{{Short description|Editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine}} {{Infobox person | image = | name = Jessica Giles (formerly Pels) | imagesize = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1986|09|06}} | birth_place = [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Editor-in-chief of ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]'' magazine | spouse = | children = | website = }} '''Jessica Giles''' (formerly Pels) (born September 6, 1986) is the former editor-in-chief of ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]'' magazine. She served as digital director for marieclaire.com from 2014 until 2018, when she became digital director and later that year the chief editor of ''Cosmopolitan''.
==Early life and background== Giles grew up in [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[U.S.]] She first moved to New York City at the age of 14 to study ballet at the [[American Ballet Theatre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adweek.com/digital/how-cosmopolitans-digital-director-is-opening-doors-to-new-coverage/|title=Cosmo's Audience Is Exploding. Meet the Digital Director Who Knows What Resonates With Readers|publisher=Adweek.com|date=9 July 2018|accessdate=25 September 2019}}</ref> Giles earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film production at the [[New York University Tisch School of the Arts]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thriveglobal.com/stories/cosmo-jessica-pels-cosmo-career-advice-inspiration/|title=Cosmo's Editor-In-Chief on Why Failing Every Day is a Good Thing|publisher=Thriveglobal.com|date=16 January 2019|accessdate=25 September 2019}}</ref>
==Career== ===Early editing career=== After graduating, Giles interned at ''[[The New Yorker]]'' and then ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]''. She later began working as an editorial assistant at [[Condé Nast]]. Giles served as the assistant to ''[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]'' editor-in-chief Cindi Leive before being promoted to assistant editor a year later, and then associate editor at ''Glamour''.<ref name="NYT"/> She became the print features editor at ''[[Teen Vogue]]'' in March 2013.<ref name="adage"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cision.com/us/2014/11/marie-claire-brings-on-jessica-pels/|title=Marie Claire Brings On Jessica Pels|publisher=Cision.com|date=24 November 2014|accessdate=25 September 2019}}</ref> In November 2014, Giles joined [[Hearst Magazines]] as digital director at ''Marie Claire'', where she served for three years.<ref name="adage">{{cite web|url=https://adage.com/article/special-report-women-watch/meet-women-watch-us-class-2019/2172821#JessicaPels|title=Jessica Pels|publisher=Advertising Age|accessdate=25 September 2019}}</ref><ref name="fashionista">{{cite web|url=https://fashionista.com/2018/10/jessica-pels-cosmopolitan-magazine-editor-in-chief|title=Jessica Pels Is the New Editor-in-Chief of 'Cosmopolitan'|date=10 October 2018|accessdate=25 September 2019}}</ref><ref name="thrive">{{cite web|url=https://thriveglobal.com/stories/cosmo-jessica-pels-cosmo-career-advice-inspiration/|title=Cosmo's Editor-In-Chief on Why Failing Every Day is a Good Thing|publisher=Thriveglobal.com|date=16 January 2019 |accessdate=25 September 2019 }}</ref> At ''Marie Claire'' she spearheaded features on a wide range of women's topics from profiles of the women who guard our nuclear weapons, to an essay on feminism from Canadian Prime Minister [[Justin Trudeau]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wwd.com/business-news/media/cosmopolitan-jessica-pels-digital-director-11128605/|title=Cosmopolitan Appoints Jessica Pels Digital Director|publisher=WWD|date=25 January 2019|accessdate=25 September 2019}}</ref>
===''Cosmopolitan''=== In January 2018, Giles was appointed digital director of ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]'' magazine. By the end of May she had revamped the magazine's digital presence.<ref name="glossy">{{cite web|url=https://www.glossy.co/platform-effect/day-in-the-life-cosmopolitan-digital-director-jessica-pels|title=Day in the Life: Cosmopolitan digital director Jessica Pels |publisher=Glossy.co|date=8 June 2018|accessdate=25 September 2019}}</ref> ''Cosmopolitan'' saw an increase in traffic from 15 million visitors a year in February 2018 to 41 million visitors a year later, and digital subscriptions grew 185% from 85,060 to 242,075 between December 2016 and December 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/334189/digital-savvy-cosmo-eic-tames-instagrams-feedba.html|title=Digital-Savvy 'Cosmo' EIC Tames Instagram's Feedback Loop|publisher=Publishing Insider|date=8 April 2019|accessdate=25 September 2019}}</ref> In October 2018, Giles was named editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan. As editor-in-chief, Giles oversees the print magazine, website, video, social, Snapchat and product extensions of the brand.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/05/style/cosmopolitan-magazine-jessica-pels.html|title=At Cosmopolitan Magazine, Data Is the New Sex|newspaper=The New York Times|date=5 April 2019|accessdate=25 September 2019}}</ref><ref name="Fashionista0419">{{cite web|url=https://fashionista.com/2019/04/media-mentorship-career-2019|title=The Shifting Media Landscape Has Also Changed the Dynamics of Mentorship|publisher=Fashionista.com|date=5 April 2019|accessdate=25 September 2019}}</ref>
In 2019, Giles was named ''[[Adweek]]'''s Editor of the Year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adweek.com/digital/the-2019-publishing-hot-list-the-print-and-digital-media-brands-paving-a-way-to-profitability/6/|title=The 2019 Publishing Hot List: The Print and Digital Media Brands Paving a Way to Profitability|website=AdWeek|date=20 October 2019|accessdate=14 March 2019}}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pels, Jessica}} [[Category:1986 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American magazine editors]] [[Category:American women magazine editors]] [[Category:Cosmopolitan (magazine) editors]] [[Category:Writers from Atlanta]] [[Category:21st-century American women journalists]]