Empowering Leaders. Amplifying Impact. Connecting change-makers.

Camilla Franks

How my tribe saved me

I am so honoured to have Camilla Franks join me today to share her powerful story. Like many women in the spotlight, Camilla has faced incredible challenges behind the scenes. She honestly shares about her battle with cancer, her IVF journey, motherhood and running a global company during a pandemic.

“Women feel safe and protected to share their vulnerabilities on important social issues including mental health, redundancy, infertility and ageism that they haven’t trusted anyone else with.

“I know them, they know me, and our conversations are both intimate and far-reaching. It’s like listening to two girlfriends discuss everything that is important in their world.”

Camilla Franks’ story is particularly powerful.

Camilla is one of Australia’s leading fashion designers and is celebrated globally for her artistic, innovative and intricate designs that weave in stories from her travels abroad and imaginative escapism.

Three years into remission from a stage three breast cancer diagnosis that came just three months after she had daughter Luna, she talks:

— Her cancer journey including her incredible strategy for facing chemo

— The innovations that saved her company during the pandemic

— Her long-distance relationship with fiance JP

— The non-Insta realities of working motherhood (what goes on when the camera isn’t watching)

The beloved designer also reveals for the first time how she wore pyjamas to entertain Oprah Winfrey (“She rang and said, ‘About those tequila shots, I’m coming over”) and the heartbreak she faced before filming the upcoming season of Nine’s Celebrity Apprentice.

“I’d just finished five rounds of IVF. The day before, I was in hospital getting the eggs taken out. Two days into shooting, I found out the eggs hadn’t survived. So I was on my own personal journey, emotional pain, to have to put the game face on every day and show up.”

Says Tory, “Like Camilla, standout women including Melissa Doyle, Danielle Cormack and Candice Warner have trusted Powerful Stories this year to shine a light on important issues—mental health, career pivots, rebuilding after hitting rock bottom.

“It’s a hard-hitting podcast where women in their power share game-changing moments that make a difference to other people’s lives.”