Maclean was born Heather Beach on October 18, 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis in 1990. In 1994, she graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature.

At Princeton, she was the Publisher of Business Today, the largest student-run magazine in the world, founded by Steve Forbes in 1968.

Maclean began her career at The Walt Disney Company where she co-created the Disneyland Resort's first Website, www.disneyland.com, produced the company's first international intranet Team Disney, and had the distinction of being the first person ever to answer Mickey Mouse's e-mail. Following Disney, she worked at Internet retailer Buy.com.

In 2001, Maclean founded Little Laureate, a children’s educational media production company. Little Laureate’s DVDs were named one of the “Best Video Series of All Time” by Parents magazine.

Maclean’s work has appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Fit Pregnancy, New York Parent magazine and Princeton Alumni Weekly.

Maclean’s second book, Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy It Live La Bella Vita and Look Great, Too!, a cook book of healthy, authentic Italian food, was published by Hyperion in 2010. It spent four weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list rising to #5.

Maclean’s first book, The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide: From Pacifiers to Potties . . . Why, When, and What to Buy for Pregnancy Through Preschool, a non-fiction resource for new parents, was published by Thomas Nelson in 2008.

Maclean was first published under the name Heather Michelle Beach in 1990 when an award-winning speech she wrote for the Voice of Democracy broadcast scriptwriting contest, sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, was entered into the United States Congressional Record by Congressman Richard A. Gephardt.

Maclean starred with Richard Branson on the television show The Rebel Billionaire, an Apprentice-meets-Amazing Race reality program broadcast on the Fox network in 2005, and shown in 19 countries around the world. Maclean was one of the final contestants and appeared in every episode.

Maclean is an on-air parenting contributor to many news programs, including Good Morning America, the CBS Early Show, ABC News, Fox Business Network and ParentsTV. She has also guest-starred on Sirius XM Radio's Doctor Radio program.