The Local Girl 
At The Local Girl, we’re always moving — building community, launching new ideas, and finding meaningful ways to connect people to the places they love. Looking back on this year, there’s so much to celebrate. From major milestones to small-but-mighty moments, here are ten things we’re especially proud of. Read on for more about the 10 things we’re most proud of in 2025.
1. The Hoboken Girl and Montclair Girl Puppy Bowl
Few things bring people together quite like puppies. Our Puppy Bowl was the perfect mix of joy, community, and feel-good fun — a reminder that sometimes the simplest ideas can have the biggest impact. Seeing our audience rally around something so wholesome (and adorable) reinforced what we love most about the Local Girl community. This year, our donations supported Wise Animal Rescue, a New Jersey-based animal rescue group, and Los Angeles-based Ace of Hearts animal rescue, in support of pets in need as a result of the Los Angeles wildfires.
2. The Hoboken Girl’s Women Business Owners’ Networking Night
The Hoboken Girl team hosted its annual Women’s Business Owners Networking Event at Yoga Renew in Hoboken. Over 100 local women business owners attended the event, which was sponsored by other local businesses. The event was also a fundraiser for Wise Animal Rescue. In total, $3,065 was raised for the rescue. A huge thank you to all who attended, our sponsors, and the team YogaRenew for helping us do this event and being able to donate the entire proceeds to the rescue that is near and dear to our hearts — it was such a special time. Read more here.
3. Working With Stevens Institute of Technology Students
This year, we had the pleasure of working with a team of business students from Hoboken’s Stevens Institute of Technology as part of their capstone project. The students partnered with TLG Founder Jen Tripucka to develop a business model and licensing materials for future TLG locations — including our newest expansion, The Fairfax Girl.
Their work culminated in a presentation at the 2025 Innovation Expo, and we couldn’t be more impressed. Congratulations to the graduating seniors, and thank you for your thoughtful, strategic, and creative contributions to the future of TLG. Read more here.
4. Our New TLG Website
Some readers may remember that this summer we had a team day out at The Creator’s Loft in Jersey City to take photos and enjoy some time together IRL. That was one out of many (many!) parts to putting the new site together. You’ll find links to our newsletters, our archives, local deals, TLG partner pages, our wedding directory…. everything TLG, all in one spot!
We’re so excited to have all of our brands under one roof (domain?). One visit to TheLocalGirl.com will bring you to all of our brands, including our newest addition, The Fairfax Girl. Please take a look (click?) around and let us know what you think. As always, our emails and DMs are open for feedback. Read more here.
5. Launching The Fairfax Girl (FFX)
It’s all the same great TLG fun — just in Northern Virginia. When TLG’s Deputy Editor Stephanie moved from New Jersey back to her hometown in Virginia, she brought the brand with her. The launch of The Fairfax Girl marks an exciting new chapter for TLG and our growing network of local communities. Road trip, anyone? Read more here.
6. The Hoboken Girl Sandwich Partnership with Alessio’s
TLG Director of Marketing Joelle and TLG Founder Jen with the Alessio’s team presenting a check to the Director of Hudson County CASA. Sandwich photo credit: Hannah Taub
Some ideas start as a fun concept and quickly become a local favorite. The Hoboken Girl Sandwich did exactly that. Partnering with local spots and celebrating food culture in a uniquely TLG way, this project highlighted our love for community-driven collaborations — and great eats. Since 2023, we’ve been able to donate over $10,000 to Hudson County non-profit organizations. At $1 contributed per sandwich, that’s a lot of sandwiches! In 2025, we supported Hudson County CASA as our local non-profit partner. We’re excited to see what 2026 brings, and are starting the year with a new non-profit partner, The Flow Initiative. Read more here.
7. The Local Girl Gives
As a community-first hyperlocal media brand, The Local Girl is dedicated to contributing to the communities that we love so much. Supporting fellow small businesses and showing up to uplift our communities has always been a foundational practice of our brand. Outside of highlighting our vibrant community editorially, The Local Girl also takes pride in our hands-on work in our communities IRL. To further this impact on Giving Tuesday 2025, we asked readers to nominate 10 local nonprofits to which The Local Girl is donating $1,000 each. We asked, you answered, and out of more than 2,000 comments, we selected 10 nonprofits to benefit this year — all from different walks of life and doing incredible things across New Jersey. Read more here.
8. Best Of – Picked by You!
Our Best Of guides are some of the most-loved content we produce — and for good reason. Curated with care and informed by both our team and our readers, these lists celebrate the very best our local communities have to offer. From food and fitness to shopping and services, Best Of is all about local love. This year, HG‘s Best of celebrated 11 years; MG celebrated its 3rd year; and the Jersey Shore Girl joined in on the fun with its first-ever Best Of list. Read more here.
9. The Montclair Girl Market
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The Montclair Girl Market brought our community together in the best way possible. For two weekends, MG sponsored dozens of local vendors as part of the ongoing Montclair Flea at Lackawanna Plaza. Featuring local vendors, small businesses, and creatives, the market was a celebration of entrepreneurship and neighborhood pride. Events like this remind us why supporting local will always be at the core of what we do. Read more here.
10. Growing Together as a Team
Behind every article, event, and launch is a hardworking team that believes deeply in the TLG mission. From strategy sessions to team days and everything in between, we’re proud of the culture we continue to build — one rooted in collaboration, creativity, and genuine connection.
As we look ahead, we’re grateful for our readers, partners, and team members who make all of this possible. Thank you for being part of The Local Girl community — we can’t wait to see what’s next.
