In fact, it was her mum who encouraged her to follow her dreams, knowing that there was a way to be found if the passion was strong enough.
“My mum always said to me, if you want something bad enough, you will find a way.
“My career has always been really important to me, but so is having a family and, you know, something that I had to work out with my husband, who is also on the road and travels a lot,” Jess shares.
As well as baby Samuel, Jess also has eight-year-old Isabella with surfer husband Luke Egan.
“We found what works for our family, so that we spend quality time together. But we can also service our careers because they're important. They make us who we are.”
“It’s really important to me, for my kids to see me chasing my dreams, wanting to be successful, and for them to see that you can have it all – maybe not all at once,” she jokes.
When Jess’ career began around 17 years ago, she knew she wanted to be a journalist, but didn’t expect to find that sport would be her beat.
“I thought maybe I’d be in politics or a foreign correspondent,” she recalls.
“Once I got out into the workplace, my opportunities came up in sport, so I took the hint and I love it. I couldn’t imagine working in anything else.”
However, it would be a few more years before Jess started to notice more women like herself were joining the same field.
“It’s such a different landscape today. I can remember looking around at press conferences and I was the only female and that can be really daunting,” Jess admits.
“It’s so different today and I’m so happy to be a mentor to any of the young women coming through at the moment, and there are plenty of them. It’s wonderful to see more women holding meaningful roles.
“It’s not about gender anymore. It’s about having the best work ethic … and the opportunity will be there for you,” she says.
As the gender bias erodes, it seems to be hard work keeping Jess at the top of her game, which has allowed her to blaze the trail inspiring young women who hope to work in sports journalism.
“I think for young women out there, they can see there is a career path there for them and if they want it, they can find a way to have it,” she says.
However, there’s more inequalities to work on, and Jess is adamant that the women of the NRLW deserve equal footing to the men who play the same sport.
“It’s time. They deserve to have a big stage, they work hard … Why shouldn’t they have every opportunity that’s out there for young men?”
“It’s about getting into the grassroots, really fostering all the talent we have in our community and then setting that clear pathway for them to pursue a professional career, if that’s what they want,” she adds.
“Little girls are sitting at home and they can see that they can have a professional career in rugby league… that wasn’t a thing just a couple of years ago.
“It’s changed the way we see sport in Australia.”
And Jess hopes to see the momentum continue by applying the existing process that makes the male players so beloved by their supporters.
“I think it's about tapping into the formula that we know works, giving the girls primetime opportunity,” she says.
“So, putting them on at the right time, putting them on TV, first of all, which is what we are doing here on Fox League, and we’re really committed to women's sport across the board and giving them a big enough stage … making it a spectacle,” Jess suggests
“I don't think we need to do anything we haven't done before with any other sport. I think it's about applying the formula that we know works and being committed and having the right intention behind it.
“It’ll happen, but we have to be committed to it,” she confirms.
You can catch Jess Yates on Fox League for the 2022 season.
