Social media platform Pinterest has strengthened its content team by appointing Laurel Stier as global head of originals. Stier joins from Google-owned YouTube where she has been global head of unscripted content for the last year.
Speaking about the new post via LinkedIn, Stier said: “After nearly 5 incredible years at YouTube I’m on an exciting new adventure. Overjoyed to share that I’ve started as global head of originals at Pinterest. Happy to be joining Nadine Zylstra, Ash Greenwood, Daniel Pheysey, Malik Ducard and the wonderful teams at Pinterest.”
Stier spent 11 years at Viacom before moving to YouTube, latterly as VP MTV series development and production. Her experience in unscripted chimes well with Pinterest’s content strategy which has focused mainly on lifestyle content. Recent initiatives have seen the platform partner with Conde Nast and Dotdash Meredith.
While Pinterest is still primarily thought of as a photo sharing platform, it has upped its video content in recent times. Last year, it named Nadine Zylstra as global head of programming and originals – reporting to Malik Ducard, chief content officer. Like Stier, Zylstra previously worked at YouTube, where she was global head of originals.
In a separate Pinterest-related development, the platform has just expanded its Creator Inclusion Fund to five new countries: Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France. The Fund is Pinterest’s incubator programme to elevate creators from historically marginalised communities through financial and educational support.
The programme was started in 2021 to uplift creators from communities that have been disproportionately underrepresented – including Black, Latiné, LGBTQIA+, Asian, Indigenous people and people with disabilities. Since its inception, the programme has provided support and a path to success for dozens of creators from the US, UK and Brazil across Fashion, Beauty, Lifestyle, Wellness and Food.
