“I’d love to see our creators take away a message of inspiration to create more content that brings them joy and love and brings other people in as well and inspires other people to do the same,” Brooke Blurton told Mediaweek following her speaking session at Instagram’s First Nations Creators Program at Meta HQ in Sydney.
For the first time in the program’s four years, Meta, in collaboration with Screen Australia, has opened its doors to the media to share a behind-the-scenes look at the exciting work, inspiration and collaboration happening in the program.
The program provides in-person training, practical workshops, mentoring, career connections, equipment and content funding for the participating emerging digital creators.
Blurton said: “I love hearing the celebrations and the good and great things that all of our creators are doing in the community.
“I’m so excited for them. I’ve followed many of these creators for a long time and have been inspired by their work. Being in a room [with them] is very inspiring and motivating, but I also feel very supported, and I’m hoping that they feel the same way,” she added.
In her session, Blurton shared the ups and downs of her journey, how she harnessed her identity and personal brand for business opportunities, and the power of authenticity.
Blurton rose to fame on season six of The Bachelor Australia. She later fronted a season of The Bachelorette Australia and was the first Indigenous and bisexual lead.
But behind the glamour of reality TV fame, she has faced unimaginable challenges, including the loss of her mother to suicide and witnessing the devastating impact of substance abuse within her family, which she shared in her memoir Big Love: Reclaiming myself, my people, my country.
While reality TV helped launch her career as a content creator, she has worked to keep the momentum going with brand partnerships, book deals, and a successful podcast, First Things First, alongside Matty Mills.
“I love the fact that I’ve got to meet everyone here today and I guess that they’ve learned from me or that I’ve passed on a little bit of knowledge to them in any way,” Blurton said.
“I always get really sentimental about that sort of stuff. I feel like content [creating] can be very isolating, but it’s also can be very inspiring.”
Blurton revealed that amid the success of deals and partnerships with brands such as Lancôme and Garnier, she has kept a strong stance against doing brand deals with alcohol brands.
“Choosing not to support alcohol brands has been something that I have had because of youth work.
“When you’re working as a youth worker, you are role modelling. Being a good role model and promoting alcohol or drugs is not ideal. Promoting that to young people, promoting that to my audience, isn’t appropriate for me, and it doesn’t align with my values.
“As much as it’s great getting the bag, and I fully support people getting the bag, if it doesn’t align with me, and it’s something that I don’t stand for, I don’t think it’s worth it.
“The First Nations community have experienced quite a lot through alcohol and substance abuse, through colonisation, and it’s something that I don’t want to support.”
Blurton noted that remaining true to her values and being authentic have been key to landing brand and deals, something she hoped the program’s participants picked up on in her session.
“Being real, being authentically you is important; if a brand doesn’t like that, it’s a brand you probably don’t want to work with.”
Looking ahead, Blurton shared that she is working on a children’s fiction book with fellow First Nations writer Melanie Saward and is in the process of completing acting school.
“Hopefully, I can go into more writing, producing and acting.
“That’s what I would love to do: create more stories, more content, and more films just around our First Nations communities that we probably don’t get to see all the time. And just being a hopeless romantic as always.”
See also: Keeping It Reel and Deadly: How Meta is bringing the industry to First Nation’s creators
See also: Manage parasocial relationships and the ‘cultural load’: ReachOut shares tips at Meta First Nations Creators Program
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Top image: Brooke Blurton and Kirsty Wilson