Masterpiece

For years, I actively avoided journalling. These days, it’s one of the most important rituals I keep. In this episode, I reflect on my morning practice, how my relationship with writing has evolved, and how making space to hear ourselves can help us reconnect with what we think, feel and want. Thoughts? Questions?  Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm You can order a One Word Journal here . And sign up...

We’re taught from an early age to be good, agreeable, and easy to be around. But what happens when being "good" means disconnecting from yourself? Becca and I explore why women are taught to suppress anger, what we lose when we do, and how reconnecting with our anger can help us reclaim our voice, our desires, and our sense of self. Thoughts? Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm You can order...

I went to Japan looking for inspiration. What I came home with was a reminder of how much place shapes creativity, and a renewed desire to make. In this episode, I reflect on travel, art, mastery, and learning to do less with more love. --- Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm --- Order a One Word Journal --- Instagram @jessicayolandakaye --- Newsletter https://jessicayolandakaye.substack.com/

After 2.5 years of not painting, I’m back to making art. It’s early days, but I feel a shift. I want to make something different. But as I move towards making the art I actually want to make, I find myself facing resistance. What if it’s bad? What if people don’t understand it? What if I can’t make a living from it? In this episode, I talk to my art teacher and mentor, Daryl, about what’s undernea...

When life gets hectic, it’s easy to get swept up in the noise and lose touch with yourself. For most of my life, I lived on autopilot. Matteo did too. But everything changed when we started picking a word each year. In this episode, we talk about what ten years of this practice has taught us — how one word can help you reconnect with your voice, your values, and how you want to live. Order a One W...

I haven’t painted in 2.5 years. I told myself all sorts of stories about why — not the right time, place, space. But underneath it all, I think I was blocked by something deeper. This week, I reflect on creative block, the fear of not knowing, and how I’m finding my way back to painting. --- Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm --- Order a One Word Journal --- Instagram @jessicayolandakaye --- Newslette...

Psychologist Cass Seidler joins me to unpack two listener questions. Together, we explore why it can feel so hard to give yourself permission to go after what you want, how perfectionism, people-pleasing and uncertainty can keep us stuck, and why the things that make us feel most alive are still worth making space for.  Do you have a question you'd like us to explore? Email me at jyk@masterpi...

This week, my friend Romy Galombik turns the microphone around as we reflect on 20 episodes of Masterpiece. We explore what creating the podcast has taught me about getting into the arena, overcoming the need to be liked, and why creating something meaningful is the right kind of hard. --- Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm --- Order a One Word Journal --- Instagram @jessicayolandakaye --- Newsletter...

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 jyk@masterpiece.fm --- Order a One Word Journal --- Instagram @jessicayolandakaye --- Newsletter https://jessicayolandakaye.substack.com/

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 tha...

A conversation with writer Grace O'Neill on Tracey Emin, Lena Dunham, and the tension between self-expression and approval. Thoughts? Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm --- Grace's word for the year is ASSERT. Mine is PERMISSION. Find your word for the year here. --- Grace O'Neill:  instagram   substack Jessica Yolanda Kaye: jyk@masterpiece.fm   instagram newsletter Big Little Things: M...

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 jyk@masterpiece.fm --- Contact Daryl:  @blankcanvasartscool Email me:  jyk@masterpiece.fm   DM me: @jessicayolandakaye   Sign up to my newsletter Order a One Word Journal Thank you for listening :) JYK  --- The Masterpiece...

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 jyk@masterpiece....

A conversation on leaving the safety of a job, starting something of your own, and why you need your cheerleaders.  Thoughts? Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm --- 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 (...

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 w...

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. --- You can DM me on IG here Email me on jyk@masterpiece.fm Sign up to my newsletter here Order a One Word Journal here I love hearing from you 🤍 JYK  --- The Masterpiece soundtrack is c...

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...

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, swi...

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 pursui...

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. --- You can order a One Word Journal here Email me on jyk@masterpiece.fm...

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 conversatio...

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 Wor...

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...

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 ah...

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...