Zara's Million Dollar Secret: Tory Archbold's Retail Revolution

Ever wondered how Zara took Australia by storm and achieved a million-dollar launch day? Join Aja Bradley on Making the Moment as she uncovers the incredible story of Tory Archbold, the marketing powerhouse behind this retail phenomenon. Discover the surprising strategies and meticulous planning that fueled this unprecedented success and learn the insider secrets to creating a launch that truly captivates and converts.

@toryarchboldofficial

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Transcript

INTRO (00:00): 

We've all seen them, those experiences that stop us in our tracks, the moments that flood our feeds, shift culture, and bring people together. I'm Asia Bradley Kemp, and I've helped generate millions in revenue and billions of impressions by creating

scroll-stopping moments for some of your favorite brands and celebrities. This is Making the Moment, the podcast that brings you the untold stories, unfiltered insights, and big

ideas from the architects behind the moments that matter.

In each episode, I'll show you how to design experiences that not only captivate audiences, but also drive tangible value for your organization. Whether you're looking to build buzz, loyalty, or drive revenue, I want to help you design customer experiences that truly make an impact. This is for the moment makers and the culture creators.

Welcome to making the moment.

Aja (00:49): 

Welcome to making the moment where we dive deep into the events that shape culture and spotlight the architects who make them unforgettable. Today we're honored to have Tory Archbold, a powerhouse who not only launched Zara and introduced Steve Madden to the Australian market, but is now the driving force behind powerful steps.

Tory's journey isn't just about groundbreaking brand launches. It's about inspiring leaders to own their stories.

and create genuine, impactful experiences, much like the experiences brand marketers strive to deliver for their customers. Thank you so much for being here, Tori. We're so excited to have you.

Tory (01:26): 

Of course, I would not miss it for the world.

Aja (01:30): 

Well, I want to start, you know, from almost the beginning, you have had such a storied career creating these amazing moments for retailers in Australia. And the one that comes to mind off the bat is Zara. Let's just start there. How did that come about? You know, you're an Australian agency and Zara's opening up all around the world. How did they find you?

Tory (01:58): 

It's a fantastic way to kick off this podcast because I truly believe that in life we attract, we don't hustle. And when I was 24, I created an agency which went on to become one of the most recognized in Australia called Tourstar. And the agency was really built off the power of rejection. I knew that I wanted to create and build brands. I knew that I

loved different pillars of what brands had to offer.

yet no one would actually give me a job. So I thought to myself, why don't I create what I want to experience in terms of what I considered at the time, a world-class agency that I could lead, that I could create, but most importantly, what would happen if I anchored it to three core values? So

I attracted Zara through these values. The first one is passion. I was always passionate about creating and building brands. The second one was integrity And the third one was delivery because I always believe that you're only as good as an agency partner or as a leader of your own destiny and your business and life as the experience that you leave with someone. And so when I started that agency when I was 24, I had zero dollars in the bank.

Aja (03:13): 

Wow.

Tory (03:13): 

absolutely

no idea how to create a press release and event. I really just taught myself by listening and observing. And I think that by walking the streets all around the world, like you could talk about any footprint in any shopping center in any major city, and I made it my job to get to know it. So by the time Zara actually approached me to launch their brand in

Australia, I was really familiar with their flagship store in Rome, their new concept store in Dubai in the Mall of Emirates, but most importantly, you know, one of their flagships, which was in Paris at the time. So I think when you talk about successful launches, you actually plant the seed of the brands that you want to attract and work with way in advance from receiving the call.

Aja (04:00): 

Mm.

Tory (04:01): 

And I think that the magic that happened on that day in Australia, because it really was the first high street retailer to hit our market, it wasn't because of me and my agency. It was because our brand synergies were aligned. We shared the same values like Zara and Interdex, like a multi-billion dollar brand. I believe it's still number one in the world. They were so passionate about creating and building brand experiences for their customers so that they could become

long-term engaged customers. They also worked with integrity. You know, we were not allowed to open that store until the owner of the brand had photographs that we had shot with a separate photographer than the photographer for the event that actually showed him every single corner and detail in the shop, right? This is just like extraordinary attention to detail. And of course the delivery was a success because we worked as a team.

Aja (04:44): 

Mm.

Wow.

Tory (04:58): 

We really worked as a team despite the fact that we were all located in different countries because when I got the call, when I was awarded the business, I was actually at the Mondrian Hotel in LA, but I didn't let it onto anyone. And I worked with my team in Australia, their team in Spain. Yeah, I was in LA. it's a successful event is not just like, hey, I got the brief and I delivered it.

Aja (04:58): 

Mm-hmm.

You're working on Australian hours. Tory (05:25)

It starts when you plant the seed of who you want to connect with, who you want to

work with, but most importantly, how you go about that delivery. Now, that is known as the greatest retail launch in Australian history. And it's written about as a case study because we had 22,000 people on the day of launch and we did a million dollars in sales. And I know while Zara does not comment publicly on what a success story is, privately, it was the most successful retail launch in the world.

Aja (05:37): 

Mm.

Wow.

Tory (05:54): 

But it wasn't about me, it was about the people. It was about the teams and the people and the dedication, the passion, the attention to detail. But most importantly, understanding that customer experience, I could never have been a team leader or an agency partner if my energy was not invested in their brand before we launched. And I was in a unique position where I loved retail, I loved brands, and I love Zara. So that came through and it shone.

Aja (05:54): 

Wow, kudos to you.

Mm.

Mm.

It was a match.

Tory (06:23): 

Yeah, it was an energetic match. But I think that that love and that passion that I had matched what they had as well.

Aja (06:31): 

And so after you get the business, you talk about the attention to detail, which is key to creating any kind of experience that's really about the details. What were some of the frameworks that you used to make it become the most successful launch in retail history for Zara? And my other question to that is, did you have a benchmark that you were trying to reach?

to get it to this historic point. Tory (07:01)

So yeah,

when a brand connects with an agency, they have the benchmark, right? They always set the benchmark and the benchmark is created through the brief. So we always know what height we need to deliver. But I think my secret to success with my agency, Torstar,

was I always over-deliver it. So what happened was not only with Zara, but the other brands that we attracted, which were all top performing retail brands around the world, not only launching them into Australia, but launching in other markets as well.

was the fact that I could see the brief, I could see the benchmark, I knew I could deliver that benchmark, but I always said to myself, what can I do better? Yeah. And what can I do better? What is that icing on the cake that the client doesn't expect, but I know that I can create. That is what delivers an extraordinary brand experience, but also that's what delivers a partnership, right? So on average, my clients with Torstar were with me for eight and a half years.

Now in agency land, that is incredibly unusual because most people are just chasing, you know, the next big sugar hit of this agency can do this with me or that agency can do that for me. But what I did is I looked at that brief and I looked at the benchmark and I always ask myself, how can I do better? That's how you create a brand partnership.

That's how you create the magic. That's how you get people talking about you as an agency. But I think the most powerful

Aja (07:59): 

Mmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Tory (08:28): 

part of this conversation is when people want to work with you, they also want to refer you to other businesses. And my business was built on advocacy. So that anchoring delivery system that I had in my value set of passion, integrity delivery, the delivery was actually one of the most key components out of the three because the delivery act as a sales pipeline to my business. And that's why I was able to, you know, build a business with 22 staff.

Aja (08:34): 

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Tory (08:56): 

We were recognized as a world-class agency. Everyone wanted to work with us. And I build it into a multi-million dollar business where people wanted to buy it and activate their ideas into it and be a part of what we were creating. And I think for your listeners

who are either agency or brand side, always go back to the brief because if the brief is not something that that agency can deliver, go to someone else. But if that agency looks at the brief and they know the frameworks,

Aja (09:22): 

Mm.

Tory (09:26): 

that they have inbuilt into their system, their team, their culture, and their experience to deliver. That's a match. But if that agency has knowledge at a much higher level that's going to take you to a high level, that's the way the magic of retail brands are created.

Aja (09:44): 

Yeah, so there's a lot of alignment you talk about there, you know, with matching

intentions. You you travel the world and, we'll get into what exactly you're doing now and that has you in every corner of the earth at the moment. But when you look at the retail space, whether it's in Australia or here in the US, you know, what are you seeing as an opportunity for marketers to build

more engaging and effective customer experiences. Tory (10:20)

This is a great question because last month I was in West Hollywood and I actually took

two days out of my schedule to walk the streets. And I usually stay in Santa Monica and obviously it had been affected by the fires, but also retail is quite dead in that area. So stepping out in West Hollywood, I absolutely loved it. you know, retail is in my blood. It's in my husband's blood. He's actually the head of retail for Jones Lane LaSalle in Saudi Arabia.

Aja (10:36): 

Hmm.

Tory (10:48): 

So I spend my life walking through shopping centers and understanding experiences. What I'm seeing is it's about the customer experience. Like, you know, I went into Rio farm in West Hollywood and they have these teepees that you actually go in and experience the clothes because what they wanted to do was they wanted to bring this whole sustainability practice back into the sustainability element of what customers

were buying.

Aja (10:51): 

No.

So.

Tory (11:17): 

So, you know, I strip off, get naked, I try things on. I didn't end up buying anything, but I wanted to experience what was going on. Like even their sales rack, was not out on the floor. It was in a teepee. So I found that fascinating. I went into Glossier because obviously I've got a 20 year old daughter and I wanted to see what the heartbeat of that brand was all about because many years ago in New York, were queues, know, blocks of people lining up just to get into Glossier.

Aja (11:17): 

Mmm. Yeah Mm. Mm.

Tory (11:47): 

It was the hottest thing ever. And I remember that experience in New York and I wanted to see like when you fast forward five or six years, was it going to be the same experience when I walked in? Now, I'm a 51 year old woman. I got hooked. I spent a few hundred dollars, but then they said to me, you spent over three hundred dollars.

Would you like to do would you like to do this kind of pop up thing where you can win a prize? And I said, I don't need any more product, but maybe if I win a prize.

I can get it for my daughter. So here I am on this machine, experiencing how to pick up a ball with a claw and winning lips for my daughter. Yeah, and I was like, that's so cool. And so then I'm videoing and I'm sharing it with my daughter and she's like, my gosh, mom, that's so cool. When I get there, I want to experience that as well. So it was about me stepping outside in my comfort zone as a 51 year old going, this is something that a teenager would do.

Aja (12:24): 

I also call machine, okay? Fun. Tory (12:44)

But actually, my daughter's on the other side of the world and I'm engaging her with the brand. I love that experience. Then I walked further down and I could see all of these people lining up to get into, I didn't even know what it was, but it was Hailey Bieber's new brand, Rote. And when I was in my agency days and we were launching brands in different markets, and in particular, I remember when we were launching Nespresso into Australia, I used to just listen to people's habits and I used to just ask them, why are they there?

Aja (13:00): 

Mmm.

Tory (13:14): 

I didn't go inside the road store, but guess what? I asked about six or seven people in the queue. Why are here? How long have you been lining up for? And it honestly, it was so inspirational for me because if you get into the hearts and the minds of the people and you understand the brand as an agency partner, that is success because before you've even received the brief, you understand the heartbeat of what people want.

Aja (13:14): 

Mm.

Tory (13:42): 

So those are three very different examples across like fashion, retail to beauty, to etal, which really, you know, Glossier and road is an etal brand. But also Farm Rio, I experienced that brand six weeks earlier in Saudi Arabia. It was a very different experience to what I had in West Hollywood. But I was able when I was in that store to say, hey, I actually discovered your brand in Varia in Saudi Arabia. And they're like, well, how did that happen? So what

you do is you plan your energy into brands that you feel would be a good fit for you as an agency. But you get to know the people that buy the product. Because if you don't understand the people and the end customer experience, you can't answer the brief. You can't. Even though I've got a different business now, I'm still into like, what's the heartbeat? Well, you know, where do people spend their money? What does it look

like?

Aja (14:21): 

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. I love that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's under. Yeah,

and it's understanding the consumer, like you said, and it's, know, how can you deliver joy to that consumer? Like that's ultimately what it's about. And at least that's the lens that, you know, we operate in. And it sounds like that, you know, is what you experience. It's, know, you had these unexpected moments of joy, but they tied back

into the soul of the brand and, you know, the type of customer that they attract.

That's pretty cool. You worked with Drew Barrymore many years ago, and I found it

interesting that in 2016, way before you started Powerful Steps, you posted something saying that if you weren't doing this for a living, which was Tour Star, that you'd be helping to empower others, that life is about taking chances and believing in yourself.

Tory (15:03): 

Yeah. you

Aja (15:34): 

What was going through your mind and in your life at that point in 2016? Because it's almost like you've manifested what you're doing now, which we'll get into next. But tell us that story. How did this all come about?

Tory (15:52): 

Yeah, was that an interview with Ad News that you picked up on? Yeah, it's so crazy because I remember sitting in my office at Tourstar and they asked me a whole lot of questions and I remember very clearly writing that down but I hadn't even thought about the idea for Powerful Steps at that point in time. And I guess it's like before Zara had approached me, I hadn't even thought about working with them. I just planted the seeds. I just planted my energy there.

Aja (15:55): 

I think so, I think so.

Tory (16:19): 

So what was going through my mind was probably that my intuition knew that I was about to go through a transition and exit out, but I didn't know at the time. And I always think it's really interesting when you look back on those reflections is that your heart knows, your gut instinct knows, you just got to follow the flow. So that moment we drew

Barrymore actually came about because throughout my entire career, and I think this is really important, is that when I started it, I couldn't afford to buy people lunch. And I was in a very,

Aja (16:28): 

Mm.

Mm. Mm.

Tory (16:48): 

you know, high impact industry, which was very glamorous where people wanted to drink John Perry on all the time, but I couldn't afford to buy that for them. So I started my career by having three coffee dates a week, one with someone I know, one with someone I want to partner with, and one with someone completely outside of my comfort zone. So I've committed to that for now 25 plus years. And the reason why

Drew came into my life was because I coffee dated with her best friend from high school who owned an agency in LA.

I didn't even know the connection. She emailed me and she said, one of my best friends is launching a brand in Australia. Will you help them? I didn't even question who it was. I was like, absolutely. Cause I had a great chemistry with this friend of hers. And that's how I ended up launching Flower Beauty into Australia. Now you have an agency that creates extraordinary events. And so did I at the time. And the part that really stood out for me with that event was that we'd hired out an iconic

restaurant called Icebergs in Bondi. And of course, every celebrity wanted to be seen there. We knew that it was going to activate really good content around the world. We knew that it was going to work in terms of the influences that we could get there. But there was something inside of me when Drew got up to thank everyone and shared a part of her story that struck me that all of these frameworks that I created in my agency days to create and build other people's brand narratives could actually be transformed.

into creating my own. And so I'd never had a photograph with a celebrity and my daughter had never been to one of these major events and I'd finally relented and said, yes, you can have the day off school. And she had this photo with Drew and Drew was

like, Tori, Tori, come into the photo. And I was like, ⁓ really? Just I'm so used to blending into the background. But I said yes to my daughter ultimately. And the three of us had a photo, the photographer clicked and I was like, my career's over, I'm done.

Aja (18:17): 

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Tory (18:42): 

And so what I did was I went from being invisible to visible and through the power of listening to other people like Drew Barrymore share those highs lows and game changing moments. I thought, what if I could actually share my own which I'd never shared before? And so I did.

Aja (18:58): 

Hmm.

It's so interesting that you said, because I never knew that part of your story in terms of being used to being behind the scenes and it's not being natural to be in front of the camera. And I come from that era as well. And I talk about it with other guests on our podcast, the shift.

Tory (19:19): 

No.

Aja (19:24): 

generationally, I guess you can say from kind of that old school thinking of, know, we're there to support the talent, not be the talent. Whereas now you have to be the talent and support the talent. have to have your own brand. How did you, was it easy? Like once you took that first step of being after taking that photo, was it easy for you to that? You

like be out there? Like how, how, how did you get from there to where you are now?

Tory (19:44): 

Absolutely not.

Aja (19:53): 

as such a confident, know, front of the camera, you're everywhere, you know, there's no shame. And I don't mean that in a bad way, but you don't be like, this is very natural now to you. And I would have never thought that at one time, you know, it was something that might've been a little bit intimidating.

Tory (20:04): 

No, it's flawless!

Yeah.

So let's just take it back. When I had my agency, Tourstar, I always wore black. So I had 60 little black dresses from every designer that you can imagine in the world. And I wore black because I wanted to blend in. And so even though I was the powerhouse, making it work for everyone else behind the scenes, I didn't really want to be seen. So to actually step forward and be seen, it literally makes you, joke, how am I gonna do this?

And so I remember when Marie Claire magazine approached me to do a story on single moms with global businesses, I was very clear with them because I'd never done a story before on my business, except for a couple of publications in almost 20 years, which

were really more trade related and we used as a sales pipeline to highlight who we're

working with. And I just remember saying to the journalist, that's not my story. And she's like, what do you mean? And I said, I don't want to be in that story. My story's changed.

Aja (21:00): 

Mm-hmm.

Tory (21:09): 

And in that moment in time, something shifted in me and we had this off the record conversation and I hadn't even shared the story with my friends. But for some reason I trusted this woman and I said, this is my story. And she was like, whoa, what? No one knows this. And I said, I know, and I'm not sure why I'm telling you. And she said, let me speak to the editor, but we want to transform this story into a feature.

And I remember saying, it's not just my story, it's my daughter's story. And I've just met someone, you know, who's likely going to become my life partner. Like my life is at a crossroads, but I know that the power of this story will change lives. Anyway, she came back and she goes, we want to do the feature. We're going to do a three page feature. And so we did the interviews, but I actually sat on the interview for four months because when you talk about what's it like showing up.

Aja (21:58): 

Hmm.

Tory (22:02): 

How do you go from behind the scenes to the front of the scenes? I really struggled with that. And so I made the decision that after Drew left the country that the story would come out and literally it transformed my life. And what I was most afraid of was

judgment, losing clients. What are people going to think? Am I still going to be invited to

things? ⁓ the opposite happened. I don't even know why I was worried because people were like, wow.

But what happened was behind the scenes, and it is a crazy, crazy story, obviously, is that people didn't know that for 12 years of my life, I was stalked, harassed, intimidated by an ex. I was contacted up to 100 times a day. It was a little bit like that Journey John Netflix series that went viral a few years ago.

Aja (22:49): 

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Tory (22:51): 

But what they didn't know was that I had this near death experience, which I didn't tell anyone either because I was an agency head. I was at the top of my game and I almost lost my life. You know, before I went to London, it was 72 hours before a flight, my appendix burst. So I had a team in London, I had a team here. I had events being activated around the world, but here I am.

Aja (23:00): 

Mm-hmm.

Tory (23:16): 

you know, lose eight kilos in five days, I'm on life support, I contract septicemia, I'm told I can't travel, I can't do anything. And the only thing that saved my life was a surgeon

just looking at me and he goes, I'm going to give you a mantra, and you're going to live your life by this mantra, a happy heart is a magnet for miracles, anything that's not making you happy anymore, starts dripping out. So when we talk about the power of that story, the power lies in the fact that I cleaned up my life quietly and silently.

And until that story came out, no one knew what was happening. And that became my power because I started standing in my authentic truth. And so when you first get asked to go on TV and share your story with the world, I can't tell you how much I was shaking. It was crazy. I could help narrate CEOs of multi-billion dollar businesses. This

is what you say when you go up and you talk about your brand on TV, but the

Aja (23:49): 

Mm.

Mm.

Tory (24:13): 

hardest thing for me was having to learn how to do that myself. And so what I did was it became easier because I had this five point story framework, which by the way, your

listeners can download. If you go onto my website, there's a community app and you can get a seven day free trial. And there's a whole video series that is actually for free in there around how I claimed my power and how I rewrote my story to become a thought

leader.

Aja (24:18): 

Mm-hmm.

Tory (24:41): 

and to stand alongside other thought leaders around the world. And it really became how I cracked the code for launching not only my personal brand and Powerful Steps, but now the brands of other women and men around the world. So I've helped thousands with this framework and it's called the Five Point Story Framework. And so when you're asking me these questions, I don't need to go and rehearse what I'm going to say because I already know, because I have the framework.

Aja (25:03): 

Mm-hmm.

Tory (25:09): 

and I consistently update it and I'm able to share messages with impact because I know what resonates. But most importantly, I've experienced it firsthand.

Aja (25:20): 

And we'll definitely link in the notes to the website and to that series so that all the

listeners and the watchers can work on that themselves. Tell us a little bit about the program and specifically your business attraction program for C-suite women because you're really transforming

women and their organizations and their lives. And I've seen it firsthand. The group chats from your programs are on fire with these amazing women. So tell us about that and how our audience, if they want to get some coaching from you, can do that.

Tory (26:00): 

Yeah.

Yeah, so the business attraction program was really created off the basis of your last question. How do you tell your story, Tori? You know, how do you as a business owner or as a leader step forward and become a brand? And what I really recognized was that women become stuck. I was stuck. You know, what's my next power move or how do I take my business to the next level? Or I really want to be authentic. Advertisings

inauthentic.

So what I really discovered was, you and I, are the brand, the way we show up, it's still anchored to those same values that I have of passion, integrity and delivery, but it's placed into a framework that works. So it's a six week program and the next one's on the 21st of May, it's all online. And I really help you create and unpack your story narrative as a female leader. You know, who are you? Where did you come from?

you know, who mentored you, how did you get your big break? What's your game changing moment? And how did that game changing moment transform your life? And I lead by example, like I've just shared the power of some of my story, probably only 2 % with your audience. But when you actually understand the power of your story, you know, it's not just about your achievements that you share as a leader to attract business. It's about your failures. It's about the lessons that you learned.

because everyone knows now, especially with social media, that life is not glossy. Yeah, life is definitely not glossy. So in that program, I share how the five point story framework can actually be used not only with yourself, but with your business and your teams. So a lot of female founders will come into that program and they'll then activate what I teach with their teams and their agencies.

Aja (27:38): 

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Tory (27:58): 

and it switches the narrative so that they begin attracting rather than hustling for business. And then what I do is I layer it by connecting people with my little black book and obviously the WhatsApp group that you're on as well as a great example with coffee dates. You know, it's the same thing that I spoke about earlier in the podcast. If you

want to build a global network, if you want to attract the best of the best, if you want to work with the top one percenters and you want to make a difference in this world,

Well, go out there and start connecting with people and sharing your story. Now, you can't coffee date with people unless you know your brand narrative, which is why that five point story framework is so important. So I coffee date with purpose. Again, it's like

one with someone I know, one with someone I want to partner with, one with someone completely outside my comfort zone. I'm not afraid to ask for help. And if you can actually integrate that in to your sales pipeline, it becomes a really, really powerful tool.

Aja (28:47): 

Hmm.

Tory (28:54): 

And then the third thing that I really teach people now is like the importance of AI. know, you do not want to sound like a robot when you're pitching, when you're in a room with someone or when you're showing up on social media. So how do you integrate that five point story? So it's got your tone, your language, your voice so that you stand out as a

leader. Now with those three tools, what we do is we integrate it.

Aja (29:00): 

Mm.

Tory (29:21): 

so that when people Google your name, it comes up with who you are, right? You're magnetized. So for the last five years with Powerful Steps, I've really focused on content creation, not only for the Powerful Steps brand, but for my own personal brand as well. So it acts exactly in the way that I used to walk around in those Zara stores in like Paris, Dubai, Rome before it even came to Sydney. What I'm doing

Aja (29:36): 

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Tory (29:47): 

I'm using that same premises walking around and planting my energy in places, but I'm using social media to do it for me. So I'm activating my voice. I'm activating my message. I'm activating how I can be of service to other people. And so I'm naturally attracting the right people into my life. So by the time they connect with me, it's a yes, nine times out of 10. It's an energetic map.

Aja (29:55): 

Hmm.

Right, because they already know so much about you.

Tory (30:14): 

Correct. And also whether it's a business, like you're an agency owner, you have people listening to these probably going, well, what's my sales pipeline? What am I going to

learn out of this? Well, if you own your own agency or even if you're an account director or hire, you're going to turn yourself into a brand because someone else out there is a brand. And if you don't show up and share the life lessons or share the case studies or share who you are as a person,

Aja (30:32): 

Mm-hmm.

Tory (30:44): 

person's not going to want to work with you because someone else is sharing and it makes their decision to work with them so much easier than it does with you.

Aja (30:53): 

Right.

Right. That's a great point. And that actually leads into something I wanted to ask you because, you know, you are very well aware of what's happening here in this country from a political standpoint and economically as well. And, you know, the tech industry is laying off, the government, federal government's been laying off. So in light of, you know, those things, I know people that are losing their jobs or transitioning from their

jobs and they're senior level people. What are some...

actionable tips that our audience can use from your framework or from your experience? If they've gotten laid off today or they have to go out and hunt for a job, the competition is thick. What are some actionable tips that they can do?

Tory (31:37): 

Yeah, great question.

Never play

the victim. Never play the victim. Play the hero. Yeah. And also never comment politically online. Never. I will never, I will never comment on my views or anything like that. What I will do is pay forward my knowledge and I will narrate how I can help people. So I'll give you a good example. I had a client out of Singapore who

unexpectedly lost her job. And in Singapore, the laws are that you only get two weeks notice.

Aja (31:49): 

Mm-hmm.

Tory (32:08): 

doesn't matter how long you've worked there, you get two weeks notice. So it's crazy, right? So she had babies to feed and ironically, her husband actually lost his job 24 hours later. And she called me and she goes, Tori, what do I do? And I said, number one, take a deep breath and I've got you. Yeah, and I'm happy to be your cheer squad for the next 48 hours. But what I want you to do is I want you to show up. And she goes, but I've just lost my job. I've lost my self-esteem. And I said, I don't care.

Aja (32:08): 

our Wow.

Tory (32:37): 

What you are going to do is you are going to show up and you're going to share what you have created and delivered, which is multi-million dollar business pipelines for the business that's just retrenched you. And you're going to go online and you're going to share what you've done. No one needs to know that you've lost your job in the next 24 hours. It's just raw and it hurts. But keep the message, keep the momentum, keep the level of who you are consistent now before people find out. And so she did that.

Aja (32:55): 

Mmm. Mmm.

Mm.

Tory (33:07): 

And then she doubled down with coffee dates. I said, get out your little black book and you start making phone calls and you're not going to be having three coffee dates a

week. You're to be having three a day and you are going to double down and you're going to talk to people and you're not even going to let on that you've been retrenched yet and you're going to start opening doors. She got a bigger and better role within six weeks. And not only did she get a bigger and better role, she got a regional role. So for anyone out there feeling like, my gosh, poor me.

Aja (33:22): 

Mm.

Wow.

Tory (33:35): 

please, seriously, get off your choice. Get out there and show the world. but like, get it moving. Like be proud of who you are. You got to push forward. that woman had also gone through my business attraction program. So the other thing I said to her, I was like, go back and update your five point story framework.

Aja (33:39): 

What did Kim Kardashian say? Get off your butt and work. it up. You gotta, yeah, gotta, mm-hmm, yeah. Yeah, you gotta put one foot in front of the other and keep going.

Tory (34:02): 

because it will give you the confidence to understand and ground you as to who you are and use that content to narrate the story to attract what you want to attract. And that's how it happened. So my advice is really don't comment on things that are out of your remit. Comment on yourself and what you can give to the world. Comment on how you are employable.

Aja (34:26): 

I think that's a great point because there are so many things that we as individuals are passionate about, but you also want to be conscious of not alienating people. There's a time and a place for everything and everybody has to decide what that is for themselves.

Tory (34:49): 

Yeah. And also just remember your story has lots of plots, twists and turns. And it's not about sharing the poor me. It's about showing how you had a challenge and translated it into an opportunity. Now, the crazy thing is that woman who came to me for that advice, she now gives that advice to other people. So it's how you choose to show up. And again, that anchors back to my three

Aja (35:05): 

Mm.

Tory (35:18): 

delivery aspects of my values of I told her to share a passion. I told her to show it with

integrity. But most importantly, I told her show people how you deliver. And that delivery piece is so important. And yes, I understand that the job market is tough. Yes, I understand that many countries are going into recession, but you can attract high vibrational opportunities if you choose to play at that level. And I choose to play at that

level.

Aja (35:31): 

Mm.

Mm.

Tory (35:48): 

I mean, I was told that I couldn't be a brand. I couldn't be an influencer.

Aja (35:55): 

I love it. Well,

we'll need to have you back to talk about your events here, like in that context, because if you're getting $100,000 sponsorship deals, like as a community that you've created, I wish you would have told me that beforehand. We could have talked about that a little bit more, but we'll have you back on another episode, because I'd like to talk about the community events here once you get those going.

Tory (36:00): 

you Yeah.

I'm happy to talk about it. Yeah,

and also, sorry, there's also just one last thing. There's an opportunity for your brands as well to become involved it's, really create, it's a brand partnership where we create a pipeline. I mean, it's the same as what I did for my agency. We're creating pipelines of customers for people at the highest level.

Aja (36:46): 

Tori, it's been so great having you and I know that all of our listeners that are listening to this podcast are really gonna be inspired to take action. And I think this has been life changing for so many people, whether they are working with brands and trying to engage their customers more or just now looking at themselves as a brand and what they can do out in the world. You've given us so much to think about and to work.

Before you go, we want to ask you a closing question, that fun little question. In terms of moments, who is having a moment? What is having a moment? Or where is having a moment in your opinion?

Tory (37:30): 

So I think Reese Witherspoon is definitely having a moment right now and she recently joined LinkedIn. And I think for a celebrity, a brand maker and an impact maker to understand that Instagram may not be the place to be right now and shift her focus onto speaking at a more business level is a game changing moment for many, many people. And I remember when she did the announcement on Instagram.

And she said, I'm about to join LinkedIn, me being a brand strategist. I was like, I'm going to watch this and I could see the numbers rise. And so what I think is the more people that stand in their truth, the more people that share the power of their wisdom, the more people that show up on platforms that give them a voice, the more you can make and create an impact.

Aja (38:25): 

Love it, thank you for that. And where can we find you, follow you? What do you have coming up next? How can we stay in touch with you?

Tory (38:35): 

So I recently stood in my power and changed my Instagram handle to Tory Archbold official. So you can follow me on that on LinkedIn. I'm Tory Archbold and my website is powerfuljashsteps.com. And I will be in Los Angeles as I'm hosting another business activation retreat on the 5th to the 7th of May. Asia, I know that you're going to be coming along. I can't wait to have you. And it's really going to be allowing American

women to stand in their authentic truth, to own their power, to create their brand narrative. But what I've also done is I've got some incredible speakers there who have created and launched global brands, but also transformed them into multi-million dollar businesses for exit. think staying ahead of the retail trends, the brand trends, AI technology, but also having a really strong understanding of who you are as a leader, as a brand, as a business is the way for

Aja (39:20): 

Mmm.

Tory (39:33): 

any female founder listening to these podcasts to move powerfully forward because when we own our story, we own our power. It's pretty simple.

Aja (39:44): 

Excellent. And it's great for executives as well, right? Not just founders.

Tory (39:49): 

100%. Yeah, we have a lot

of senior corporate executives and I've been lucky enough to mentor, you know, some of the heads of Apple, Asana, Salesforce, some of the leading banks around the world. And I really like to integrate the energy of corporate life into founder life because I believe that we can learn from each other.

Aja (40:11): 

Definitely. Wonderful. Well, I can't wait to see you in May. And thank you again so much for being here. And we look forward to seeing all of the amazing things that you have coming up over the next year in the US.

Tory (40:24): 

And likewise, Asia, thank you so much for this opportunity. But I just like to point out as well that you continue to rise, you continue to show up, you continue to have a global voice, and that is something that the world really needs right now. So thank you for creating the benchmark for many people to see the possibilities in an industry that is honestly, it has its ups and downs, but you've stayed on course, you're still creating, you're still delivering, and that's something to be incredibly proud of.

Aja (40:48): 

Mm-hmm.

Tory (40:54): 

Thank you.

Aja (40:54): 

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Aja (40:57): 

Thanks again, Tori, for being here and sharing how you created amazing brand moments and how we can use that framework to create our own powerful brands. For everyone tuning in, Tori will be in Los Angeles hosting an event May 5th through 7th where you can learn how to transform your business and career. Click the link in the show notes for an exclusive discount code courtesy of Making The Moment. And we'll see you next time.