yōso audio notes

hello, you’re listening to yōso notes. this episode was originally recorded as a visual essay on february 2026, but the essential elements remain the same. thanks for being here.

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

hello, you’re listening to yōso notes. this episode was originally recorded as a visual essay on january 2026, but the essential elements remain the same. thanks for being here.

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

hello, you’re listening to yōso notes. this episode was originally recorded as a visual essay on , but the essential elements remain the same. thanks for being here.

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