure has been Shutterstock’s evolution in AI training data. What began as early experimentation quickly became core to the business, opening the door to new customer segments and entirely new needs. At the same time, Shutterstock Studios has transformed its production capabilities, integrating virtual production, AI-powered workflows, and modern storytelling to keep pace with how creative work is actually being done today.

Reflecting on lessons learned over time, she emphasized that transformation starts internally. “As leaders and as professionals, we can only transform our businesses and the systems that we operate in as far as we're willing to transform within ourselves,” she shared. It’s a belief that has shaped how she approaches leadership, growth, and sustainability.

That mindset also changed how she builds teams. Early in her career, Aimee was known for jumping in to solve problems quickly. Over time, she learned that while that skill has value, overusing it can limit team growth. Today, her focus is on creating environments where leaders are empowered to solve challenges themselves, stepping in when needed, but not becoming the default firefighter.

At Brandweek, Aimee also presented Shutterstock’s newly created Brand Genius Impact Award, developed in partnership with Adweek. The award celebrates marketing work that goes beyond creative excellence to drive real-world outcomes, reinforcing the idea that impact, not just attention, is the true measure of success. Looking ahead, Shutterstock is doubling down on understanding whether the work it enables actually delivers the results customers intend.

Aimee’s Takeaway

Great leadership is less how fast you scale, what tech you adopt, or whether you're keeping up with every trend. What really matters is curiosity, self-awareness, and building systems and cultures that can evolve without losing sight of their purpose.

To hear more about how Aimee Egan is shaping Shutterstock’s enterprise future and navigating AI with intention, listen to the full episode of CMO Weekly.

🥠 The Cookie Jar

Crack open a handful of the week’s best marketing links—because good fortune favors the curious.

• Ro’s Super Bowl Debut With Serena Williams Tackles GLP-1 Stigma. When the conversation needs a serve as powerful as Serena's backhand.

• Why VaynerX is creating a ‘fraternal twin’ to VaynerMedia. Because sometimes you need to compete with yourself to stay sharp.

• Brands are using generative AI to make fun of generative AI. When you can't beat the robots, roast them.

• How Purple Got Into People's Heads (and Beds) with OpenFortune. They took 'in bed' from inside joke to multi-million dollar campaign.

That’s a wrap for this week’s Friday fortune.

If you enjoyed the read, pass it along to your favorite marketer who could use a little extra inspo in their inbox.

Until next time, may your marketing be memorable and your cookies always be fortunate!

— The OpenFortune team