An inspiration still in the making, Nicole Gibson is helping students tackle their fears, and spreading the message of love.
Still in her early twenties, Nicole is changing the country little by little by making a difference in the lives of young people. Nicole founded The Rogue & Rouge foundation when she was 18 after experiencing and overcoming anorexia nervosa as a teenager.
Six years on, the Foundation is helping to bring mental health into the light, and provide support to young people affected by mental illness, and lack of self-esteem.
Listed as one of Australia’s top 100 most influential women, a 2014 finalist for Young Australian of the Year as well as appointed National Mental Health Commissioner, Nicole Gibson only has more to give.
Q: How did the Rogue & Rouge Foundation come about?
A: I founded R&R when I was 18, 6 years ago, after a massive experience with mental illness. In my adolescence I had anorexia, and I saw a lot of gaps in the health system. Being that clinical systems are great for clinical intervention, but not so great with supporting the transition of an individual suffering from mental illness back into the community. I wanted R&R to play a role in bridging that gap.
In the beginning, we travelled to 300 communities around Australia and asked what they thought contributed to the rising rates of mental illness and suicide. What we found was that it was the lack of connection that they were experiencing in their everyday lives. From that research we wrote community engagement programs and school programs for High School students.
Q: What is it like being a young woman working in the business world and what sort of challenges are there?
A: I’ve never really felt disadvantaged because of my age or the fact that I’m a female, but I guess my mindset around it is just that I wouldn’t allow it, so I don’t experience it as much. I think there’s a real advantage of being young – I think people are interested in the ideas of young people more and more. To be a leader in the Gen Y or the millennial generation is advantageous, because a lot of older people are increasingly fascinated by our mindset and our solutions to certain problems, in particular social problems.
Q: Your history is very inspiring – having anorexia at a very young age but then overcoming it. What advice do you have for those young people who are brought down by their inner fears, but still want to live their dreams?
A: The only real way to overcome fear is to confront it, and my personal philosophy is that love is the only force that can overcome darkness. I think we can find that love within ourselves – for me, training and meditation really helps me connect to myself in that way. But also being really mindful of who you surround yourself with. Your relationships play a big role in what influences us, and making sure that we have people in our lives that want the best for us, support us and love us unconditionally.
Q: You’ve won a number of awards. In 2014 you were appointed as the National Mental Health Commissioner, and in the same year you were also finalist for Young Australian of the Year, and that’s just to name a couple. What were all those experiences like?
A: Those experiences were super humbling. They were incredible experiences to actually go through those processes and meet the other incredible people that are involved in those prestigious awards. But above that, it was really just an honour to be a voice, and to represent a cause that I’m so passionate about. Those experiences gave me more opportunity to do what I love. The biggest thing for me was having a platform to spread the message.
Q: When you speak to audiences at presentations and workshops, what’s the general reaction you get afterwards? I can imagine there’s a lot of people who come out very awe-inspired.
A: I’d hope so! It’s always hard to have that reflection on yourself, but I always seem to get relatively positive feedback. But again, my message is fairly universal – it’s one of love and connection, and the fact that regardless of who we are and what our differences are, and the different demons we battle, there’s a common ground we have as human beings. I think most people resonate with that.
Q: Are there any standout stories you’ve had?
A: Yeah we do actually, and it’s happening more and more. Even though the Foundation is still fairly new, we get students that we’ve worked with writing to us and saying ‘hey, we’ve graduated High School now, and we still reflect on that time you came to our school and ran that program’. That is the best feeling ever.
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