Olivia Molly Rogers on using her platform to talk about mental health

Aussie beauty, Olivia Molly Rogers has no shortage of admirers. After being crowned Miss Universe Australia in 2017, she has gone on headline national campaigns and grace our screens with her charming personality.

Unlike other celebrities and influencers who use social media as a highlight-reel, Olivia has always been very open and real about her struggles.

In this week's episode of beauty boss podcast Olivia chatted with the GF about why being so open is so important to her.

Olivia revealed that she was a very insecure kid. Her parents split up when she was young, which led to her putting on weight and becoming very body conscious. "...even as I got older, I lost that weight and had grown up a bit, but I still felt like that chubby awkward kid..." she said.

This was also why the Miss Universe Australia winner said modelling was never on her radar! (Thank goodness she reconsidered!)

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Hot topic of the day has obviously been the removal of likes on our instas. I asked you all this morning whether you thought it was a positive or negative change. A huge 87% of you said that it is positive, and I agree. As I've spoken about many times before, I struggled with my mental health and I battled an eating disorder from my late teens onwards - being a teenager was bloody tough. As a teen you are so vulnerable, your body is changing & you are trying to figure out who you are & who you want to be. I can only imagine now, having the extra pressures of social media with constant comparison (whether it's conscious or not), being a teenager now would be overwhelming & absolutely exhausting. I think this is a great step in reducing anxiety, self esteem & body image issues that come as a result of social media. ~ It will be interesting to see if this has an impact in a marketing perspective, I guess time will tell. I'd love to know your thoughts below 💭 face by @jenguy_makeupartist ♥️

Driven by her own struggles, Olivia has become a keen ambassador and advocate for body positivity and mental health awareness, adding her voice to campaigns such as Liptember and Movember to help shake off the stigma around mental health.

"If I wasn't using my platform to talk about mental health, then a lot of the time it can feel a bit surface based, a little bit shallow and I like to be able to make a difference..." she told Jacqui and Alanah.

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I just shared my story of my battle with an eating disorder in the most depth I ever have, to a room of 100 people. I'm not going to lie, I was shaking with nerves, I had sweaty palms and sweaty pits (😯) and it was pretty emotional.. but I really felt that I needed to share it. I want people to know that you can fight an eating disorder and get through it. You can come out on the other side and lead a happy, wonderful life. If you are struggling please try to find the hope that you think you've completely lost in the midst of it all, and don't give up. 🦋 🦋 Thank you to @sportsgirl for having me to speak today & thank you to @thebutterflyfoundation for the incredible work that you do. #stigmastopswithme #edrecovery #BeThatGirl

When asked what made her decide to share her experiences so candidly, Olivia replied that she had been speaking out about them even before her Miss Universe fame.

"My Instagram following was nothing compared to what it is now, so I didn't really find it that hard to keep talking about it, it was just something that I was already doing," she said.

"It was just something that I felt comfortable doing, I don't know how to do anything but be myself so I think it just came naturally to share it."

We couldn't love her more!

To listen to GF's full chat with Olivia, tune into her episode of the BB podcast above!

Alice W

Alice is the Marketing and Promotions Executive for Girlfriend magazine. She is obsessed with glitter, unicorns and her goal in life is to become a mermaid. In her spare time you will find her either playing with make up, shopping, playing video games, eating Korean BBQ or watching horror movies.