Media Brothers

They’ve been talking about working together for 20 years. Now it’s finally happening.

By Claire Kowalchik P’22

Dave Zinczenko ’91, founder and CEO of Galvanized Media, and his brother Eric Zinczenko, most recently CEO of Bonnier Corp., will together take Galvanized to even higher levels of success.

It’s a perfect match—they come from two sides of the same industry.

Both took their first steps in publishing at Rodale Inc. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Dave writing and editing stories for Men’s Health, and Eric, a business graduate from Penn State, working sales at three of Rodale’s sports titles. Dave blazed a trail to become the editorial director of the health group—Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and Prevention—before leaving Rodale in 2012 to launch Galvanized Media, creator of brands that help people lead healthy, happy lives. Eric reached associate publisher of Bicycling in four years at Rodale before heading off for executive positions at Condé Nast, Time, and Bonnier Corp.

After Eric left Bonnier and was considering options for his next move, Dave came to him and said, “It’s time. Galvanized has grown to 30 fulltime employees. We could really use you here.”

Eric joined the company on August 1, 2021, as president and COO.

Definition of galvanized: coated with zinc

Asked if he had any concern about the potential for conflict when working with a family member, David admitted that the thought crossed his mind—for about 5 seconds. “It does for anyone who is making this decision,” he says, “but it feels so natural for us to work together. Eric brings so much experience from a different side of the business. I am responsible for editorial. There are no redundancies.”

Eric’s responsibilities include improving operations, evaluating the brand economics, exploring licensing, growing brands, and looking for new brands and channels.

The latest Galvanized title that Eric and Dave will be shepherding is CelebWell. Launched in July, this digital publication features the healthy lifestyles and wellness tips of celebrities—their workouts, eating choices, stress reducers, skin care regimens, and more. “We’ve moved into the celebrity space in a positive, meaningful way,” says Dave, “and CelebWell is off to a crazy good start. We had half a million uniques in the first month. It’s on a hockey-stick trajectory.” (You can check it out at celebwell.com.)

With the Zinczenko brothers coming together in media expansion and innovation, you can expect more brilliant stuff out of Galvanized.