An Act of Courage: Natasha’s Story for Jean Hailes

Sometimes the most powerful health campaigns aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets or the flashiest production values. They’re the ones that feel real. 

For Women’s Health Week 2025, Jean Hailes for Women’s Health partnered with us, alongside cultural partner Ethnolink, to bring Natasha Smith’s story to life. 

Natasha, a proud Wiradjuri, Wemba Wemba, Barapa Barapa woman and mum of four, had faced some of the hardest health decisions imaginable. 

Our job was to capture her journey in a way that felt authentic, powerful, and deeply human. 

The Challenge

Jean Hailes needed to create something that would truly resonate with First Nations women for Women’s Health Week 2025’s theme Say yes to you.

They knew this message couldn’t be another general health campaign. It needed to come from lived experience.

The reality was confronting. Too many First Nations women face serious health challenges too soon. Jean Hailes needed a story that would honour this reality whilst inspiring women to prioritise their own health. 

The brief was clear: raw and human, not corporate or staged. It needed to work across multiple platforms and launch during Women’s Health Week, running from 1-5 September 2025.

The Approach

Working with Ethnolink, the team found Natasha Smith. 

She had discovered she carried a BRCA2 gene mutation, linking her to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. 

But what made Natasha’s story powerful was her transformation. From a woman who spent her life saying yes to everyone else, to learning that saying yes to herself was an act of courage.

We kept the production deliberately stripped back, capturing Natasha in her natural environment. Ethnolink handled scripting, ensuring cultural authenticity throughout. 

This wasn’t a story told about First Nations women. It was a lived experience by a First Nations woman, for her community and beyond.

The Story

The video opens with Natasha on Country, immediately grounding her story in connection to land, Elders, and bodies. 

“When we listen without fear, we hear what matters most”

Natasha’s narrative is built around a devastating family pattern: too many women in her family passed before their time. 

When she discovered she carried the BRCA2 gene, followed by a breast cancer diagnosis, she made the decision to say yes to herself. Yes to screenings, to treatment, to healing, even through the isolation of COVID whilst homeschooling her children.

The power of the video lies in how Natasha reframes self-care within cultural values. 

“We are knowledge holders and our stories keep us safe”

By turning to health services, speaking with Elders, and sharing her story, she positions health engagement as cultural responsibility, not individual choice.

Her closing message speaks directly to other First Nations women: 

“Hey sis, if it tells you, listen.”

She reframes saying yes to yourself, not as turning away from the community, but as choosing to stay. This shift from self-care as selfish, to self-care as survival, creates permission for women to prioritise their health without cultural conflict.

The Impact

When An Act of Courage launched, it reached over 100,000 women across TikTok and Instagram, with nearly 15,000 engaging with the content.

But the numbers that mattered most: more than 1,000 First Nations women completed the Jean Hailes Her Health Check digital tool. 

These weren’t passive viewers. These were women taking action, starting their own health journeys.

The Lessons

Authenticity trumps production value

The raw, human aesthetic wasn’t just stylistic. It was strategic. Audiences can spot inauthenticity immediately. By keeping things real, the team created genuine connection.

Cultural partnership is non-negotiable

Working with Ethnolink ensured every element was appropriate and respectful. This created content First Nations women could see themselves in because it was created with them, not just for them.

Personal storytelling drives action 

Natasha’s lived experience carried weight that statistics never could. When she said “Hey sis, if it tells you, listen” and reframed self-care as “choosing to stay,” it moved people to act.

Have a story to tell?

Whether you’re launching a health campaign that needs to connect authentically with specific communities, translating complex health messages into compelling content, or creating visual communications that inspire real action, we’d love to help you figure it out.

Drop us a line and let’s chat about what you’re working on.