As you can imagine, as young women working in media, we’re invited to quite a few brand events each month. One we went to a couple of weeks back – focused on advocating for women to celebrate their self-worth – hit home hard, especially hearing First Nations actress Madeleine Madden discuss her journey into both acting, and how appreciating self-worth has helped her become the woman she is today.
If she’s not on your radar, Madeleine Madden stars in The Wheel of Time, which also just launched its third season last month (you can catch our interview with Madeleine here). We’re huge fans of Madeleine, so jumped at the chance to hear her keynote, along with TV presenter and journalist Jessica Rowe.
ICYMI: L’Oréal Paris recently launched the Talk Your Worth series with Madeleine and Jessica Rowe delivering keynotes around their personal journeys of self-worth at a special event at Sydney Town Hall following the Australian screening of a moving new short film – The Final Copy of Ilon Specht, from two-time Oscar-winning director Ben Proudfoot, which pays tribute to the woman behind the iconic tagline Because I’m Worth It in 1971 that continues to remain so relevant to women today.
Ilon Specht’s powerful story, captured in a moving 17-minute film, celebrates her life in advertising and
her ongoing fight for women’s empowerment. Because I’m Worth It was the first advertising slogan to explicitly champion a woman’s self-worth, and it became the foundation of the brand’s mission to empower women everywhere. The slogan marked a transformative moment in advertising – with the involvement of women both in front of camera and behind the scenes in campaign development – and continues to be a call to action.
The current social and political landscape highlights the the enduring relevance and importance of Ilon
Specht’s radical call to action that changed the advertising landscape forever. “Ilon’s strength and grit is inspiring to see, she advocated not only for herself, but for all women. Her legacy reminds us that the fight for equality continues. “As Ilon said, ‘We’re all worth it, or no one is worth it,'” said actress Madeleine Madden. “Society often tells women we aren’t enough, making self-worth feel like a foreign concept to many. For me, embracing “I’m Worth It” meant reflecting on my life’s journey, recognising my contributions, and appreciating the love that has helped me become who I am.”
In her keynote speech, Madeleine pointed to the matriarchal women in her family who got her “back on track” and shifted the way she saw herself from a young age. “They helped me see myself as someone who is strong, independent, and capable of handling anything with confidence and resilience. I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in an artistic family and be surrounded by creatives,” she said.
“It was through these fascinating people that I realised how art was a medium in which they could express themselves, create a dialogue, and change the world around them. That is how I got into acting. My first acting job was when I was 12 in a short film directed by Deborah Mailman called Ralph. I found acting as a form of escapism and as a child who hated school, which some of us may relate to here, um, and didn’t feel like I had many peers for most of my schooling life on set.
“I felt like I was surrounded by like-minded people. Who respected and valued my input. As actors, we are allowed permission to, uh, feel and, um, lean into the emotions that we may shy away from or temper. Whilst this can be emotionally exhaustive, it is also very cathartic. The experience I had of being on set as a child and a teenager made me feel. Fearless. I felt completely unburdened by doubt. There was a sense in the air that anything was possible and my dreams were limitless. It’s fascinating to reflect on how in childhood we begin with an innate sense of confidence, an unshakeable self-belief. Yet as we grow older, our relationships with ourselves and our sense of self-worth become more layered.”
Discussing her personal journey, Madeleine spoke about how self-worth isn’t just tied to work, friendships or success – it’s how you show up for yourself. Seriously – could we have had a more inspiring Friday night?
Top photo source: Supplied
