Create With Me:
Meet Joanne Encarnacion of Go Fit Jo
It’s rare to find a lifestyle influencer who seems like she’s putting her true self in the spotlight. It’s so easy to put a literal and figurative filter on things you share on social media, and it takes a lot of courage to avoid that temptation. That’s what makes Joanne Encarnacion so special. Better known as Jo from her massively successful brand @GoFitJo, she has amassed a social following of over 80,000 people and manages thriving blog of 20,000 readers a month, all while keeping it real.
Jo didn’t achieve this success overnight. She grew up in an immigrant family and became a mother at age 21 and worked hard as a hairstylist to make ends meet. She struggled with depression and anxiety, as well as intense low self-esteem issues. In 2013, she decided to make a change. Jo started sharing her fitness journey with the world using the hashtag #GoFitJo, which expanded beyond working out into topics like eating healthy, modern day motherhood, and juggling a demanding creative lifestyle. Clearly, people were liking what she was doing, and now she dedicates her days to sharing her journey and wisdom with her many followers.
Now, Jo is welcoming you to be a part of her world. In this Create With Me series, she’ll take you behind the scenes of how she creates her winning social media content and how she maintains a healthy mind and body. Finally, you get a chance to see what goes into maintaining a real influencer lifestyle!
@GoFitJo’s Interactive Videos
More About Joanne Encarnacion of @GoFitJo
Jo founded her brand, GoFitJo, as a women’s health and lifestyle coach who has dared to lead hundreds of women down a path of radical self-acceptance. Her dedication to this mission has garnered recognition by Arianna Huffington as one of the Top 20 Health + Wellness role models. She has also partnered with some of the most prestigious brands in the world, such as Nike, Adidas, and Puma. Additionally, she has been interviewed and featured in countless publications such as Refinery 29, Glamour Magazine, Teen Vogue, and many more.
Being Real on Social Media
It’s one thing to have an expertly-crafted presence on social media, filled with plandids and #sponsorships. It’s a whole other thing to achieve that by talking openly about deeply personal issues that most people would much rather keep to themselves. Joanne Encarnacion has managed to do just that. For years, she’s been committed to sharing things about her love life, motherhood, mental health, and so much more, and all you need to do is look at her comments to realize how much it means to her fans.
If you don’t already follow @GoFitJo, we’ve collected a couple of her posts from Instagram that exemplify what it means to keep it real on social media. We hope it’ll give you some inspiration to embrace your true self, just like Jo does!
All women are aware of stretch marks and many women have them. But are they willing to bare them on Instagram like Jo does? Here, she divulges the moment she realizes that stretch marks shouldn’t be keeping her from embracing her body and all its perfect imperfections. Her proclamation of self-acceptance is a steady theme throughout Jo’s social media accounts, and it means so much to the women who have had a hard time feeling beautiful in their own skin.
Instagram is flooded with lovey-dovey images of couples who can’t seem to get enough of each other — it’s enough to make any single person delete their account entirely. Jo takes a different approach to discussing her relationship with her husband, one that acknowledges the frustrations and struggles of marriage along with the happiness of it. She is steadfast is reminding her followers that love is a journey, not a destination, and that it’s totally okay to talk about the ups and down with your partner (just as long as you’re not calling them names!).
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1WnJLbAHAt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Lots of social media influencers have garnered partnerships with big brands, and they are quick to flaunt it. But Jo? In this post, she writes, “TBH, I almost didn’t share these photos despite this being one of my proudest career moments as a wellness blogger/creator.” Jo has been extremely honest about her upbringing in a conservative Filipino family and her mental health odyssey, and both of those elements were on full display here. For many people, it’s just as hard, if not harder, to be proud of their achievements. Thankfully, Jo shows us that it’s alright to give yourself a strong pat on the back when you deserve it!
To join the conversation and follow GoFitJo’s story, check out her social media profiles on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.