Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Tripucka.
Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am the founder of The Local Girl Media Group, which is a multi-regional platform with several hyperlocal news and lifestyle sister brands that share articles, social content, and more in each community. Our sites/brands include The Hoboken Girl, The Montclair Girl, The Asbury Girl, and The Catskills Girl — all dedicated to local happenings in each respective area.
At each location, we are a team of locals, and really since the start – that was always my goal. My team is everything!
When I was in 8th grade, I started a town-wide newspaper just for fun. My dad would drive me around, and I’d ask the local pizza shop and vet to advertise and write all sorts of columns and different articles. I always had a love for writing and editing.
Fast-forward to 2012, and a few years after I had just moved to Hoboken while working in Newark in education, I wanted to explore the area more and make new friends (my grandparents had textile businesses in Hudson County for years, but living there on my own was a new experience). I decided to create a small blog (gahhh if you could see that interface website now!) and showcase the amazing businesses that were all around the area. I couldn’t believe how many were around, with so much charm in such a small city.
I decided to chronicle my adventures, writing about all the fun happenings and local businesses while I worked full-time as a school counselor. Blogging started as just a side hobby combined with social media, and over the last 11 years, morphed into a full-scale media outlet — complete with five employees/editors, over 15 freelancers, and a business we’ve started to scale. Everyone who works with us lives locally, which makes for a really fun experience.
While doing Hoboken Girl stuff on the side, I left my school job to work as an editor/social media manager at Brides Magazine at Condé Nast (now Dot Dash) — and then took the business full-time in 2017. I wanted to create a place for people to feel like they have a ‘best friend’ and go-to place for fun content, information, and knowledge — and that’s the true community feel behind our brands.
During that time, we also started Hoboken Girl Helps, which organizes and highlights community events giving back to various non-profit organizations. To date, we’ve raised over $30K for local charities.
Everything we cover — events, local news, lifestyle content, real estate, wellness — all has a fun spin that feels like your best friend is just giving you the full scoop on all the fun things going on in your area. We launched @themontclairgirl platform in 2021 and are continuing to expand at our own pace as we encounter people that want to get involved in various cities around the area.
In 2021, we launched The Montclair Girl — our first formal sister brand, and in 2023 we launched The Asbury Girl, which is dedicated to all things Jersey Shore. We also have an offshoot social media brand called The Catskills Girl – all about life in the Catskill Mountains.
I’ve also created a coaching platform to help fellow entrepreneurs and content creators monetize within their own communities called Becoming The Local Girl, as part of The Local Girl Media Group’s larger brand.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As an entrepreneur, it is never a smooth road — one with bumps and turns and flips upside down.
A few of my biggest obstacles have been taking this as a side passion project to a full-time job after working in corporate at Conde Nast and growing a team in such a time of uncertainty the last few years.
When you’re a smaller startup, growing pains are real. We recently launched The Asbury Girl (and in 2021, The Montclair Girl), and managing multiple brands is a challenge. Luckily, we have an amazing team and local writers in each location that really have their boots on the ground, knowing so much about each area.
I think another thing that is often not talked about is how much time it takes to grow a brand. People think that things happen for us overnight, and it’s hardly the case. I first starting blogging in 2012 as a solo blogger, and within a few years, was still barely monetizing. After leaving my FT job to do Hoboken Girl full-time in 2017, that was when I took the first true leap of faith and went all in. Still, it’s always a rollercoaster, even now.
Never get comfortable when you’re an entrepreneur — it’s just the way of life.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Local Girl Media Group brands all have local resident writers and editors who cover various local lifestyle topics in each hyperlocal area — including food, drink, things to do, volunteering, wellness and self-care, real estate, local news updates, and more.
We also do content creation and marketing for local businesses and brands via our platforms.
While I started the brands, it’s truly the writers, creators, and locals that bring them to life. There’s nothing like local communities celebrating the things they love about their neighborhoods. We write about the things that bring each community to life — the people, the places, the fun — engaging and fun content that’s informative, helpful, resourceful, and friendly.
Each site also has a give-back component, sharing about volunteer opportunities, ways to give back, and often donating to local non-profits in need. In both Hoboken and Montclair areas, the sites have donated over $30,000 to local non-profit organizations over the last few years.
What sets us apart is we’re not only on social media, though that is a big part of our brands. Each brand is unique yet familiar and a hybrid of both website/article/news content and influencer-style, engaging, content-forward social media — creating a strong community of locals that come together to enjoy content, experience local life, and discover new things, places, and information about living in the respective area.
Additional sister brands include The Hoboken Girl, The Asbury Girl, The Montclair Girl, The Jersey City Girl, and The Catskills Girl.
Any big plans?
The Asbury Girl is the new sister brand of The Local Girl Media Group, which is a hyper-local media and lifestyle brand at the Jersey Shore. It’s been several years in the making, and we finally decided to take the leap on Memorial Day Weekend and launch its social platforms officially, with our website following in August of 2023. Since inception, we’ve already grown organically to over 20,000+ Instagram followers in just a few short months.
We’ve also recently launched our brand-wide real estate directory, which has a unique spin on local real estate content — both a directory of listings that lives on all of our sites, with a weekly editorial component sharing all the listings on our sites via articles and social media. We’re working on making the rental market more accessible to renters and landlords as well, as it has become a go-to search resource in our sister brand areas for buying, selling, or renting a place to live.
It’s super helpful for anyone growing a social media platform or brand, and we release lots of helpful educational content throughout the year completely free as well as some of our larger programs. We can also be found on social media @thelocalgirlHQ!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://coaching.thelocalgirl.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelocalgirlhq/ | instagram.com/thejennifertrip
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLocalGirlHQ/
- Other: https://tiktok.com/@thejennifertrip
tiktok.com/thelocalgirlHQ
Image Credits
Will Ferman – Headshot
