Swimsuit

Look: Exclusive Behind the Scenes Photos With Rookie Melissa Wood-Tepperberg in Dominica

Take a peek at moments from the certified yoga and Pilates instructor’s photo shoot on location.

Cara O’Bleness

Melissa Wood-Tepperberg.

Melissa Wood-Tepperberg.

Workout and wellness leader Melissa Wood-Tepperberg is a proud mom of two, founder of MWH and host of the Move With Heart podcast. She’s also a rookie in the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue, having posed for photographer Yu Tsai in Dominica. 

The certified yoga and Pilates instructor, who aims to make mindful health and wellness accessible and attainable for all through her app’s content, says that she manifested her feature in this year’s magazine. She hopes her photos inspire others to chase their own dreams, whatever those goals may be.

“Turning 40 and being able to live out one of my greatest desires, I want anyone out there to know that you can do anything—you really can—that you set your mind and your energy and your focus and your intention toward,” she previously told SI Swimsuit. “You can make it become a living, breathing reality.”

View Melissa Wood-Tepperberg‘s full 2023 SI Swimsuit gallery here.

Wood-Tepperberg admitted that she’s currently the most confident she’s ever been, so it’s clear that her dreams are becoming a reality during the right season of life.

“I would tell any young girl who thinks 40 is old that it just keeps getting better, and it really is because you just become more of who you are,” she said. “You become more comfortable in your own skin, and it’s also really taught me that age is really just a number and not to grasp or grip it too tightly. There’s just so much beauty in the becoming of getting older and wiser and more confident in your own skin.”

In honor of the publication of the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue and Wood-Tepperberg’s status as a rookie, take a peek at some never-before-seen behind the scenes photos the SI Swimsuit team captured of the model while on location in Dominica.

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Published
Cara O’Bleness

CARA O’BLENESS

Cara is a trending news writer/editor for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. A passionate writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience in print and online media, she loves storytelling and believes that words have the power to change the world. Prior to joining the team, Cara worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, Cara loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University's School of Journalism.