Louise StoryChief Executive Officer, Atlas Obscura

Louise Story is a transformational leader focused on developing growth strategies for mission-driven organizations. As the CEO of Atlas Obscura, she leads one of the top travel community platforms in the world where they are focusing on helping people have the most incredible, mind-blowing experiences possible in their own backyards and around the world. Prior to Atlas Obscura, Louise was a senior leader at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal where she was central to both organizations' digital transformations. She has worked in all parts of the media business — including running the full tech-stack, running coverage on all topics in newsrooms, carrying out award-winning investigative reporting and writing, leading video and audio production teams, guiding media growth strategy, and managing advertising and paywalled-products. Central to her work in all these areas has been building and leading world-class, highly collaborative teams. She also runs a consulting business, advising on technology and content strategy for numerous global media companies, helping drive subscription growth and leading strategy on 4 content company M&A processes. Louise is also an author and a filmmaker. Her book "Fifteen Cents on the Dollar" was a bestseller and was one of the best books of 2024 on Oprah and The New Yorker's pick lists. Her film "The Kleptocrats" debuted at NYDocFest, toured around the world and is now on Apple and Amazon.