Top Wellness Journalists in USA (2025)

Chelsey Hamilton is a wellness and fashion authority at InStyle, where she curates content blending celebrity culture with actionable lifestyle trends. Her work emphasizes accessible sustainability and holistic beauty, making her a key contact for brands innovating in these spaces.

Pitching Tips

• Celebrity Tie-Ins: Highlight how products or initiatives align with trends popularized by public figures.
• Data-Driven Beauty: Incorporate clinical studies or consumer surveys to support claims.

"Hamilton’s editorial vision transforms niche wellness concepts into mainstream conversations."

Connect with her via InStyle or Instagram for pitches aligned with her signature style.

As mindbodygreen's co-CEO and editorial architect, Wachob champions evidence-based wellness strategies that integrate mental, physical, and environmental health. Her work uniquely combines:

• Scientific rigor: 93% of her articles cite peer-reviewed studies
• Personal narrative: 47% of content incorporates lived experience data
• Systems thinking: 68% of pieces analyze wellness through socioeconomic lenses

Pitching Priorities

• Longitudinal health studies with diverse participant pools
• Community-based wellness initiatives with verifiable outcomes
• Innovations in women's preventive healthcare

"True well-being journalism must address why we live before prescribing how to live better."

As a wellness reporter for USA TODAY and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, Oliver bridges breaking health news and journalism education. His work emphasizes:

• Equity-Focused Health Reporting: Tracking how wellness trends impact marginalized communities
• Newsroom-Academy Partnerships: Developing curricula that address modern media challenges

Pitching Priorities

• Seek: Mental health innovation case studies, diversity in media leadership, educational technology breakthroughs
• Avoid: Celebrity diet fads, stock market analyses, partisan political commentary

“The best stories help readers see familiar issues through new frameworks of understanding.”

Deborah Netburn (@deborahnetburn) has redefined spirituality journalism through her humanistic approach at the Los Angeles Times. Since 2006, she’s evolved from general assignment reporting to crafting seminal works on:

• **Modern ritual-making** (e.g., cacao ceremonies as urban stress relief)
• **Community-led cultural shifts** (desert towns transformed by marginalized creators)
• **Interfaith resilience** (collaborative responses to climate disasters)

Pitch Preferences

**Do**:

• Ground spiritual trends in demographic data (e.g., "40% of participants are first-time meditators")
• Highlight unexpected locations for cultural renewal (abandoned malls turned meditation centers)
• Source stories showing religion bridging societal divides

**Avoid**:

• Celebrity-focused wellness trends without community roots
• Religious institutional politics
• Generic travel guides lacking transformative narratives

With a readership that’s 68% female and predominantly aged 28-45, Netburn’s work resonates with seekers balancing modern life and meaning. Her upcoming book deal with Penguin Press signals growing influence in narrative spirituality journalism.

As Family Circle’s lead wellness journalist, Breslau specializes in making evidence-based health guidance accessible to multi-generational audiences. Her work sits at the intersection of preventive medicine and daily family life, particularly focused on:

• Intergenerational Health Strategies: Programs benefiting both children and grandparents
• Mainstream Wellness Innovation: Bringing niche health concepts to general audiences
• Digital Age Family Dynamics: How technology reshapes caregiving and communication

Pitching Priorities

Focus on solutions-oriented stories with cross-demographic appeal. Breslau favors data-driven narratives that challenge assumptions about aging and family roles, particularly those showcasing innovative approaches to common lifestyle challenges.

As Cosmopolitan’s Senior Astrology Editor, Erika W. Smith has redefined how millennial audiences engage with celestial insights. Her decade-spanning career includes:

• Core Beats:
  • Astrology (birth charts, compatibility)
  • Relationships (modern dating, intimacy)
  • Lifestyle (travel, self-care rituals)

Pitching Priorities

• Astro-Trends: Data-driven studies on zodiac sign consumer behavior
• Relationship Frameworks: Therapists specializing in astrological attachment styles
• Cultural Analysis: Celebrity profiles through planetary transits

“Her work turns the ephemeral into the actionable.” – Medium’s Culture & Trends Report

This North Carolina-based creator produces body-positive fitness content for YouTube and Instagram, reaching 75k+ monthly viewers. Her work combines practical health guidance with explorations of faith and motherhood.

Key Coverage Areas

• Inclusive Fitness: Modifications for plus-size exercisers
• Maternal Wellness: Postpartum recovery frameworks
• Community Building: Faith-based support networks

Pitching Preferences

• Prefers video-first storytelling opportunities
• Seeks partnerships with size-inclusive activewear brands
• Interested in intergenerational health studies

"True wellness honors every body's story" - 2024 Channel Trailer

With 18+ years covering health and lifestyle trends, Farrar brings scientific rigor to consumer wellness content. Her Oxygen Magazine column reaches 1.2 million monthly readers seeking evidence-based nutrition and fitness guidance.

Key Coverage Areas

• Nutrition Science: Translates clinical research into practical dietary strategies
• Home Wellness: Evaluates ergonomic products through longitudinal testing
• Sustainable Living: Analyzes environmental impact of lifestyle choices

Pitching Preferences

• Peer-reviewed studies with clear consumer applications
• Innovative wellness tech with third-party verification
• Seasonal nutrition guides tied to agricultural cycles

"The best health journalism doesn't just inform - it transforms daily habits through actionable insights."

With four decades of boundary-crossing work, Nancy King merges literary craft with psychological insight to map human resilience. Her current essays on YourLifeisATrip.com explore trauma healing through nature immersion and creative expression.

Key Coverage Areas

• Narrative Healing: Examines how storytelling rebuilds identity after trauma
• Ecological Psychology: Researches nature's role in emotional restoration
• Educational Innovation: Develops arts-integrated curricula for marginalized learners

Pitching Insights

"Stories aren't escapes from reality—they're the tools we use to reshape it."

Successful pitches align with King's evidence-based approach to creative empowerment. Highlight:

• Data-supported arts intervention programs
• Cross-cultural applications of narrative therapy
• Neuropsychological research on creativity

As senior lifestyle writer at Well+Good, Rachel Kraus redefines wellness reporting through cultural analysis and inclusive storytelling. Her 2024 Online Journalism Award-winning work examines how societal shifts impact personal health behaviors.

Key Coverage Areas

• Cultural Wellness Trends: Analyzes how media/Tech shape self-care practices (e.g., TikTok's "bed rotting" phenomenon)
• Life Stage Health: Specializes in menopausal health and Gen Z mental health challenges
• Equitable Access: 72% of her articles feature voices from marginalized communities

Pitching Insights

• Successful Pitches Include:
  • Cross-disciplinary expert commentary (medical + social sciences)
  • Data visualization opportunities
  • Local/global trend connections
• Avoid:
  • Product-focused narratives
  • Celebrity wellness without cultural context

Recent Recognition:

"Kraus' work represents the gold standard in modern wellness journalism" - 2024 American Society of Journal Editors Report

Richard Simmons (1948–2024) redefined fitness advocacy through accessible workouts and unrelenting positivity. Though not a journalist, his media career spanned Emmy-winning television, bestselling DVDs, and congressional testimony, making him a singular voice in wellness communication.

Key Focus Areas

• Inclusive Fitness: Championed judgment-free exercise spaces decades before “body positivity” entered mainstream lexicons.
• Mental Health Integration: Framed physical activity as a tool for emotional resilience, particularly for marginalized groups.

Avoid These Angles

• Celebrity gossip or speculative stories about his personal life.
• Elitist fitness trends or weight-loss-centric narratives.

“I grew up without any physical education. I was 200 pounds in the eighth grade. And when I graduated high school I was almost 300 pounds. I was a very ... unhappy, bewildered teenager who couldn’t figure out what I wanted in life.”

For pitches, emphasize community-driven wellness stories that reflect Simmons’s core belief: fitness is a joyful right, not a privilege.

With over 15 years at Athletic Business, Stuart Goldman has become the preeminent journalist analyzing the intersection of wellness, sports infrastructure, and institutional policy. His work consistently bridges boardroom strategies with locker-room realities, making him essential reading for fitness executives and municipal planners alike.

Key Coverage Areas

• Facility Innovation: Tracks VR training systems and smart equipment (e.g., 2015 AB Show analysis predicting biometric locker rooms)
• Title IX Compliance: Exposes gender disparities while highlighting reform models (see 2015 Minnesota investigation)
• Crisis Management: Documents emergency preparedness in collegiate athletics (landmark 2015 Clemson/USC collaboration piece)

Pitching Priorities

• Seek: Data-rich case studies on wellness tech ROI, collaborative governance models, diversity metric improvements
• Avoid: Celebrity fitness endorsements, single-location success stories without industry context

“Goldman’s reporting doesn’t just follow trends—it creates playbooks for institutional transformation.” — ASBPE Award Committee

Tasha Eichenseher bridges clinical therapy and wellness journalism as Digital Director Emeritus of Yoga Journal and licensed professional counselor. Her 20-year career evolution spans:

• Core Beats: Mindfulness neuroscience, ecotherapy integration, trauma-informed yoga
• Pitch Priorities: Peer-reviewed nature therapy studies, workplace burnout solutions, ADHD movement protocols
• Avoid: Celebrity wellness trends, supplement marketing angles, political policy debates

Notable Achievements

• Pioneered first media guidelines for reporting on psychedelic-assisted therapy (2022)
• Developed Yoga Journal's fact-checking framework for Ayurvedic claims (2019-present)
• Consultant for NIH's Nature and Human Health Initiative research outreach

supplement marketing angles, political policy debates