Dre Ramirez is 35. She’s a fifth-generation Angeleno who lives in Downtown LA. After working in marketing for a decade building large-scale campaigns for brands that most people would recognize, one day, she realized she was spending eight months at a time behind a laptop. Her life was consumed with her art, and although she loved the career that she had built for herself, she was lonely. She hadn’t realized how isolating her work was or how quiet her life had become.
“I was like, I need to reach out and make friends,” Ramirez shared. “I just spent the last 10 years building a career and building experiences for all these people, and I somehow lost me in all of that.”
Posting on social media was already a big part of her job in content production. So, she figured, as embarrassing as it was, why not post looking for friends?
“It was kind of humiliating those first few hours,” she said, “because I openly admitted that I was very lonely.”
Dre Ramirez is the founder of Not Staying In, a women-led social club designed for ages 21 and older.
(Not Staying In/Submitted)
When she started on her journey to make new connections by posting on TikTok on July 17, 2025, she had about 200 followers. She assumed her request for pals would be sent to her immediate friends. Instead, her post reached thousands, and of women showed up in her comments who were feeling the exact same way. Her post turned into a group chat, which turned into women actually going out, which resulted in Ramirez producing real events.
“It happened so instantaneously,” she explained. “It was insane. One day, I’m by myself, bored out of my mind, and then that weekend, I’m surrounded by 100 women, and we’re taking over the dance floor. It was completely unexpected.”
Over time, as the groups of women went out, Ramirez started making observations. The crowds of women drew a lot of attention. People would approach them and sometimes those people would be questionable characters, “people pursuing us for all the wrong things,” she said.
Ramirez and her new friends decided to throw their own parties in their own spaces.
“I started thinking, I have all my experience in experiential marketing, I can do this,” she shared. “I can make this happen. I was also that person who now had the platform. So, I did it.”
Ramirez launched Not Staying In, a 21+ women-led social club that now consists of single and married members ranging from 21 to 44. It is LGBTQ+ inclusive.
“What I’ve learned is that when women are allowed to let their guard down, that’s when friendship actually gets to form,” she relayed. “That’s when we get to be ourselves because the reality is that the moment we step out of our doors, our guard is up 24/7. It’s hard to be ourselves and to connect with people.”
“Creating this third space is so needed right now,” she continued. “People feel, especially after 2020, so alone. I have had such a passion for making this come to life. I’m hoping that it can build into something more permanent than just one night.”
Not Staying In is the name of the group, and WeAreNotStayingIn.com is the website. Women need to sign up to become a member (an easy process without a fee) and once accepted, they become official Baddies.
Baddies can join the group chat that lives on Bumble BFF for now. They sometimes watch “Love Island” together through their phones and chat. They also make last-minute plans like grabbing coffee.
“After you’ve been introduced into that world and you’ve been in it for maybe a week or two, by the time you go to an event, you’re already familiar with some of the faces,” said Ramirez. “You’ve seen their profiles, you’ve added them on Instagram or TikTok, you’ve laughed and giggled about something someone shared. It becomes so much easier when you walk into that space.”
Ramirez’s first event, “PURR,” took place in December 2025 at the Somewhere Special rooftop at STILE DTLA, and her most recent one, “No Boys Just Perreo,” happened this past June at The Regent Theater.
“I’m creating this space and using it to give women real jobs,” Ramirez said. “At the door, behind the bar and the DJs are all women. There are a lot of people who support this and believe this should exist.”
“I’ve had people pull me aside and say, ‘I’m now traveling the world with my best friend because I met her on the chat,’” she added. “I’ve had girls who’ve been to Spain, Italy, Puerto Rico this year because they met through the chat. They have said, ‘I’ve always only been able to connect with men. I’ve never felt safe with women, and this is the first time that I’ve actually been able to let my guard down, trust women, make friendships, get dressed up, have girl dinner and enjoy being a woman with them.’ Those are the most memorable moments for me. Like, I did it. We did it. I do this because I don’t want people to feel the way I did. If I can stop a woman in her 20s from looking at herself and going, what did I just do, like I did in my 30s, if I could save the next woman, I would be so happy because I feel like friendship is so important.”
For more information, go to wearenotstayingin.com.