By Nicholas Steinhauser
Staff Writer
Life is often a learning experience. For Joanna Saltz ‘99, life after the College has gone in many different directions, all of which contributed to the success she has today.
Saltz first attended the College in 1993. Her original major was music performance, and she was a violist. However, she changed her major to English three quarters into her time at the College, and she had to spend an additional two years to graduate with an English degree.
Saltz enjoyed her time as a student at the College.
“Being on campus felt like being at home, and I always loved the warmth of the campus,” she said.
When she was a music major, Saltz spent most of her time practicing, whether it be on her own or with the orchestra at the College. After she switched to an English major, however, she became more dedicated to her career and worked toward future success.
During her extra two years at the College, she worked two jobs to both pay for the added tuition and to prepare herself for her future. One of these jobs was a retail store in Princeton, N.J. and the other was a small publishing house in Hightstown, N.J.
“Every job is a learning experience,” said Saltz. “The stuff that I had to do when I was working at the publishing house in Hightstown was mainly menial work, but it made me really good at identifying copying mistakes.”
Once she changed her major, Saltz also started writing for The Signal, where she was primarily a news writer.
“The cool thing about The Signal was that my roommate worked in campus communications, and she always got first word about the goings-on on campus,” said Saltz. “And so, I would always get the scoop on the really good stories.”
Saltz even got to write a front-page article when former New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman gave a speech at one of the graduation ceremonies at the College.
When looking back at her time at The Signal, Saltz said, “it served me very well for my career, but it’s not a muscle that I flex all the time. I’ve learned how to become a better interviewer because of it, but I’m no longer hustling for hard news like how I was in college.”
Since her graduation, Saltz has gone on to foster a diverse and successful media career. Right out of college, she had contacts with a publishing house in New York City and was able to get her first job at a bridal magazine called Modern Bride, which no longer exists. She worked there for about three years.
“From there I wrote little newsy blips and lifestyle services about stuff, so it wasn’t chasing news like how it was with The Signal,” said Saltz.
When looking back on this experience, Saltz said she was very fortunate to have gotten into the media business so quickly. Since Modern Bride was such a small brand, she was able to do much more as a writer than what she would have been doing at a larger corporation. At this job, she started getting major writing experiences very early, and she even got her byline in the magazine.
“I got this awesome job at Modern Bride, and I got to really do work,” Saltz said. “I now realize the benefits of having a job like that.”
After Modern Bride, Saltz went on to work for The Knot, a wedding website that had started not long before she started working there. At this job, she mainly wrote about fashion and beauty topics.
From there, Saltz went to work for the media company Hearst, which she still works for today. She started working for Hearst at Seventeen, a magazine primarily for teenagers. She worked at this magazine for eight years, first as the deputy editor and then as the executive editor.
Interested in working in culinary media, Saltz then made the shift. She first went to Food Network Magazine, another magazine owned by Hearst.
After three years at this magazine, Saltz launched a website called Delish in 2015 under the Hearst company.
Delish has been extremely successful since its creation; it is the fastest growing food media website. It has around 30 million users every month and has gained large platforms on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube. Saltz has even written five cookbooks, with the most recent one released a few weeks ago on April 8.
“At Delish, we have a 3,000 square foot test kitchen in New York City, which is super fun,” said Saltz. “We shoot all kinds of content there.”
Saltz’s job is to oversee all of the content that the website puts out, such as the recipes and written stories. She works to ensure that Delish is reaching the intended audience each month with its content. Everyone who works for her, whether it be through social media, news or the kitchen, has to report to Saltz.
Saltz has had big-name celebrities like Glen Powell, Guy Fieri and Chrissy Teigen come into the kitchen with her for Delish, which highlights the success this website has had.
“At Delish, we always say, ‘you don’t have to know how to cook, you just have to love to eat,’” said Saltz. She says that one of the main purposes of Delish is to get people excited about food and try new, fun things in the kitchen.
“My favorite part about my job is getting to witness all of the amazing content we make all the time,” said Saltz. “I really love to get to see all of the fun ways that people come up with great ideas.”
In addition to Delish, Saltz has also worked as the editor-in-chief of House Beautiful, a home design magazine and website, since 2018. It is a legacy magazine that has been around for over a century, and it also has a fairly new website that has already amassed a large digital platform.
“On House Beautiful, it’s all about interior design, but it’s also about accessibility and making sure that people feel comfortable making their homes, apartments or rooms as beautifully designed and functional as possible.”
For this job, Saltz reviews home tours and gets to see all of the interesting things that people have done to their homes.
Saltz is dedicated to her work for both Delish and House Beautiful, a characteristic that she picked up back at the College once she changed majors. Saltz works around 60 hours each week, but she is always thinking of ideas for new content.
“Everything is inspiration,” Saltz said. “If I see something on the weekend on TikTok that’s trending and will inspire an idea, I’ll just file it away and bring it up later.”
Saltz says that she hasn’t done anything in music since the College. She has expressed regret about this.
“If I had to give any advice, I would say stay in touch with your roots because it was a long time ago since I last touched my viola,” she said.
When looking back at her time at the College, Saltz attributes much of her success to Kim Pearson, a professor of journalism and professional writing.
“Professor Pearson was really inspiring,” she said. “I think her enthusiasm and embracing new technology and media was infectious, and it really helped me get over that fear of the unknown.”
To Saltz, Pearson always had an encouraging attitude regarding new things, which truly inspired Saltz and helped her get into digital media pretty successfully.
“Don’t be afraid of change,” said Saltz. “For me, it was changing my major and changing the medium I was working in. Change can be scary, but it is also almost always good.”
Saltz, with her major growth throughout her career, shows how dedication and experience can help you be successful in your future career.
“Always take the meeting,” Saltz said. “You never know what interviews, conversations or connections will inspire your next step.”
