An Update for 2026...

This decision surprised me just as much as it might surprise you.

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones and are feeling refreshed heading into 2026. After fully going through it with the flu—and not letting my friends, family, or Instagram followers forget it—I’m happy for all of our sakes to be on the other side. And if nothing else, I hope it convinced a few of you to get the damn flu shot.

Which brings me to the present, a place I’m feeling incredibly grateful to be in. There’s a lot to be excited about, along with some bittersweet news to share. After five years of freelancing, I’ve decided to go back full-time. I’ll be returning to my roots in beauty editorial, with both a print and digital focus. While I never thought I’d go full-time again, I also never thought an opportunity like this—one that’s remote and doable as a new mom—would come along.

Given the ever-evolving state of media, there’s also a real sense of relief in being able to focus on one role. As a freelancer, I often felt like I had my hands deep in too many outlets’ visions and goals, big and small. I’m excited to step back, channel my energy into one place, and not juggle several different company Slack channels (lol).

Ahead of my January 12 start date, I’ll be wrapping up with freelance clients. Here, that means I’ll be turning off the Paid Subscriber feature and posting less so I can fully focus on my job. I’ll still pop in from time to time—especially when I’m sourcing for a specific story—but things will definitely be quieter, at least for a bit.

Where things won’t be quieter? Instagram! And maybe not TikTok, either, if I finally follow through on my goal of posting more this year, ha. Thank you all for supporting me over the years—I truly hope this new role means many of us can continue working together in different ways.

x
Marisa