She is a New York Times bestselling author, former CNN Headline News (HLN) host,[6][7][8][9] and founder of UnchainedTV.

[17] She began her career as a reporter at WCBS-TV in New York, billed at the time as Jane Mitchell.

She made the decision to add "Velez" to her name after covering the New York City Puerto Rican Day Parade.

In early 1990, Velez-Mitchell was a co-anchor alongside Jerry Dunphy on the debut of a three-hour news broadcast on KCAL-TV, a local Los Angeles TV station.

Velez-Mitchell reported for the nationally syndicated show Celebrity Justice (produced by corporate sibling Telepictures) until 2005.

[35][20][36][37][6] This vegan cooking series has won two Taste Awards, considered the Oscars of food and streams on Amazon Prime and UnchainedTV, and has aired on local public television stations across the US through NETA.

The book's premise is that by studying the secrecy and deceit in more than twenty widely covered murder cases, we can learn to opt for honesty in our own lives and avoid similar outcomes.

[42] In February 2011, Velez-Mitchell released a third book, titled Addict Nation: an Intervention for America.

[43] Velez-Mitchell's fourth book, Exposed: The Secret Life of Jodi Arias, was released in August 2013 and debuted at #5 on the New York Times Bestseller list.

[50] While working at Celebrity Justice, Velez-Mitchell’s reporting on animal cruelty earned that show two Genesis Awards from the Humane Society of the United States.