Elaine Welteroth Lands Beauty And Health Director Position At Teen Vogue, Another Black Editor Hire At Condé Nast
Major hire alert!
We were thrilled a few weeks ago when Condé Nast announced the hire of its first-ever African American editor-in-chief, Keija Minor at Brides, and now comes news that Elaine Welteroth has been tapped as the new Beauty and Health Director at Teen Vogue.
Although the lack of diversity within the publishing industry remains, it’s hires like these that provide a little more light at the end of the tunnel.
“We live in a multi-cultural world, so embracing diversity is important in every industry,” Welteroth told Fashionista.com. “As it’s related to publishing, I think magazines really benefit from having a staff with a range of different perspectives and cultural references so that any reader can feel like there is someone on the masthead they can relate to, someone they can trust to speak up for them. It’s great to see that idea being embraced more and more.”
Welteroth will officially settle into her new gig on October 15, after wrapping up her current role as Senior Beauty Editor at Glamour (where she landed just one year ago after serving as the Beauty and Style editor at EBONY). The torch is being passed to Welteroth by Eva Chen, who became a mini Teen Vogue celeb for the brand in the Beauty and Health director role. Chen’s popularity in the position is a credit to her 36,000+ Twitter followers and 24,000+ Instagram fans. Those are pretty high stilettos to fill, but we’re sure Welteroth will fit them well.
Welteroth’s move from Glamour to Teen Vogue doesn’t require too much change in terms of job responsibilities–writing, editing, shooting, market work and covering all the social networks–however she will now be spouting advice to teens and dealing with the business side of publishing thanks to that “director” title.
And how did the curly-top cutie land this plum position?
“It’s all about preparation meeting the opportunity at the right time,” Welteroth said. “I had the chance to learn from some really talented people who have taught me a lot. So, this next step is sort of the culmination of a lot of work, great mentorship, and perfect timing.”