Nikki Osman

About

The editor of the biggest health title in the UK, I'm driven by the role that service journalism can play in helping us to understand and navigate the modern world; whether that’s equipping people with the tools to differentiate an evidence-based health intervention from pseudoscience, empowering people to opt out of quick fix wellness culture in favour of sustainable health habits or platforming the role models who represent the often complicated, always messy reality of what it means to pursue good health. In a journalism career spanning 15 years - the last eight of which I’ve specialised in health - I’ve worked on some of the most successful women's lifestyle brands in the world – and I owe a debt to every one of them. I credit the real life magazines I worked on in my twenties with shaping my understanding of what make a compelling story and my years working for editors who were fond of red pen with my ability to turn bang average copy into unputdownable prose (along with killing my darlings). But it’s working at Women’s Health that has had the biggest impact on the journalist I am today. Since joining the brand as features editor, working my way up to editor, I've developed a deeply-held conviction in the value of this specialism; a conviction shaped immeasurably by becoming deputy editor during the early days of the first UK lockdown, when I felt the responsibility of health reporting more acutely than ever. Today, that responsibility informs every aspect of my work, from crafting content strategy that bucks industry-wide trends (Women’s Health posted a 10% ABC rise in February 2024) to masterminding award-winning commercial campaigns; moderating engaging conversations as a panel host and reporting on engaging conversations from Downing Street. When I’m not working at Women’s Health, I write a newsletter called Mate Expectations - a first-person investigation into the evidence based tools that can help us feel closer to our friends, during a time when connection can feel harder to cling to than ever. It’s about friendship, culture - and the points where the two meet. Last year, it was chosen by Substack as a Featured Publication. You can find out more (or become a subscriber - most posts are free) by clicking the button on my profile.