# How Gayjoy Grew to 1,000 Subscribers as a Solo Creator Using beehiiv

## Building queer visibility, community, and pop culture commentary beyond major cities

Written by  
Kanishka Kumawat  
Published on  
07 Apr 2025

### Overview

**Gayjoy Digest** is a weekly newsletter covering queer pop culture, celebrity news, and community stories, built for lesbian, trans, and nonbinary readers who are often underserved by mainstream media.

Founded by **Nicole Ripka**, Gayjoy started as an extension of a fast-growing queer events brand in New York City. But the newsletter was created with a broader mission: reach queer people outside major cities who may not have access to in-person community or representation.

In under a year, Gayjoy Digest grew to **1,000 subscribers**, driven by authenticity, partnerships, and beehiiv’s built-in growth tools.

### The Newsletter

- **Newsletter:** Gayjoy Digest
- **Founder:** Nicole Ripka
- **Frequency:** Weekly
- **Subscribers:** 1,000+
- **Focus:** Queer pop culture, celebrity news, deep dives, and community spotlights

Each edition blends light-hearted gossip—queer celebrity relationships, coming-out moments, upcoming films—with thoughtful cultural analysis and community features.

### The Challenge

As a solo founder, Nicole needed a platform that supported:

- Organic growth without heavy operational overhead
- Referral-driven expansion
- Long-term audience ownership

While Substack was appealing from a branding perspective, it lacked the built-in growth infrastructure needed for a one-person operation focused on scaling.

### Why beehiiv

Gayjoy migrated to beehiiv to prioritize growth from day one.

Key reasons:

- Native referral program (no third-party tools required)
- Platform designed for newsletters as businesses—not just writing tools
- Strong founder-led product vision

“When I found Tyler’s post about building Morning Brew’s referral system, it was a no-brainer. As a solo entrepreneur, I need growth support.”

### Growth Strategy

Gayjoy’s growth has been driven by:

- **Referral incentives** (e.g. Pride Guides unlocked with one referral)
- **Events-to-newsletter flywheel**, converting in-person attendees into long-term readers
- **Partnerships and earned media**, including features in _The New York Times_ and _The Cut_

One referral campaign alone generated **70 referrals** from a list of ~1,000 subscribers—validating referrals as a scalable, low-effort growth lever.

### Audience Focus

Gayjoy is intentionally built for:

- Lesbian, trans, and nonbinary readers
- Queer people outside major cities
- Readers seeking joyful, affirming representation—not corporate-filtered coverage

The newsletter functions as both media and community touchpoint for readers who may not have local access to queer spaces.

### Favorite beehiiv Feature

**Referral Program**

“If your platform doesn’t offer built-in growth, you’re wasting time. With beehiiv, the referral system is just there—and it works.”

### Results

- 1,000+ subscribers as a solo creator
- High-quality referrals driven by community incentives
- Strong conversion from events to email
- A scalable foundation for expanding Gayjoy into a larger lifestyle business

Gayjoy Digest proves that you don’t need a team or paid ads to grow a meaningful media brand, you need the right platform.

beehiiv gave a solo founder the tools to:

- Launch fast
- Turn readers into referrers
- Own the audience relationship from day one

If you’re building a newsletter rooted in community, identity, or culture and want growth without operational drag- **Start your newsletter on beehiiv for free**