Bittersweet.
Okay, so… we have a little catching up to do.
Between a handful of unexpected side quests, a healthy dose of procrastination and my inner analyst quietly hijacking the driver's seat for a while (literally), it's fair to say this particular blog post has slipped well down the priority list.
A lot has happened… yet somehow, nothing has happened at all? Yea I know, it makes absolutely no sense.
Thing One.
This will be the last blog post you'll read on this website.
A little wild, yet equally awesome.
The support this blog has received over the years has never stopped to amaze me. Some of you have been reading for more than five years, while others have only stumbled across this little corner of the internet recently. Either way, you've all played a part in keeping this silly little blog alive for far longer than I ever expected.
For that, thank you.
More than anything, I'm grateful to those of you who've reached out so openly and vulnerably over the years. I'd always hoped my words might make someone feel a little less alone, but I don't think I truly understood the real impact they were having until last year. The encouragement you've all given me has quietly become one of the biggest reasons I've had the confidence to keep writing, slowly progressing my book, and to finally back myself in what's coming next. I honestly can't thank you enough.
And also I’d selfishly like to add… I can actually see the analytics. So for all those who have not previously been aware, this website knows a lot more than you might realise. Every visit, every return, every late-night deep dive through old posts leaves a little footprint that I can see, right down to your exact location and IP address. Which also means… yes… to those of you who've consistently checked in for reasons not so genuine or kind… I see you too.
Thankfully, you've always been heavily outnumbered by the people who have shown up with kindness, encouragement and genuine interest. Those are the people this blog was always written for, and those are the people I'm grateful for tonight.
Which leads me to:
Thing Number Two
I've been quietly building a new website.
Or more accurately… a new foundation.
Although it sounds exciting, the reality has been anything but glamorous. In between work, travel and my everyday life, I've been stealing whatever spare moments I could find to slowly build something that feels aligned with the direction my life is heading.
Interestingly enough, the biggest challenge hasn't been adding more, it's actually been removing things… Every version looked good on paper and every idea ticked yet another box, but the more I built the more I realised clarity doesn't come from adding! It comes from stripping everything back until only the bare essentials remain.
That lesson has applied to far more than just the website, and it's made me rethink how I measure my own progress.
For years I've had this habit of brushing off milestones almost as quickly as they happen, as though they're simply expected and not worth celebrating. But lately I've realised those moments are the very things that become the foundations of everything that comes next. They're the education, experience and evidence! And whether I acknowledge them or not, they're slowly becoming the framework I'll build my future upon.
So yes… it's been a season… A really good one.A really stretching one. And one I'm quietly proud of.
As the website has gradually taken shape, I've realised the real work wasn't designing something new, yet it was having the courage to simplify it. I started with an idea that tried to do everything then landed on something that does three things really well.
Clear. Intentional. Effective.
Much like building a business, the hardest part is often clearing the road before you can start driving down it. As frustrating as that process has been, I can finally see where this is all heading. This website isn't just another project, it's the platform I'll be building from over the next few years… Which is equal parts exciting and slightly terrifying. One of my business mentors said something that's stuck with me throughout this process:
"Build something that doesn't limit where you'll be four years from now."
That one sentence quietly changed everything, as it forced me to stop thinking about who I am today and start building for the person I'm becoming.
So, despite all the excitement, I'm intentionally keeping this launch fairly quiet. No huge announcement. No dramatic countdown. Just a gentle release that gives me room to find my feet, make the mistakes and learn quickly to grow naturally. And honestly... I quite like that. There's something special about building in silence, especially when the vision you've carried around in your head for so long is finally beginning to look real.
Which brings me to:
Thing Number Three!
If you’ve read this far then I’ll come kiss your face!
By the end of September, I'll officially be launching my coaching business.
Now, before anyone asks what "officially" means... No, I haven't suddenly discovered the secret to life! It simply means I've reached the point where the foundations are finally catching up with the work itself.
Over the past year I've quietly been taking on coaching clients here and there. It started as the occasional conversation, then the odd referral, then another, and somewhere over the last four months it snowballed into something I genuinely wasn't expecting and I’ll admit, word of mouth has done almost all of the heavy lifting. Which, I've been told, is one of the nicest problems you can have.
The less glamorous side of that story however, looked something like squeezing sessions into late evenings, pulling hours out of thin air and operating with what can only be described as a very questionable invoicing system! What started as, "Yeah, I'd be happy to chat." Quickly became, "I think I can squeeze you in at 10:15 on Friday night..." It was around then I realised perhaps it was time to get my act together, and while the growth surprised me, the direction never did.
For almost a decade I've said that one day I wanted to become a life coach. I still remember a conversation back in 2019 when my ex-partner had taken me to Bali, and one evening we were lying in bed talking about life when he asked,
"What's the one thing you really want to do?"
Without thinking, I answered,
"Life coaching."
No hesitation. He looked at me completely puzzled and started asking what that even meant, how it differed from counselling or therapy, and why I was so interested in it. Looking back now, I must’ve seemed a little crazy as at the time I was already running a business, painting murals, doing bits of freelance graphic design, event photography and somehow collecting hobbies faster than most people collect fucking houseplants! And better yet, getting paid for them!
Apparently there was still another chapter he hadn't uncovered. In hindsight, though, every one of those experiences was teaching me something. Some taught resilience, others communication, leadership… Or even exactly what not to do. Individually they didn't seem connected yet now they make perfect sense.
It's easy to look backwards and draw the line that forwards never reveals.
That's why this next chapter doesn't actually feel like starting from scratch, yet more like arriving somewhere I've been slowly walking towards for years. I'm still learning and I imagine I always will be, in fact I actually hope to always be learning! But for the first time, everything feels aligned enough that pressing "go" no longer feels reckless… It simply feels... right?
People often ask me what makes my coaching different, and the truth is, I don't think I'm the right person to answer that.
I'd rather you watch it unfold, because this stage… Building something from an idea that's lived quietly in your mind for years into something tangible… is exactly what I’ll teach you how to do. How to understand the psychology behind it, how ideas become action, identity shapes behaviour, and how clarity changes everything.
Long before we talk about goals, careers or businesses, there's a much more important questions sitting underneath all of it:
Who are you?
And perhaps even harder...
What do you actually want?
Those two questions sound deceptively simple, yet during my short experience coaching, they're often the hardest ones to answer.
Lastly:
Thing Number Four
I've got this rather ambitious "before 30" list.
It's almost laughable if I’m honest. It's one of those "before I die" style lists that probably puts far too much pressure on an arbitrary deadline. But for me, it isn't really about the deadline.
It all started with one sentence I wrote to myself back in January.
"I've decided I don't want to be a pussy anymore."
Hahaha.
Elegant? No.
Effective? Absolutely.
Every year on my birthday I write a letter to my future self, tuck a little cash inside as a gift, and seal it away until the following year. As I wrote to "30 year old Tess"... ew... that sentence found its way onto the page, and I haven't forgotten it since.
The first half of this year has been all about building the foundations. Things like: Building a six-figure year, treating my own work with the same discipline I give everyone else's, growing my financial investments, closing old mental doors, being the best daughter, sister, aunty and friend I know how to be. Building this new website, continuing my book, creating better systems in both my business, my routines and probably most importantly, in my own mind. Oh... and naturally becoming a Pilates princess.
It's been what my Mother would call a real "head down, bum up" season. And while I've genuinely loved watching those pieces slowly come together, I'll also admit that it's been... serious? Which is funny, because despite what a lot of people assume about me, I'm actually not that serious of a person.
I'm direct, yes. Honest, yes. Not afraid of difficult conversations… yes.
But underneath all of that, I'm incredibly light-hearted, creative and little quirky ball of fluff! I laugh at myself far more than I laugh at anyone else, I love ridiculous ideas, unexpected adventures and conversations that wander completely off course and for whatever reason, people often meet the determined version of me before they meet the playful one.
I've learnt to make peace with that, although I'll admit that every now and then I accidentally start believing it too… Which is exactly why this list matters! Not because I need to tick boxes before turning 30, because somewhere along the way, life asked me to grow up much faster than I should have had to. I accepted responsibility arriving early, pressure and quickly adapted to survival mode becoming normal. I stepped up because I had to.
And no this is not a sob story, far from actually. But all that had to come at they expense of something.
This list is my way of reclaiming that.
It's less about achievement and far more about permission. Permission to try things simply because they look fun!!! To embarrass myself, be a beginner again, to learn, play and chase curiosity without needing it to become productive.
For years I'd quietly pushed so many adventures aside. Not because I didn't want them... But because I convinced myself there would be a better time ‘later’. Goddamn fucking later, ugh! Then eventually without even noticing, I became afraid of them.
Afraid of looking silly, of failing or even of just starting. That's where that ridiculous sentence came from.
"I don't want to be a pussy anymore."
It wasn't really about courage, yet about freedom. Because the truth is, I don't want fear making decisions on my behalf anymore! Thirty feels like a milestone, let’s be honest here… And not because I think life suddenly changes overnight or anything crazy, but because I want to arrive there already living the life I've been imagining and not waiting for fucking permission to start.
These aren't meant to become nice little stories I tell at dinner parties! They're meant to reshape the way I live and become the hobbies I'll keep, maybe even the newfound confidence I'll carry, friendships I'll deepen and hopefully they adventures I'll continue saying yes to. They're the beginning of the lifestyle I've wanted for years.
So... To Conclude This Finale:
Here's to building businesses, writing books, learning new skills, falling off surfboards or skateboards again, maybe getting lost in some buzzy country, making mistakes and goddamn backing myself anyway.
And mainly,
remembering that success means very little if somewhere along the way you forget how to have fun.
Thanks for reading this little blog for all these years.
Truly.
It has been one of the greatest unexpected gifts of my twenties.
And now...
I think it's time for the next chapter…
See you over there?
Love Tess xxx