When I finally shed all the shame and disgust I felt about my body, and started to embrace it for all the joy it brings me, I felt an enormous responsibility to tell the entire world how to do the same thing — to get out of their own heads and start living their lives!
That’s why I had to make the Embrace film. I wanted to travel the world and find out why so many of us hate our bodies, and how we could change it.
I had passion and drive in bucketloads, but unfortunately they aren’t the only ingredients that go into making a film. You also need a pretty considerable amount of cash!
I’ve always hustled to get my projects off the ground, and this opportunity called for the biggest hustle of my life. I rolled up my sleeves and got to work creating an Embrace film trailer and launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund it.
Well, it turned out that I wasn’t the only person who thought this was a story that had to be told.
An incredible 8,909 people from all around the world wanted this film to make it to the big screen, and they answered my plea to help fund production.
Our supporters raised a massive $200,000 in just 12 days — that’s nearly $700 every hour! Within 60 days, we’d raised $331,000 and become Australia’s most successful crowd-funded documentary — ever.
Our community came together across the globe — from university professors in New York City to dinner party guests in Scotland, and body-painting events in Germany. I was absolutely blown away by the response.
As you know, we went on to make the Embrace film a global, box-office smash hit. What we achieved — and the lives that we changed — in such a short time is still one of my proudest achievements. There’s absolutely no way we could have accomplished even half of it without the wonderful people and organisations who invested their faith and hard-earned dollars to see this movement come to life.
An enormous amount of views later, (like millions and millions!) it remains my hope that each and every person who watches the Embrace film learns how to love and accept themselves.
In return, I will continue my crusade towards a healthier and more accepting society — for the sake of our happiness and for our children’s happiness.
