The Art Of Living

Welcome To The Art Of Living

Welcome to The Art of Living - conversations that go deeper than surface level.
Hosted by Tessa James creative, founder, mother, entertainer and wife this podcast explores what it truly means to live well.
Each episode is an honest and deeply human conversation with healers, athletes, founders, poets, creatives and powerful thinkers who have all been tested by life in some way and come back with something worth sharing.
From wellbeing and mindset to ambition, motherhood, creativity, resilience and purpose, The Art of Living is a space for meaningful conversations about the mind, the body and building a life that feels full from the inside out.
Warm, curious and thought-provoking, this is for anyone navigating their own version of a beautiful and meaningful life.
LINKS: Follow @artofliving.wrld Follow @tessacharis Email the show: theartoflivngwrld@gmail.com
CREDITS: Host: Tessa James Executive Producer: Hannah Bowman 

Trevor Hendy: The Ironman Who Had To Let Go

In this episode of The Art Of Living, Tessa sits down with Trevor Hendy, elite athlete, coach, and mentor, a friend she first met over a decade ago while going through chemotherapy. What began as beach walks and quiet conversation planted seeds that, as they reflect on in this episode, only fully bloomed years later.
Trevor opens up about a remarkable life, from a nomadic childhood travelling around Australia with his adventurous family, to becoming a dominant Ironman, winning multiple world and Australian titles. But beneath the trophies was a boy who didn't feel enough. This episode traces his journey from chasing external validation to discovering what he now calls 'winning on all levels'... A shift from the head to the heart.
LINKS: Follow @artofliving.wrld Follow @tessacharis Email the show: theartoflivngwrld@gmail.com
CREDITS: Host: Tessa James Guest: Trevor HendyExecutive Producer: Hannah Bowman 
 

Nicole Slater: Learning To Put Yourself First

Nicole Slater is an artist, mum, wife of NRL legend Billy Slater, and the kind of woman who will sand back an entire kitchen bench on impulse just because she needed to create something. Tessa and Nicole have known each other for years, their lives woven together through football, family, and a shared sense that there is always more to a woman than what's visible from the outside.
In this episode Nicole opens up about a life lived in colour, from a dyslexic kid in Cairns who found her safe space in creating, to a young woman who packed her brushes and drove to Sunday markets at 17, willing her art career into existence before anyone else believed in it. She talks about following Billy to Melbourne, and the quiet years of setting her own ambitions aside while building a family and a life around someone else's extraordinary career. And then... COVID, a farm, a five-metre piece of linen, and the discovery that everything she'd been drawing toward her whole life was horses.
This episode is about what it means to hold onto yourself through the seasons that aren't yours yet. About the flow state that only comes with space, the version of yourself you have to grieve to move forward, and what happens when you finally get your turn.
LINKS: Follow @artofliving.wrld Follow @tessacharis Email the show: theartoflivingwrld@gmail.com
CREDITS: Host: Tessa James Guest: Nicole Slater Executive Producer: Hannah Bowman

Rupert McCall: Sport, Storytelling & The Australian Spirit

There aren't many people who could walk into a room full of footy players, recite a poem, and leave every single one of them changed. Rupert McCall is one of them.
Rupert is one of Australia's most celebrated poets and storytellers known for his performances at State of Origin, Anzac Cove, and Ground Zero. But before any of that, he was a kid from Redcliffe dreaming of wearing the green and gold. He never made it as a player, but he found a way to represent his country that turned out to be far more lasting.
In this conversation, Tessa and Rupert talk about what it really means to back yourself. Rupert opens up about trading a law career for the uncertainty of poetry, how he holds the weight of enormous occasions, and the moment standing at Anzac Cove that completely rewired the way he talks to himself under pressure. They also revisit the poem Rupert wrote for Tessa's husband Nate, a piece that captured a chapter of their lives in a way only Rupert could.
LINKS: Follow @artofliving.wrld Follow @tessacharis Email the show: theartoflivingwrld@gmail.com
CREDITS: Host: Tessa James Guest: Rupert McCallExecutive Producer: Hannah Bowman

Bianca Wise: Food, Movement & Tips To ACTUALLY Feel Good

Bianca Wise is a naturopath, Pilates instructor and wellness retreat host who helps women cut through the noise of fad diets and quick fixes to get back to what actually works. In this episode, Bianca and Tessa talk movement and mental health, what it really means to nourish your body, and why consistency beats perfection every time.
Bianca gets honest about hitting burnout last year, working through perfectionism and people-pleasing, and the lessons her 98-year-old Nonna taught her long before naturopathy gave them a name. A warm, grounding chat full of simple shifts you can actually fit into a busy life.LINKS: Follow @artofliving.wrld Follow @tessacharis Email the show: theartoflivingwrld@gmail.com
CREDITS: Host: Tessa James Guest: Bianca Wise Executive Producer: Hannah Bowman

The Quiet Work of Backing Yourself

What does backing yourself really mean? This week Tessa gets a little personal... just her, no guest, and something that's been sitting with her throughout this series.
She wanted to talk about what backing yourself actually looks like. Not the highlight reel version, not the moment something pays off, but the real, quiet, day to day reality of it. Because it doesn't always look the way we think it should.
This episode is a reminder that backing yourself isn't loud or certain or unshakable. Most of the time, it looks like getting out of bed. It looks like following through on one small thing. It looks like giving yourself credit for the day you just had, and choosing to show up again tomorrow.
LINKS: Follow @artofliving.wrld Follow @tessacharis Email the show: theartoflivingwrld@gmail.com
CREDITS: Host: Tessa James Executive Producer: Hannah Bowman

Martine Ho: The Self-Funded Rise Of Sunnies Face

Martine Ho joins Tessa this week with a refreshingly honest conversation about creativity, self-belief, and building a life that actually feels like you. Martine is an entrepreneur, mum, and the creative force behind eyewear brand Sunnies, cult beauty label Sunnies Face, and modular drink bottle line Sunnies Flask. Martine traces her journey from early blogging days and a stint at American Apparel to co founding a self funded beauty and lifestyle empire across Southeast Asia, all while raising her daughter from Melbourne.
They get into the chaos of launching Sunnies Face, the thinking behind cult products like the Cry Baby mascara, and how motherhood has sharpened Martine's creativity rather than dimmed it. She also shares her daily rhythm, her go to wind down ritual, where she finds design inspiration, and her honest advice for anyone building a product driven business.
LINKS: Follow @artofliving.wrld Follow @tessacharis Email the show: theartoflivingwrld@gmail.com
CREDITS: Host: Tessa James Executive Producer: Hannah Bowman

Grace Pebble of Surya Studio: Astrology, Intuition & Unlocking The Power Of 2026

This week Tessa sits down with Grace Tebble, astrologer and founder of Surya Studio, for a fascinating conversation about birth charts, intuition, and what 2026 has in store for us all.
Grace shares her winding path from fashion design to holistic healing to astrology, opening up about the moment she stopped worrying what others thought and fully committed to the work she felt called to do. She breaks down what a birth chart actually is, why she sees it as a "celestial mirror" rather than a prediction tool, and how reading charts for kids can help parents understand and nurture their children's natural expression.
LINKS: Follow @artofliving.wrld Follow @tessacharis Email the show: theartoflivingwrld@gmail.com
CREDITS: Host: Tessa James Executive Producer: Hannah Bowman