Digital Download
Jessica Pels is taking over from Amy Odell as Cosmopolitan. com’s digital director. Pels comes over to Cosmo from Marie Claire, where she has been the site director since 2014.
“From the beginning, Jessica elevated Marieclaire.com with style and beauty coverage that’s fresh, fun, and just the right side of surprising and bold, coupled with news-making features that push forward a cultural conversation,” said Kate Lewis, senior vice president and editorial director at Hearst Magazine Digital Media. “From profiles of the women who guard our nuclear weapons, to an essay on feminism from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to a look at the growing trend of young men wearing makeup, Jessica infused Marieclaire.com with passionate storytelling, and she will bring her unique energy and creativity to Cosmopolitan.com.”
Pels said, “Amy and her impressive team have done hefty work building this brand into the digital powerhouse it is today, and I could not be more honored to usher it into its next phase. It’s such an exciting time for young women, who have more power and more agency than ever before — Cosmopolitan.com will continue to grow with them and lead the conversation every step of the way.”
Odell, who came over to Hearst to run Cosmo’s web site from BuzzFeed in 2013, is leaving the company to “focus on her second book and other projects,” according to Hearst, although no deal for a second book has been announced. Odell has been known as a digital standard bearer for Hearst, and Cosmo’s web site has consistently been a top performer among online women’s magazine titles. Her first book was “Tales from the Back Row: An Outsider’s View from Inside the Fashion Industry.”
“We thank Amy for her leadership and dedication, which helped make Cosmopolitan. com the go-to site for millions of young women,” Lewis said. “She diversified content to include a wide range of topics, led an ambitious push into video, expanded the brand’s reach and developed talented teams to maximize content across platforms — some of which did not exist when she took the helm. We wish her the best of luck with her new book and all of her future endeavors.”
Hearst has yet to name Pels’ successor at Marie Claire. — KARA BLOOMGARDEN-SMOKE