Who is Elisabeth Ovesen?

Elisabeth Ovesen is a three-time New York Times bestselling author, certified life, fitness, and nutrition coach, speaker, and senior copywriter whose work explores personal evolution, wellness, identity, emotional resilience, and intentional living.

Writing under the pen name Karrine Steffans, Elisabeth authored a series of bestselling memoirs published by major houses, including HarperCollins and Hachette Book Group. Her early work sparked widespread cultural conversations about women, power, autonomy, survival, and the entertainment industry years before these discussions entered mainstream public discourse.

In addition to her work in publishing, Elisabeth has spent more than two decades working in corporate marketing and brand strategy across the technology, lifestyle, and education sectors. She has also lectured and spoken at universities and institutions throughout the United States. Today, her work centers on wellness, personal transformation, long-form writing, and women’s emotional and physical well-being.

Why did Elisabeth begin writing under her real name after publishing as Karrine Steffans?

After many years publishing under a pen name, Elisabeth chose to begin writing under her real name as her work evolved beyond memoir and cultural commentary into wellness, intentional living, coaching, and personal transformation.

While the Karrine Steffans name remains an important part of her literary history, writing as Elisabeth Ovesen reflects a more personal and expansive body of work — one centered on growth, balance, identity, wellness, and the long-term process of becoming.

What kind of work does Elisabeth write now?

Elisabeth’s current work focuses on personal evolution, wellness, emotional well-being, fitness, nutrition, identity, discipline, and intentional living. Through essays, curriculum writing, coaching frameworks, and long-form nonfiction, she explores how women build healthier, more balanced, and more sustainable lives over time.

She is currently developing The Balance Book, an immersive personal growth curriculum and guided workbook centered on intentional living and personal transformation.

In addition to nonfiction, Elisabeth also writes fiction under the Karrine Steffans pen name.

How has Elisabeth’s earlier work influenced conversations around women, power, and autonomy?

When Elisabeth’s first memoir, Confessions of a Video Vixen, was released in 2005, it challenged how women’s experiences within entertainment, celebrity culture, and power structures were publicly discussed. The book sparked widespread debate around exploitation, agency, shame, survival, and truth-telling at a time when many of these conversations were still considered culturally taboo.

Over time, her work became part of a broader cultural shift toward more open conversations about women’s lived experiences, autonomy, and the social dynamics surrounding power and visibility.

What is Elisabeth working on now?

Elisabeth’s current work centers on wellness, personal transformation, and intentional living through writing, coaching, curriculum development, and women’s education. She is the founder of The Gorgeous Girl’s Guide, a private women’s coaching and accountability community founded in 2017, and the author of the forthcoming guided curriculum and textbook, The Balance Book.

She is also completing her first novel while continuing to write essays exploring identity, wellness, discipline, emotional resilience, and modern womanhood.