‘I did it becuase I believed I could’: Inside former PR powerhouse Tory Archbold’s little black book deal

Tory Archbold built her career making other people look good. Here, she tells Stellar exactly how she did it – and what’s next.

Tory Archbold built her career making other people look good. From fashion designers presenting major collections to Hollywood A-listers hitting the road on press tours, the Australian public relations pro excelled by giving her all for her clients behind the scenes.

But, if needed, she was also known to swoop in to save the day, like the time a supermodel had a panic attack backstage at a Victoria’s Secret fashion show.

“I’m not going to name the supermodel as we signed NDAs, but she was in the top 10,” Archbold tells Stellar, as she recalls the incident.

“She was feeling really overwhelmed because it’s the biggest show in the world and everyone wanted a piece of her. I could see she was struggling and I remember reaching out and holding her hands. I asked, ‘Are you OK?’ And she said, ‘No, I’m not.’ I gave her some lavender oil to calm her down. As she walked onstage, she saw me and was like, ‘There’s my queen!’ It was because I bothered to learn what was going on for her. I wondered, how can I bring out the best in her?”

Tory Archbold: ‘I did it because I believed that I could, so I did.’ Picture: @powerfulsteps via Instagram

That mantra – and her ability to put words into action – became Archbold’s calling card as the founder of global PR firm Torstar (the nickname she was given early in her career).

Although she started the company at the age of 24 “with zero money and no connections”, as she says, “I did it because I believed that I could, so I did.”

At the helm of this publicity and marketing juggernaut for 20 years, Archbold and her team launched retail empire Zara, Drew Barrymore’s Flower Beauty line and Nespresso coffee in Australia, while introducing the world to Australian names such as fashion designer Alex Perry and swimwear label Seafolly.

She was at her best, she says, when she blended into the background, trying not to draw any attention by wearing one of her 60 “LBDs” (little black dresses).

“I never thought about being in front, ever,” she insists. “It never crossed my mind.”

Yet one glance at her Instagram page now and it’s evident things have changed. Archbold, 49, communes with her thousands of followers through her ring-lit smartphone lens, posting glamorous pictures of herself, sharing her words of wisdom and divulging candid details of her life.

She has applied the same refined PR panache that elevated everything from cosmetics and creatives into a brand of her own – one that coaches women to “step into their power”.

Since closing Torstar and launching Powerful Steps in 2019, Archbold has watched her second enterprise become a thriving hub for women seeking advice and counsel on how to thrive professionally and personally.

It turns out bolstering celebrities is a transferable skill. But there was a defining catalyst for this monumental pivot: almost dying from complications following appendicitis.

Tory Archbold: ‘It was success and survival.’ Picture: @powerfulsteps via Instagram

In 2013, Archbold was rushed to hospital after her appendix burst, leading to septicaemia and, later, adrenal fatigue and chronic fatigue. Doctors declared she would not survive if she didn’t change her life.

All the while, she had spent years in private deflecting abuse and harassment from the father of her only child, Bella, now 18.

“It was success and survival,” she tells Stellar. “I was afraid to ask for help because I was afraid of being judged. It took a near- death [health] experience for me to understand something had to shift.”

If I was going to get out of the darkness and into the light, I had to own that hot mess I found myself in. Not only did it save my life, it showed me the life I could have if I started making changes, saying no to what didn’t light me up, creating space to discover who I was.”

Following repeat visits to a health retreat in Thailand, Archbold had an epiphany: she would use her experience and new-found wisdom as a conduit for women wanting to make an impact.

“I started listening to what women want. I formulated a toolkit to enable them to rise, to break through patterns, ask for that pay rise, get that board role, start that new business, transform their lives – just the way I had with brands. I was ready for it.”

It seems that women were ready for it, too, signing up for her intensive programs, as well as her networking lunches and online masterclasses.

Archbold also shows the might of her name by attracting talent such as actor Danielle Cormack, businesswoman Pip Edwards, TV journalist Melissa Doyle and supermodel Rachel Hunter to be guests on her Powerful Stories podcast.

Tory Archbold pictured with her first book, Self-Belief Is Your Superpower. Picture: @powerfulsteps via Instagram

Through Powerful Steps, Archbold is replicating the one thing that money can’t buy: irrepressible self-belief.

It’s the thing that propelled her to get married for the first time, at age 46, to Craig Watson, who has just come on as chief operating officer of her company.

It was also the impetus for her to publish her upcoming first book, Self-Belief Is Your Superpower. But Archbold says she also believes in fostering community, and her connections have landed her not just global clients and a book deal but her face on a billboard in New York’s Times Square. “I decided to carve my own way,” she says, “to stay in my lane, create my own destiny and collaborate with others to make things happen.”

Self-Belief Is Your Superpower by Tory Archbold (Mango Publishing, $33.99) is out on April 11.