Jake Edwards

Jake Edwards, ex AFL Player and son of football legend Allan “Butch” Edwards experienced many highs and lows in his sporting career and lifetime. Diagnosed with depression at the age of 19 while on an AFL list, it wasn’t until his career drastically ended that things became increasingly tough for the now 36 year old.

Jake spent 4 years escaping pain through drinking and drug use, which eventually lead him to an attempted suicide. As a survivor, Jake dedicated his time to mental health awareness and speaks frankly about his experiences, sharing his inspirational story with young adults and corporates across Australia.

Jake is the founder of the nationwide successful welfare and education charity “Outside The Locker Room”, which is dedicated to working alongside sporting clubs, schools and workplaces offering mentoring support and education on topics such as drugs, alcohol and mental health. Outside The Locker Room works in over 220 communities across Australia in 2023.

Jake’s story covers all aspects of resilience, persistence and adversity. He also embarked on a challenge to find love by becoming a participant on Season 8 of Married at First Sight. Post his time on TV, Jake decided to have a career change and started Edwards & Smith which is a buyers agency helping families purchase their dream homes and investments in Queensland, South Australia and Bali.

With experience speaking at large companies such as Qantas, Boost Juice, BHP Lu Lu Lemon, Functional 45, EML, various AFL clubs and over 120 Secondary Colleges and having spent time in the media on shows such as SEN, Triple M, Studio 10, The Daily Show, Fox Footy, ESPN and Channel 9 Jake is the very best in Mental Health Advocate and Public Speaking.

One of Jake’s highly interactive topics is where he shares his 4 week stay at a Hare Krishna farm in country Victoria where he was completely disconnected from the world to once again find himself, his passion and purpose. He shares all his key learnings that were shared with him by the resident monks and how their knowledge helped shape the man he is today.