Shotts poses with her mustang, Sunshine, that she drove cross-country for her move to LA.
Growing up, Britt Shotts dreamed of becoming a rock star. She earned a B.A. in commercial music and music business at Belmont University in Nashville in 2007, and today leads global franchise strategy for NBCUniversal’s live action entertainment portfolio. Shotts oversees all things related to Jurassic World—from theme park merchandise to collaborations with food partners to brand activations with fashion houses, and even beauty products. While that may sound like a far cry from her early onstage aspirations, her current role is a bit of a full-circle trajectory.
While at Belmont, Shotts worked on an album with a producer, but the two had a falling out. Shotts grew disillusioned with the music industry and wanted out of it. Her father encouraged her to consider a future in marketing; marketing oneself as an artist, after all, is similar to building and promoting a brand.
“It was a more seamless transition than I thought it would be,” Shotts said. “You would think going from music to business feels very disconnected, but the two share a lot of similarities.”
So she switched gears. From 2009-2012, Shotts studied French and earned a Master of International Business (MIB) from Georgia State’s Robinson College of Business. By exploring foundational finance and economics, she filled in some education gaps.
“My courses helped me learn the language of business, sourcing, profit margins, and even high-level concepts like core competencies and brand life cycles,” Shotts said. “All of that knowledge has served me in my career.”
The MIB program includes an internship that must be completed abroad. The requirement was both a perk and challenge. In 2012, Shotts headed to Sydney, Australia, to join the marketing department for a now-defunct bottler of Coca-Cola products. After the internship, Shotts moved into a full-time assistant brand manager position, helping launch a proximity marketing tool, overseeing reformulations, and working with agencies on developing creative campaigns. But after a few years, Shotts wanted to come home.
In 2015, she pivoted to toys and moved to California for a gig at Mattel, where she stayed for more than 8 years and rose to senior marketing manager. While on the retail marketing team, Shotts oversaw the development of toy brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Fisher Price; she also sat on the global brand marketing team for Masters of the Universe and the Jurassic franchise. Her responsibilities ran the gamut—from handling toy design and production to assessing the authenticity of a T-Rex action figure’s roar for a television commercial.
Shotts presents to Universal's global licensees at the 2024 Licensing Expo in Las Vegas.
This May, Shotts will celebrate her 2-year anniversary at NBCUniversal, where she lives and breathes all things Jurassic—truly fitting for the girl whose favorite childhood movie was Jurassic Park. She spearheads other projects, too. Shotts was the mastermind behind the Nosferatu collectible sarcophagus popcorn buckets that accompanied the vampire flick. Jurassic, however, is her bread and butter. She constantly brainstorms new ideas, and even received an early copy of the forthcoming Jurassic World Rebirth script to begin strategizing products and experiences tied to the new film. Jurassic-themed athleisure? Dino-inspired makeup? Professional athlete brand ambassadors? All that and then some is her purview.
“I have to pinch myself that this is the career trajectory I wound up on,” she said. “When I was [in the MIB] program, if someone told me a career like this even existed, I don't know that I would have believed it.”