About Us By Staff Author Updated on December 16, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email In This Article View All In This Article Who We Are The Shape Team Editorial Guidelines Product Reviews and Recommendations Diverse Voices In the Press About Dotdash Meredith Follow Us Contact Us Advertise with Us Write for Us About Us James Macari Who We Are At Shape, wellness is for all. Whether you are working toward a specific fitness goal or just hope to feel better and have more energy, our team of writers, editors, personal trainers, and wellness enthusiasts aims to provide science-backed tools and tips to meet you wherever you are in your health journey. Our library of more than 11,000 stories reaches more than 7 million monthly readers, providing expert advice, editor reviews, trend reports, and personal essays all with the goal of inspiring you to take on your next wellness challenge with confidence and enthusiasm. What you'll find on Shape.com is just as important as what you won't find. Across the site and on our social platforms, you can expect workouts for all fitness levels, showcasing various body types and abilities, beauty and skin-care advice for a range of skin tones and concerns, approachable, nonjudgemental mental health information, inclusive sexual wellness and sexual health insight, tasty meal hacks and ideas that are about enjoying food without overthinking it, and a Healthy at Every Size (HAES) editorial perspective. This is not a place for impossible workouts made only for professional athletes, stigmatized mental health care info, heteronormative sex content, food guilt, nor dangerous or irresponsible weight-loss advice. And we want to hear from you: If you come across any content that conflicts with these editorial ethics and values then please tell us. Email editorial director, Alyssa Sparacino at alyssa.sparacino@dotdashmdp.com with your concerns. The Shape Team The Shape Squad roster is filled with people who are passionate about the work they do and the stories they tell. Together we are dedicated to making sure that when you come to us with questions you leave with answers. And we always welcome you back because if there's anything to know about health, it's that there's always something more to learn, something new to know. No wellness journey ends just because you crossed one finish line — and we're right beside you, every step of the way. Leta Shy SVP and Group General Manager of Beauty and Style Leta Shy is SVP and Group General Manager of Beauty & Style, overseeing InStyle, Byrdie, Brides, and Shape. She joined the Dotdash Meredith team in 2022 with over a decade of experience in wellness and lifestyle journalism. Prior to joining Dotdash Meredith, Shy was the editor in chief of SELF magazine; she previously held other editorial leadership roles at the title, including deputy editor, executive editor, and digital director. Read more Elspeth Velten VP & Associate Group GM, Beauty and Style Elspeth Velten is VP & Associate Group GM, Beauty & Style. Previously she was the Editorial Director of Dotdash Meredith's Beauty & Style Group. Prior, Elspeth spent time in the travel world as a founding editor of TripSavvy, Dotdash Meredith’s travel brand, and editor at Luxury Escapes, an Australian eCommerce site based in Melbourne. Read more Hayley Mason General Manager, Shape and InStyle Hayley Mason is the general manager of InStyle and Shape. She has been with Dotdash Meredith since 2019, previously overseeing the digital content strategy and editorial teams of Travel+Leisure, InStyle, Martha Stewart Weddings, and HelloGiggles. Prior to that, Hayley worked as a beauty director and editor, overseeing branded content at Byrdie, Who What Wear, and Refinery29. Read more Alyssa Sparacino Editorial Director Alyssa (she/her) has been with Shape since 2015 and has held various content roles, most recently stepping in as editorial director in 2022. She's worked in digital media for more than a decade, previously holding editor positions at HGTV Magazine, Health.com, and AOL Health. Prior to that, she completed a features internship with Teen Vogue while attending college at Kent State University in Ohio, where she earned a B.A. degree in magazine journalism and was the editor-in-chief of the school's women's magazine. Read more Marietta Alessi Social Media Director Marietta is currently Shape's social media director and she has worked with the brand since 2015. Prior to that, she worked as a digital strategist for brands in the health and wellness space, a writer for various magazines, and led the Her Campus chapter at her college, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Read more Kristen Geil, NASM-CPT Senior Fitness Editor As the Senior Fitness Editor at Shape, Kristen oversees the Fitness category and covers workout trends, exercise tips, recovery, and more. Previously, Kristen was the Chief Content Officer at aSweatLife.com, where she led content and editorial strategy. She has experience in copywriting and digital marketing, and she's an award-winning freelancer who works with B2C clients in health and wellness. Read more Christie Calucchia News Editor Christie Calucchia is the news editor at Shape. She writes and edits timely stories, with a focus on celebrity, health, beauty, and wellness news. She also interviews celebrities, celebrity fitness trainers, and other experts to provide insider tips and information to readers about emerging wellness trends. Read more Sha Ravine Spencer Beauty Editor Sha Ravine is the beauty editor at Shape and a style and beauty aficionado. Covering a host of topics with ease and authenticity, Sha has worked with the likes of Good Morning America, The Daily Beast, SHAPE, HEALTH, Byrdie, Coveteur, NYLON, and more to bring a new perspective to beauty content. Read more Renee Cherry Associate Editor Renee Cherry is an associate editor at Shape with over five years of experience writing and editing. Based in New York, she earned a degree in magazine journalism at Syracuse University. After graduating, she joined Shape as an intern before accepting her current title. Read more Megan Falk Assistant Editor Megan Falk joined the Shape.com team in 2019 and serves as the assistant editor, primarily covering exercise tips, fitness modalities, workout trends, and more. Previously, she was Shape’s editorial assistant and covered food trends and nutrition, sustainability, health and wellness, and beauty topics, among others. Read more Maggie Peikon Assistant Social Media Editor Maggie is the Assistant Social Media Editor at Shape. Working freelance and in-house throughout her career, Maggie has worked in the wellness, lifestyle, and outdoor space as a writer and social media strategist for over a decade. Read more Chelsey Hamilton Commerce Editorial Director As the editorial director of commerce for the Dotdash Meredith beauty vertical, Chelsey oversees news and deals coverage on Shape and InStyle and leads content direction and strategy for a team of editors focused on beauty, style, and wellness. With more than 7 years of experience in digital media, Chelsey has worked as a full-time editor, strategist, and affiliate content expert since she joined Meredith Corporation nearly 4 years ago. Read more Christina Oehler commerce editor Christina Oehler has been a beauty commerce editor for InStyle.com and Shape.com since July 2022. She's previously worked at brands like Brides, Health, and Verywell Health. Her work has appeared on a variety of publications and websites, including Harper's Bazaar, Elle, and Marie Claire. Read more Zarah Kavarana eCommerce Editor, InStyle and Shape Zarah Kavarana has been an editor at Dotdash Meredith since 2021. She is currently an eCommerce Editor for InStyle and Shape, where she primarily proofreads copy from a team of fashion and beauty commerce writers. In addition to writing her own stories, she tests products, stays on top of style trends, and strategizes for long-term vertical growth. Read more Chloe Irving Commerce Writer Chloe is a beauty and wellness e-commerce writer at InStyle and Shape where she pitches and writes shopping stories on fitness, skincare, and hair care. Chloe began her career in media as Shape's editorial assistant in 2021. Since then, she's covered a wide range of topics in the wellness and beauty categories, and has published stories in Health, PEOPLE, Shape, and InStyle. Read more Jenna Brillhart Creative Director Jenna has been with Dotdash Meredith since 2019 and has worked in the beauty and style space for over 8 years. As creative director for Shape, Jenna and her team maintain the site's brand identity, direct photo shoots, and design visual assets for the site, social, and video. Read more Leana Macaya Designer Leana joined Dotdash in 2021 as a designer, working for various brands such as InStyle, Travel+Leisure, and Shape. Her work focuses primarily on creating motion graphics for social and on-site. She graduated from Queens College with a BFA in design and also has an AS in multimedia programming. Read more Kaitlyn Collins Digital Designer Kaitlyn has been a designer at Dotdash since 2021 working with various brands including AllRecipes, InStyle, and Travel+Leisure. She joined Shape in 2022 and graduated from California College of the Arts with a BFA degree in illustration. She got her start at a boutique ad agency called Kurieo, then went on to be a designer for Strand Book Store and PureWow before joining Shape. Read more Mehroz Kapadia Freshly graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a DIY B.A. in Graphic Design, Mehroz started her journey as a designer for Dotdash in 2021. She has been heavily featured in Shape, InStyle, and Travel+Leisure as of 2022. Currently, her main focus is maintaining the brand identity for the Shape site by designing visual assets. Outside of design, Mehroz is taking a stab at learning electric guitar, creating miniature ceramics, and playing through the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the sixth time.' Read more Editorial Guidelines Editorial Policy and Standards Shape is committed to the quality and trustworthiness of our content and editorial processes. Our team rigorously researches and reviews all content on an ongoing basis to ensure it is up to date, accurate, and puts the needs of our readers first. Each article features a byline that includes the name, a brief description, and a link to more information about those who contributed to that piece. The date indicates when the piece was most recently updated with new information. Original illustrations, graphics, images, and videos are created by internal teams, who collaborate with experts in their fields to produce assets that represent diverse voices, perspectives, and context. Periodic review by editors ensures the quality, accuracy, and integrity of these assets. Photos and videos are not edited in any way that may cause them to be false or misleading Shape's complete Editorial Guidelines, which include information about our brand principles, ethics, fact-checking, sourcing, and corrections can be read in full here. Click here for our complete policies on Corrections, Independence and Impartiality, and Originality. Read more about our policies and processes surrounding product recommendations here. Click here for legal information, including our terms of use, privacy policy, and advertising guidelines. Product Reviews and Recommendations Our mission at Shape is to provide you with thorough and unbiased information to help you get — and stay — active, healthy, and feeling like your best self. Whether we're researching the best protein powders, testing wireless headphones in our state-of-the-art lab, or putting running shoes through their paces out in the real world, our product reviews are rooted in the expertise of our testers, editors, and contributing board of advisors. While we receive affiliate commissions on some of the items purchased through our content, our recommendations are purely editorial and based on thorough research, expert guidance, and hands-on experience. Even when brands and PR agencies send us products for editorial consideration, our thoughts and opinions are always our own. We're here to offer inspiration from a trusted voice so that you can make informed buying decisions and take action. Learn more about our policies and processes surrounding product recommendations here. Diverse Voices The wellness industry has a longstanding history of catering to a mostly white, thin, cis-gender population. It's a dangerous precedent with ripple effects that can be felt across generations. From health care bias and lack of representation to access and affordability inequities, Black, brown, queer, transgender, and differently-abled folx, as well as those living in larger bodies have often been ignored. While strides are being made, we understand there's more work to be done. Learn more about our commitment by reading our Diversity Pledge in full here. In the Press Find our editors on… People: Is It Safe to Go to the Gym During the Coronavirus Pandemic? Here's Everything You Need to Know, featuring editorial director Alyssa Sparacino Yahoo: Mindfulness, virtual reality and at-home fitness emerge as top wellness trends for 2022, featuring social media director Marietta Alessi Us Weekly: Halle Berry's 'Resourceful' Towel Workout for Anyone to Try at Home Fox5 Las Vegas: Transformative resilience: How to train your brain to think more positively, featuring social media director Marietta Alessi About Dotdash Meredith Shape was founded in 1981 and is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family. Dotdash Meredith, an operating business of IAC, is the largest digital and print publisher in America. From mobile to magazines, nearly 200 million people trust us to help them make decisions, take action, and find inspiration. Dotdash Meredith's over 50 iconic brands include PEOPLE, Better Homes & Gardens, Verywell, FOOD & WINE, The Spruce, Allrecipes, Byrdie, REAL SIMPLE, Investopedia, Southern Living, and more. Dotdash Meredith Press Read about Dotdash Meredith and our family of brands in the news. Meet Our Senior Management Team Learn more about the team behind Dotdash Meredith here. Follow Us Join our collective community of more than 6.4 million social media followers. Follow us via @shape on Instagram Follow us at @Shape_Magazine on Twitter Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/SHAPEmagazine Follow us on Pinterest at pinterest.com/shapemagazine Join our private SHAPE Goal Crushers Facebook Group Contact Us Do you have something you'd like to let us know? Whether you have a comment or an idea to share, you can reach us at contact@shape.com. For press inquiries, email us at press@dotdash.com If you would rather call us or send us a letter, you can reach us at 225 Liberty St., New York, NY 10281. Advertise with Us Shape offers the highest value to advertisers through a combination of scale, credibility, and intent. Interested in advertising with us? Email us at shapeadvertising@meredith.com or check out our media kit to learn more. Write for Us We're always looking for talented journalists and expert contributors to help bolster our mission to create a more equitable, accessible, and approachable culture of wellness. If you'd like to learn more about Shape's pitching guidelines, rates, and content areas of focus, send us a note along with a few recent examples of your work to write@shape.com.