History and Heart

Refine began in Fall 2023 as a new branch of Hustle, a Faith-based men’s/co-ed community group in Mankato. Hustle was started in Fall 2022 by co-founders Brandon Jackson and Cody Pithan. Both on fire for their Faith and unable to find a campus group that fully matched the Truth they sought to live out, the two decided to try and launch a group focused on growth, love, and community.

Each week, the facilitators of Hustle hosted gatherings designed to provide a welcoming environment for young adults to come together, engage in meaningful conversations, promote personal growth, and make lasting connections. Despite a small start, by the end of the first year, Hustle had gained substantial momentum. This growth led to demand for a separate but parallel women’s community. Enter Payton and Leah, who visited a Hustle co-ed night in October ’23, and Refine was born.

The mission of Hustle and Refine revolves around fostering a non-judgemental community that loves you regardless of your faith background, for we all fall short of His glory! We are speaking, but we are also growing alongside of you girls! While our mission and values are based on the Christian Faith, we make many efforts to ensure that everyone who wants to visit or join our community is not judged or excluded but rather valued, loved, and accepted. Hustle and Refine do about four co-ed nights per semester together, but the groups operate on a weekly basis independently.

We meet on Monday nights during the academic year at MSU Mankato. Hustle is a certified Registered Student Organization with the university, and Refine is in the process of gaining the same certification. While this enables us to reserve rooms, put up posters on campus, etc., we operate independently from the University.