Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Moorhouse.
Hannah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Old Town Girlies was founded by me, Hannah Beth Moorhouse, and my friend Meaghan Pawelczyk. We’re both military spouses, and the idea started with something pretty simple: wanting to make friends. Our husband’s military careers brought us to Old Town Alexandria in 2024, and we understood how much effort it could take to build a community in a new place. We wanted to make that experience a little easier for other women.
We began sharing local recommendations and hosting meetups. Some of our earliest events had just one person show up! But we kept going because even one new connection felt worthwhile. Over time, women started coming back, bringing friends, and suggesting things they wanted to do together.
In May 2026, we launched the Old Town Girlies Social Club to give women more consistent opportunities to connect. We also developed relationships with local businesses, which became such a special part of what we were building. We could help women discover places in their own neighborhood while supporting the people behind them.
That eventually led to Girlies Night Out, our event series featuring local business pop-ups, creative activities, giveaways, and time to meet new people. Our most recent event brought together 100 women. Looking around that room, knowing we started with events where one person came, was incredibly meaningful.
My background is in social entrepreneurship and nonprofit fundraising, so bringing people together around an idea has always been something I love. But building this has been personal, too. I’ve found friendships and a sense of belonging through the same community Meaghan and I hoped to create for others. We’re still learning as we grow, and I’m excited to keep making it easier for women to show up, feel welcome, and find their people.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a completely smooth road! One of our biggest challenges was creating a different event every time. We were constantly reinventing the wheel, coming up with a new concept, finding a venue, coordinating partners, and figuring out logistics from scratch. It was fun, but it took a lot of work to keep that going alongside our other responsibilities.
Launching Girlies Night Out has been a huge turning point. Having a consistent event series gives us a foundation to build on, while different local businesses and activities keep each evening fresh. Women know what to expect, and we can spend more time improving the experience and helping people connect. Getting here has involved plenty of trial and error, but we’re finding a format that works for both our community and the local businesses we love supporting.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Old Town Girlies is a women’s community that helps people build friendships while discovering and supporting local businesses in Alexandria. Meaghan and I founded it because we know how hard it can be to find your people, especially when you’re new to an area. We want women to have somewhere they can show up on their own and feel welcome.
Our signature event series, Girlies Night Out, brings together local women for an evening of interactive pop-ups, creative activities, beauty and wellness experiences, giveaways, and goodie bags. You might learn a hairstyling technique, try calligraphy, discover a local boutique, and meet a new friend all in one evening. Having something to do together makes starting a conversation feel easier.
We also offer the Old Town Girlies Social Club, a $20 monthly membership that includes complimentary admission to Girlies Night Out, upgraded goodie bags, and access to our members-only Discord community. Women can also purchase individual event tickets without becoming members.
For businesses, we offer sponsorship opportunities through giveaways, goodie bag contributions, and onsite activations, supported by promotion across our social media and event communications. These partnerships help businesses build visibility with local women while giving attendees something memorable to experience or take home. We love helping people discover a business by meeting its owner, trying a service, or experiencing a product firsthand.
I’m most proud of how those two parts of our brand work together: women finding community and local businesses building relationships with potential customers. Growing from events with one attendee to a night with 100 women has been exciting, but seeing someone return, bring a friend, or feel comfortable coming alone means just as much. You don’t need an established friend group to join us. There’s a place for you here.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I think I’m willing to take risks when I care deeply about the idea, but I also like to be thoughtful about how I take them. My background is in social entrepreneurship and fundraising, so I’m comfortable putting an idea in front of people and asking them to believe in it. It feels much more vulnerable when that idea is your own!
Starting Old Town Girlies meant putting ourselves out there before we knew whether anyone would show up. Hosting an event with one attendee can feel discouraging, but we kept trying, listening, and adjusting. Launching a paid membership was another step. We were asking women to trust us to create something worth returning to, and that was a responsibility we took seriously.
Moving to part-time work also gave me more room to build the business. That meant stepping back from some predictable income to invest time in something that was still developing. I didn’t have every answer, but I wanted to give the idea a real chance.
For me, taking a risk doesn’t mean ignoring the numbers or assuming everything will work out. It means understanding what I’m committing, trying something I can learn from, and being willing to change course. Girlies Night Out came out of recognizing that creating a completely different event every time wasn’t sustainable. We had to let go of that approach and try a more consistent format, which has become a turning point for us.
I’m learning that you don’t have to feel completely confident before you begin. Sometimes confidence comes from doing the work, seeing what happens, and realizing you can handle the next step.
Pricing:
- $20 membership
- $28 ticketed events
- $100-250 sponsorship
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldtowngirlies/
Image Credits
Stacey Windsor
