Colleen de Bellefonds is a Paris-based journalist, content strategist and editor with 15+ years of experience. She specializes in health, science, technology, the environment, wellness, parenting and all things France.
My reporting and writing regularly appears online and in print at US News & World Report, SELF, Well + Good, BabyCenter, The Bump, What To Expect, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Healthline, Vice, Everyday Health, Prevention, WebMD, A+E’s Biography.com, A&E’s History.com and more.
Corporate clients have included the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Weight Watchers (WW), Oscar Healthcare, Freenome, Vitamin Shoppe, L’Oreal and Clarins, among others.
Today’s audiences demand accurate, timely and informative content. I have experience working professionally in both English and French:
As a journalist, I pinpoint and pitch news trends, break down scientific studies and interview leading experts to write highly-detailed, insightful and approachable content.
As a content strategist, I help brands audit and analyze their content as well as the overall online landscape to recommend content plans that engage readers and win at SEO.
As a freelance editor, I collaborate with staff editors to research, assign, edit and fact-check new and existing content, including articles, podcasts and infographics.
Before moving to France in 2016, I was the senior editor at the #1 pregnancy and parenting brand What To Expect. While on staff, I recruited and coached a stable of more than a dozen regular freelance health writers and managed the calendar and budget. I assigned all health news as well as all core evergreen content, from week-by-week pregnancy guides to content on fitness, nutrition, labor and more. Working cross-functionally with tech and design, my team modernized and personalized the What To Expect app. It became and remains the top pregnancy and parenting app on iTunes and Android.
After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism in 2006, I began my career at a strategic communications firm. My pitches helped clients secure coverage in national outlets such as the Associated Press, the BBC and The Wall Street Journal. Later, as a health editor with the content marketing company Studio One Networks, I conceptualized editorially-driven websites for clients including Similac, Oral B, Puffs and Pampers. In this role, I managed a team of freelancers while working with brands to create sponsored editorial packages around their messaging that informed and delighted readers.