Elephant Journal

What Elephant Journal does

Elephant Journal is a privately-held, Boulder, Colorado-based digital media publication founded in 2002 by Waylon Lewis and owned by Waylon H. Lewis Enterprises. The platform publishes content focused on mindful living, covering wellness, yoga, spirituality, sustainability, relationships, and conscious consumption for a horizontal consumer audience of mindfulness-oriented adults and women interested in health and wellness. Its core product is a WordPress-based website (elephantjournal.com) offering a freemium content model with tiered subscriptions ($5/year Basic, $10/year Supporter, $250 lifetime Benefactor), supplemented by advertising, Boost Points (a virtual currency for reader engagement), online courses via Elephant Academy on Teachable, and branded merchandise sold through Etsy.

The company's central differentiation is the Ecosystem writer-payment program, launched May 2026, which compensates top contributors based on a score weighted 95% by reader engagement (reads, hearts, comments, shares) and 5% by Editor's Picks, with monthly prizes of $40–$108 for the top four writers. This creates a two-sided marketplace dynamic between readers and writers uncommon in independent publishing. Distribution is multi-channel, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Bluesky Social, and daily/weekly/monthly email newsletters.

The business operates without disclosed external funding or institutional ownership, with 101–250 employees headquartered at 1035 Pearl Street, Boulder. Revenue is diversified across five streams—subscriptions, advertising, Boost Points transactions, Academy courses, and merchandise—though no revenue figures are publicly disclosed. The platform has accumulated substantial organic reach, with individual articles regularly achieving 600K–2.1M reads, indicating strong SEO authority built over more than two decades of operation.

Name

Elephant Journal

Legal name

Waylon H. Lewis Enterprises

Website

https://elephantjournal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Elephant Journal is a privately-held Boulder-based digital media publication serving mindful living enthusiasts with articles on wellness, yoga, sustainability, and spirituality, monetized via low-cost subscriptions, advertising, Boost Points, online courses, and merchandise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Media and Digital Publishing

NAICS

Information (51)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Creator Monetization Tools (Subscriptions, Tips, Merch) (BPAMALAH)

Keywords

• Mindful living content
• Online media publishing
• Digital wellness publication
• Subscription-based journalism
• Writer monetization platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulder

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Annual subscription tiers providing unlimited reading access: Basic at $5/year, Supporter at $10/year (normally $108), and Benefactor at $250 lifetime. Subscriptions are auto-renewing and billed annually.
2. Boost Points: Virtual currency system allowing users to purchase Boosts to support favorite writers. Sold in packs of 5 ($5), 10 ($10), 20 ($20), and 100 (20% off at $80). Helps writers win the Ecosystem competition.
3. Advertising: Display advertising on the platform, with dedicated advertising page (/advertise/) for brand partners.
4. Academy Courses: Online educational products and courses hosted on Teachable platform, including Elephant Academy offerings.
5. Shop Sales: Merchandise sales through Etsy shop (ElephantJournalShop) featuring items like yoga mats, cork products, bags, and bottles.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Elephant Journal is a community-driven online publication that publishes editorial content focused on mindful living, including wellness, sustainability, relationships, spirituality, and yoga. It supplements free and paid editorial access with a virtual Boost Points currency that lets readers support writers, an Elephant Academy of online courses hosted on Teachable, and branded merchandise sold via Etsy. The platform's signature feature is the Ecosystem writer compensation program, which pays contributors based on reader engagement metrics such as reads, hearts, comments, and shares.

Product overview

Elephant Journal operates as a unified online publication platform focused on mindful living content, supported by a virtual currency system (Boost Points), a writer compensation program (Ecosystem), and an educational platform (Academy). The core product is the elephantjournal.com website featuring articles on wellness, sustainability, relationships, spirituality, and yoga. The business model combines free content with tiered subscriptions (Basic at $5/year, Supporter at $10/year, and Benefactor lifetime at $250), a virtual Boost Points currency for reader engagement, and a marketplace through Etsy for branded merchandise. The Academy, hosted on Teachable, provides writer education courses included with Supporter subscriptions. The Ecosystem program incentivizes writer participation through monthly payments determined by reader engagement metrics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Elephant Academy: Online educational platform offering courses for writers and mindfulness practitioners.

Products and services

• Elephant Journal Website Community-driven online publication delivering mindful living editorial content including wellness, sustainability, relationships, spirituality, and yoga, with free limited reads and paid subscription access for individual readers.
• Boost Points Virtual currency system allowing readers to purchase Boost packs (5 for $5, 10 for $10, 20 for $20, 100 for $80) to support favorite writers and improve their standing in the Ecosystem compensation program.
• Elephant Academy Online educational platform hosted on Teachable at elephant-academy.teachable.com offering courses for writers and mindfulness practitioners, with a free course valued at $216 included with Supporter subscriptions.
• Elephant Shop Branded merchandise storefront operated through Etsy selling yoga mats, cork products, bags, and bottles, with a 15% discount code available for Elephant Journal supporters.
• Elephant Journal Subscription Tiered subscription access to Elephant Journal providing unlimited reads with reduced ads. Includes Basic ($5/year), Supporter ($10/year, normally $108, with 50% shop discount and free Academy course), and Benefactor ($250 lifetime) tiers.
• Elephant Journal Newsletter Email newsletter delivering editor and reader favorite articles with options for daily, weekly, or monthly frequency.

Quantifiable outcome

• Writers can earn $40-$108+ per winning article through Ecosystem system
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Yoga Journal: Direct peer — long-running yoga and mindful living publication covering wellness, spirituality, and sustainability with overlapping editorial coverage and a similar reader demographic.
• Well+Good: Direct peer — wellness-focused digital publisher targeting similar conscious-living and health-oriented audiences, with comparable content verticals, editorial voice, and subscription/advertising revenue mix.
• MindBodyGreen: Direct peer — a leading digital media brand covering wellness, mindfulness, and sustainable living, with subscription and e-commerce monetization that closely mirrors Elephant Journal's model and audience overlap.
• The Chalkboard: Direct peer — wellness and mindful living digital magazine covering nutrition, beauty, fitness, and conscious living with similar content verticals and a comparable wellness-oriented audience.
• The Good Trade: Direct peer — digital publication focused on sustainable, ethical, and conscious living, with similar values-driven editorial positioning and audience overlap on wellness and conscious consumerism.
• Mindful.org: Direct peer — flagship mindfulness media publication covering meditation, mindful living, and conscious consumerism; directly comparable editorial niche and audience alignment with Elephant Journal.
• Spirituality & Health: Direct peer — long-running publication covering spirituality, wellness, and mindful living with content verticals and audience profile that directly intersect with Elephant Journal's spiritual/wellness coverage.

Emerging players

• Gaia: Emerging player — subscription-based streaming and content platform focused on spirituality, yoga, and mindful living; overlaps with Elephant Journal's audience in spirituality content but delivers primarily via video rather than written articles.

Broad incumbents

• goop: Broad incumbent — wellness lifestyle brand combining editorial content, e-commerce, and content-driven consumer products. Operates in adjacent wellness space at significantly larger scale with broader commercial reach.
• PureWow: Broad incumbent — large-scale digital lifestyle publisher covering wellness among broader lifestyle topics; competes for the same wellness-curious female audience but at meaningfully larger scale and broader scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/WaylonHLewis
• Facebookfacebook.com/elephantjournal
• Instagraminstagram.com/elephantjournal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Elephant Journal