CEOs of Shutterfly, CEWE to share the stage in fireside chat at Visual 1st Conference

Visual 1st, the executive conference on innovation and partnerships in the global photo and video industry, announced an unprecedented fireside chat featuring Emily Whittaker, CEO of Shutterfly, and Thomas Mehls, CEO of the CEWE Group, will take place at the annual Visual 1st conference, held Sept. 29-30 at KQED in San Francisco. According to Hans Hartman, co-chair of Visual 1st, this is the very first time the CEOs of the two largest B2C photo printing companies from North America and Europe will share the stage to offer their joint insights at an industry conference.

“We can’t wait to hear Emily’s and Thomas’ perspectives on what has driven the success of these two powerhouse companies,” said Hartman. “We’ll explore their market drivers, contrast their approaches, and — most importantly — learn how they envision continuing to thrive in a rapidly changing world where consumers have more options than ever to cherish and share their visual memories.”

Whittaker joined Shutterfly as Chief Executive Officer in October 2025. Most recently, she was Executive Vice President of North America and Head of Global Marketing for VistaPrint, a Cimpress company. In this role, she oversaw the commercial operations of North America, VistaPrint’s largest region, as well as Australia and India. In addition, she was responsible for the Global Marketing function, setting and scaling VistaPrint’s brand, performance, and product marketing strategies. Over the course of her 16 years with the company, Emily also served in various cross-functional roles, including product delivery, technology, and customer experience, where she developed a customer-first mindset with an ability to lead brand growth, as well as deep understanding of how technology and print operations deliver value.

Prior to joining VistaPrint, she had a career in consulting with Accenture and The Palladium Group. She is a graduate of James Madison University.

Mehls is Chairman of the Executive Board of the Neumüller CEWE COLOR Stiftung and CEO of the CEWE Group. He studied European Economics and International Business at the University of Bamberg (Germany) and the University of Arizona (USA).

Before joining CEWE, he held leadership roles across the Bertelsmann Group, including at Gruner+Jahr and Motor Presse Stuttgart, and also worked at the international strategy consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. Mehls has been with CEWE since 2013. He has served as a member of the Executive Board since 2014 and became CEO in 2025. Initially, he was responsible for Marketing and the German B2C business, later also overseeing the company’s sustainability activities.

Today, he helps shape the Group’s strategic and cultural development and leads international growth, as well as product and marketing innovation. A key focus of his work is guiding CEWE’s transformation from white-label provider to a house of brands — a long-term and ongoing investment in customer-centricity and sustainable, profitable growth.

In addition to his role at CEWE, he is Chairman of the German Federal Association of Large Photo Labs (BGL) and a member of the Advisory Board of EWE Baskets Oldenburg.