At 24 years old, with no media connections and no money, Tory Archbold was told by a friend over coffee that she should forget starting a PR company and go marry a nice guy instead.

She walked out of that coffee date, backed herself, and went on to build Torstar, one of Australia's most high profile brand and communications agencies. Over 20 years she launched some of the world's biggest brands into this market, including Zara (whose Sydney launch drew 22,000 people and is regularly called A...