Rachelle J. Hruska

My husband Sean is helping to host this party tonight to celebrate Martin Kippenberger. I’m very excited! And right after, we get to dine at Super Linda’s, the latest restaurant from the cool people of NYC before it opens to the public. Such a great post-baby night out!

Maxwell visited the GofG offices for the first time yesterday. He conducted a really intense editorial meeting. Here he is wiped out after it with editor Chelsea.

chelseaannablog:

Hanging w max - the cutest thing on the planet @rachellehruska (Taken with instagram)

I just did this interview with Stephanie Vorhees (you may remember her from being Kelly Cutrone’s assistant on “Kell on Earth”). She’s a super cute girl and I’m loving Crush New York!

crushnewyork:

Who is Rachelle Hruska? (AKA my new hero)

Rachelle is a 20-something entrepreneur best known for co-founding Guest of a Guest with one of the Winklevi (Cameron), where she resides as Editor-in-chief. In just a handful of years, she took New York by storm and has no plans to stop.

Born and raised in Nebraska, Rachelle moved out East in 2005 post her graduation from Creighton University (with a double major in pre-med and psych). She started her NYC adventure as a nanny, and shortly thereafter started working at a mutual fund. In attempt to break up her day in the finance world, she tried this funny little thing called blogging and was instantly hooked. In the summer of 2007, she began chronicling NYC nightlife, while keeping her identity a secret and in April 2008, she left her cushy job to work on her pet project full time. Guest of a Guest is a website that chronicles the social and cultural lives of young New Yorkers and teaches you how to Crush New York City (and the Hamptons) the right way. Since then, the site has exploded, expanding to other cities such as LA and Washington D.C., and just recently launched its global site. Like me, she drinks the NYC koolaid, and agrees that “New York City is the best city in the world”.

Is there anything Rachelle she can’t do? Not really. Read her interview to learn more about Rachelle, her incredible accomplishments (done at lightning speed), get inspired and learn her favorite places to Crush New York.

1. How did you make the move from finance to working for a start-up? I took my time to get to know the space, meeting with experts like Lockhart Steele for advice before I took the leap and quit my stable job. I became addicted to the start up lifestyle from the beginning. I loved the lack of structure and the unpredictable days. Also, I was totally naive, which in hindsight was probably a benefit.
2. Any advice to entrepreneurs or  aspiring entrepreneurs? My advice to anyone is to find out what it is that makes you want to wake up in the morning to work on. I know it’s cliche, but discovering what you’re passionate about is the greatest search one will embark on, and it’s absolutely necessary to love what you do at all costs.
3. Any mottos/words to live by? Be present. More is more.
4. What are the most rewarding things about working for GofG? Getting to meet people from all walks of life and learning more about myself and my world. I’m constantly inspired by people we profile on our site, as well as by the hundreds of writers, photographers and interns we have in and out of our doors each season.
5. Typical day at GofG? Editorial meeting in morning with the writers and editors, work on my reading list and emails, head to lunch meeting of some sort, come back for any meetings in the office. I really do consider the people at GofG my family. My best friends to this day are mostly made up of past employees of some nature.
6. Where do you see guest of a guest going in the next 5 years, 10 years? We just launched a Global site and I’m hoping we will be hiring more unique individuals across cities around the world to contribute to our site. This year we are hoping to launch more offices around the US as well. It’s hard to look that far in the future, but I will say that we have enough work cut out for us for 2012.
7. Any websites, books or conferences you recommend that aspiring media entrepreneurs read? I have a vigorous list of tumblrs that I follow to get my social media happenings. I would suggest making friends with people in the same space you are hoping to go into. Finding a mentor to help you navigate that space is key. That person can point you in the right direction as far as conferences etc. SXSW was a turning point for me. I went 4 years ago and met many people that were influential to GofG and are still friends. If you are into the tech/social media space I’d absolutely recommend going at least once. NY tech meetup is great too. Also, there are smaller events like obliterati that people put on in NYC that are readily available for you to go to.
8. Best piece of advice for an aspiring self-starter? Be patient. Rome wasn’t built overnight.
9. One thing you wish someone had told you when starting out? Try and find someone outside of your field to look at your product and offer you sound advice. Sometimes you will get caught in your own bubble and miss something that may be obvious to an outsider.
10. Most glamorous moment? Most glamorous moment was dancing to a live performance of Liza Minelli at the Paper magazine party at the NY Public library. That or going to the Natural History Museum gala in the Museum. Growing up you read stories of people that go to these glamorous sorts of parties at places like that. I still have to pinch myself when I go to that sort of stuff, it will always seem glamorous to me.
11. Favorite part about being based in New York City? New York City is the best city in the world. I love the diversity and enthusiasm found here. Since moving to Jane street over a year ago, I have loved getting to know the locally owned shops and restaurants around here. I love Malaparte, and Cafe Cluny, and of course the Waverly Inn* (*full disclosure: my husband owns the place). I LOVE grand central station, all of the museums and the old buildings found in Soho and the Flatiron. The highline has become a new favorite of mine too. My favorite date spots are Raoul’s, Omen and Giorgonie. As for stores, I’m not much of a shopper, but I can’t pass up the sales racks at Scoop and Calypso. Sarabeths, bemelman’s, Barney’s, There is so much to love in NYC I could get caught going on for hours!

Night at the met… (Taken with Instagram at Metropolitan Museum of Art)

With @dannijo and @jodie_snyder getting totally spoiled. (Taken with instagram)

Xmas present from my husband. He knows how much I hate logos so he found me a vintage 60’s Chanel bag without them!

Baby’s first snow… (Taken with instagram)