Joshua Fruhlinger Joins Defy Media As Head Of Lifestyle

To further develop its lifestyle brands, Defy Media has turned to a new hire. The network, formed from a merger between Alloy Digital and Break Media in 2013, has tapped Joshua Fruhlinger to fill the newly-created role of Senior Vice President of Lifestyle.

Fruhlinger will work out of Defy Media’s New York City office, taking charge of all creative direction for both written and video content for Defy’s Made Man and The Gloss lifestyle properties. The latter brand is aimed at women, while Made Man’s site and YouTube channel are a destination for XY-centric topics. Its recent offerings include the “Gentleman Up” campaign with Rob Riggle and the Speakeasy series hosted by comedian Paul F. Tomkins.

Fruhlinger will report directly to Defy Media’s Head of Content Barry Blumberg, who is “ecstatic to have an editorial voice of the caliber of Josh on board.” “We’re super excited to see the creative direction our lifestyle brands like Made Man

and The Gloss will take under his creative stewardship,” Blumberg said in a release.

Before arriving at Defy, Fruhlinger was Head of Digital at TMZ. Previous to that position, he had been Engadget’s Editorial Director. Fruhlinger also founded AOL Tech in 2007, where he worked with popular properties such as Engadget, TechCrunch, and the recently-closed Joystiq. Overall, Fruhlinger brings over 20 years of experience to help grow Defy Media’s lifestyle content.

Defy Media currently claims to reach more than 155 million consumers per month across the network’s web, YouTube, mobile, social, and OTT platforms. Eleven of Defy’s YouTube channels now boast more than 1 million subscribers each.