your brand is the way you live 🌿

we often think personal branding is about picking the right niche.

but through our journey, i realised:

a brand is just the external expression of your internal values.

if you're lost, or you feel like your skills aren't "enough," it's usually because you're trying to build a business inside a box that doesn't fit you.

in this episode, we'll talk about how you can turn your skills (new & existing) into something that sustains your life, and build a human-first brand around it.

要素 — essential elements only

p.s. this podcast is best enjoyed on a long walk or in silence 🍃

The April Workshop

Live an Intentional Life (Nurture an Intentional Business)

We are gathering a small group of 8 women on April 22nd to help you lay your first layer of small business bedrock: understanding what an intentional life looks like for you.

Reserve your seat: Join here!

(Join live or watch the recording)

stay soulful,

jo from 要素 yōso studio

what would you do if you lost your job today? (22-minute guide)

most people don't have a plan. they're one layoff away from scrambling. but it doesn't have to be that way.

in this episode, i'm putting philosophy aside to teach you the practical basics for starting your own business.

whether you just lost your job, you're thinking about leaving, or you're just preparing for the worst. what we'll cover:

* the two paths: freelancing vs. building a brand (and why they overlap)

* why brand matters (apple, taylor swift, and the power of authenticity)

* practical foundation: survival numbers, emergency plan, budgeting

* the 4 signs you're ready to leave your 9-5

* the identity crisis no one talks about (and how to navigate it)

* what success actually looks like (hint: it's not just money)

要素 — essential elements only

p.s. this podcast is best enjoyed on a long walk or in silence 🍃

The April Workshop

Live an Intentional Life (Nurture an Intentional Business)

We are gathering a small group of 8 women on April 22nd to help you lay your first layer of bedrock: understanding what an intentional life looks like for you.

If you’re tired of building on sand and ready to build a business that reflects the life you actually want to live, we’d love to have you in the circle.

Reserve your seat: Join the Workshop

(Join live or watch the recording)

stay soulful,

jo from 要素 yōso studio

we finally built a business that works, but it didn’t happen by following traditional rules.

we’ve traded the "24/7 founder" & the "always-on" mentality for an immovable foundation built on intentionality, human rhythm, and a self-sustaining ecosystem.

it’s the reason we can take long walks on wednesday mornings and travel without the fear that everything will fall apart.

in this episode, i’m breaking down the 3 layers of yōso studio.

要素 — essential elements only

p.s. this podcast is best enjoyed on a long walk or in silence 🍃

join our first-ever workshop:

live an intentional life (nurture an intentional business) we are gathering a small group of 8 women on april 22nd to help you lay your first layer of bedrock.

if you’re tired of building on sand and ready to build a business that reflects the life you actually want to live, we’d love to have you in the circle ~ reserve your seat through our website :)

stay soulful,

jo from 要素 yōso studio

about 5 months into yōso studio, i’m reflecting on what it truly looks like to leave the 9-to-5.

from our recent 10-day trip to bangkok to the daily struggle of unlearning "stability," this is an unfiltered look at choosing a quiet, intentional life over a traditional one.

building a business is hard, but building your own vision is the ultimate liberation.

要素 — essential elements only

p.s. this podcast is best enjoyed on a long walk or in silence 🍃

stay soulful,

jo from 要素 yōso studio

i thought the only way to succeed was to hustle.

push myself empty. never stop going.

and don’t get me wrong, doing all that led to some of my biggest achievements in life.

but in the past several years, i realized how much i craved the opposite.

if the year of the fire horse is going to be a year of momentum, i want it to be a quiet one.

one that carries the breath of my life forward, rather than a weight upon it.

happy lunar new year!

要素 — essential elements only

p.s. this podcast is best enjoyed on a long walk or in silence 🍃

stay soulful,

jo from 要素 yōso studio

the world tells you to hustle harder, or look for the secret formula. but what we found that worked for us was simpler than that: doing what matters.

for most of 2025, i thought nothing was happening. we'd built brands from scratch. the art of soulful writing. soulful ielts. cozy english jp. we were showing up, creating content, trying to make it work. some of it worked. some of it didn't. but nothing felt sustainable.

then in july, i took what i thought was my dream startup job. by october, i'd quit. and i was tired of proving myself to systems that didn't value what i could actually do. so we launched 要素 yōso studio within 10 days of quitting.

within a month, we signed our first client. two months later, we'd made more than we ever had before. and people might look at that timeline and think: "oh, things finally fell into place for you."

but we didn't get lucky. we put the pieces where they are:

1. we stopped trying to do everything. we focused on one clear offer.

2. we stopped waiting for a big audience. we reached out to one person with intention.

3. we stopped chasing credentials. we solved real problems for real people.

要素 yōso means "essential elements" in japanese. strip away the unnecessary. focus on what truly matters. create with intention.

the beautiful thing about this is that it's not a business strategy. it's a way of living.

this episode is about that journey. not the "how to make money fast" version. the real, messy, slow, frustrating version that eventually pays off.

if you're in that "not yet" phase right now where you're working, showing up, but nothing's clicking yet...i want you to know:

you're not waiting for pieces to fall into place.

you're placing them.

and one day, people will call it magic.

you'll know it was intention.

p.s. this podcast is best enjoyed on a long walk or in silence 🍃

stay soulful,

jo from 要素 yōso studio

for the first time, i’m documenting the full story of how i built three brands before anything finally clicked (not a guru) just someone who kept trying until things made sense.

i spent more than 10 years teaching in classrooms. then i moved to japan, thought i’d retire as a teacher & ended up questioning everything about my life and work. that’s where my journey into building brands really began.

brand #1 — my writing brand i wanted to make money with my writing. i started a newsletter, shared my stories, processed my life in japan publicly. it failed but it taught me how to write online & build an audience with honesty.

brand #2 — soulful ielts i took my own ielts test in tokyo, got great scores, & turned that into a coaching brand with my partner. we grew it organically on threads. built a full funnel: lead magnet, coaching program, youtube, digital products. we got our first student from one viral post.

brand #3 — cozy english jp we pivoted to an english learning channel as a way to teach english to japanese learners without pressure or burnout. another lesson in sustainability & showing up with purpose.

then life pushed me in another direction yet again. i worked for a startup as an instructional designer, an experience that forced me to confront what i didn’t want from my life & career:

the micromanagement... the underpayment... the scope creep... that job became the final push i didn’t know i needed.

one day, i walked away...and started building something of my own.

today, that is 要素 yōso studio.

we’re a two-person branding studio built on japanese philosophy: strip everything down to the essential elements. we’re not about flashy logos or perfect pixels. we build brands by focusing on what truly moves people forward.

this audio note is the first entry in documenting that journey. if you’re in the middle of figuring out your own brand, career, or identity… i hope something in my story helps you feel less alone ~

p.s. this podcast is best enjoyed on a long walk or in silence 🍃

stay soulful,

jo from 要素 yōso studio