Stocksy’s setup demonstrates how co-ops are good for creativity

Work is work, and a job is a job. But what if there was a little bit more on the line? A little more personal investment? Well, that’s the reality for co-ops (co-operatives), where – in theory – workers are more committed to the businesses they work for when they have a tangible stake in the company. What artist-led stock media platform Stocksy’s latest report explores, however, is how creative co-ops influence and inspire the creative practices at the heart of them.

“I believe co-ops have the potential to fundamentally reshape how creative work is done,” Stocksy’s curation lead, Cara Dolan, tells us. It’s something she’s well informed on, not only due to the insights offered by Co-ops Delivering Inspired Creativity, the company’s latest insights report, but due to Stocksy’s own co-operative setup, with almost 2000 members. “It’s because of shared ownership, and also because of the trust that the shared ownership facilitates,” Cara continues. It forges creative environments that foster authentic practices, in contrast to the wider system. As director of operations and governance, Michelle Sadler, explains: “the cooperative model is a practical response to broken systems,” whereby creatives are undermined by shareholder-driven “extractive” business models. 

“This leads to burnout, underpayment, and lost autonomy,” Michelle says. “Co-ops, by contrast, offer democratic governance, shared ownership, and sustainable collective success.” Subsequently, the values they share are clustered around more interpersonal, arguably human, things like fair pay and support. This, in turn, then benefits the business through the very nature of well-nurtured independent thought. “Creative co-ops can reclaim the value of creative labour,” Michelle continues, “and show that member-driven organisations can prioritise purpose while turning a profit,” offering Stocksy as an example.

It’s no wonder then that the UN named 2025 the Year of Cooperatives – a recognition all the more welcome with the ever-increasing drive to automation. The harsh realities of AI, and its impact on creative jobs in particular, are increasingly coming to the fore, not only challenging job roles but also putting professional strain on the people doing them. That is, as Cara points out, on top of an industry that already runs on the latter. “In an industry where burnout is often treated as inevitable and creative labour is treated as endlessly extractable,” Cara says, "a cooperative model offers something different” – something Stocksy proudly harbours. “Our community of artists is intentionally small, eclectic, and built on real relationships,” she says, not using the term “community” lightly. “It’s an actual ecosystem of support, ideas, and shared responsibility,” Cara adds, leading to an entirely different energy to work – one of awareness and support, changing the pace of production and the purpose of one’s role in the business. “It allows creativity to be sustainable rather than depleted.”

For Michelle, Stocksy’s cooperative structure maximises member value in a way that benefits both the individual and business. “When distilled down, the co-op model is about people over profit,” she says, with member impact sitting at the centre of all decisions and making everything they do possible, listing a number of initiatives – the likes of contributor grant and mentorship programmes – as examples. “These initiatives drive member value and a byproduct of that value is top-line revenue for the business,” Michelle explains. “When the business earns surplus, that surplus can be allocated back to our members” via dividends, of which Stocksy has paid out almost $1.6 million since it started.

Beyond the practical business side, the benefit of having artists as co-owners is the real agency and intrinsic motivation behind the individual, arguably leading to a more inspired practice than that of a conventional studio setup. “We’re always walking the line between giving our artists maximum space to explore their creativity,” Cara explains, “while simultaneously ensuring the work remains aligned with what brands actually need,” finding an acute balance that allows artists to genuinely challenge and develop their work. 

“Together we’re always trying to push the idea of what kind of work can be commercial,” she says, “that kind of experimentation is something the co-op model makes possible.” Michelle agrees: “The beauty of co-ownership is that we are all in business together,” Michelle says, “it’s relational and it’s inspiring, which is our biggest creative advantage.”

The team believes there is a strong sense of shared purpose and mutual inspiration that comes from co-ownership, where the cooperative and its members draw from one another. For example, Stocksy’s library and collections are directly inspired by its members. “We learn so much about what’s happening in the creative world from our artists,” Cara says, noting that it is common for new trends and visual aesthetics to appear in Stocksy’s library long before clients ask for it. “Our artists are often ahead of the curve because they’re deeply tapped into what’s shifting in visual culture, identity, and storytelling.”

That said, Stocksy doesn’t encourage its artists to get stuck chasing trends or more “commercially viable” aesthetics, instead, encouraging them to authentically create for themselves. “They trust us to provide meaningful market insights,” Cara ends, “not as marching orders, but as context so they can bring something new into the world” – something that only those creatives could create.