Susan Kittenplan

Susan Kittenplan, writer, editor, media executive

Susan Kittenplan is founder of Kittenplan Catalyst LLC. With Olympian Adam Rippon and producer/writerBilly Finnegan, Kittenplan is the co-creator of an Untitled Adult Figure Skating Pilot that was sold to NBC. Previously, she was VP of Lifestyle and Entertainment content at Yahoo. She oversaw editorial strategy and worked closely with Yahoo’s editorial leads to support a variety of topic verticals, media innovations, and interactive features in photography, social content, and native advertising. During her tenure, she launched 14 digital magazines, including Yahoo Style, Yahoo Parenting, and Yahoo Travel, which became number one in their comScore categories in less than a year. After focusing the content verticals to Lifestyle (Yahoo Style & Beauty) and Enetrtainment (Movies, TV, Music, Celebrity), these verticals have grown in comScore and reputation. Yahoo Style & Beauty, which continues to be a catagory leader, is attracting an important audience of 18-34 year olds, with unique visitors in this demographic up 200% in 2016. Kittenplan has worked in the publishing and literary worlds for nearly 20 years. She was executive editor of Allure magazine, where she served as a key contributor to the overall editorial direction of the publication; Kittenplan also managed many contributing editors and edited writers such as Arthur Miller, Michael Chabon, Alice McDermott, Elizabeth Gilbert, whose Allure essay “The Road to Rapture” inspired Gilbert’s best-selling book, Eat, Pray, Love. and Cheryl Strayed, whose essay "Hearing Voices" was a precursor to her best-selling memoir, Wild. Kittenplan held many editorial posts at Condé Nast, including senior editor at GQ, deputy editor at Glamour, and associate editor and researcher at Vanity Fair, where, under the direction of editor Graydon Carter, Kittenplan helped create the template for Vanity Fair’s special issues, such as the Hollywood, New Establishment, and Olympic issues. She also served as senior features editor at Hearst’s Harper’s Bazaar and as reporter/researcher for Time, Inc.’s People.  Outside of her magazine work, Kittenplan is a book editor/consultant and media advisor. Selected projects include Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love and Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage; Andrew Solomon's Far From The Tree, One Perfect Day by Rebecca Mead; New American High by Brooke Hauser; and Sasha Charnin Morrison’s Secrets of Stylists. Kittenplan was a partner of Will/Plan Projects, a creative consulting and strategic planning company and founded Kittenplan Catalyst, a practice that focuses on content development, branding, and creative connection. Kittenplan has a B.A. in English from Cornell University and an M.F.A. in dramatic writing from New York University. She is the president of the Skating Club of New York, a member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women, the Spence School alumnae board, and the advisory board for Figure Skating in Harlem.  

CEO and Founder at Kittenplan Catalyst LLC

August 2019 - Present | New York, NY

VP, Lifestyle and Entertainment content at Yahoo

February 2015 - Present

Executive Editor, Media Initiatives at Yahoo

March 2014 - January 2015

Principal at Will/Plan Projects

September 2010 - December 2012

Executive Editor at Allure Magazine

August 2001 - November 2009

Deputy Editor at Glamour Magazine

January 2001 - July 2001

Senior Editor at GQ Magazine

November 1999 - January 2001

Senior Features Editor at Harper's Bazaar Magazine

June 1997 - October 1999

Associate Editor at Vanity Fair Magazine

September 1993 - May 1997

Associate Research Editor at Vanity Fair Magazine

September 1992 - September 1993

Reporter/Researcher at Vanity Fair Magazine

May 1990 - September 1992

Reporter/researcher at People Magazine

1989 - 1989

Cornell University

B.A.

Concentration: English

Activities: Cornell Daily Sun, Times-Monitor, Kappa Kappa Gamma, The Touchtones

New York University

M.F.A

Concentration: Dramatic Writing

Figure Skating, Football, Soufflés