Meet Jenalle Dion | Psychedelic Journal Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jenalle Dion and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jenalle, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
From selling lemonade on the street as a kid, to doing nails in my high school bedroom, to consulting people in holistic nutrition and lifestyle habits after college, to being a full-time freelancer, I’ve always felt drawn to entrepreneurship.

Because I experienced a rocky childhood, stuck in between my parent’s messy divorce, I vowed to myself that my adult life would make up for it. That I would explore the world. Adventure far and wide. Have a career doing something I loved and in an industry that I believed in. I promised myself that I wouldn’t settle. And I can proudly say at age 28, I haven’t.

Because I was so interested in soaking up new cultures, feasting my eyes on fresh sights, and meeting young backpackers form all over the world, I wondered…. “How could I create something to support other travellers in their explorations?”

That’s when I realized that I wanted to create a mindful travel journal that could not only help travellers document their experiences, but also manifest and plan their trips, and learn how to travel more ethically and sustainably.

There weren’t many guided travel journals out there, so I got to work. At the time I was working full time in content marketing for a retreat start-up. I was so obsessed with the idea of creating the journal that I would go to work at 7, work for a couple of hours before starting the 8 hours at my job, eat dinner, get outside and move my body, and then be back at the office until 10pm working on the project.

8 months later I had received a $20K loan for entrepreneurs under the age of 30. I was planning to launch an epic Kickstarter campaign, and had a videographer crew working on the campaign vid. I was all ready to launch.

And it was March 2020…

COVID hit. And I was about to launch a travel journal… when no one was traveling.

But after joining an online conference full of of other business owners in BC and Alberta, I transformed from feeling totally defeated, to overflowing with resilience, inspiration and passion.

I was ready to pivot.

I had great relationships with tons of retreat centers and experts in the field, specifically in the plant medicine and psychedelics realm. I had always wished for a tool that could help me prepare, navigate and integrate my experiences during a ceremony. And thus, the Wakeful Integration Journal was born. And, shortly after a successful Kickstarter launch, so was the 6-Week Intention Journal, for microdosing.

I’m now selling all three journals through my website along with creating journals for other brands in the wellness space including retreat centers, psychedelic clinics, therapists, coaches, and mushroom brands.

And I am totally obsessed with it.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business serves both customers and brands. Psychedelic explorers, or those interested in supporting their healing through plant medicines, are guided through the content of the journals and free articles and guides on my website. And wellness brands because they can work with me to create a white-label or custom journal for their participants. My team holds everything from consulting with the client on their journal structure, to communicating with designers, artists, and manufacturers, to setting up shipping and dealing with brokers. It’s a full end-to-end service, ultimately leaving the client with a beautiful journal that they can then share with their participants.

There currently aren’t any organizations in the psychedelic space who are offering journal creation services, so I really feel like I am filling a gap and it’s something I am incredibly proud of!

I am most excited about the brand new journal that will be coming out in April this year. I can’t say too mush… er, much yet, but know that it will be real fun!

Getting here hasn’t been easy, but I’ve enjoyed every step of the journey. Looking back at the state I was in after losing my job in the retreat space when COVID hit, and wondering how I was going to launch my travel-focussed product in a world where travel was put at an absolute halt… to where I am now, makes my heart so full! There’ was definitely a silver lining in my story. And I’m grateful for it all.

I guess I overcame the challenges by just believing in both the products I was creating, and myself. You have to have both to be successful.

Some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way have been time management and saying “no”. I am still not running my business full time, and I take on clients in content marketing to pay some of the bills. Switching my focus on several different clients has become a crafted skill. I’ve also learned to be very choosy with my spare time and the events that I go to. There is always something fun going on, and learning to discern what is going to fuel my energy or drain my energy has become incredibly important with so much on my plate.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Vancouver, BC, Canada: Well, this depends on what year it was. If it was summer, then I’d say we’d walk down to the Quay in North Vancouver. Get a coffee at Nemisis, and then find a brunch spot on Lonsdale Ave. We could go mountain biking at Fromme or Seymour. Or head up to the Squamish area for a hike.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to give a shoutout to Retreat Guru, for believing in me and supporting my growth in both my career and personal growth. To the Social Venture Institute for having such a powerful, diverse community and being the conference that inspired the pivot of my business. And to Dinny Lansdowne and Shannon Emmerson for mentoring me through these last few years!

Website: https://www.wakefultravel.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wakefultravel/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenalle-dion/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wakefultravel?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wakefultravel/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsMRJzD93-XKAAW7Zdhq9Vw

Other: Blog: https://www.wakefultravel.com/blogs/journal