Abby Murray is a marketer, entrepreneur and design-enthusiast with a heart for building brands.

Abby is CEO and co-founder of storyarb, redefining how B2B brands approach content. Launched in 2023 alongside Morning Brew co-founder Alex Lieberman, storyarb helps modern B2B brands scale SME-driven content marketing that builds trust and drives pipeline for their partners.

Before storyarb, Abby co-founded Mortarr in 2017, a search and discovery platform connecting the commercial construction and design world online. Abby built the brand and the product with her incredible team of talent while serving as CEO for the software startup. They led the company to +1,500 companies showcasing their work to tens of thousands of MAUs before its acquisition by Ecomedes, Inc. in early 2022. Mortarr.com continues to be the leading source for project inspiration, pros and products within the built environment, now powered by sustainability product data from Ecomedes, Inc. 

Abby Murray served as Chief Marketing Officer of Ecomedes, Inc. for a year after the acquisition, supporting the merging of the organizations, defining the brand, setting the product direction, and leading the marketing team through KPI-driven campaigns, digital strategy, and communication for Ecomedes, Inc., its platforms, and its subscribers. 

Prior to Mortarr, she founded a coworking space, The Outlet, and a B2B agency offering marketing and commercial design services to firms across multiple industries. The agency, Brick (fka The Marketing Plant), was the birthplace of Mortarr and the team that fueled the platform’s development and growth. Brick was a wholly owned subsidiary of Mortarr until its acquisition in 2022. 

Abby graduated from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University (ASU) with a degree in Marketing and complimenting design studies in The Design School at ASU.

Abby has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Thrive Global, MUSE by Clio, Interior Design, Star Tribune, TECHdotMN, Finance and Commerce, Twin Cities Business, The Business Gist, and The Minneapolis Egotist. Most recent awards for her platform and agency work include AdFed 2020 The Show, Top 3 Finalist for 2019 TCSW Emerging Startup of the Year, AdFed 2019 The Show, AdFed 2018 The Show, a 2018 Telly and highly-esteemed top national awards from Fidelity and Schwab.
 
For more from Abby, or to just give her some digital high-fives, connect.

2025 was insane for the 'arb. And we love that feeling.....so we're doubling down in 2026, which means 2X growth and 🎶 hiring tiiiiime! 

Mission #1: Serve our growing portfolio of incredible B2B brands through your killer service, strategy and copywriting prowess. It's all about telling great stories – and knowing the difference. 

Open Seats:
+ Content Strategists
+ Copywriters
+ Client Success Manager

Mission #2: Explode the storyarb brand. We've been busy telling the story for our clients, now it's time to tell ours. I can't even wait.... 🥰 

Open Seats:
+ Marketing Manager 
+ Designer

Mission #3: Do the best work of your careers alongside the most talented top 1% of content folks on the planet. Full pride in agency.

Come run with us -->

Abby Murray

An effective brand is personal. Cofounder + CEO @storyarb. Insights on humanizing brands + scaling B2B agencies as a 4x female founder.

Open article: meet the storyarb crew | your content creation partners by storyarb.com

meet the storyarb crew | your content creation partners

Just decided I now appreciate a little typo in applicant exercises.

Signals to me the candidate probably used their actual brain to think critically about the work. And not AI slapped on the page in its place.

Yes, storyarb is hiring! And typo or not, we're storytellers over here. Your passion for the role definitely projects through your words. 

So if you're ready for a change and excited about the opportunity to: 

do the best work of your careers 
inside the best B2B agency 
for the best B2B brands 

come run with us 🖤

What’s one thing marketing leaders won't admit about 2025?

That they spent more on AI tools than they saved in efficiency.

I've watched this movie before.

The hype, the rush to adopt, then the quiet admission that shiny new tools don't fix broken systems.

The 2026 predictions from the storyarb team pulled insights from 19 CMOs + heads of marketing who lived through this exact cycle.

What they're building now isn't about more AI (it’s actually about better integration).

The patterns that stuck with me:

𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿
If everyone “owns” it, no one does. The teams pulling ahead have a clear architect, real resourcing, and the patience to rebuild workflows from the ground up.

𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱.
Saying you’re “AI-powered” stopped meaning anything. Proof, accuracy, and consistency are what buyers are responding to now.

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺—𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.
ABM, attribution, AEO, content, IRL—none of these win alone. The companies seeing momentum are stitching them together into systems that compound.

𝗩𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
Leadership isn’t asking for prettier, bigger dashboards. They’re asking who can move, learn, adjust, and move again without burning trust or budget.

𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹.
When everything else scales, presence stands out. Founder voice, real relationships, and in-person moments aren’t nostalgic plays. They’re now the strategic ones.

What I appreciate most about this roundup is its honesty.

There are no silver bullets here. No shortcuts.

But the good founders and marketing teams knew that already…

Tagging a few of the legends featured:
Sydney Sloan, Sarah Cascone, Kyle Denhoff, Kay-Kay Clapp, Casey Hill, Alex Lieberman

Open article: 2026 Marketing Predictions: Show your work, or show yourself out | storyarb by storyarb.com

2026 Marketing Predictions: Show your work, or show yourself out | storyarb

Nothing fogs up intuition faster than infinite inputs.

Trends.
Templates.
AI outputs.
Competitor feeds.

We just came out of our annual planning for the ‘arb ( 🖤 Chicago!) and the meetings with the most clarity had 1) a whiteboard, 2) a marker, and 3) some of my favorite human brains on the planet.

Cut out the rest of the noise and your intuition comes running back into the room. You can see again. Clearer. Further.

And then you set the rules.
• One primary narrative per quarter
• One core buyer pain
• One success metric

Everything else is a distraction. 

Most teams don’t lack intuition. They’re just wildly overstimulated.

Dear marketers,

“Interest usually starts with pain, not technology.”

“Interest usually starts with pain, not technology.”

“Interest usually starts with pain, not technology.”

“Interest usually starts with pain, not technology.”

“Interest usually starts with pain, not technology.”

- Everett Butler :)

Much more from him on marketing AI for Lindy in next week's Standard. But for now, just read that again...... 👊

If prospects ask “What do you do?” on sales calls,
your positioning didn’t fail.

It was just never tested.

Most teams think positioning lives in a doc.
A name.
A tagline.
A clever phrase debated in circles.

It doesn't.
Positioning is decided in-market

When Everett Butler joined Lindy as Head of Marketing, he didn’t debate labels like “AI assistant” vs “AI employee.”

He shipped 10–15 positioning variants at once and let buyers vote with demos.

Here's what happened:
• “AI” language got clicks 
• Outcome language got pipeline (2-3x demos)

“Build AI employees in minutes” earned attention...the clicks felt good.

“Get two hours of your day back” earned meetings...the demos paid the bills.

Another tell?
Long sales calls weren’t good news.

Prospects stayed because they were trying to understand the product...trying to decode what the product actually did.

The strongest signal for clear positioning wasn’t CTR or impressions. It was when:
• Sales calls got shorter
• "What do you do" questions disappeared
• Buyers started selling the product back in their own words

Attention and conversion are not the same job. 

And the teams who separate them --> and test ruthlessly <-- get the messaging right, faster.

We broke down exactly how Lindy tested, learned, and fixed theirs in our latest playbook for you here👇

https://lnkd.in/gbeFe6-9

Open article: What actually converts in AI marketing (at every stage of the funnel) | storyarb by storyarb.com

What actually converts in AI marketing (at every stage of the funnel) | storyarb

I’m no longer allowing optional guests on meeting invites.

Someone is either critical to a conversation, or they’re not.

Don't waste their time.

"But what if they want to be included or we don’t know if we need them or not?" 

Well, you also have to put the goal + agenda in the invite (this means you’ve thought through WHO needs to be in the convo for WHAT targeted outcome)

And. The new meeting default is 15 minutes, not 30.

And. If a non-critical person ends up in the call, and realizes they are not critical to the conversation, they have permission to drop off. 

Not disrespectful at all. More a respect for precious time.

Leaders + managers -- make some tweaks to your meeting rules. Tells your team that you’re paying attention to their most valuable asset: open time on their calendars.

We’re reviewing our entire process around meetings this year at the ‘arb. 

Anything else I should or can be axing on the meeting front?

Your messaging isn't selflessly serving others by saying: "Here! No worries! We have a product for that problem! It does this, this and this to solve that for you!"

That's a pitch slap, people.
And I can assure you it builds no trust.

What selfless content looks like that actually builds trust?

“Here’s something useful, even if you never buy from us.”

Shift from “here’s what we offer” to:
→ “Here’s what you’re facing.”
→ “Here’s someone who’s walked in your shoes.”
→ “Here’s how others are solving it.”
→ “Here’s something useful, even if you never buy from us.”

Interview expertise that can speak to these bullets. Extract insights you know your buyer can benefit from...learn from. And then translate it to value your ICP can use. With or without your product.

Serve content that serves. I promise it will serve you too.

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