Speaker 1: Hello, I'm Tory Archbold. For two decades, I've nurtured the
Speaker 1: world's top performing retail brands and celebrities. Now I'm asking entrepreneurs,
Speaker 1: CEOs and influencers to share their own secrets to success.
Speaker 1: They're highs, their lows, the game changing moments, and how
Speaker 1: they got to where they are today. It's a podcast
Speaker 1: equivalent of opening the best Little Black Book of Contacts ever.
Speaker 1: If this resonates with you and you're ready to step
Speaker 1: outside of your comfort zone and into your power zone,
Speaker 1: I invite you to join my exclusive community via our website,
Speaker 1: The Powerful Josh Steps dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Powerful Leadership, a collaboration between Powerful Steps and
Speaker 2: Fear and Greed. This is a six part series examining
Speaker 2: leadership and becoming the leader you wish you had. Part one,
Speaker 2: I'm chatting to the wonderful Tory Archbold, pr guru, publicist
Speaker 2: extraordinaire and founder of Powerful Steps. Good morning, Tory.
Speaker 1: What an introduction. Thank you, Sean.
Speaker 2: Now many of us know you from the last few years,
Speaker 2: but let's talk about the early days. Where were you born?
Speaker 2: Where'd you grow up?
Speaker 1: I grew up on the North Shore in Sydney.
Speaker 2: Okay, a little more. This is a very tory thing
Speaker 2: to do, is to not say too much about herself.
Speaker 2: But I'm going to bring it out of you today.
Speaker 1: I love it. Okay. I am the eldest of four girls.
Speaker 1: I grew up in a loving family. I went to
Speaker 1: school and I was probably placed in a box which
Speaker 1: I wanted to jump out of.
Speaker 2: Sean, I'm sure there are a lot of people in
Speaker 2: that boat. So what was the box that you were in?
Speaker 1: I think because I was an average student. I was
Speaker 1: fifties and sixties at school, no one really believed in
Speaker 1: what I was capable of. I was a big talker,
Speaker 1: I was a disruptor, and I was the person that
Speaker 1: probably got sent outside the classroom door.
Speaker 2: No, a lot, not you. Sure it was me?
Speaker 1: And so my mom and my dad said to me,
Speaker 1: maybe when you leave school, you'd be better off getting
Speaker 1: married to a really nice man, staying on the north Shore,
Speaker 1: and maybe studying interior design. So when my hsc rolled
Speaker 1: around and I blew everyone out of the water and
Speaker 1: almost got ninety percent in my exam, and I had
Speaker 1: enrolled in interior design because I really didn't have that
Speaker 1: forward thinking brain that I now do, I said to myself.
Speaker 1: I'm going to do this interior design course and I'm
Speaker 1: going to see if I do want to be placed
Speaker 1: inside that box. And if it doesn't work out, I'm
Speaker 1: going to jump out of it.
Speaker 2: So what happened? Did you start it?
Speaker 1: I started, and I jumped out of it, and I
Speaker 1: ended up booking myself on a flight to London for
Speaker 1: the working holiday visa. And that's really where I got
Speaker 1: my education. And when I talk about education, my eyes
Speaker 1: opened up to the world. And I had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to work with some incredible people on media and entertainment,
Speaker 1: and I fell in love with storytelling. So I worked
Speaker 1: with Viacom so I had the opportunity to work alongside
Speaker 1: the lady that launched MTV in the Middle East, which
Speaker 1: was pretty incredible because MTV at that point was really
Speaker 1: at the forefront of media and entertainment. We had the
Speaker 1: Spice Girls, we had Howard Stern.
Speaker 2: You not talking nineties here, I think you're aging yourself.
Speaker 1: Oh, it was a nineties nineteen ninety six around those timings.
Speaker 2: WG.
Speaker 1: You know what it was all about storytelling in a
Speaker 1: way that was disruptive. But also what I loved about
Speaker 1: it was the passion that people had to tell that story,
Speaker 1: and so I did a couple of stints in the
Speaker 1: licensing company. You know, I got to work alongside George
Speaker 1: Lucasfilms Columbia trista little stint in advertising because in those days,
Speaker 1: the working holiday visa was all about a twelve week stint.
Speaker 1: So when people say, you degree educated, do you believe
Speaker 1: in it? I absolutely believe in it if it's right
Speaker 1: for you. But what was right for me was human
Speaker 1: connection and leaning into the best of the best. So
Speaker 1: when I arrived back into Australia, I realized very quickly
Speaker 1: that the media was very behind what had been going
Speaker 1: on in London and what I'd been exposed to in
Speaker 1: Europe and obviously through that Howard Stern process in the US.
Speaker 1: And I said to myself, I think I can do better, and.
Speaker 2: So I did tour Star.
Speaker 1: Twenty four years old, I decided that I was going
Speaker 1: to start my own agency. I wanted to create a
Speaker 1: brand communications agency that believed in the power of storytelling,
Speaker 1: that would create and build powerful brands. But most importantly, Sean,
Speaker 1: I wanted to work with the best of the best,
Speaker 1: and I wanted to attract the best of the best.
Speaker 1: But the only problem was is I had no money
Speaker 1: and no media connections.
Speaker 2: You had a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of passion.
Speaker 2: How did you do it?
Speaker 1: I decided that I was going to build the foundations
Speaker 1: of my business and my values because I really truly
Speaker 1: believe that no matter where you are in life, your
Speaker 1: values act as as super attractor. It's a law of attraction.
Speaker 1: So for me, I really thought long and hard about
Speaker 1: what those would be and how they would actually build
Speaker 1: not only my powerful brand, but would attract the brands
Speaker 1: that I wanted to work with. So I broke it
Speaker 1: down like this, I'm a passionate person, obviously have a
Speaker 1: lot of energy. I love being around passionate people that
Speaker 1: want to make a difference, that want to lead, that
Speaker 1: want to disrupt, not afraid to be agile, but most
Speaker 1: importantly love what they do. So that was my first one.
Speaker 1: My second one was integrity because I really didn't want
Speaker 1: to work with assholes. And I was adamant about that
Speaker 1: because I grew up in the times where you know
Speaker 1: what things went on behind the scenes and the media
Speaker 1: and entertainment business that it just didn't sit well with me.
Speaker 1: But I thought if I'm going to be a part
Speaker 1: of this. I just want to work with the people
Speaker 1: that respect me, that also respect what we're doing together.
Speaker 1: But most importantly, my third value was delivery. Because you're
Speaker 1: only as good as the last podcast chat that we're
Speaker 1: having here, the last zoom call in today's society, but
Speaker 1: in those days, it was the last, you know, project
Speaker 1: that you delivered, or media release that you wrote that
Speaker 1: went viral, or brand that you created. And so off
Speaker 1: the back of that my business was born. And when
Speaker 1: you asked me about media connections and I say I
Speaker 1: didn't have any, again, I had to anchor that back
Speaker 1: to the passion, integrity, delivery and go out and find
Speaker 1: the right people to help me on this journey.
Speaker 2: So your values led you. But how did you land
Speaker 2: your first big brand? What was it and how'd you
Speaker 2: do it?
Speaker 1: Meghan Gal for David Jones, and I believe she was
Speaker 1: the most successful brand ambassador for David Jones, who at
Speaker 1: that point in time was a number one retailer in Australia.
Speaker 1: And that's a great question because no one in Australia
Speaker 1: would give me a go. So even though I'm an
Speaker 1: Australian citizen, I built my business in Australia, I managed
Speaker 1: to attract the world's top performing brands, which are global.
Speaker 1: Where did that first connection come from to get David Jones.
Speaker 1: It actually came from a connection in London, right. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I'm a big believer in coffee eights three week
Speaker 1: I always have, even when I was doing the working
Speaker 1: holiday visa. It's all about the art of conversation, leaning
Speaker 1: in listening to people, reading their energy, understanding what the
Speaker 1: runway of life is for them, but also for me.
Speaker 1: And so when I was in Australia and I said
Speaker 1: to myself, I actually need to have a client that
Speaker 1: everyone is going to go. How the fuck did you
Speaker 1: get that? Right? I needed that aha moment. So I
Speaker 1: called the agency that had placed me into my working
Speaker 1: holiday visa Experiences and I said to them, I'm studying
Speaker 1: my own business in Australia and she said to me,
Speaker 1: nothing surprised me, Tori. And I said, well, the thing
Speaker 1: that's going to surprise you is that I need a
Speaker 1: client in Australia. Can you help me, because I know
Speaker 1: that you've just started your agency out here, And she said, yes,
Speaker 1: I can. David Jones are looking for a publicist. They'd
Speaker 1: just fired theirs. They were exposed. They just signed Megan
Speaker 1: Gal as the face of David Jones. Can you write
Speaker 1: a press release and send it off? And I was like, yes,
Speaker 1: I can. But the thing was, Sean, I'd never written
Speaker 1: one in my life. But what I had done was
Speaker 1: I'd been exposed to media. I'd exposed myself to the
Speaker 1: best to the best. I was an avid reader and
Speaker 1: you would know these from being you know at Fairfax
Speaker 1: and what you do now in fear and greed, you
Speaker 1: need to lean into what's going on around the world.
Speaker 1: So I tapped out this press release, I hopped on
Speaker 1: a bus, I went into my dad's office in the city.
Speaker 1: I faxed it off and I got the job.
Speaker 2: Fantastic. So you had a number of brands from there.
Speaker 2: So twenty years or so, a bit longer than that,
Speaker 2: you had tor Star. What were some of the other
Speaker 2: names you were working with? What were some of your favorites.
Speaker 1: Some of my favorites would have to be Zara, which
Speaker 1: goes down as the biggest retail launch in Australian history
Speaker 1: but possibly the world. For Indidex as well, that was
Speaker 1: an incredible experience because Indidex it's a multi billion dollar brand.
Speaker 1: I believe they're the best of the best in terms
Speaker 1: of retail in the world. They found me through my values,
Speaker 1: the passion, integrity, delivery was you know, the power of attraction,
Speaker 1: but also the power of connection. I absolutely love working
Speaker 1: with them because we were so much in alignment with
Speaker 1: what we wanted to create in this industry. Look, I
Speaker 1: loved launching Amazon Shopbop into this market because I worked
Speaker 1: with the most incredible communicator who had also had the
Speaker 1: opportunity to work alongside Anna Winter from Vogue magazine, which
Speaker 1: in those days, I mean she was the power house
Speaker 1: in media. Yeah, and so Steph Horden hired me to
Speaker 1: launch chop Up and I learned so much from her.
Speaker 1: If you switch around to the UK, I got to
Speaker 1: work with Misguided, which at the time was the you know,
Speaker 1: the biggest fast fashion brand in the world. And when
Speaker 1: we talk about fast fashion, let me tell you that
Speaker 1: was a fast account to run, because it was really
Speaker 1: when influencers started coming into the world and making their
Speaker 1: mark more so than magazines or radio or TV. And
Speaker 1: so I had the opportunity to work along the best
Speaker 1: influencer management teams in the world, and I learned and
Speaker 1: I grew so much so when you asked me about
Speaker 1: one of my favorites, I mean, those are just a few,
Speaker 1: but every single brand that I worked with, you know,
Speaker 1: from added Us to Mowlbury to Everlane. You know in Nespresso, Sephora,
Speaker 1: c Folly, Sukin as like a roll call of incredible brands.
Speaker 1: The best thing about working with these brands with the people.
Speaker 2: Yep, yep. It sounds so glamorous, and from the outside looking,
Speaker 2: I'm sure it was, but we all live real lives.
Speaker 2: You had Bella, your daughter in two thousand and four.
Speaker 2: You know, you went through a breakdown of your relationship.
Speaker 2: You were very unwell there for a while, whether it
Speaker 2: was that six months where you were recovering. How did
Speaker 2: you manage all that yet still give that appearance of enthusiasm,
Speaker 2: passion loving what you do? It must have been hard.
Speaker 1: I'm going to say something quite controversial here, because when
Speaker 1: you're a woman in business, but also a woman in
Speaker 1: charge of a business, which I was, I call it
Speaker 1: success and survival. No one wants to know your data
Speaker 1: little secret, right, so you know on the outside you
Speaker 1: are willing and dealing with the world's best. You are
Speaker 1: delivering extraordinary results. Everyone wants to work with you, everyone
Speaker 1: wants to be on your team, and that energy is
Speaker 1: just so incredibly inspiring for everyone that comes into your orbit.
Speaker 1: And you know, sometimes you can't talk about what actually
Speaker 1: happens when you close the door, when you walk into
Speaker 1: your home at night time. And so for twelve years
Speaker 1: I lived too lives and it got to the point
Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen when living those two lives became too much.
Speaker 1: I was you on a flight to London, my pandis
Speaker 1: first at two am in the morning, I'm rushed into surgery.
Speaker 1: I ended up having step to see me or I
Speaker 1: lost eight kilos in five days and I was literally
Speaker 1: burnt to the ground. So when you talk about how
Speaker 1: do you rise like a phoenix from the ashes, I
Speaker 1: had to learn about what it was that I truly
Speaker 1: wanted and what mattered to me. And I think that
Speaker 1: whether you're a man or a woman in a leadership role,
Speaker 1: you can have the highs that are so high and
Speaker 1: so inspiring to everyone around you, but then you can
Speaker 1: have the deep, dark lows. And I'm grateful for both
Speaker 1: of those experiences because it's enabled me to create my
Speaker 1: new business powerful steps, but most importantly, It's enabled me
Speaker 1: to really anchor myself to what's important to me, to
Speaker 1: live in alignment with my truth and make a difference.
Speaker 2: Okay, you said that you started Powerful Steps. Why did
Speaker 2: you give up a tour Starle? Why did you leave?
Speaker 2: It must have been very difficult.
Speaker 1: It was actually an easy decision. I know, I knew
Speaker 1: for three years before I shut the doors on Powerful
Speaker 1: Steps that something magical was going to unfold, but I
Speaker 1: just wasn't sure what that was. And I know that
Speaker 1: a lot of people in leadership roles as well. They
Speaker 1: rise to the top of their game and they go
Speaker 1: what's next? And I think I had that feeling, and
Speaker 1: so gradually what I was doing. I had twenty two staff,
Speaker 1: I had two assistants at that point in time. And
Speaker 1: I'm a big one about trust instinct, believe that you
Speaker 1: can do something and you will if you surround yourself
Speaker 1: with the right people. If you've got that, get up
Speaker 1: and go to connect with others to build powerful partnerships
Speaker 1: and deliver anything is possible. But for me, it was
Speaker 1: you know, what, it's time for new beginnings? What does
Speaker 1: that look like? And so when people started getting other
Speaker 1: roles or moving overseas, I just didn't start replacing them
Speaker 1: in the business, so my team was shrinking. I had
Speaker 1: the opportunity to sell my business. I decided not to
Speaker 1: do that because I didn't want to sell my soul.
Speaker 1: I really wanted to focus on my daughter and I
Speaker 1: and what the next journey.
Speaker 2: Was for us.
Speaker 1: But most importantly, it was a moment in time where
Speaker 1: I discovered that I had been very, very visible in
Speaker 1: my career, and then I was invisible in my career.
Speaker 1: And it was around the time that we were launching
Speaker 1: Kate Spade into Australia. And what had happened was my
Speaker 1: team had said, Ohtore, I know you don't like getting
Speaker 1: up in the mornings, but will you come along. The
Speaker 1: leadership's down from Southeast Asia. It's really important. They licensed
Speaker 1: all these powerful brands from around the world. We need
Speaker 1: you to be there. Because I had trusted everyone to
Speaker 1: do everything for me and I wasn't as involved in
Speaker 1: the business. I arrived. You know, it was a great launch,
Speaker 1: but I said to them, what other brands are you launching?
Speaker 1: And they said to me, well, in six weeks time,
Speaker 1: we're about to launch Victoria's Secret, which was a billion
Speaker 1: dollar laundry brand. Which was a number one in the world,
Speaker 1: and you know, we have X, Y, and Z, but
Speaker 1: the one that stood out for me was like, I
Speaker 1: have always wanted to be at that Victoria's Secret show,
Speaker 1: behind the scenes making it happen, but actually understand the
Speaker 1: power of why these girls are here, right? Why are
Speaker 1: they here? What's the machine behind the scenes that makes
Speaker 1: this the most watched show in the world. And I
Speaker 1: said to them, why haven't you considered us? And she
Speaker 1: said to me, well, I don't really know who you are,
Speaker 1: And of course I'm like, well we're Tori told Torsta
Speaker 1: laun Cizara, you know, all these other big brands into
Speaker 1: the country, and she said, well, we're down to the
Speaker 1: short list of three agencies, but I will give you
Speaker 1: a chance. I went back to the office and I
Speaker 1: said to everyone, guys, we are invisible. We need to
Speaker 1: become visible. We need to remind people about the power
Speaker 1: of our story and what we have to deliver. At
Speaker 1: seven o'clock that night, we had created the best storytelling
Speaker 1: that we could of what we could deliver on behalf
Speaker 1: of ELT Brands. We sent it off in a credentials
Speaker 1: document and I just said, you know what, let's just
Speaker 1: leave it up to the universe. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: Eleven o'clock that night, Boom, you are one of two
Speaker 1: agencies selected, and I was like, gosh, this is awesome,
Speaker 1: but how do I get to the finish line? So
Speaker 1: I hopped on LinkedIn and I looked at people that
Speaker 1: knew the people that were making the decision, and I
Speaker 1: asked them to advocate for me. And at the same time,
Speaker 1: because I realized we weren't visible, I started reminding people
Speaker 1: of all the success stories of all the big brands
Speaker 1: that would launch into Australia, all the results that we'd delivered,
Speaker 1: and so bit by bit what happened was people were like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're giving you Victoria's secret. Then Steve Badden, like the
Speaker 1: billion dollar shoe man, says we want you to launch
Speaker 1: Steve Madden into Australia. Then all of a sudden, I
Speaker 1: get an email from Drew Barrymore's best friend out of
Speaker 1: la that I had a coffee date with a couple
Speaker 1: of years before, saying, Hey, my girlfriend's launching a beauty
Speaker 1: brand in Australia. Would you be interested in launching? And
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, absolutely, who is it? Boom? The next
Speaker 1: emails Drew Barrymore. Now during that process of launching, flying
Speaker 1: to New York, working with the media, being told that
Speaker 1: I have to wear black, being told that I was
Speaker 1: invisible watching one of the world's top supermodels having a
Speaker 1: panic attack, just like I had at the top of
Speaker 1: my career, right because I wasn't anchored, and I'm saving
Speaker 1: her with my lavender oil. I was like, maybe I
Speaker 1: can help people in a different way. Maybe I can
Speaker 1: share the power of stories in a different way that
Speaker 1: empowers other people. So I came back to Australia, we
Speaker 1: launched Steve Madden. That was all influencer base. It was
Speaker 1: boom boom boom, and I was like, this is amazing.
Speaker 1: Then Drew came out. I'm like, this is even more amazing.
Speaker 1: But the thing that anchors a good leader is their family.
Speaker 1: And my daughter wanted to come to this launch with
Speaker 1: Drew and she wanted to get her picture taken. And
Speaker 1: I've never had a photo taken with celebrities and I've
Speaker 1: worked with the best of the best, And in that
Speaker 1: moment in time where Drew pulled me into this photo
Speaker 1: with my daughter and you know, the camera goes click,
Speaker 1: I was like, it's time to pass the batten. It's
Speaker 1: time for new beginnings. Those three years of that boom
Speaker 1: boom boom in my stomach was like, yes, the time
Speaker 1: is now. And so then I decided to share the
Speaker 1: power of my own story, and my own story became
Speaker 1: a brand, which became Powerful Step.
Speaker 2: Powerful Steps is the subject of our second interview. But
Speaker 2: before we finish this one, I want to find out
Speaker 2: what the Buddhist monk in Thailand told you, because you
Speaker 2: have said that you had a discussion with a monk
Speaker 2: and it really made a difference.
Speaker 1: Well, basically on two trips he told me I'd be
Speaker 1: dead if I didn't get my shit.
Speaker 2: Together right, fair candid those monks.
Speaker 1: He was so candid, and I mean he was extraordinary.
Speaker 1: He said to me, pick a cart, and I picked
Speaker 1: a cart and it was this warrior princess just like ah,
Speaker 1: you know, breaking free of all these shackles. And he
Speaker 1: said to me, one by one everything that's holding you back,
Speaker 1: aka the success and survival in your story, those shackles
Speaker 1: are going to come off and you're going to be
Speaker 1: the warrior princess. It breaks free. But you need to
Speaker 1: prepare yourself for this moment in time and she said
Speaker 1: to me, you actually need to put yourself first. What
Speaker 1: do you do to meditate? What do you do for
Speaker 1: yourself every day? And I said, I don't have time
Speaker 1: to do anything. I'm busy, busy, busy. And he said,
Speaker 1: I can't tell you how many CEOs have flown around
Speaker 1: the world to see me, and told me exactly the
Speaker 1: same thing. But do you know how they step up
Speaker 1: into their game and do you know how they deliver
Speaker 1: the best of the best to the people that they lead.
Speaker 1: I said no. He said, because they put themselves first.
Speaker 1: And so this is what you're going to You're going
Speaker 1: to come and see me twice. And the first thing
Speaker 1: he said to me was when you're driving to work,
Speaker 1: turn everything off. And so I was driving. It was
Speaker 1: like a ten minute drive into the city every day.
Speaker 1: Turn the radio off, turn my phone off, just listen
Speaker 1: to what was going on, and all of a sudden
Speaker 1: you discover, oh my gosh, there's a bird. Oh god,
Speaker 1: people are so angry on the roads, and you really
Speaker 1: just start becoming aware of yourself. So I went back
Speaker 1: to Thailand. I saw him again and I said, I've
Speaker 1: done that, and I'm starting to see what other people
Speaker 1: are doing and he goes, well, your eyes are starting
Speaker 1: to open to the world. Now, your next powerful step
Speaker 1: is is who do you have a shower with in
Speaker 1: the morning? And I said myself, And he said, every
Speaker 1: morning you're going to anchor your values, your intent, in
Speaker 1: your purpose to what you want to achieve in the day.
Speaker 1: And so every single morning for over a decade now,
Speaker 1: I get three drops of lavender oil. You can bite anywhere.
Speaker 1: It's less than ten dollars at chemist warehouse, I put
Speaker 1: on my declage I'm in how in and out I
Speaker 1: anchor myself and I trust my intuition about what I'm
Speaker 1: supposed to do, and each and every day my intuition
Speaker 1: never fails me. But most importantly, I end it with gratitude.
Speaker 1: So if you have a shower at the end of
Speaker 1: the day as well, Sean, you should do this as well.
Speaker 1: You thank yourself to the lavender oil again and you
Speaker 1: just say thank you, like you know, thank you for
Speaker 1: this collaboration with Sean that we're doing today. I'm so grateful.
Speaker 1: But that idea of doing this came to me in
Speaker 1: the shower. Yeah, So showers are the best ways to
Speaker 1: give back to yourself, but also trust and believe in
Speaker 1: what you're capable of delivering in this lifetime.
Speaker 2: Torri Archbold, thank you for talking to Powerful Leadership.
Speaker 1: You're most welcome, Sean, I'm sure.
Speaker 2: And I Alma, and don't forget to hit follow on
Speaker 2: your FA favorite podcast player so you can get the
Speaker 2: second episode of Powerful Leadership.
Speaker 1: Thank you for being here with me today. I trust
Speaker 1: that you enjoyed listening to yet another powerful story. Sometimes
Speaker 1: we can forget just how incredible we are as women
Speaker 1: and how important it is to support each other. I'd
Speaker 1: love for you to take a moment to review the
Speaker 1: podcast and help support the show. You can also take
Speaker 1: a screenshot of this episode and share it across your
Speaker 1: social media. Be sure to tag me so that I
Speaker 1: can give you a shout out too. I'm a true
Speaker 1: believer of women supporting women, and I look forward to
Speaker 1: connecting with you again soon. Much love, torri