Terms

"JoClub refers to the Journaling Club, but also is a reference to my name." Jo Franco begins. "When I began writing, I knew about this huge emotion and knew my older siblings did not want to know about this. Therefore, I began writing."

"I was born without a passport, in hiding in the shadows, and was using Portuguese and learning English in a tripping maze," she recalls. "I acquired a variety of other languages due to my desire to be heard. At the same time, I felt disregarded because I was among the very few. My appearance was distinct to the other children. I was the smallest kid with a low voice and a quiet personality.

"Of obviously I'm unable to think back now that's what actually happened at the time, I was in an state of despair, wondering why me feel that I'm not understood? How we all go through the same thing."

Happily, Jo used the journaling tool to journal: "I had a more compassionate relationship with myself, having the ability to look at things without judgment. I had written all this negative things, yet I'm aware of the good things that were happening throughout my life. I was able to alter my writing. Not only what I had written however, I started to reverse engineer the way I look at things, because I was looking for positive elements. I needed to look for positive things to have positive thoughts to write about. I began to become an optimistic person. This tool has helped me be more positive."

The context must be understood

When she was a student at the university at Manhattan, Jo was overwhelmed by the number of voices she competed with. However, she was able to find a space within her journals. "It didn't matter whether I was somewhere in the States or was on a vacation, I was able to utilize the device to allow me to go back home and find my home.

"My "why" provides people with that same confidence of "You're gonna be okay no matter how bleak situations occur. Additionally, you'll be able to help yourself by doing what you can however, it's lovely to document your journey - because when you record it, it's an act of appreciation for the fact that it began to happen. Your identity is always the self, and you'll always have your mind."

"There's the scientific evidence to support this assertion," she says. "There was research conducted into writing down gratitude as a form to treat illness. People who record their gratitude on paper are more content."

"Give your mind some time. Release the burden from your thoughts and then put it down on paper. When you write about things that are negative and you write about them, you create an opportunity to buffer the reader to analyze the issue with a more rational response. You can get caught in the throes of emotions. They're at the heart of all things; they're central to confidence, the source of charisma and the core of entering an area and being able to draw good luck."

"Maybe this is one of the memberships"

Jo definitely had many positive events until 2025. Through her YouTube channel, which had millions of viewers, she earned money to travel. "I lived a very exciting and public life, but at simultaneously I was writing. It was what I really was looking forward to doing: what I really wanted to do was write."

In January of 2020, she booked an Netflix job as anchor for The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals. "It was a move away from YouTube and in the more traditional approach to presenting. If anybody has ever had the pleasure of working in a studio and realized time isn't really short. They're 16-hour days and it's an endless rush to get up and sit'. The time has come to dress with makeup, hair done. The lines you're drawing in your mind, and suddenly you're thinking "No I'm not saying that, we have to put it down""

In the midst of a break that could last for an extended duration, Jo would write. "Writing was a passion for me and I always wanted to turn it into something I could earn a living from." When covid hit and the show stopped the main source of income stopped.

"I was nervous, just like everyone else. I began posting pictures from my journals. It was 100 days later and I started sharing my journals to the world via Instagram Stories. I decided, 'Hey perhaps this could be an opportunity to be a part of a club' people would pay for an online space as we journaled with me. That's how JoClub was born. That was four years ago it seems insane!"

In the Netflix show, Jo realized that journaling was the lens by her eyes through which she viewed the world. "It was more than just an interest. When you've been on the road for two days, you're really tired. You're engaged in something that has nothing to do with the work you're supposed to get paid for.

"You are aware, "This is how I see the purpose of my life. It's a way of living. For me, it was evident to give up everything else, the one that they can't take away from me is writing. I was determined to incorporate it into the next chapter in my career."

Her work is bigger than she can imagine.

Jo threw herself into the project. "I was required to upload three videos each week, in three different languages. I needed to recruit individuals, and then fire them. I learned what it was making a machine for content."

However, something had to be changed. "I didn't want to always do the same thing. If you're tired or worn out that's commonplace for creators, it's not likely that you'll succeed in making money. I came to the realization that if I wanted to continue in a career that I'm hoping to continue in the future, I'll need to think of ways to shield my eyes at opportunities for earning money."

Jo thought of creating something bigger than she was. The journaling group started in a big way via Zoom: "The membership started at just $19 per month The benefit was one live call a month and I'd also send daily journal prompts for all of the members' mailboxes."

She imagined a curatorial journey which was similar to a yoga class. Two prompts, then the discussion. Another prompt was followed by then break-out rooms. "It became IP (intellectual property)," she recalls. "After approximately six months of being in JoClub I thought what I could do to help facilitators learn from these sessions? Actually, could these facilitators enrich JoClub in ways I never thought of? She would like to "extract the goodness" and collaborate with the facilitators who were former members, to create the art journaling form along with an opportunity to "bring your own song" for musicians who are just beginning their careers, as well as other similar activities.

"Now there are monthly six sessions and I host the number of sessions I'd like," she says. "Beautiful elements that I'd never imagine happening began to occur in my retreats. I ran a pilot in the college level and they are now creating new issues. I could not have done it if I kept it in Jo Franco's circle with me being the one who led it."

Culture and community

"An fascinating aspect of signing up to clubs is the way it creates a community," Jo says. "If somebody's paying to join you're inviting them to your house. Then you're able to design your home to be as you'd like." Jo along with her staff are looking at ways to have lively conversations that "people have conversations in community spaces. This makes people are satisfied with what they have paid for."

"It's that distinction between an audience and a person," she adds. "An audience is able to react to the material you're sharing, however there's no need to be a conversation. If I post an image, and somebody comments on it, I'll answer via a forum, but with a community that I'm curating, it's a part of the architecture that happens the moment they sign up to the membership."

Jo is thinking about a lot about the process of onboarding and how to treat the newcomers. "How can we reduce the impact of a newly arrived member entering the space and feels like they're not a familiar face? It is best time to begin the art of curating and this is why people stay for years to come."

It's not an easy task. "It's an art that is one that must be enthusiastic about in order to keep improving because membership of a member is a constant thing. If you don't follow the information, you could be losing all of your members."

It's evident that Jo brings the empathy and self-awareness that she has gained through her journal writing into how she conducts herself in her participation. She believes that journaling can help you become aware of yourself. not taught at a young stage: "We're not given tools to process emotion. There is a way to assist yourself when that you're falling. I was amazed by these advantages. This was an incredible leisure exercise. When I reached a certain age, I realized, "Damn, it's been my little secret""

People often ask her 'Jo, you're only 30years old. How did you accomplish all of this?' I wrote it down and it all worked out." she smiles.

Additional information

To read more details about Jo Franco and to become an active member of JoClub you can visit to joclub.world.

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