In 2006, she joined Hearst as editor-in-chief of Marie Claire magazine, then Cosmopolitan (2012–2016), before becoming the company's chief content officer in 2016.[1]
Joanna Coles was born in Otley, West Yorkshire, England, in 1962. Her mother was a medical social worker and her father a teacher. Much of her family still resides in Yorkshire.
In 1972 at the age of 10, Coles had her first article published in the children's section of the Yorkshire Post.[4]
Joanna Coles began her journalism career in 1984 on The Spectator. In 1987, she started work as a reporter for The Daily Telegraph, before moving to the staff at The Guardian in 1989. In 1993, she co-created, wrote and presented BBC Radio 4's "Mediumwave," a live weekly radio show about the media; and wrote and presented Late Media, the TV version on BBC2.
In June 1997, Coles moved to the United States to be The Guardian's New York bureau chief.
Coles was the articles editor of New York Magazine from 2001 to 2004 before becoming executive editor of More.
Hearst
In 2006, Coles made the move to Hearst to become editor-in-chief of Marie Claire magazine. Under her leadership, the magazine produced its most successful issue in September 2012, while also launching two extensions (Marie Claire@Work,[5] and the Women on Top Awards[6]). She was named Adweek's 2011 Editor of the Year for her work. During this time, Coles began her foray into television with a show called Running in Heels about Marie Claire interns, as well as appearing on Lifetime'sEmmy-winning show Project Runway.
Coles was appointed aseditor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine in 2012. Though she only had oversight of the print platform, the digital team made Cosmo a leader in the media landscape by partnering with Snapchat to produce daily Cosmo content on the discover platform. She later joined the board of Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat. She also brought the brand to television, executive producing the E! reality series So Cosmo. In 2013 she ran a 20-page excerpt of Lean In. Coles turned the magazine away from its "pleasing your man" approach towards women's empowerment.
In 2016, it was announced that Joanna Coles would become Hearst's first chief content officer. She described her responsibility as CCO as “thinking the way we produce content.”[7] In 2018, after 12 years at Hearst, she exited the company after being passed over for the title of president of the magazine division.
Television
Coles' first TV project launched when she arrived at Hearst as editor-in-chief of Marie Claire, where she co-created and executive produced Running in Heels, a reality show that followed three interns working at the magazine.
So Cosmo was announced in December 2016, with Coles as an executive producer as well as appearing on camera. She followed the personal and professional lives of several staff members of Cosmopolitan.
In April 2019, Coles signed a two-year first-look deal with ABC Studios. In the announcement, it was said that "under the pact, the former CCO will be developing and executive producing projects for multiple platforms with focus on streaming and cable."[9]
Other ventures
Coles is an advocate for women in media and the business world. She sits on the board of Women's Entrepreneurs New York City,[10] an initiative to expand female entrepreneurship with a focus on underserved women and communities. Coles hosts an annual holiday lunch for 120 top women in media.
Coles is on the boards of public companies Snap Inc. and Sonos and private companies such as Grover, Density and Blue Mistral.
She resides in New York City. She has two sons with Peter Godwin.
Notes
↑ "Your Guide to Contraception" was published in the September, 2013 issue of Cosmopolitan, and was awarded by the American Society of Magazine Editors on May 1, 2014. New York magazine's The Cut wrote, "Coles took home the magazine's first-ever National Magazine Award, a service journalism prize for "How Not to Get Pregnant." The contraception guide itself was refreshingly honest (pulling out is 'better than nothing,' it advised) — but in some ways the award seemed symbolic, an acknowledgment of the sex bible's broader move into political and reproductive health coverage since Coles took over in 2012. This shift — and its success — is also a triumph for the ladyblog style of female media."[11]
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