Terms

"JoClub refers to the Journaling Club, but also makes a great match with my name." Jo Franco begins. "When I started writing, I realized that I felt a huge emotion as well as the fact that my siblings from the past did not want to hear about the story. Thus, I started writing."

"I grew up undocumented and living in being in hiding, speaking Portuguese and also taking classes in English and trying to get through it" she recalled. "I learned a bunch of other languages in order to be accepted. At the same time I was a bit disregarded as I was among the few kids. I stood out from everyone who was around me. I was the youngest kid and had a quiet voice and muted personality.

"Of course I'm not able to think back now this was what transpired, but in the meantime there was a lot of being unsure why me feel that I'm misunderstood? How do we can help."

Happily, Jo was able to use the skill of writing: "I had a more than a sympathetic relation with myself, simply watching without making judgments. I wrote about all these negative things, yet I was aware of the positive things that took place throughout my existence. I started to tweak the way I wrote but, more bizarrely altering my perception of things because I wanted to see positive things. It was necessary to see positive things in order to generate positive thoughts for writing about. I became more of a positive person. It helped me become more optimistic."

Making sense of the situation

As a student at the University of Manhattan, Jo was awed by the number of voices she had to compete with. She was also able to make a space in her journal. "It wasn't a matter of whether I was in the States or Europe or in another country, I always was able to access this gadget that helped me return to home.

"My "why" is to inspire others with the same confidence of 'You got you regardless of how difficult the situation may be. And not only can you be a strong person in your own way and be a beautiful person, but it's also very nice to record your experience by recording it. It is an act of gratitude for the fact that it started to occur. Your identity is always within yourself and in your own mind."

"There's scientific evidence to back this up," she continues. "There were studies conducted on writing as a form of medical treatment. If you write your gratitude on paper, feel more content."

"Give your mind the relief. Remove the burden out of your body and write it on sheet of paper. When you write about unpleasant problems, you allow yourself a distance that allows you to analyze it using more calm and less emotional reaction. Emotions can drive us insane. They're the basis of everything; they are central to confidence in oneself, the basis of charisma, and in the beginning of having an environment and being able to harness positive energy."

"Maybe this is a membership"

Jo certainly did a number of good moments until the year 2025. Through her YouTube channel that had millions of viewers, she earned money to travel. "I lived a very private life. However, in the background I wrote. It was in my nature that I was an author. What really made me was writing."

In January of 2020 she was offered her first Netflix assignment as host of The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals. "It took me off of YouTube and further into broadcasting. If you've ever been on a set, they know these hours can be very lengthy. It's 16 hours of work and plenty of rush up and then sit'. It's time to get your hairstyle, makeup and makeup completed. Your lines are on your mind and they're like, "No no, it's just a joke, we have to pause'!"

In all of those pauses that would last for long time, Jo would write. "Writing was a love for me, and I wanted to turn it into A business." Following the appearance of covid and the show ceased her primary source of earnings dwindled.

"I felt anxious like everyone was. I decided to post photos from my journal entries. A hundred days later and I was sharing my journal to the world via Instagram Stories. I thought to myself "Hey I'm thinking this could be a chance to become a member of a group that could be interested in paying for a space online with me and also write as an online group. So that's how JoClub began. This was about almost four years ago. This is crazy!"

As she watched the Netflix series, Jo realized that journaling was the lens through which she was able to see the world. "It was much more than just an activity of a leisure time. When you're traveling every two days, you're exhausted. It's easy to become caught by something that has nothing to do with your work.

"You recognize, "This is the way I think about the world. That is my way of thinking about this universe. This is a lifestyle.' It was clear to me to let go of all the other stuff, that the main aspect that I am unable to let go from me is writing. It was vital for me to take it into the next stage of my life."

Her work is bigger than she ever imagined.

Jo decided to get involved in her work. "I needed to upload three videos per week across three different languages. I had to hire individuals, and then fire them. I learned to make a content machine."

However, something had to be changed. "I wanted to not work. If you're exhausted or worn out, which is common in the world of creators, there's a chance you'll earn money. I realised that should this be my job path that I'm going to continue for a long time, I'll have to think of methods to protect my name off of the list of possibilities to earn money."

Jo made the decision to start something bigger than herself. Journaling groups were launched at the beginning of Zoom: "The membership started at $29 per month with the added benefit of a live monthly phone call, and I'd also be able to send daily journal prompts for everyone's email inbox."

She imagined a curatorial journey like an yoga class. Two instructions, followed by the discussion. A second prompt followed, and finally break-out rooms. "It involved IP (intellectual property)," she recalls. "After six months, I asked me, can I train facilitators on how to conduct these events? Indeed, will these facilitators enrich JoClub in ways that I've ever had the privilege of? She'd prefer to "extract all the positives" and also work with the facilitators, who were also former JoClub members, to develop an art journaling style and an idea of "bring your own tune" session for singers who want to be professional musicians, and other such.

"Now we have six plus sessions every month and I host as many as I want," she continues. "Beautiful events that I could not have thought of taking place: I organize retreats, and also conducted the pilot program at a university and we are trying to solve different issues. I would not be able to have accomplished it if I remained in Jo Franco's circle that I was in the best of."

Cohesion in the social and cultural sphere

"An essential aspect of joining a club is the fact that you create a community," she says. "If you sign up for a membership fee, they're walking into your house, and that implies that you are able to decorate your house according to your preferences." Jo and her team have looked at ways to create more lively threads so "people can talk in public spaces, so they're confident that they're receiving what they pay for."

"It's that which differentiates "audience" and "membership," she adds. "An audience can be responsive to any content that you're creating however it's not always a dialogue. If I share a video and people comment about it, I'll react to them, however with a group which I'm curating, I'm in the middle of what takes place from the moment they join your community."

Jo has been thinking a lot about how to onboard new members and the way to handle newly joined members. "How can we deal with the new member that walks in the room and feels like they've never met anyone? Now is the best time to get into the art of curating culture, and why people stay for a long time."

It's not an easy task. "It's an art is something you must be committed to, so as to improve continuously since members' membership is something that is constantly evolving. If you do not pay close attention to the changes happening, you'll be losing all those members."

It's obvious that Jo is incorporating the empathy and self-awareness learned through journaling into her way of running her club. In fact, she believes that journaling brings a self-awareness we're not taught in schools "We're not taught the tools needed to process emotion. You have tools to save yourself when you feel you're falling. It was hard for me comprehend these benefits. It was a relaxing pastime. As I grew older I began to realize, "'Oh that's been my most secretive activity""

She is often asked "Jo, you're only 30 years old. what did you do all this?' I wrote it down, and everything worked out." she smiles.

More details

To read more about Jo Franco and to become an active JoClub members, go to www.joclub.world. JoClub Go to joclub.world.

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