Kristin van Ogtrop was named Managing Editor of Real Simple magazine in 2003. Since that time, Real Simple has grown to include books, special issues, products, international editions, television shows and, of course, realsimple.com. Kristin began her career in magazines at Vogue, and has also worked at Glamour, Premiere, and Travel and Leisure. As the editor of Real Simple, she does a lot of things that don't look like editing: going on professional panels, making speeches, going on t.v. very early in the morning. She has a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia and an M.A. in English from Columbia University.

She lives in the New York suburbs with her husband, who is also a magazine editor, their three sons, a shedding dog, a very old cat, a few hamsters (they come and go) and a handful of fish which, unfortunately, never last long.