30-year-old turned her junk journaling hobby into a business after being laid off from dream job
Nandi Owolo’s first foray into junk journaling happened by accident.
One day in June 2024, Owolo fell while walking his dog. “I started junk journaling because I broke my foot on my birthday, of all days,” he told CNBC Make It.
He stayed at home under doctor’s orders for two months to recover. Then, with a little TikTok scrolling, junk journaling came into her life.
The Los Angeles resident says junk journaling, described as “a cross between scrapbooking, creative journaling and collage art,” has made her feel crafty for the first time in her life. “Personally, I think I have no artistic talent,” says Owolo, now 30. “I can’t draw, I can’t knit, I can’t paint.”
Do you want to arrange and paste souvenirs, photos and stickers into colorful pieces in a chaotic manner? He could do this.
Junk journaling is also considered “Gen Z’s version of scrapbooking.” took off inside last years. Enthusiasts say they like that the hobby keeps them away from their phones. It taps into the nostalgia of collecting and displaying physical media. And there are no rules when it comes to organizing personal keepsakes, from the big ones like concert tickets or birthday cards to everyday items like restaurant napkins or coffee sleeves.
Owolo says the “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” hobby is booming, and embracing imperfections is part of the appeal: “It’s an artistic medium where you can do anything you want with the page,” he says.
Junk journaling, a hybrid of scrapbooking, creative journaling, and collage art, has been on the rise in recent years thanks to enthusiasts who want a screen-free creative hobby.
Courtesy of Nandi Owolo
Add in the element of face-to-face gathering that many young people have longed for after the pandemic, and Owolo says he feels like he’s been dealt a blow.
Two months after starting his own craft journey, Owolo launches social media handles Junk Journal Club He hosted his first meeting through a local social club of which he was a member. The event quickly reached its maximum capacity of 35 people, which Owolo said signaled to him that there was huge demand.
Owolo soon held its second event in the park with a capacity of 60 people. A year and a half later, it now regularly hosts ticketed events one to three times a month for 20 to 30 guests at $35 to $50 per person.
Owolo says he believes the Junk Journal Club is the first U.S. club dedicated to hosting real-life events for the hobby.
It also launched a Discord channel for users around the world to connect, share inspiration, publish pages, and send care packages to each other through its pen pal program. The group currently has nearly 2,000 members across the United States and internationally, including Canada, Germany, Australia and beyond.
From job loss to entrepreneurship
May 2025 marked a turning point for Owolo and Junk Journal Club. The entertainment professional lost what he called his “dream job” while trying to turn books and comics into TV shows and movies.
While Owolo was grieving the “heartbreaking layoff,” he says he noticed an opportunity at Junk Journal Club.
“As cliche as it is, it’s like there’s something else I have more control over,” he says. “No one can take me out of the Junk Journal Club. It’s mine.”
Owolo tried to figure out how she wanted to grow her business and decided to pursue branded events. It aimed to cooperate with two brands by the end of 2025.
Nandi Owolo founded Junk Journal Club in August 2024 and turned it into her full-time job in 2025. It hosts one to three events each month, and these events usually sell out quickly.
Courtesy of Nandi Owolo
He found his first partner in nuulyThe clothing rental service emerged through “pure emailing and networking,” Owolo says. The brand covered material costs and other fees for an event in November, making the event free to guests. It was also the first time Owolo was paid as a creator to produce a variety of Instagram Reels videos for the clothing company’s social media feeds.
Throughout the fall, Owolo says it hosts five collaborative events, including artist and creative director Ramisha SattarAustralia-based artist and writer Martina Calvi (who Owolo calls the “junk journaling queen”) and Paramount Pictures He will promote the movie “I Regret”.
There is so much overwhelming noise in the world right now. Junk journaling is a great way to quiet this noise.
Owolo says he’s reluctant to call himself an entrepreneur, having never tried to make money from a side hustle.
“It almost felt like a fraud,” Owolo says. He asked himself: “Am I allowed to call myself an entrepreneur? Am I allowed to call it a business? Finally I said, ‘I’m definitely allowed to call it that.’ It just took a while.”
Expanding the business in 2026
Owolo says she’s still actively applying for a new full-time position in marketing and brand management and hopes hiring managers will see her work with Junk Journal Club as an asset. She’s currently working a contract job at a beverage company to fill in for someone on maternity leave, but that ends in January.
He says he does not receive a salary from Junk Journal Club and that all ticket sales go back into the events to cover supplies for attendees, food and beverages, venue rental and a gift box with stationery and stickers that guests can then take home.
Owolo says his goal is to be able to get paid by Junk Journal Club, but for now he’s focused on giving “people the best experience possible.”
“I realize there is a way I can host all these events and still pay myself some money,” he says, “but that would mean sacrificing less sticker paper or not having anything special made for the event. I haven’t gotten to the point yet where I’m willing to sacrifice those things.”
Owolo plans to grow slowly and deliberately. Although he says his events typically sell out within an hour and less than a minute after tickets go live, he prefers to limit gatherings to 20 to 30 guests to create a relaxed atmosphere.
Looking ahead to 2026, Owolo says he hopes to form more brand partnerships for collaborative projects.
Junk Journal Club events typically host 20 to 30 participants. Tickets usually sell out within an hour or a few minutes of going on sale.
Ximena Escobar
“LA is the land of activations and experiential marketing,” he says. He suggests to touring musicians why not team up with him for an event where eager fans will create a collage inspired by their favorite songs. Or, for the many brands that host influencer dinners, could a trivial journaling session pair well with dessert?
Meanwhile, Owolo thinks interest in face-to-face crafting will grow even further.
“There is so much overwhelming noise in the world right now,” he says. “Junk journaling is a great way to quiet the noise.”
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