His mum’s an artist, his dad never sits still around the house, combined, you have an artist who never stops- Nick Hills. I met up with Hobart local Nick Hills, in a cave on Kunanyi/ Mount Wellington, a pretty unreal spot for this conversation. Surrounded by lush trails and beautiful wildlife, Nick shares how growing up in Hobart, the riding scene and nature have inspired his art and how his love for riding and art have merged yet again to create the graphics for this years Redbull Hardline event in Tasmania.

Nick shares about times he lacked purpose and how that affected his mental and how riding and art have given him that sense of purpose and have been his way of staying calm.

In his 20’s he sent it hard with BMX, with broken bones and constant injuries he started to do art when he couldn’t write. After many years as an electrician, he’s finally been able to make art his career. We talk about the tricky balance when art becomes work, the continuous pursuit of getting better and his art process.

“I want to be on my death bed knowing I didn’t slack off, that I put my life to use and got to leave something behind”. You can find Nicks works on socials and his website.

“I target the ‘wild ones’. The raw, the untamed, the adventurous thrill seekers who see life from a different perspective.” - NickHope you enjoyed Episode 94 of The Explore Your Core Podcast!Until next episode,Explore Your Core

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I’m joined by Lucy Bartholomew, one of Australia’s top trail runners, who’s been absolutely crushing it on home soil recently. She came onto the scene young and has a lot to share from what she’s learnt on this episode. Outside of finish lines and course records, Lucy shows what it means to be authentic and follow her curiosity.

Lucy has been shaping the narrative of how we view the sport and our bodies, and we talk about her journey over the last 12 years, how her attitudes changed and how she’s kept the love for the sport.

With her job as an athlete, which is not only unpredictable but also high-pressure, she shares how she remains calm with her main supports- her Dad and dog, how she finds a feeling of home when on the move, and what community provides her.

Lucy talks about her mindset, that you can only control two things: Your effort and your attitude. “If you lead with curiosity, excitement and confidence, you can’t lose, but if you’re using it as something to prove or to release negative emotions, you’ll only get so far”

She’s changing the narrative on how we view distances, what it means to be successful in the field, and how we view our bodies- watch out as she’s a force to be reckoned with!You can follow her on socials here.

Until next episode, Explore Your Core

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I am joined with Hilary McAllistar the CEO of For Wild Places, who explores and protects wild places. She’s an advocate, speaker and facilitator who is a trailblazer in the space.

We talk about her journey starting up For Wild Places in COVID; the challenges, the growth and the setbacks and the impact it is making now.

She talks on her experience being the CEO and learning when to take a step back.“I think the hardest part is trying to disconnect and switch off, you know that if it doesn’t happen today it’s not the end of the world and if it doesn’t happen next month it’s not the end of the world”. But she speaks to the benefit of community, the support you have when people have your back and having the courage to make change even when it brings discomfort because ultimately ‘people are quick to forget’ and soon the new becomes the norm.

You can check out For Wild Places and Hilary's feed on socials as well as the website.

Photo Cred: Calumn Hockey

Until next episode,

Explore Your Core

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In this weeks episode I am joined with Brooke McIntosh. She’s taken things to a whole new level, after completing a 1600km run from Pilbara to Perth in 2023, she decided to run 14,200kms around Australia for suicide prevention with a mission to help spark ‘just one more’ conversation.

Even after these two huge feats, this is only the beggining for Brooke as she continues to make ripples in this space.

I first came across Brooke’s film ‘Impact to Ignite’ at the Gutsy Girls Film Festival, and later down the track got to meet up with her in Melbourne during her run around Aus and I’ve been able to see her skyrocket firsthand as she continues to shape what we know to be possible and the way we talk about mental health.It took a head-on car crash for Brooke to realise things weren’t okay. In the middle of her FIFO work, she had some big realisations and the seed and for the run began here in the workplace.

On the podcast, we talk about finding the courage to do things that scare you, even when you have no prior proof to back you and what it takes to be courageous.

She talked of some of the tools she used to improve her self-esteem, the way she speaks to herself and how to build a brighter outlook on life. She also states how having a sense of community and connection has impacted her wellbeing and why it’s so important to have.

She speaks on how getting diagnosed with ADHD acted as a permission slip to live outside the box, do things differently and go all in. ”I said to myself, if I wasn’t to do this, how many lives would I not be impacting, or how many people am I doing a disservice to by not sharing my voice, by not creating the impact, by not being all of me and bringing all of me”

You can follow Brooke’s journey on socials, her website and can donate to Blue Tree Project here.

Until next episode, Explore Your Core

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In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Squamish artist and backcountry guide, Jessa Gilbert.

Jessa’s approach to life seeps into her work, art and everyday- she has a knack for finding joy. Jessa has recently produced a short film “Drawn in” and done a live painting at the BANFF Film Festival and over the years has collaborated with brands such as Burton, Yeti, Leatherman and Roxy, as well as done graphics for the Women’s Adventure Film Tour and been in numerous mural festivals. Her works are brightening the towns and mountain slopes and bringing joy to so many places and spaces. As well as an artist, Jessa is a backcountry splitboard and hiking guide who froths the outdoors.

In this episode, we talk about her journey to becoming an artist and guide, her change in identity after injury, imposter syndrome and the power of having a team to make ideas come to life. “Seth Godin talks about imposter syndrome as this beautiful moment where you’re at the cusp of what you know and what you don’t. And it’s actually a really good place to be if you’re trying to do something new or different, because it means that you’re stepping outside of your comfort zone and into a new arena.”We also talk about the similarities in art and adventure in it’s ability to foster curiosity, bring joy and learn through trial and error. “It’s like, you gotta be good in your own head. You can be your best ally and your worst enemy on the same day, multiple times, but it doesn’t help you to beat yourself up.”

You can follow her epic journeys and works on socials, watch her film "Drawn In" and find out more about her on her website. Until next episode, Explore Your Core

For episode 89 of the Explore Your Core Podcast, I am joined by Matt Glover, Lead Guide at Forest Therapy Victoria and Director of MGA Counselling Services.

I went down to Mount Dandenong to join Matt as he led a forest therapy session as part of a Zorali x Forest Therapy Victoria event. What I experienced over the following 3 hours was remarkable. He spoke about how time in nature can lower cortisol levels, increase calmness and mood and that mindful walking can induce ‘soft fascination’ which allows us to recover from overload, increasing creativity. As well, he spoke about how the trees emit phytoncides, natural compounds that protect plants and boost our immune systems when inhaled all of which I got to experience firsthand. He mentioned how shared forest therapy experiences increase social bonding, lowering isolation and enhancing wellbeing, which is why experiences like this are more important than ever.

I then had the honour to chat further with Matt on the podcast, where he shares his story with Forest Therapy. Forest Therapy or Shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing”), started in Japan as a response to rising stress and burnout and is a slow, sensory immersion in nature that invites presence, mindfulness, and connection to the natural world- you could say you return to ‘nature time’ which is far slower than the speed we often operate at. In the episode, we talk about the role of storytelling, metaphors and how feeling a sense of belonging is important for healing. He raises the term Biophillia, ‘Bio’ meaning life, ‘phillia’ meaning love, so ‘a love of life’ and the biophillia effect, which refers to the health effects we receive when we connect with the natural world. We talk about how we can bring more of that connection with nature into our daily lives such as eating outside, gardening and having more greenery inside and chat about the idea of a nature prescription. And if you were already persuaded how healing nature can be here’s a few more incredible things time in nature does:-Increase Natural Killer cell activity which is important for fighting viruses and cancer cells which effects can last days to weeks- Interoception which is the awareness of internal body signals improve and supports emotional clarity and resilience- Increases social bonding, lowering isolation - Decreases heart rate and blood pressure and breathing deepensYou can find out more about the Forest Therapy Experiences with Matt Glover here and on socials, and his counselling services here. The new book will soon be released and available through Zorali. Until next episode, Explore Your Core

On episode 89 of the Explore Your Core Podcast, I talk with Pauly James, who is currently riding 18 000kms around Australia for youth mental health. He joins me in the middle of his trip, having just crossed the WA border. On this episode, Pauly talks about his experience with depression and how he realised it’s never too late to rewrite the narrative. With this realisation, he had the idea of riding around Australia to shine a light and inspire people, raising money for Human Nature .

“You hold the pen to the script that you get to write for your life.”

In 2022, Pauly started to see that nothing was working, so he committed to trying everything he hadn’t done yet. This ended up in traveling the world for 9 months- from exploring Volcanos to the Himilayas, to hiking the Camino De Santiago. This opened his eyes up to a world he didn’t know existed- one that was far more expansive than the walls we was confined to thinking ‘this was it’.He realised how changing his environment could change his perspective and went on a mission helping other people change their environment through an organisation called Human Nature which is a youth mental health service that focuses on youth empowerment through outdoor therapy.

Episode now live! You can donate to Human Nature on his website. Be sure to follow along the journey on his socials here.Until next episode, Explore Your Core

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Eric Philips is no stranger to the unknown- he has pioneered his life around exploring where people haven’t gone before. This venture has led him to become a polar explorer, guide, and astronaut as well as an educator and author. Eric’s feats are nothing short of remarkable, from becoming the first Australian alongside Jon Muir to ski both the North and South Poles, pioneering numerous new routes to the South Pole and a sea-to-sea crossing of Greenland by using skis, kites and kayaks.

He was also onboard Fram2 which was the first spacecraft to fly in polar orbit, spending almost 4 days in space and completing 55 orbits over the North and South Poles.

Eric shares his earliest recollection being fascinated by space; that was when he was 7 years old, watching the first moon landing on a black and white TV in his school classroom. It wasn’t until years down the track when he crossed paths with someone while guiding that this dream was able to come to fruition.

On the podcast, Eric talks about his journey, how he knew what to follow when there was no clear path ahead and how he navigated staying on track even when ‘the longitudes inevitably pull you in different ways’. Eric also talks about his space travel and polar expeditions and we discuss the different ways of going about it, how expeditions allow for time to disconnect and the challenges we face with constant stimulation.

“Go back to what makes the blood surge through your veins, what makes your heart skip a beat when you see something that inspires you… follow that little lead, chances are it’s going to take you to amazing places.”

Episode now live! Subscribe to keep up to date with new podcast episodes

You can follow him on socials and find out more on his website as well as the space missin with F2 here. To find out about upcoming Svalbard and Greenland expeditions, head over to Ice Trek. Until the next episode, Explore Your Core

A year ago, runner Nick Kumar took the reins and hosted the Explore Your Core Podcast to hear my experience crewing Sean Bell from Townsville to Darwin as he ran around Australia. A year on, we met up to talk about what has happened since.

On this episode, I talk about some of the challenges living a nomadic life brings and how it’s hard to feel grounded while being on the move. I also chat about what draws me to the mountains, Mount Beauty, and the community of a mountain town. We speak of the recent New Zealand expedition, where a short film is to be released soon as well as the Zorali short film that came out, 'The Curious Path'

Alongside that, I talk about the realisation that crewing Sean Bell, sailing with James and the New Zealand trip have shown me that possibilities are limitless.

I open up about my journey with ADHD and how I have learnt to honor it and lean on it’s strengths, and my last few months dealing with iron deficiency and learning to listen to my body. The episode is now live on Substack and Spotify Until next episode,Explore Your Core

On episode 85 of the Explore Your Core Podcast I am joined with film maker, adventurer and ultra runner Benny Plunkett. Benny has had a plethora of experiences that have shaped him- from hitchiking across Australia to attempting to run 15 peaks in a day, it’s an episode filled with insight.

Halfway through Benny’s Uni degree he decided to leave for Canada, when we returned months later, he didn’t see himself in the work he was previously doing. He looked elsewhere and discovered an avenue that would lead him into the guiding world. We talk about the change that it brought about, how he began to blend guiding with photography and the challenges he found now working as a creative.

We talk about descion making and how sometimes, they can be crucial ‘sink or swim’ moments where you either rise up, and love it or realise it’s not for you. We also talk about the transition into creative work and how the early period can be challenging to navigate with learning the demands, handling crititsm but also can be the best way to give it a try and do it without the pressures that can build when the expecations increase.

“It’s easy to get caught up comparing yourself with others in the ceative field”. We speak about how important it is to go through the archives and the journey to get to where you are and see the progress and celebrate the wins that have got you there.

In this episode we discuss labels we put on ourselves or by others and the power of defying categories. We also touch on as the lessons his own projects that have taught him.

“We are so much more than the box we put ourselves in”

You can follow his journey on socials here.Make sure to follow along to keep up to date with new episodes!Until next one,Explore Your Core