In seventh grade, Denis’ English teacher told him he was a lousy writer—the criticism turned out to be incentivizing. “It really pissed me off,” he recalls. “A good way to get me to do something was to tell me I couldn’t do it.”

Denis doubled down on the craft and in his senior year of high school, he entered a Los Angeles Times editorial contest in which the prize was a typewriter. He lost. Then one of the judges, a Times editor, reached out. He told Denis that the judges universally liked his submission—a slice-of-life story about his father—but it didn’t fit the traditional editorial parameters of the contest. Instead, the editor offered to pay him to publish the article in the paper. The fee, which would have covered two or three typewriters, launched Denis’ professional career. “I guess if you can’t follow the rules, make sure that whatever you create is better than those rules allow,” he says.

After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Denis moved to Australia and briefly worked in the advertising industry. It was there that he developed a love of healthy eating and outdoor sports, particularly rock climbing and surfing. He parlayed his new interests into a freelance writing career, penning articles for publications including Wired, Outside, The New York Times, Men’s Health, and Men’s Journal.

After a year backpacking around Europe, Denis returned to Southern California where he “fell into” a role at the then pioneering Beachbody (now BODi) health and fitness company, eventually earning the title of VP of Nutrition and guiding the company’s nutrition and culinary programs and content. He co-created the majority of their nutrition plans. He also ghost wrote two books for P90X creator Tony Horton, including “The Big Picture: 11 Laws That Will Change Your Life.”

Outside the office, Denis veered heavily into endurance sports as an amateur competitive cyclist, deepening his knowledge of performance nutrition not just for professional reasons, but to perform better. “If you want to be relevant in a bike race after 50 miles, you need to know how to eat right,” he says.

After 20 years, Denis left Beachbody to get back to his writing roots and create effective content for health and wellness companies including Roquette, AB InBev, Alzchem Group, and Informa Markets. He specializes in helping his clients better communicate with athletes and other health-minded consumers. Denis recently moved to France, where he lives in a 200-year-old farmhouse with his French wife, a couple of cats, and a slew of chickens in the yard. He continues to consult, in between knocking hors catégorie Tour de France climbs off his bucket list, hiking in the Alps, foraging mushrooms, and tearing stuff down with his beloved tractor.

In addition to thousands of published articles, Denis has written several books and first-person essays. He also picked up a master’s degree in nutrition along the way.

“Journalism is what I love,” says Denis who is also a Hence Journal contributor. “Now, I use my writing, advertising, and marketing experience as tools to tell stories in different ways. Corporate stories are a pleasure to tell, and I do so with an authoritative, knowledgeable approach. If I write or review something about food or nutrition, it will be accurate, and the customer or consumer will learn from it—but they won’t be bored and they won’t get random marketing blathering with made up science. That, unfortunately, happens a lot in this industry. It’s a line I can draw.”

Denis now focuses on consulting with companies in the nutrition, health, and wellness space, guiding them in creating authentic, engaging content. With his unique expertise in storytelling, marketing, fitness, and nutrition, he helps brands convey messages that are both informative and compelling.

Otherwise, he can be found cycling across the French countryside, sampling local cheeses, or tending to his chickens.