Terms

"JoClub stands for the Journaling Club, but also makes sense because of my name." Jo Franco begins. "When I first started writing I realized that I had large feelings. I also knew my older siblings did not want to hear about it. Therefore, I began writing."

"I lived in a state of denial and in a state of hiding, talking Portuguese and trying to learn English by tripping through the maze," she recalled. "I learnt a lot of different languages as I was always awed by being accepted. In the meantime, I was unpopular because I was considered to be an odd child. I looked different to everybody around me. I was the smallest kid so I had this quiet voice and muted personality.

"Of course I'm able to think back now that's the way it went however, in the moment there was a constant ache of  wondering 'Why do I feel misunderstood And how we all go through this."

Luckily, Jo had the tool of journaling: "I had a more compassionate relationship with myself, just observing without judgment. I wrote about all this negative things, yet I'm aware that good things occurred within my own life. I started to tweak my writing, not just what I had written, but weirdly reverse engineering my perception of things since I was looking for positive stories. I would have to observe positive things to have positive experiences that I could write about. I became a more positive person. It helped me become more optimistic."

Understanding the context

When she attended college located in Manhattan, Jo was overwhelmed by the volume of voices she was competing with. She was also able to locate a much-needed place within her journals. "It was no matter whether I resided located in the States or on a trip I was able to use this device that enabled me to go back to my own self.

"My "why" is to give individuals the same sense of "You're gonna be okay no matter how bleak situations are. Not only will you be able to support yourself in your own way, but also it's also lovely to record your experience by writing it down. In doing so is a small act of appreciation that it actually began to happen. Your identity will always be in personal space and within your own head."

"There's scientific evidence to back this," she continues. "There are clinical trials of recording gratitude as a method of medicine. When people write down their gratitude are more content."

"Give your mind relief. Take the weight out of your mind and write it down on paper. When you write about unpleasant events, you allow you a distance that allows you to think about it with an empathetic reaction. The emotions can make us insane. They are at the root of everything. They are at the root of confidence, at base of charisma, and that is the reason for being in a space and being able to draw positive energy."

"Maybe this could be a membership"

Jo definitely had to a great deal of happiness by 2020. Thanks to her YouTube channel that had more than a million subscribers she earned money to travel. "I had this exciting private life but behind the scenes, I wrote. It was what I really wanted to do: what was really me was journaling."

In January of 2020 she landed her first Netflix job as the host of The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals. "It was a step away from YouTube and into the traditional way of presentation. If anybody's had the pleasure of working on a production stage, they'll know that these times aren't short. It's 16 hours and lots of 'hurry up and sit'. You're ready to go for makeup, hair and everything is done. You have your lines to draw in your mind, and then you're thinking, "No I'm not kidding We need to stop for a moment'!"

Between those pauses often lasting for long periods, Jo would write. "Writing was something I loved which is why I wanted to make it into a profession." When covid hit and the show stopped the main source of income dried up.

"I was nervous, just like everyone was. I decided to share photos from my journal entries. Cut to 100 days later and I was journaling with the world on Instagram Stories. I thought to myself, "Hey, maybe this is a membership' - maybe people would pay to be within a room online together and journal together. This was the way JoClub got started. It was just four years ago, which is crazy!"

While watching the Netflix program, Jo realized that journaling was a lens through her eyes that she was able to see the world. "It wasn't just an interest. When you're traveling every two days, it's hard to not be exhausted. It's easy to get caught up in something which has nothing to do with the work you're to be paid.

"You recognize, "This is how I make sense of the world. This is a lifestyle.' It was obvious to me if I put aside all other things, the only thing they cannot take away from me is writing. It was crucial for me to incorporate that into the next phase of my professional life."

Her work is bigger than she can imagine.

Jo put herself into the project. "I posted three videos per week, in three languages. I had to hire individuals, and then fire them. I learned what it was creating a content machine."

Something had to change. "I did not want to constantly be working. If you're sick or burned out, which is a common occurrence for creators, you're not going to be able to make money. I've realized that if this is a career that I'm gonna maintain for the foreseeable future I must find ways to keep my name from the opportunities to make money."

Jo decided to make something bigger than herself. The journaling club started in earnest on Zoom: "The membership started at $19 a month and included a monthly live phone call and I would send daily journal prompts for everyone's inbox."

She wanted to curate an experience that was similar to a yoga class: two questions, followed by the discussion. Then two more prompts and then breakout rooms. "It became IP (intellectual property)," she recalls. "After six months, I asked myself, can I train facilitators to run these sessions? Indeed, will these facilitators enrich JoClub in ways I never had the chance to? They was looking to "extract the joy" and work alongside the facilitators, who were once members, to create an art journaling style and a "bring your own song' for budding musicians and other such.

"Now there are six sessions per month, and I host the number of sessions I'd like," she continues. "Beautiful things that I couldn't imagine happening began to happen: I host retreats and I conducted a pilot project at a university and we're developing different problems. It wouldn't have been possible to do this if I had kept it as Jo Franco's community with me at the top."

Cultural and social cohesion

"An interesting thing about the membership model is that it creates a culture," she adds. "If somebody's paying to join and they're entering your home. Then you can design your house according to your preferences." Jo and her team have analyzed ways to create more engaging conversations so that "people are talking in the areas of the community, and people feel they're receiving the value for their money."

"It's what differentiates an audience and a membership," she adds. "An audience is likely to interact with what you're creating and it's not actually an exchange of ideas. If I share videos and people leave comments on it, I'll respond, but with a community which I'm curating, I'm a part of the structure of the community - the minute they enter the group."

Jo is thinking several times about the procedure for onboarding and the way to handle new members. "How can we reduce the impact of a person walking into a room and feeling that they don't know anybody? This is the time to dial in on the curating of culture, and this is why people stay for a long time."

She knows this is not easy. "It's something you have to be passionate about to continue to improve since a member's membership is something that is constantly evolving. If you do not pay attention to what's going on, you will lose all your members."

It's evident that Jo has brought the empathy and self-awareness derived from journals into the manner she manages her membership. She believes that journaling brings a self-awareness we're not taught as kids: "We're not given tools to process emotion. There are tools that can help you save yourself from losing your footing. I was astonished by these advantages. It was just a wonderful leisure activity. As I grew older I realized, "Damn! it's been my secret""

People often ask her 'Jo you're just 30, what did you do all this? I've just written about it and everything worked out," she laughs.

Additional information

To learn more details about Jo Franco and to become an active part of JoClub Go on joclub.world.