Throughout the month of May, Audible Story House transformed a space in New York’s Bowery neighborhood into the first-ever bookless bookstore. Free and open to the public, the pop-up experience offered six distinctive listening spaces across three floors, where visitors could browse 300+ titles from Audible’s catalog, in the form of 1,000 “Story Tiles” on curated shelves, just like browsing in a bookstore. There was a Dolby Atmos Lounge, a dark, immersive listening environment designed to showcase Audible Originals and exclusives in Dolby Atmos; private listening booths for sampling audiobooks; a knowledgeable “Story Tender” who recommended titles based on whatever visitors were in the mood for; and an ongoing calendar with creator panels, live performances, fan events and more.

It was a project born of one year of imagining and researching and work, with dozens of Audible employees across several different teams coming together to pull it off. Through biweekly stand-ups and email threads and Slack channels, they collectively made Audible Story House a reality — and a success. Meet four of those employees:

Caitlin Confort: Running Point

Recommendation: She Said, by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

Nearly twenty Audible teams. An external agency. Building contractors, local businesses, publishers. As Audible Story House’s executive producer, Caitlin Confort (actual Audible title: Director of Activations and Events) corralled and coordinated them all, gathering input and agreement on all elements of the experience, steering toward a smooth launch, and ensuring its successful operation throughout the month.

When Audible Story House was still in its early idea and research stage, Caitlin was busy leading another massive undertaking, launching Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions with immersive global experiences. When that was done, she took over project management and execution to bring Audible Story House to life. She recalls, “Then it was all systems go: identify a leader from each team, understand who needs to weigh in, what components each team is responsible for, setting up weekly calls, documents, and decks so people could easily get briefed in.”

She worked closely with our Brand Creative team to define “the look and feel and vibe of what we were going for,” and then was the bridge between that vision and the production and build out of the space, fabricated by our external agency, Civic Entertainment Group.

Caitlin’s no stranger to this kind of responsibility. Before Audible, she spent years producing live events at the Grammys, Super Bowl, and music festivals. When an Audible recruiter reached out in 2019, Caitlin said, “Great, this sounds like the perfect role for me.” She started as a contractor, and in 2022, Audible hired her full time to help Katja Lindemann (our Head of Activations and Events) build a robust events strategy. Caitlin headed up events supporting Audible’s Words + Music releases, including producing private VIP events for James Taylor’s Break Shot: My First 21 Years and John Legend’s Living Legend.

Once, when she was coordinating the Wonder of Stevie launch party, word came that First Lady Michelle Obama wanted to attend and give remarks — which was amazing, but meant Secret Service had to individually clear 250 guests, including Caitlin, at the last minute. After that, even a massive undertaking like Audible Story House was (almost) a piece of cake 

Jim Budkiewicz: The Legal Eagle Eye

Recommendation: Welcome to My Panic, by Billie Joe Armstrong

Ambitious and imaginative projects are great, so long as they don’t risk the company’s well-being. That’s where Jim Budkiewicz comes in. He’s part of our Legal team, specifically supporting marketing, customer service, business development, and communications at Audible.

Jim explains that the launch of an endeavor like Audible Story House usually starts with a team bringing an idea to him and asking for his thoughts. Jim then combs through the team’s plan and flags any concerns. Audible Story House’s plan had several parts to it, each with its own specialized legal considerations: the lease for the space and the contractors building it out, merchandising and third-party vendors, trademark considerations and the way Audible’s logo is used throughout the space, title selection and rights considerations, and more.

In addition, Legal’s reviews entail scrutinizing each element through several lenses. “There’s the law,” he explains, “and on top of that there are Audible and Amazon standards, and on top of that, the perspective of our relationships.”

Jim regularly collaborates with other Legal team members at Audible, as well. For instance, the Legal point person for content issues helped ensure we had the rights to present those 300 titles in physical, story tile form, with cover art, for the purposes of browsing — as opposed to Audible's usual, digital experience.

When Legal contributes to a project like Audible Story House, Jim says, his goal is to support innovation while ensuring we’re taking smart risks. “I say, ‘Hey, we need to consider these top five things, and here’s the risk level for each thing.” That means building a personal rapport with the teams he supports, trying to understand their goals, and offering solutions that are within that risk appetite. “Often, people see Legal as big, scary people,” he says. “Really, we’re just trying to collaborate with the teams.”

Asia Huey: Publisher Whisperer

Recommendation: Becoming, by Michelle Obama.

Whenever a visitor to Audible Story House would pick a story tile off the shelf, they were touching work that Asia Huey, Associate Director of North American Partner Relationships, helped make possible. About 200 of the 300 titles available for listening came courtesy of our third-party publishers, and Asia managed that important bridge, making sure Audible Story House’s catalog included the titles publishers wanted to showcase, helping Legal ensure we had the rights, and working with publishers to coordinate author participation in panels.

Our Content Marketing and Editorial teams came up with a curated list of titles, and Asia’s team pressure-tested that list with them, surfacing not-yet-released, but anticipated titles and ensuring a diverse offering. Their efforts clearly paid off: when publishers visited Audible Story House, they “were all really impressed with the space and let me know they were planning to come back.” That kind of trust and symbiosis is how Asia measures success. “I want to make sure our authors feel taken care of and appreciated, and that our publishers feel at ease working with us, that we made this a good experience for them.” 

Asia joined Audible in 2018. She was working in film distribution, and when a former coworker contacted her about interviewing for a very small “team of two” at Audible, Asia jumped at the opportunity. At first she helped support our Audible Studios and Originals titles, while also supporting our third-party publishers. Now her role is dedicated exclusively to third-party publishers, meeting with them a few times each month, handling day-to-day relationships and promotional affairs.

One of the biggest projects she’s worked on: assisting the cross-functional team that launched podcasts on Audible. “I’m a huge podcast listener,” she says. That sense of curiosity about what’s going on in the culture extends into her off hours, too: “I would describe myself as chronically online,” she says, “trying to stay up to date on what’s happening.” It also keeps her plugged into industry conversations, which she channels into timely ideas, on-point recommendations, and proactive outreach that keeps our relationships with publishers and creators strong.

Hannah Dithrich: Giving Them Something to Talk About

Recommendation: Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions.

When People Magazine wrote the headline, “I Went to a Bookless Bookstore. It Made Me Fall in Love With Reading Even More,” it made Hannah Dithrich’s day. As an Associate Director of Corporate Communications at Audible, she led the communications strategy for Audible Story House, getting it covered in the press, organizing interviews with senior leadership, bringing reporters and film crews into the space, and more. She’s a big part of the reason why major outlets like USA Today, the Associated Press, and the New York Times not only covered Audible Story House, but were so excited about it. “We reached out to reporters that we thought would be genuinely interested,” she explains, including those “who cover books, cultural trends, publishing and more.”

Hannah’s team made sure to highlight the “bookless bookstore” angle with the media. “We really leaned into this description, which is catchy and innovative,” she says. In fact, Audible’s long arc of invention was a key part of her message: “Innovative experiences have been ingrained in our DNA since the company’s founding,” she says. “We've always pioneered new ways to bring people closer to outstanding storytelling, and Audible Story House is the latest example of that.”

The thing Hannah wants people to understand about Audible Story House is how much it’s answering a need that feels very urgent right now, an antidote to scrolling and screen fatigue. “It’s creating a space for book lovers to come and listen together, bringing the digital into the physical,” and fulfilling a trending “desire for more offline experiences.”

Before joining Audible in 2022, Hannah worked in socially responsible finance and impact investing, synthesizing dry financial concepts and data for reporters and the public. She then wanted to work for a tech company with a strong creative component — she’s also an artist, and draws and paints in her spare time — so she joined Audible, getting the word out about our social impact in our headquarters city of Newark, New Jersey.

Some of her favorite impact initiatives include collaborating with the City of Newark to unveil the audiovisual Harriet Tubman monument in our downtown neighborhood, and launching The Pillars, a unique retail destination designed to be a hub for Newark businesses, visitors and residents.

Audible Story House exists because people like Caitlin, Jim, Asia, and Hannah — along with dozens of colleagues across Editorial, Content, Marketing, Comms, and more — had the freedom to experiment and build something that didn’t quite exist before. For many of them, it’s the kind of cross‑functional, roll‑up‑your‑sleeves project that makes working at Audible feel genuinely energizing. We hope you enjoyed meeting them!