Terms

"JoClub is the abbreviation that stands for Journaling Club, but also fits in because of my own name." Jo Franco begins. "When I started writing, I felt the immense emotions, as well as that I had older siblings who weren't eager to learn about my story. Therefore, I began writing."

"I had no passport, living under the hood, hiding from authorities, and speaking Portuguese and also learning English and stumbling through," she relates. "I acquired a variety of languages as I wanted to feel acknowledged. However I was unpopular due to the fact that I was regarded as an odd child. I was unique to everyone other kids. I was the oldest child, with a quiet voice and also a calm personality.

"Of course, it's easy for me to think about it now, and how I felt, but at the time, I was in an despair of "Why do I feel confused and feel I'm being ignored? ', and many of us experience the same thing."

It was a blessing that Jo had the tool of journaling: "I had a more self-respecting relationship with myself. by simply watching without making judgments. I wrote about the negativity, however I am conscious of all the positive aspects taking place in my own life. I was able to modify not only what I wrote however, I began trying to understand my perception of things since I was seeking positive things. I needed to find positive events to come up with positive things for writing about. I became a more positive person. I was able to be more optimistic."

Understanding the circumstances

As a student in the city of Manhattan, Jo was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of voices she had to contend with. She was also able to make space in her diary. "It did not matter if I was in the States or traveling I used this journal to allow me to go back and be my self.

"My "why" provides those around me the same faith that "You're gonna be okay, no matter how ugly things happen. It's not just that you can assist yourself in your own manner, but it's a pleasure to record your personal story. This is because writing it down, you'll be doing an gesture of appreciation for the reason it happened to begin with. You'll always fit in your self and your own thoughts."

"There's research-based evidence that backs this," she adds. "There are clinical trials of the recording of gratitude as a form of treatment. The people who document their gratitude and gratitude will be more content."

"Give your mind the alleviation. Lift the weight off your shoulders and place it on the page. When you write about bad issues, you allow you a distance that allows you to think about your feelings with empathy. Our emotions can cause us to go crazy. They are at the root of everything. They're the core of confidence, the source of charisma which is why they are the main reason for walking into a room and being able to draw good luck."

"Maybe that's because it's an individual member"

Jo definitely had a lot of positive events in 2020. Through her YouTube channel that has more than 1 million subscribers Jo was paid to travel. "I had this fun active, social life. However, at the same time, I began writing. It was the core of me. The real me was journaling."

In January of 2020, she landed a Netflix job as the presenter for The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals. "It got me off YouTube and onto traditional presentation. If anyone has ever worked in an production set-up and realized it's a long time to work. It's 16 hours and the endless sequence of 'Hurry Up and wait'. You're ready to go for your hair, makeup all completed. You'll find lines to draw in your mind Then they're like, "No I'm not kidding It's time to put them down!"

When she would have a pause that would last for a long time, Jo would write. "Writing was an obsession for me so I had the desire to make it into a profitable business." When covid gained popularity and the show ended the main source of income was sucked away.

"I felt anxious as was everyone other. I decided to publish images from my journal. A hundred days later, I had journaled in public in Instagram Stories. I was thinking "Hey it could be an opportunity to join an organization." I thought that people are looking to get together in the virtual space to journal together. That's how JoClub began. That was 4 years back. This is insane!"

In the Netflix series, Jo realized that journaling was a lens through which she observed the world. "It wasn't just a leisure activity. If you're on the road for two days, you're exhausted. It's easy to get caught up in something completely unrelated to what you're supposed to be paid.

"You realise, "This is how I perceive the significance of life. This is a lifestyle. It became clear to me that, if I get rid of all other things what one thing can't be let go of from me is my writing. It was important for me to bake that into the next chapter in my professional career."

Her work is bigger than she could ever imagine.

Jo decided to get involved in her undertaking. "I had to upload 3 videos every week, and in three different languages. I had to hire people, fire people. I learned how to build a content machine."

Something had to change. "I wanted to be able to do more than do the same thing. If you're exhausted and burned out, as is the norm in the world of creators, there's no chance of success at making a profit. I realized that if I want to pursue a career that I'm gonna last for a while, I need to find a way to remove my eyes from earning money."

Jo had a plan to launch something that was bigger than she. Journaling clubs started in a big way with Zoom: "The membership started at just $19 per month with the added benefit of one monthly live chat as well as daily journal prompts to everyone's mailbox."

She was looking to create an event like a yoga class. Two prompts, then the discussion. Two more prompts followed before break-out rooms. "It changed into IP (intellectual property)," she recalls. "After the period of six months, I thought whether I could help facilitators train to conduct these types of sessions? In fact, can facilitators assist in ways that enrich JoClub in ways I've not experienced before? The group was hoping to "extract the excitement" as well as work with the facilitators, some of which were members of JoClub and were able to develop an art journaling style as well as a "bring your own song' contest for young musicians as well as other similar.

"Now we're hosting up to six sessions a month, and I'm able to host the number of sessions I'd like" she adds. "Beautiful aspects that I would not have thought of taking place: I run retreats, and also an experiment at a university and we're putting together diverse challenges. It wouldn't have been possible to accomplish this had I remained as Jo Franco's group, and I was the group's leader."

Social and cultural cohesion

"An important aspect about membership is that you create an atmosphere," she says. "If someone is paying to join a club and visiting your home, then you can design your house in the way you want." Jo as well as her crew have been looking at ways to create discussions that are more engaging to ensure that "people talk in the areas of their community and feeling like they're getting the value for their spending."

"It's that difference in the term "audience" as opposed to "membership," she adds. "An audience will respond to what you post, but that doesn't mean it's the exchange of thoughts. If I share an image, and somebody comments and I reply in a group, however with a community which I curate, I'm a participant in the actual architecture of what takes place when you sign up for this community."

Jo is thinking a lot about the process of onboarding and the way to handle the newcomers. "How can we deal with the person who enters a room feeling like they're not a part of the community? The moment you begin to become a master of curation and that's the reason members remain for a long time."

The woman is well aware that this isn't an easy task. "It's something is something you must be passionate about to keep improving as members' membership is continuously growing. If you do not pay attentively to the changes happening around you, you will lose your members."

It's obvious that Jo has brought the empathy and awareness she's learned through journaling into the way she runs the club she runs. Actually, she believes journals assist us in becoming more conscious of our own self. The school curriculum doesn't teach this: "We're not given tools to process emotion. You can help yourself when that you're sinking. I was awed at these benefits. This was a fun to do as a leisure pursuit. As I got older, I realised, "Damn! it's been my secret'!"

People frequently ask her "Jo at the age of 30, how was your process? I recorded it all down and it all worked out." she smiles.

More details

To learn more about Jo Franco and to become the member of JoClub to become a member, click over to joclub.world.

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