Meet Jennifer Tripucka | Founder + CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jennifer Tripucka and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
Atomic Habits is one of my favorite books – and so helpful to any entrepreneur looking to grow and scale. Habit stacking is something I love doing – answering emails while on the treadmill; making tasks part of my daily routine.

In general, as an entrepreneur, I think we can get caught up in the day to day weeds of the to-do lists. But consistency, assessing your goals and process, and endurance is key. Every day, for the first five years of starting my hyperlocal news brand, I would write. I would write before work, I would write after work, and I would ensure that I never missed a day. The consistency aspect of growth is often overlooked — and always is crucial in progress.

I also think that constantly switching gears, while necessary, is detrimental to the deep work that is sometimes needed for startup life. I always ensure I have time to focus a few hours per week on long-term goals, progress, and setup of what our next steps and pathways look like.

Entrepreneurship is hard work. So there’s no right answer — and always evolving, and being open to growth, is key.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I am the founder of The Local Girl Media Group, which is a multi-region platform with several hyperlocal news and lifestyle sister brands.

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 5 employees/editors, over 20 freelancers, and a business we’ve started to scale.

Everyone who works with us lives locally, which makes for a really authentic experience for our readers.

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 $35K 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 The Montclair Girl 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 2023, we launched The Asbury Girl, which is dedicated to all things Jersey Shore. In 2024, we’re launching The Bergen Girl — which is a lifestyle site dedicated to all things Bergen County. In addition, we have a sister social media brand called The Catskills Girl – all about life in the Catskill Mountains, which is my side project.

On the (other) side, I also consult with small business owners on ways to monetize, grow their brands, strategize for social media, and grow their presence online. Becoming The Local Girl was my first online course, and it debuted in 2023, with dozens of new students registered.

The Local Girl brand also launched a very popular e-book called ’10K in 50 Days’ — a step-by-step calendar to growing your Instagram presence in less than two months.

We’re always evolving, and we love experiential content around all the hyperlocal happenings in our area.

In the future, we’re looking for local partners that are interested in starting their own hyperlocal communities within our network.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is the core of what we do at The Local Girl brands — share the best places to eat, drink, visit — so this is my favorite!

Hoboken, New Jersey is one of the most walkable cities in America with a walking score of 95 (just ask Apartment Therapy, I did a piece on it for them!), and there is so much to do.

If you had a week in Hoboken, you’d have to ensure you:
– Visit Frank Sinatra’s Birthplace and the Hoboken Museum
– Kayak at Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse and take in the views of the Hudson from uptown (summers — on weekends only)
– Browse books and the ‘Library of Things’ at the Hoboken Public Library.
– Walk along Court Street and snap some photos, and window shop on Washington at all of the local boutiques
– Watch a locally-produced show at the Mile Square Theatre.
– In the summer: Join an outdoor workout class on Pier A with a view of the skyline. Walk over to Pier C for some more world-class NYC views. On Wednesday nights in the summer, there are also
– Participate in the self-guided Sinatra walking tour and find Ol’ Blue Eyes’ birthplace.
– Time-travel to the early 1900s by visiting the Erie Lackawanna Terminal waiting room.
– Pick up rare vinyl records from Tunes, one of the longest standing record stores in the area
– Rent a Citi bike and pedal around the waterfront

As far as food + drink — Hoboken is known for its dining scene with one of the most bars and restaurants per capita in the United States. A few favorites:
– Do an Italian deli tour – Fiore’s, Losurdo Brothers, Lisa’s, M & P Biancamano, Vito’s, and Luca Brasi’s
– Little Bar uptown, great for cocktails
– Antique Bar & Bakery – known for its coal-fired oven and awesome ambiance
– Otok Bakery – still uses the same recipe that Frank Sinatra loved, when he lived here and would have bread shipped to California from Hoboken (formerly Dom’s Bakery)
– Try any dish from La Isla — was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives!
– Dig into a Sicilian pie from Torna’s.
– Enjoy a wine flight at Bin 14 or Grand Vin
– Score a reservation at Augustino’s, a celeb favorite and old-school Italian vibe.
– Have brunch at the oldest restaurant in Hoboken — Elysian Cafe
– Enjoy the view and dishes from Blue Eyes, an Italian-owned waterfront spot
– Nosh on a bowl of pasta from Leo’s, an 80-year-old restaurant with a shrine to Frank Sinatra
– Eat Indian at Karma Kafe, a beloved Indian spot in town.
– Enjoy a doughnut + a salad at locally-owned salad spot, Alfalfa
– Dig into a Snowboken from Dino & Harry’s, or grab a martini + steak — the porterhouse is delicious.

There are so many more — that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We have a whole website full of ideas on HobokenGirl.com!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have had several wonderful mentors and inspirations throughout my time as an entrepreneur. My former colleague (now yoga studio owner in Hoboken), Kate Lombardo, was instrumental in helping me taking our first brand to the next level.

At the time, in 2013, I was new to the field, and so was she — I had a love of writing and blogging, and we were both of us educators in the public school system. She had a marketing brain helped us start to view Hoboken Girl as more than just a blog, and more of a business + website, complete with social media.

Kate was looking to leave teaching, teach yoga, and get into marketing — and pitched the idea of coming on to the brand as a marketing consultant. From there, we worked on monetizing, creating unique events, and even our first media kit.

Kate is still a great friend and colleague — she owns a local + national yoga studio in Hoboken called YogaRenew, and we actually team up for events to give back to local charities in the community between our two brands.

Website: TheLocalGirl.com

Instagram: instagram.com/thejennifertrip

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejennifertrip/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifertripucka

Other: For Hoboken Girl content: HobokenGirl.com For Montclair Girl content: TheMontclairGirl.com For Asbury Girl content: TheAsburyGirl.com For The Local Girl Brands: TheLocalGirl.com For our online courses: Coaching.TheLocalGirl.com

Image Credits
Will Ferman, The Local Girl Media Group