Episodes
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This week I reflect on why so many of us want to create but feel like we can't, the cost of constant busyness, and the little flames inside we can't keep ignoring.
What is something you want to do that feels scary to say out loud?
Email me at [email protected]
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Order a One Word Journal
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Instagram @jessicayolandakaye
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Newsletter https://jessicayolandakaye.substack.com/
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Creating a life and art that feels true to you is like climbing a mountain. It can feel long, lonely and uncertain. But after six months of releasing Masterpiece, I'm realising that none of us are meant to do this alone. This is an episode about the cheerleaders who help us find the courage to keep going. And a thank you to everyone who has reached out, shared their story, and reminded me that there are people on the other side of this microphone!
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Email me at [email protected]
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Order a One Word Journal
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Instagram @jessicayolandakaye
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Newsletter https://jessicayolandakaye.substack.com/
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Missing episodes?
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A conversation with writer Grace O'Neill on Tracey Emin, Lena Dunham, and the tension between self-expression and approval.
Thoughts? Email me at [email protected]
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Grace's word for the year is ASSERT. Mine is PERMISSION.
Find your word for the year here.
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Grace O'Neill:
instagram substackJessica Yolanda Kaye:
[email protected] instagramnewsletterBig Little Things:
My Heart is This: Tracey Emin on Painting by Martin GayfordFamesick by Lena DunhamThe Interview Podcast with Lena DenhamThe Louis Theroux Podcast with Tracey EminThe Art of Accomplishment: How to Stop Seeking Approval---
Order a One Word Journal here.
Thank you for listening :)
JYK
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The Masterpiece soundtrack is composed by Josie Mann, with strings by James Tarbotton.
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A conversation with my art teacher and friend, Daryl, on quietening the inner critic, reconnecting with the artist inside, and expressing yourself freely.
Thoughts? Email me at [email protected]
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Contact Daryl: @blankcanvasartscool
Email me: [email protected]
DM me: @jessicayolandakaye
Sign up to my newsletter
Order a One Word Journal
Thank you for listening :)
JYK
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The Masterpiece soundtrack is composed by Josie Mann, with strings by James Tarbotton.
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When I moved back to Sydney, I started confronting the things I’d spent years running from. My mind. My body. My feelings. And it was much harder than I expected. Much more time consuming, exhausting, isolating. I thought it was getting in the way of my life and my painting. But lately, I’ve realised it was never separate from the art. It was leading me back to it.
Thoughts? Email [email protected]
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You can DM me on IG here
Email me on [email protected]
Sign up to my newsletter here
Order a One Word Journal here
I love hearing from you 🤍
JYK
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The Masterpiece soundtrack is composed by Josie Mann, with strings by James Tarbotton.
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A conversation on leaving the safety of a job, starting something of your own, and why you need your cheerleaders.
Thoughts? Email me at [email protected]
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BIG LITTLE THINGS
'The Best Money Advice You Will Ever Receive: 4 Rules From the Top Financial Minds in the World' on the Mel Robbins Podcast (Spotify | Apple)
'10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)' on Acquired (Spotify | Apple)
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Follow Romo's florals @grumpypetal.
Email me on [email protected] + DM me on @jessicayolandakaye + sign up to my newsletter.
Find your One Word for the year here.
Thank you for listening :)
JYK
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The Masterpiece soundtrack is composed by Josie Mann, with strings by James Tarbotton.
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So many of us are sitting in the stands of our own lives — wanting to act, but held back by what people might think. In this conversation with Zac, we explore what it looks like to step into the arena.
Zac is a clinical psychologist and one of Australia’s leading voices in men’s mental health. He’s also someone who has learned to back himself — to speak, act, and move with conviction.
We explore why finding your gap matters, how self-belief is built through action, what it means to reconnect with parts of yourself that were shut down, and why vulnerability looks different for men and women.
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Learn more about Zac here.
Email me on [email protected].
DM me on IG here.
Sign up to my newsletter here.
Order your One Word Journal here.
Thank you for listening :)
JYK 🤍
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What’s something you want to do this year that feels scary to say out loud? What arena do you want to get into?
For me, it’s painting. And yet, I find myself sitting in the stands, afraid to take that first step.
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You can DM me on IG here
Email me on [email protected]
Sign up to my newsletter here
Order a One Word Journal here
I love hearing from you 🤍
JYK
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The Masterpiece soundtrack is composed by Josie Mann, with strings by James Tarbotton.
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Last year Madeleine Gottlieb spent 53 days in the South Australian desert directing a television series, working 18-hour days in intense conditions — an experience she describes as physically, emotionally and mentally taxing, and completely life-changing.
In this conversation we talk about the role friction plays in creative expression, what happens when the plan falls apart (like the day a brown snake appeared on set), and why understanding the feeling underneath what you’re trying to create might be the most important part of the process.
We also explore what balance means to us, why curiosity might be the sexiest quality in a human, and when being yourself stops feeling like rebellion and starts to feel like being.
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Sign up to my newsletter here for 'things I learnt' from Mads.
Learn more about Mads here.
Order your One Word Journal here.
Email me on [email protected].
DM me on IG here.
Thank you for listening :)
JYK 🤍
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It’s the year of the horse and it feels like there’s a shift. More momentum, movement, creative energy. More people wanting to make a change. To get in the arena. But where do you begin? James Clear says when you want to make a change but feel stuck, you don’t lack motivation — you lack clarity. I started this year burnt out, foggy, exhausted. So I made space. I went away for a week by myself, switched off my phone, disconnected from the outside world, and sat with one simple, confronting question: What do you want?
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You can DM me on IG here
Email me on [email protected]
Sign up to my newsletter here
Order a One Word Journal here
I love hearing from you!
JYK 🤍
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Retreat: Sundara
Pod reference: James Clear x Aspire
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The Masterpiece soundtrack is composed by Josie Mann, with strings by James Tarbotton.
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When you have an idea in your mind, it can feel perfect. The moment you begin, you realise how hard it is to make anything real (let alone good).
For the past few months, I’ve been living inside that gap while creating the sound of this podcast.
This episode is a reflection on why creating anything with love and integrity is so uncomfortable, the space between taste and ability, and why the pursuit is the point.
We finish with the Masterpiece soundtrack, composed by Josie Mann, with strings by James Tarbotton.
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You can email me on [email protected]
DM me on IG here
Sign up to my newsletter here
And order a One Word Journal here
I always love hearing from you :)
JYK 🤍
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When I feel overwhelmed, like there aren’t enough hours in the day, every part of me wants to do more. Wake up earlier. Cram it all in. Get on top of things.
Lately, I’m learning the opposite might be true.
This episode is about doing less. Letting go of pressure. And giving yourself permission to meet yourself where you are.
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You can order a One Word Journal here
Email me on [email protected]
DM me on IG here
And sign up to my newsletter here
Thank you for listening :)
JYK 🤍
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I always thought perfectionism was a bit of a humble brag — a flaw that was actually a strength. Something that helped you get ahead.
Then I read an article in The New Yorker, and everything changed. I realised perfectionism isn’t something to gloat about at all. It’s a debilitating way of being, with deep roots, that can quietly stop you from living, creating, and connecting.
In this conversation, I sit down with Cass Seidler, psychologist and recovering perfectionist. Together, we unpack what perfectionism really is, how it shows up, the toll it takes on your life, relationships, and energy — and what the road to recovery can look like.
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You can order your One Word Journal here
Email me on [email protected]
DM me on IG here
And sign up to my newsletter here! (for things I learnt from these pods and more)
Thank you for listening :)
JYK 🤍
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This week, Matteo and I sat down to reflect on 2025 through the lens of our words — mastery and foundations. We spoke about the friction of moving home, starting therapy, the biggest lessons we took from it, and why my podcast cover shoot became a philosophical lesson for life. We also share our words for 2026 and how we arrived at them.
You can order your One Word Journal here
Share your One Word here
Email us at [email protected]
Get in touch via IG on @myword.is and @jessicayolandakaye
DM me on IG here
And sign up to my newsletter here!
Thank you for listening :)
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Grace O’Neill is a writer, editor, podcaster, and this year, she became a mother.
After years of searching, pivoting, and finally finding the confidence to say I am an artist, Grace had her son, Eli, and time became very real.
In this conversation, we talk about the fear of motherhood, how it surprised and stretched her, and what it’s been like writing her first novel amidst it all. We talk about perfectionism and craft, devotion and discipline, and what happens to the artist when life gets fuller.
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ONE WORD JOURNAL
Pre-order here.
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GRACE O'NEILL
Instagram + Substack
Read Grace's piece: Dispatches from Motherhood
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NEWSLETTER
For 'Things I learnt from Grace' and more sign up to my free newsletter here.
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JESSICA YOLANDA KAYE
Instagram + website.
Email [email protected] for anything else :)
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Eliza Gosse is not your typical artist. Mathematical, precise and quietly disciplined, she has built an incredible career as a painter — ten solo exhibitions in seven years — and she’s only 30 (and just getting started).
In this conversation, we talk about what it really means to commit to a creative life: the steadiness, the structure, the slow evolution. Eliza shares how she plans three shows ahead, why she still uses a tiny brush despite being told not to, and how becoming a mother is shifting her relationship to art and home.
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ONE WORD JOURNAL
Pre-order here.
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ELIZA GOSSE
Art + Instagram + Buon Gusto Studios.
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NEWSLETTER
For 'Things I learnt from Eliza' and more sign up to my free newsletter here.
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JESSICA YOLANDA KAYE
Instagram + website.
Email [email protected] for anything else :)
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I met the Canadian-born TV and film producer, Haley Vickers, at a birthday dinner in 2023. We were both pivoting in our careers, both breaking up with London, and by the time dinner came out, I’m pretty sure we’d both cried. Haley has that rare ability to make you laugh, cry, think, and see things differently. All within a matter of minutes.
Haley has spent the last decade developing and producing films across London, Toronto, and beyond. In 2025, she launched her own production company, Flick Films. Most recently, she executive produced the rom-com Mile End Kicks, starring Barbie Ferreira, which premiered at TIFF this year.
Like me, Haley has spent the past year in what she calls “living limbo.” So, sitting together on a sofa in central London, we explored the role of place in shaping who you are and who you’re becoming. We laughed, we cried, and inevitably, found ourselves in Italy.
I loved this chat. I hope you do too.
JYK 🤍
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HALEY VICKERS
Instagram + IMDB + Flick Films.
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MUSIC
'Deleta Ya' by Djo.
Used with permission from AWAL.
Listen here.
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NEWSLETTER
For things I learnt from Haley and more sign up to my free newsletter here.
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ONE WORD
Find your word here.
Share your word here.
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Email [email protected] for anything else :)
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Diana Reid wrote her debut novel at 24 during lockdown, having deferred a corporate law job by a year. That book became a bestseller. In the five years since, she’s published two more, with another and a screenplay adaptation on the way. But what's so remarkable about Diana isn't her productivity, but her perspective.
Sitting together on a sofa in London, I was struck by her stoicism, her maturity, her detachment. In this conversation, we talk about the conditions that give you the freedom to create, the best advice she’s ever received, training for writing like an athlete, why she leaves her phone at home, and the little pocketbook where she collects inspiration.
It’s a conversation that reshaped how I think about focus, creative discipline, and what really matters.
JYK ♥️
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Follow Diana on instagram
Order Diana's latest book: Signs of Damage
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Pre-order your One Word Journal and pick your word for 2026
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Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @jessicayolandakaye
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Today, my podcast, Masterpiece, is out. I’ve been talking about this podcast for years — dreaming about it, playing with it, circling around it, and avoiding it. It’s wild how you can want something so much and still be so scared of it. How something can feel so true and so dangerous at the same time. I’ve avoided this podcast because I’ve been afraid. Afraid to trust myself. Afraid to be fully seen.
Masterpiece is a podcast about letting go of who you think you should be and becoming who you really are. But the truth is, it’s really hard.
For the last decade, I’ve been on this beautiful, messy, meaningful journey of discovering who I am — quitting my job, moving to London, becoming an artist. And even though I’ve shared pieces publicly, I’ve kept a lot to myself. I’ve been living between the lines, and I don’t want to hide anymore.
Miranda July said, “The more honest you are, the more dangerous it feels.”
This podcast feels dangerous. But it also feels important.
So for the first episode of Masterpiece, I said what I was afraid to say.
JYK 🤍
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https://www.instagram.com/jessicayolandakaye/
https://www.jessicayolandakaye.com/
https://www.myword.is/journal
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Talia Blank is a painter, poet, filmmaker, and incredibly deep thinker. For Talia, making art is like breathing. It isn’t something she thinks about. It pours out of her. And yet, when she had her first solo exhibition in New York, something she had dreamed of, it broke her heart.
In our conversation, we speak about what it really means to be an artist. The vulnerability that creativity demands, and how exposing that can feel when shared publicly. The maxims she lives by, the rituals that save her, and what happens when we stop trying to control everything and let the magic in.
I loved this chat. I hope you do too.
JYK 🤍
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TALIA BLANK
Instagram + creative studio + website.
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MUSIC
'It Starts Now' by BLOND:ISH.
Used with permission from KOMPAKT Records.
Listen here.
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NEWSLETTER
To receive Talia's Big Little Things (the book, film, rituals that inspire her) sign up to my free newsletter here.
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ONE WORD
Find your word here.
Share your word here.
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Email [email protected] for anything else :)
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