Case Study: Gayjoy by Nicole Ripka

Nicole Ripka is building the lifestyle business she needed growing up in a community that had no LGBTQIA visibility. For many, coming out requires taking a leap into the unknown and may be preceded by years of struggle. Nicole, at age 22 with few queer people in her circle, turned to streaming queer shows on Netflix. As she describes it, she was obsessively watching shows that she could see herself in. Nicole knows firsthand the importance of visibility in helping people to not come out as themselves, but to feel as she ultimately did, so glad to be gay.

Gayjoy is not just one thing, it’s an outlet for Nicole’s passion helping queer people connect and telling queer stories. Gayjoy is maybe best known for hosting events big and small (the Gayjoy Pride party sold out in 12 minutes) in the New York City area. But Nicole is committed to reaching those who live outside of New York, who have little access to queer community. Enter the ‘Gayjoy Digest.’ ‘Gayjoy Digest’ is a weekly newsletter offering the latest in queer pop culture gossip. Readers get a light-hearted dose of celebrity news that they can cheer: queer celebrity pairings, a famous person comes out, upcoming movies featuring queer stories, etc.

‘Gayjoy Digest’ also features deep dives on queer culture phenomena like cottage core, tops and bottoms and will occasionally spotlight a community member. We talked with Nicole about what authentic visibility looks like and why beehiiv is the growth-oriented platform she needs as a solo entrepreneur.

The Newsletter: Gayjoy Digest

Founders: Nicole Ripka, CEO

Top posts to check out:

Some gay people kissed on TV this week: June 1, 2022

We’re just curious- is it serious?: May 26, 2022

Instagram: Follow for events

2022 Goals

10,000 subs and a successful referral program - those are the business goals. There are ample editorial goals and formats I want to explore.

Advice for other writers

Experiment and don't take yourself so seriously in the beginning. We have some pretty insane people reading our newsletter, from Alex Lieberman to Jenna Lyons so write as well for 800 people as you would for 800,000.

Favorite beehiiv feature

Just ​​knowing that Tyler is product-obsessed and a real visionary. As he builds features, I can think about how to evolve my business.

Previous newsletter platform and why you switched

It was hard for me to not choose Substack because they’re sexy and a lot of people I admire are on Substack. But I’m a solo entrepreneur so I need support in growth. When I found Tyler’s Medium post about building the referral system for Morning Brew, It was a no brainer for me.

Advice for anyone considering a switch to beehiiv

The platform just keeps getting better every time I sign on.

Tell me about ''Gayjoy Digest'

‘Gayjoy Digest’ is a weekly roundup on all things queer culture, news, events, and community. It’s part of a larger business I started called Gayjoy, a queer collective with the ethos that you can never have enough opportunity for queer connection and never enough queer content. I was looking at @DeuxMois everyday and wondering why there wasn’t a gay version of it. My larger goal is to build a lifestyle business that responds to community needs- we need more content where we can see ourselves. We need safe and inclusive spaces where people can connect.

Why a newsletter?

I love thinking about the newsletter as an evolved blog, but it's even better because it gets delivered right to your inbox. I think newsletters are an amazing way to build a connection with your audience. My time spent reading newsletters is cutting into my media diet at large. Instead of watching an hour of tv, I’ll read an hour of newsletters.

I saw no one was doing a queer pop culture newsletter for lesbians, so I was immediately like how do I do this?

Who is your audience?

The target consumer for Gayjoy is lesbian, trans, and nonbinary folks, queer people who are generally underserved. The brand is based in NYC and there have been lots of events and meet-ups. But I’m obsessed with the customer who does not live in the city, who doesn’t have as much access to queer community as we do in cosmopolitan cities. Reaching them with a newsletter is an amazing opportunity.

Why pop culture?

Pop culture is so mindless and fun. But we’re not like regular TMZ or Page Six, our celebrity gossip is often someone coming out. And it’s a huge deal for us that famous people are coming out, we’re obsessed with them, we want to talk about them. Cara Delevigne gets photographed with a woman, it’s a lot of that. Rebel Wilson just came out, it was already known in the queer community but we can celebrate that.

With the Gayjoy Digest, I want people to feel more connected to their queerness. I want them to have a moment to laugh, a moment to feel a part of a community. I had no queer references where I grew up and I think it was detrimental to my development. In college, I didn’t know any queer people until my last year. So coming out was a struggle, and I turned to streaming queer tv shows over and over.

What do mainstream outlets get wrong about queer gossip?

I think it’s the difference between a mom and pop shop and a big business. What exists feels dated and it doesn’t resonate with everyone, especially the younger generation. Look at how Morning Brew entered their space as a new voice. I wasn’t going to be a Wall Street Journal reader, but I read The Morning Brew. They weren’t competing with the WSJ. Conde Nast has a queer publication called ‘Them’. I love that they are doing that, it’s a huge service to the community and they are reaching millions of people. But they are fitting queer content into the box of things that Conde Nast already does. They’re approach and that of other legacy media companies is often too objective. They’re taking a liberal point of view but it’s vanilla, there’s no spice. I think it’s what can happen when you’re reaching that many people, you end up catering to advertisers and compromising.

Tell me about the events

We’ve thrown over 200 events. Some are larger, like a punk rock concert with 250 attendees. Others are more intimate. Maud, Dakota Johnson’s sexual wellness company, approached me about hosting a queer movie night for her next movie “Am I Ok?’ I’m obsessed with serving this community, providing spaces and fun things. I’ve had couples meet at these events and it fosters a lot of connection.

I can tie them into the newsletter. We ran a referral incentive recently, if you refer one person, you get our Pride Guide. It’s a 3-page guide to all the events in NYC. One referral is such a low bar and we got 70 referrals from it. We are currently at a thousand subscribers, so I was pumped.

What does growth look like as a solo entrepreneur?

It’s a lot of work. I’m a full-time student, it’s a lot. But I love it. And you figure out how to develop systems for getting things done and move quicker. The key for me is partnerships. You get to share the pressure of things going well with others who are invested and that’s a good feeling. Playboy reached out to us, I didn’t go through with it but it happened. We were featured in the New York Times and The Cut. This all happened organically. I have a thousand ideas, I think this can be a major business. It’s absolutely going to expand. I get to do gay shit for a living? Hire in our community and support mutual aids? Yes, that’s what I want.