Jen MacNeil grew up in San Diego, California, where she developed a love for journalism as editor of The 201 Times, her third grade newspaper. After a ten-year break from journalism to pursue children’s theatre, choir, high school drama and being an awkward teenager, Jen returned to the newsroom her freshman year at Loyola Marymount University. As entertainment editor of the Los Angeles Loyolan, Jen interviewed dozens of celebrities, including Kevin Spacey, Kate Hudson, Mel Gibson, Annette Bening and Henry Winkler. Jen graduated with a BA communications and an unofficial Theatre minor, then worked for one year as a copy editor of The North County Times in San Diego, leaving only because she got accepted into NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for an M.A. in Journalism.
Master’s Degree in hand, Jen entered the wonderful world of unemployment in 2003 as a result of being overeducated. She kept ice cream in the freezer by freelancing for YM Magazine, Young Money Magazine, NPR, and The New York Resident. When she finally got that sought-after day job, it was writing copy for dELiA*s, the hit clothing catalog among upper middle-class trendy teens. She followed that with copywriting stints at Victoria’s Secret and Scholastic, being careful not to confuse the two.
In 2005, Jen was proud to be part of the original launch staff of Positive Thinking Magazine. As a writer and editor, Jen got to cover her favorite beat of all—regular people who do amazing things. She interviewed people such as a model-turned-exterminator, a guy who ran across the country, the owner of a guide horse, and the rapping granny from “The Wedding Singer.”
During her years at Positive Thinking, Jen also began blogging. In 2007, she launched “In the New,” which detailed her quest to do one new thing every single day for an entire year. As one of CNN’s Young People Who Rock, Jen gained a following and spurned a trend among bloggers. When the daily blog ended on Jen’s birthday in 2008, Jen continued doing new things sporadically, and also started the blog “You Fascinate Me” so she could keep interviewing interesting people.
Since writing all the time can really make a lady’s hands hurt, Jen is also a sometime performer, having been seen on stage at the Upright Citizens Theatre, the Magnet, the PIT, and heard under the stage at Blue Man Group off-Broadway. A classically trained singer, Jen was a founding member of the musical improv groups Melodious Din and The Pearl Brunswick. She still performs when the fancy strikes, and she really likes steak.