Jillaroo Jess and the Naked Farmer team up for campaign

Jillaroo Jess and The Naked Farmer teamed up for a campaign that raised almost $40,000 for drought impacted farmers.

THE vulnerability Jillaroo Jess felt posing topless, with only her auburn locks covering her, paled in comparison to sharing her mental health journey with the world.

Originally from Brisbane, Jessica Edwards forged a career in outback Australia, working as a station hand and driving road trains.

Along the way she chose to blog about her experience under the name Jillaroo Jess.

She learnt she had a knack for captivating audiences with her musings on rural life.

Sharing with her 60,000 followers on Facebook, she was gutsy.

She talked about all aspects of her job, and stood up for truck drivers in a viral video when they were copping it in the mainstream media.

Her humour and talent landed her regular spots on television shows and had her featured in a Qantas advertising campaign for their new Dreamliner, which was aptly named Jillaroo.

From the outside, it looked like she was living every country gal’s dream.

But beneath the vibrant 20-something’s bold persona, she was silently weathering her own storm.

A public joke made by Ben Brooksby, a Victorian grower who runs the popular mental health initiative, The Naked Farmer, challenged her to bare her body, and soul, for a good cause.

So, Jess bit the bullet and put her “hide on the line”.

The 'Dob in a Farmer' campaign that Ben @the.naked.farmer and I organised ended up raising a whopping $38,000! Your...

Posted by Jillaroo Jess on Friday, 10 January 2020

“I agreed on the condition that we raise $20,000 for drought affected farmers,” she said.

The publicity surrounding the nude shoot went wild, and a total of $38,000 has been raised.

Being a woman of her word, the topless post was accompanied by her raw mental health experience.

“The photoshoot was a walk in the park compared to sharing my mental health story to the world,” she said.

“In this day and age nudity is common on social media, yet there is still a stigma against mental illness – I feel as though it’s way more vulnerable to share your mental health journey.”

Laying it all on the line, she shared the reality of her darkest hour: “Between chronic illness, trial medication with awful side effects and a sprinkle of bullying on top, I was on a very quick downward spiral. Nobody saw my breakdown coming – not even me. Like many people who suffer from chronic or mental illness, I am a master at covering physical and mental pain with humour.”

In her dark days, Jess was working on a cattle station in the Pilbara.

“I truly wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming amount of comments and messages I received from people who could relate,” she said.

“It’s hard not to compare yourself to the seemingly perfect people and their lives on social media. The reality is though, that each and every single account has been polished to a degree. Even mine!”

Ben Brooksby, The Naked Farmer, with Sash (Kelpie Koolie cross).

Both Jess and Ben were determined the funds raised would go directly to farmers in need.

“We asked the public to ‘dob in a farmer’ who they believed needed a helping hand,” Jess said.

Ben said this was essential as, being a farmer himself, he knew asking for help wasn’t a strong suit for many people on the land.

“Farmers would never dob themselves in,” he said.

“We don’t like receiving handouts, and feel we should be grateful for what we have got. Farmers always think there is someone down the road worse off than them.”

The dobbers ending up being neighbours, family members and friends of farmers in need.

With careful work behind the scenes, Jess and Ben’s team of volunteers helped select and liaise with eight farming families to provide support.

Jess and Ben wrote cards to all of them and were deeply touched with their responses of gratitude.

Ben said the note stated it was “gift from Australia, to them”.

“At the end of the day it’s not Jess and myself who have given the money, it’s all of our followers – they are the ones who deserve a pat on the back.”

Jess said it was true honour, and humbling to see their campaign touch so many.

In her original post, Jess talked about a culmination of issues that led to her anxiety and bout of depression.

One was bullying.

She laughs off the notion of being a “social media” influencer, but said at first the nasty comments online did impact her.

“I just feel like a normal person sharing my stories,” she said.

“But I guess it has gone beyond my initial intent, which blows my mind.

“In the beginning, the small amount of negativity and trolling really affected me. I couldn’t understand why someone would want to be mean to me as I was just a polite young woman sharing photos. Some of the messages I’ve received would turn milk sour.

“These days though, I feel like a veteran of social media and it takes a lot for someone to ruin my day.”

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