Leah Wyar is President of the Entertainment, Beauty + Style Group at People Inc., where she oversees editorial, content strategy, and revenue across a portfolio of iconic media brands, including PEOPLE, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, Byrdie, and more. A respected media executive with more than 25 years of experience, Wyar leads one of the industry's most influential entertainment and lifestyle content organizations, shaping how audiences engage with celebrity, culture, beauty, and style across platforms.
Since joining People Inc. in 2019, she has driven significant cross-platform growth and innovation, expanding the company's reach across digital, social, video, TV, live events, and print. Her leadership has helped fuel the success of initiatives including the PEOPLE App, original franchises such as The Intern from InStyle, and strategic partnerships including the award-winning podcast Fat Mascara.
Prior to People Inc., Wyar served as Chief Beauty Director at Hearst, leading beauty content strategy across some of the world's most recognized fashion and lifestyle media brands. She also serves on the board of Fashion Group International.
I became a beauty editor sort of by accident and didn’t look back for 19 years. I loved curating the market, telling unique stories, creating on set, and especially developing big ideas with the revenue side. When it came time to transition from print to digital, I knew I wanted to lean into the latter and landed as a GM at Dotdash (now People Inc.), where I launched the first Beauty & Style vertical and oversaw the entire business. That allowed me to influence content (my first love) while uniquely packaging it to drive ad dollars (my passion). Beauty and Style is a harbinger of sorts, so my group functioned like an innovation hub: we were the first to do digital issues, along with many social-first and event activations.
A few years later, the entertainment brands joined the fold, with several legacy brands approaching major milestones: PEOPLE, 50 years; EW, 35 years; and InStyle, 30 years. We moved quickly to reinvent what those brands could mean to audiences, fast-tracking innovations from the PEOPLE App to InStyle’s social IP to EW’s award-winning weekly covers.
Media is constantly evolving, and that’s what makes it exciting. At People Inc., we’ve never been interested in standing still. When you have brands people genuinely care about, a culture of innovation, and leadership that encourages smart risks, you’re able to keep finding new ways to connect with audiences. That’s what keeps me excited about where we’re headed.
The most creative and exciting ideas are being driven upward through our organization, not (as is often the case in legacy institutions) downward from the top. Leaders have to check their egos and be willing to learn from everyone. That starts with hiring exceptional people and trusting them to lead. I trust my GMs implicitly, which gives them the autonomy to run their teams and make smart decisions.
Then you have to communicate your core values and expectations. Mine are constant reinvention (nothing is sacrosanct), A+ storytelling tailored to each platform, and acting with urgency. Once the right people know what you're looking for, your job is to support them: remove obstacles, coach them through skill gaps, model fearless change, and stay obsessed with what's next.
I've never really thought about my career in terms of distinct acts. Looking back, each chapter has grown naturally out of the one before it, usually because I said yes to something that challenged me or gave me the chance to learn something new.
Right now, it feels like I'm in the middle of one of the most exciting chapters yet, and I'm energized by building. Building brands that people really connect with and trust. Building teams that are curious, creative, and excited to push ideas further. And helping shape a company that's influencing where media is going, instead of just keeping up with it. One thing this business has taught me is that change isn't something you wait for. It's something you help shape.
Creating has always been my favorite part of the job, whether that's launching something new, evolving an iconic brand, or finding new ways to connect with audiences. That curiosity and sense of possibility still get me excited every day. Looking ahead, I want to keep putting myself in situations where I'm learning, where I'm challenged, and where I have the chance to do work that hasn't been done before. That's really been the throughline of my career, and I hope it always will be.
It probably boils down to an underdog mindset. My post-college résumé had no business being looked at twice by the woman who first hired me. No internship, no journalism degree, no industry contacts, just a determination to learn fast and prove I belonged in the room. My best shot was to outwork everyone, and that mindset has played a part in every career milestone, including the most recent ones. I may be more confident now, but that underdog mentality is still a familiar motivator.
Happily, I’m at a place in my career where I get to spend time with many admirable women, often as an interviewer. Looking back over the last couple of months, two who really stood out were Susie Wolff and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
What struck me most was that both have partners who are genuinely their biggest champions—Toto is Susie’s (he calls her his “superhero”), and Nick Jonas is Priyanka’s. That kind of support can be incredibly powerful, both personally and professionally. Just as importantly, both women pair extraordinary ambition with real grace. They lead with conviction, continue to break barriers, and have earned admiration across cultures, generations, and genders.
Dr. Pepper
The social episodic trend. Watching a two-minute episode of InStyle’s The Intern or The Boss is instant joy. I just got a preview of Byrdie’s upcoming series, and I had to grab a tissue—I was laughing so hard. How lucky am I to work with teams that know how to create those moments of connection and joy for audiences? It makes me incredibly proud.
That’s a tough one, since I’m paid to eat, sleep, and breathe entertainment. One that’s had a real impact on me recently is the oldie but goodie The Boys in the Boat. My son and I read it together and spent a lot of time talking about the power of quiet excellence and humble leadership—both are so important in life, but have almost been dismissed with the rise of the influence and attention economies. My dad practiced these qualities beautifully when I grew up, and I try to emulate them and instill their value in my kids.
