How Sally Holmes Became Editor-In-Chief of 'InStyle'

Watch the full conversation between Sally Holmes and Editor-In-Chief Dhani Mau on The Fashionista Network.

Sally Holmes can vouch for the pre-med-to-fashion-journalist pipeline: Though she did newspaper in high school and grew up with journalist parents — Holmes got to cover a royal wedding! — she was still on track to be a pediatrician, because she “loved that interaction with people,” she told Dhani Mau on the Fashionista Network (Watch it here!) What she didn’t love? Organic chemistry. 

Thus, her pivot into journalism began. Following an internship at New York Magazine, Holmes got her start as a homepage editor. (She talked more in-depth about what the position entailed.) This led to a position at The Cut, then to one at Elle, where she eventually became executive editor. 

In 2018, Holmes moved to Marie Claire, first as its digital director and then later as its editor-in-chief. While she looked back fondly at that position, it didn’t come without its challenges, especially during the pandemic: “I was really lucky that it was a new job within a team that I had been with for two years. It was more just navigating all of the ongoing challenges like shooting a cover during a pandemic, maintaining the level of storytelling that we were so passionate about and making sure that all of the team members felt seen and heard and included and not too lonely during a time everyone was alone… At the end of the day, the best part of my job is being in the room with my team and coming up with the ideas, making them happen and then seeing them go out into the world and having an audience reacting.”

After five years at Marie Claire, Holmes was offered her current position as the editor-in-chief of InStyle. “It was so exciting,” she said reflecting on when she first stepped into the role. “Then also, it was this amazing opportunity to figure out what the next chapter of InStyle was. And that was really exciting to me.” For more on her goals for the magazine and career highlights, watch the replay.

The goal of a publication is to “add something new to the conversation,” which ties into what Holmes looks for in a new hire: “a good writer who has great ideas.” She also shared that a kind personality and diversity are key things she looks for when expanding her team. As she summed it up, “It’s really important to me that people are able to see themselves and feel spoken to and seen [in the magazine].”

Watch the full show here.

This conversation was hosted on The Fashionista Network powered by interactive media platform Fireside, where viewers get the chance to participate and speak directly with industry figures. Learn more about The Fashionista Network here.

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Source: Fashionista.com