High Steaks: Cancer stricken mother ‘planted a seed’ which lifted Zoe Marshall
Zoe Marshall has gone from ‘rock bottom’ to best selling author after ‘a seed was planted’ by her cancer stricken mother.
NSW
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For Mother’s Day, Zoe Marshall is getting to the crux of what being a mother is all about.
She will be sole parenting.
Her husband, NRL coach and former star player Benji Marshall, is in Melbourne to see his team The West Tigers take on the Storm. So from sun up till sun down, Marshall will be fully immersed with her son Fox, seven, and daughter Ever, four.
“It will be Yes Day, where we just do all the funnest shit ever and we’ll regret it all tomorrow,” she smiles.
“I don’t want to say no and I don’t want to fight. I want to be Fun Mum.”
Marshall says Benji is planning to take her out for dinner on Monday evening, probably at the same pub we are at now, Totti’s at The 3 Weeds in Rozelle, which has become somewhat of a local for the family.
But whether it be on Mother’s Day, or the day after, Marshall will make a pilgrimage to Balmoral Beach.
It’s a spot which holds huge significance for her. The Bathers Pavilion at Balmoral is the place where she and Benji had their first date.
It’s also where her mother, Jan, first told Marshall’s godmother she was pregnant. And it’s where, 19 years ago, Marshall scattered her mum’s ashes after she passed away from breast cancer.
Time might have passed, but the sense of loss for Marshall hasn’t.
“(I miss) the most basic things. I remember moving into our first home and I was like, ‘Where do the curtains stop? Like are they supposed to touch the floor?’ Or ‘How long can I keep something in the fridge before it goes off?’ Everyday things that you would have your mum as the go-to, I don’t have any of that,” she says as we share a host of Totti’s favourites like flatbread, prosciutto, burrata and a rump steak.
“We were so close. Only child and single mum. Almost enmeshed. It was the greatest female relationship I’ve ever had … she was the greatest mother. Like the truest version of unconditional love, and the warmest, most empathetic human. So I just try and take an ounce of what she had as a parent.”
It was her mum who planted the seed for this new purpose-led career path Marshall is treading.
Last year, on her 40th birthday, the popular presenter and podcaster launched Ariise, a membership community designed to help people manifest (or as Marshall calls it, “co-create”) the dream life.
Marshall was first introduced to the concept of manifesting when her mother was given the book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne when she was diagnosed with cancer.
Grieving her mother’s death, with no money and being in a physically and mentally abusive relationship, Marshall was at her rock bottom.
But she credits manifestation with helping her create the life she lives now – including leading her to her now husband of 16 years and the house they live in.
She details it all, as well as gives practical advice and scientific evidence, in her debut book Ariise, which she released in April.
However, she reveals the book that now sits on shelves is very different to what she almost submitted.
“I rewrote the whole book at deadline,” she starts, explaining a friend had pointed out that version wasn’t a true representation of her.
“I was trying to write it specifically for the sceptics. I was dimming myself to be palatable for the mainstream, which is what I’ve done my whole life, which is why this took 20 years to write in the first place.”
So she wrote the truest version of the book she could, knowing that it wasn’t going to palatable for everyone.
“People are going to think I’m a WAG who got everything on a silver platter, or that I’m a loony tune, or I’ve lost the plot and am delusional,” she says.
“And I’m okay now with that, but I had to get OK.”
Her honesty has struck a chord. The book has joined international self-help heavyweight Mel Robbins’ Let Them Theory on the bestsellers list and it’s appeared on billboards.
One thing the effervescent Marshall is now keeping more private is the life of her children.
She’s stopped putting them on social media and has turned down content creation work that has them filming at their new home. She says Benji has always “been super private” but she does share that the two of them have been able to have an even deeper relationship because of his job now as coach over being a player.
“For the past 16 years, I didn’t really know how to talk to him about his work. I watched him (play) but I had no idea what was happening,” she laughs.
“But now it’s so fascinating because you’re talking about dynamics and you’re talking about people and humanity. We can really vibe.”
Recently Benji was praised for his impassioned and human plea at a press conference, which has since gone viral, asking both the media and fans to reduce the scrutiny on young player Lachie Galvin after he revealed he would leave the club at the end of 2026. This comes off the back of Benji last year revealing he wasn’t going to be a “24/7 coach” and instead prioritise being a present father and family man.
“I’d love to say it’s all down to me and I’m his guru, but I don’t know if that is accurate,” Marshall says of her husband.
“He’s always been the most generous, whole hearted, amazing human,” she says, before smiling. “Emotional Intelligence is so f--king hot.”
It’s no surprise then, when her daughter wrote Marshall a Mother’s Day card answering everything from how old she is (Ever thought six) and what her job is (to look after Ever!), that she said her mum’s favourite superhero was her dad. “That was cute,” she says.
While in the background, Marshall is now manifesting a meeting with US talk show host and actor Drew Barrymore, her book going international and being translated into multiple languages, for now, she said she’s deliberately just sitting in her life.
“The only way I can explain it to people is like I’ve landed in my life,” she says.
“Like this whole time I’ve been really creating the most beautiful life but I’ve never landed in it, I’ve never let myself enjoy it, I’ve never revelled in it. I’ve never relished in it, I’ve never rested in it, and now I am,”
Although with two small children to entertain on Mother’s Day, by herself, she jokes there isn’t going to be much rest. But there will be plenty of revelry.
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