Nandi Owolo’s first foray into junk journaling was by chance.
One day in June 2024, Owolo fell while walking his dog. “I started junk journaling because I broke my leg on my birthday,” she told CNBC Make It.
Under the direction of her doctor, she remained at home for two months until she recovered. Then, junk journaling entered her life by scrolling through TikTok.
The LA resident says junk journaling, which she describes as “a combination of scrapbooking, creative journaling, and collage art,” has made her feel crafty for the first time in her life. “Personally, I don’t think I have any artistic talent,” says Owolo, now 30. “I can’t draw, I can’t knit, I can’t paint.”
Do you want to create a chaotic and colorful spread by pasting souvenirs, photos, and stickers side by side? She can do it.
Junk journaling, sometimes referred to as “Gen Z’s version of scrapbooking,” has become increasingly popular in recent years. Enthusiasts say they like that the hobby keeps them away from their cell phones. It taps into the nostalgia of collecting and displaying physical media. And there are no rules when it comes to arranging personal keepsakes, from the grandiose like concert tickets and birthday cards to the mundane like restaurant napkins and coffee sleeves.
Part of the appeal is embracing imperfection, Owolo says, as the hobby becomes a reality: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” “It’s an artistic medium where you can do whatever you want on the page,” she says.
Junk journaling, a combination of scrapbooking, creative journaling, and collage art, has grown in popularity in recent years thanks to enthusiasts looking for a screen-free creative hobby.
Provided by Nnamdi Owolo
Add to that the element of in-person gatherings that many young people have been craving post-pandemic, and Owolo said he felt it worked.
Two months after starting her own craft journey, Owolo launched the Junk Journal Club social media handle and hosted her first meetup through a local social club of which she was a member. The event quickly reached its maximum capacity of 35 people, which showed there was a huge demand, Owolo said.
Owolo soon held a second event at the park with 60 people in attendance. A year and a half later, she now regularly hosts ticketed events for 20 to 30 guests, one to three times a month, for $35 to $50 each.
Owolo said she believes her Junk Journal Club is the first club in the United States dedicated to hosting real-life events for the hobby.
She also launched a Discord channel for users around the world to connect, share inspiration, post pages, and send each other care packages through a penpal program. The group currently has approximately 2,000 members in the United States and internationally, including Canada, Germany, Australia and more.
From unemployment to entrepreneurship
May 2025 was a turning point for Owolo and the Junk Journal Club. The entertainment professional lost her “dream job” of turning books and comics into TV shows and movies.
Although Owolo was saddened by his “heartbreaking layoff,” he realized there was an opportunity at the Junk Journal Club.
“It’s a cliché, but I feel like there was something else I had more control over,” she says. “No one can fire me from the Junk Journal Club. It’s mine.”
Owolo started thinking about how he wanted to grow his business and decided to pursue branded events. She has set a goal of collaborating with two brands by the end of 2025.
Nandi Owolo started Junk Journal Club in August 2024 and turned it into a full-time business in 2025. She hosts one to three events each month, which often sell out quickly.
Provided by Nnamdi Owolo
According to Owolo, she found her first partner in clothing rental service Nuuly, which was born out of “pure email and networking.” The November event was free for guests, with the brand covering equipment and other costs. It was also the first time Owolo created several Instagram Reels videos for the clothing company’s social media feed and was paid as a creator.
Owolo said he hosted five collaborative events throughout the fall, including artist and creative director Ramisha Sattar, Australian-based artist and author Martina Calvi (whom Owolo calls the “queen of junk journaling”), and a promotion for the Paramount Pictures film “Regretting You.”
There is too much noise in the world right now. Junk journaling is a great way to silence that noise.
Owolo says he was hesitant to call himself an entrepreneur because he had never tried to make money on the side.
“It almost felt fraudulent,” Owolo said. she asked herself. “Can I call myself an entrepreneur? Can I call this a business? And in the end, I was like, ‘I absolutely can call it that.'” It just took a little while. ”
Grow your business to 2026
Owolo said she is still actively applying for a new full-time position in marketing and brand management and hopes that recruiters will see her work at Junk Journal Club as an asset. She is currently working as a contract employee for a drinks company, filling in for someone on maternity leave, which ends in January.
She said she receives no salary from the Junk Journal Club and that all ticket sales go back into the event itself and are used to cover supplies for participants, food and beverages, venue rental costs and souvenir boxes containing stationery and stickers for guests to take home afterwards.
Owolo said her goal is to be able to pay herself out of the Junk Journal Club, but for now her focus is on giving people “the best experience possible.”
“I realize there was a way to host all these events and pay myself a little bit of money, but that would have had to come at the cost of fewer sticker sheets or not having custom items made for the event. I’m not yet at the point where I’m willing to sacrifice those things.”
Owolo intends to grow slowly and deliberately. She said her events typically tend to sell out within an hour or as little as a minute after tickets go on sale, but she prefers to limit gatherings to 20 to 30 guests to create an intimate atmosphere.
Looking ahead to 2026, Owolo says he hopes to forge more brand partnerships and realize joint projects.
Junk Journal Club events typically attract 20 to 30 participants. Tickets often sell out within an hour or even minutes after going on sale.
Jimena Escobar
“LA is the land of activation and experiential marketing,” she says. She suggests touring musicians collaborate on an event where their biggest fans create collages inspired by their favorite songs. Or, for many brands hosting influencer dinners, is a junk journaling session better paired with dessert?
In the meantime, Owolo expects the desire to create in-person to continue to grow.
“There’s a lot of overwhelming noise in the world right now,” she says. “Junk journaling is a great way to silence that noise.”
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