Each week, the Center for Cooperative Media introduces you to one of its partners in the New Jersey news ecosystem. The Center facilitates a network of New Jersey local news publishers, called the NJ News Commons, who collaborate together on projects, share content and ideas, and support one another.
Tell us about yourself:
I am the founder and editor-in-chief of HobokenGirl.com, which I started over five years ago. My background is actually in psychology (I have a M.Ed in counseling psychology and B.A. from Lehigh University) and I was working in the public school system as a school counselor when I started the site as a personal project. When I realized my true calling was writing, editorial, and social media — I applied for and landed a job at BRIDES Magazine (of Condé Nast) a few years later. I worked there for over a year as a digital editor and then decided to branch out on my own and take Hoboken Girl full time as I knew it was what I was meant to do.
Tell us about your publication:
Hoboken Girl has grown from a personal blog started to explore an area that I fell in love with into a lifestyle website with a team of 6 and over 20 contributors. We’re a small business media company that showcases local businesses and share newsworthy/fun lifestyle topics focusing on the Hudson County area. We also have a shop local directory of businesses that our readers can utilize to #shopsmall and #shoplocal.
What makes you get up and go to work every day?
I love that no day is the same and that every day we’re creating new, creative content to get people excited about where they live — and our readers — our readers make it so much fun. They’re engaged in our content, send us tips of new spots to check out, and they love the community of Hoboken and Jersey City and beyond just as much as we do.
What are you most passionate about when it comes to journalism?
I am passionate about sharing the go-to spots and special places that haven’t been explored — and connecting all of the amazing businesses to the residents of New Jersey, especially those living in Hoboken and Jersey City.
What do you think makes Hoboken special and/or different from any other place in New Jersey?
Yes, Hoboken is unique in that it has the most bars per square mile anywhere in the country, but it’s so much more than that. We have amazing fitness studios, health food spots, restaurants, things to do — and most importantly, people. There are so many inspiring entrepreneurs and other residents that make up our tightly-knit community that is only 1-mile square. And Jersey City is experiencing a similar renaissance, and has been so much fun to explore. It’s one of the most diverse cities in the country, something that we should be extremely proud of.