Terms

"JoClub is the abbreviation to mean Journaling Club, but also is a fitting name for me," Jo Franco begins. "When I began to write I became aware of the immense emotions. There were siblings who were older than me who were not interested in hearing about it. So I would write."

"I grew up undocumented and living in hiding, talking Portuguese in addition to studying English as well as fumbling around," she recalled. "I acquired a variety of different languages since I was always awed by being noticed. At the same time I felt that I was not understood because I was among the few kids. I was unique to everyone other kids. I was the smallest kid therefore I had this quiet manner of speaking and my calm personality.

"Of sure, it's simple for me to think with hindsight the way it was. However, at that time, there was the constant feeling of "Why I feel like I'm not understood?  We all suffer from this."

The good news is that Jo used the technique to write: "I had a more than a compassionate view of myself being observant and without judgement. I wrote about all this negative stuff, but I'm aware that good things occurred throughout my life. I began to alter my writing, but weirdly reverse engineering the way I look at things because I wanted to read positive stuff. It was necessary to find positive qualities to discover positive points to write about. I became more optimistic person. It helped me be more positive."

Understanding the circumstances

While attending college in the University of Manhattan, Jo was overwhelmed by the number of voices she competed with. She was also able to locate much-needed space within her journals. "It was no matter whether I was in the States or in Europe I was able to utilize this device, which allowed me to go back home to my own self.

"My "why" is to inspire others around me with the belief that "You're going to be fine no matter how bleak the situation. Furthermore, you'll be able to support yourself emotionalally, it's also also beautiful to record your experience as when you record it in a journal you'll be able to express a small gesture of gratitude for the fact that it was occurring in the first place. It's always easy to fit into your personal space as well as within your thoughts."

"There's evidence-based science to support this assertion," she adds. "There are clinical trials of writing down gratitude as a means of treatment. The people who write their gratitude in a journal and express gratitude are happier."

"Give your brain an opportunity to rest. Remove the burden out of your body and set it on the paper. If you write about difficult problems, you allow an opportunity for readers to examine your thoughts with empathy. Empathy can cause us to go mad. They're the source of everything; they constitute the basis of trust, the heart of charisma in the genesis of being in a space and attracting positive energy."

"Maybe that's because it's a member"

Jo definitely had many positive events until 2020. Through her YouTube channel with over a million users, she earned money for travel. "I was living this exciting private, intimate life. But behind the scenes, I wrote. This was the essence of me I was a writer. What really made me was writing."

In the month of January in 2020, she was offered an Netflix task as host of the world's most amazing vacation Rentals. "It got me off YouTube and into the traditional method of broadcasting. If anybody's ever been on an production set-up, they've realized that the days are long. They're 16-hour days and it's a lot of 'Hurry up and then wait'. Your ready for work in the morning with makeup, hair done. You've got your lines sketch in your head And suddenly you're thinking "No I'm not lying when I say you're supposed to have an breath""

In the midst of a pause, often over long durations, Jo would write. "Writing was an obsession for me, so I felt the desire to make it into a business." The moment covid came on and the show ended, the principal source of income stopped.

"I felt nervous, as everyone other. I decided to post images from my journal. After 100 days and I was journaling all over the world on Instagram Stories. I thought to myself, "Hey perhaps this might be an opportunity to join an organization'. People might pay to join a virtual room with me and be journaling in a group. This is how JoClub was born. It was nearly four years back. It's crazy!"

In the Netflix series, Jo realized that journaling was the way through which she viewed the world. "It was deeper than just the act of a pastime. When you're traveling for 2 days, you're tired. You find yourself doing something totally unrelated to the tasks you're being to be paid.

"You know that I am using this method to make sense of this world. It's a way of life. This was clear to me that, if I had removed my self from the world that the only thing I can't take from me is my writing. It was crucial for me to incorporate it into the next chapter in my career."

Making something greater than her own

Jo took on her undertaking. "I uploaded three videos each week in three different languages. I had to find people who were then fired. I learned how creating a content machine."

But, there was something that needed to change. "I was looking forward to not doing work. If you're exhausted or exhausted, which is common among creators, and you're tired then you'll have a hard time earning money. It's been my experience that when I'm in a job that I plan to stay with for a long time, I'll need to figure out ways to keep my eyes off of opportunities to earn money."

Jo was looking to start something larger than her. The journaling group was founded around the time of Zoom: "The membership started at just $19 per month, and included a live, monthly call. I also sent daily journal prompts to everybody's mailbox."

The idea was to create a curatorial experience like an yoga class. Two questions, followed by discussion, then another question, and then break-out rooms. "It was IP (intellectual property)," she recalls. "After it was six months, I asked to help facilitators learn how to run the events? In reality, can the facilitators of these events benefit JoClub in ways that I haven't ever had the opportunity to? They wanted to "extract the joy" and also work together with facilitators who were JoClub members JoClub and to develop an art journaling format and a "bring your own tune" contest for young musicians as well as other similar activities.

"Now there are six or more sessions each month. I'm hosting as many sessions I'd like," she continues. "Beautiful elements that I'd not have imagined would take place: I'm hosting retreats and I conducted a pilot program in a university and we're developing diverse issues. It would have been impossible to do it if I kept it as Jo Franco's community and myself as its leader."

Communities and Culture

"An interesting thing about joining the club is that it helps create the atmosphere" Jo says. "If you're paying for a membership they're inviting them to your house. You can then decorate your house the way you want." Jo along with her crew are looking for ways to facilitate more engaging discussions, so that "people talk in the areas of the community, and they're feeling like they're getting the value for their money."

"It's the difference between an audience and a member," she adds. "An audience can be engaged with what you're creating, but it's not an exchange of ideas. If I post a video and people comment about it, I'll answer but with an organization I curate, I'm a part of the structure of the community once they join the community."

Jo is thinking about a lot about the onboarding sequence and what she can do to help the newcomers. "How do we handle the person who walks into the room and feels like they're not a part of the group? Once you engage in the curating of culture, which is the reason why members stay many years."

She is aware that this won't be an easy job. "It's an issue that you must have a passion about to continue to make it better as an ongoing thing. If you don't pay attention to what's happening then you'll be losing all the members you have."

It is evident that Jo has incorporated the compassion and awareness she's learned through journaling into her approach to her participation. She believes that journaling can assist you in becoming aware of yourself. Not taught at school: "We're not given tools for processing emotion. It's possible to help yourself to stop sinking. It was challenging for me to grasp these advantages. It was an enjoyable to do as a leisure pursuit. When I reached a certain age, I began to think, "Damn, I've been hiding my secrets'!"

When people are asked about "Jo, you're only 30years old, What did you accomplish in all of this? I wrote it down and the whole thing worked." she laughs.

More information

For more information about Jo Franco and to become an active member of JoClub, visit, go on joclub.world.

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