Hi, I'm Yan, the one behind MOTAMO.

I honestly don't know where to start, and I'm absolutely terrible at self-promotion (hence the reason why I didn't have an about page for so long). But anyways, let's start from the beginning.

Content creator, model, public speaker, and self-taught graphic designer—I just wanted to create a tool to help me reduce/manage/deal with my overthinking and anxiety.

I aimed to combine skills and passions of mine under one umbrella: self-development, graphic design, writing and teaching.

I'm a sensitive person, really in tune with my feelings and inner world, and I wanted to create a safe space to inspire people to feel their feelings and slow down.

But before it got to that, let me rewind the story back to 2021.

I wanted to create a tool for myself.

I learned graphic design, Illustrator, and InDesign to create my own journal/planner, researched local printers and ran a first batch.

I shared the whole process with my audience and offered a pre-order.

The first batch sold out. I was like, "Wow, people really like this concept," so I kept at it and started creating more small batches and limited drops.

I started having local brands coming to me for collabs to create their own planners with their logos and everything.

I kept at it while also creating content full time, influencer stuff, you know the deal...

then... I burnt out.

I think it was a lot of pressure to keep everything afloat.

So, I took the time to sit down, create a plan, reflect, and be more intentional about what I wanted for my life and how I wanted to grow this brand.

At first, I thought it would stay a side project to fuel my creativity, but one night I had the idea to start offering journaling workshops on Zoom and to double-down on this project.

I lowkey wanted to plan my escape from the influencer world. (the major source of my anxiety)

I was offering the product, so I figured I should offer the service that would support the product, so people can stay motivated to follow through with their journal practice.

(Lol, I realized I'm just going over some events, but it's kind of therapeutic to share my entrepreneurial journey, bear with me.)

All this to say that 3 years later, I feel like I'm just starting off with this brand.

I've made plenty of mistakes, overcame resistance (still do every day), but I've gotten better at leaning into my fears.

I started giving journaling workshops to corporations and marketing agencies, designing notebooks for brands, and I'm now in the process of designing the official planner for MOTAMO.

I'm amazed how this small idea grew into this bigger mission to inspire people digging deeper and embracing their inner worlds.

It's a never-ending journey of brainstorming, creating, sharing, and learning.

If you've read all the way to the end, I hope it inspires you to start whatever idea you have in mind. Keep following your dreams.

If you want to share your journey just email me at hey@motamo.ca, i'd love to connect !

Yan