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Once upon a time, the big, beautiful site you're reading right now was but a thought scribbled on the back of a napkin. We started out with $5,000, one post a week, and an office that doubled as the kitchen of one of our founders.
Now, Refinery29 is an 80+ person company with correspondents and newsletters in six cities (and more coming), creating more than 1,500 stories a month, selling custom-made products, and curating our own closet-inspired online store for our millions of fans...yes, MILLIONS. All while staying true to the mission we set for ourselves more than seven years ago — to become the world's place for discovering and celebrating personal style.
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Maybe that's why the ultra-respected business journal Inc. put us at 179 of their annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the United States — 500 businesses who've managed to stay ahead of the recession with a combination of innovative visions, creative workers, and a little bit of luck. If that doesn't sound like a huge deal to you, consider that we beat out nearly 7 million other private employer-based companies and that past honorees include Zappos, Microsoft, and Facebook.
And what do we have that those 7 million other companies don't? Well, you. Inc.'s honor and our success would have never been possible without your support and engagement with us every day. It's you, dear R29er, who keeps us inspired and on top of our game.
And remember, it only gets better from here.