Georgia Toffolo, known affectionately as Toff, is a renowned reality television star, entrepreneur, and author. Rising to fame on Made in Chelsea before winning I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2017, she has since become a household name in British media.
Alongside her television career, Georgia has built a strong presence as a writer and businessperson, earning respect for her openness and ability to connect with audiences on both personal and professional levels.
Beyond the screen, Georgia has launched successful ventures including her raw dog food brand, Wild Pack, and co-founded her own talent management agency. She has also used her platform to raise awareness around skin positivity, sharing her own struggles with acne to encourage greater authenticity online.
Today, Georgia is also an in-demand public speaker represented by The Champions Speakers Agency, inspiring audiences with her story of resilience, entrepreneurship, and self-belief.
In this interview, Georgia shares the lessons she has learned from her business ventures, the challenges of balancing her public persona with entrepreneurship, and her views on influencer marketing and authenticity.
Q: Most recently you have launched raw dog food brand Wild Pack. What have your business ventures taught you?
Georgia Toffolo: “My venture into business has taught me that success is no fluke. It is not easy; it is incredibly hard. You look at people that create great things and often they make it look as though it has been seamless with no bumps in the road, and maybe they’ve had a bit of luck on their hands.
But what I’ve realised after setting up two businesses is that the hard graft is necessary. If you decide to cut corners, as I have done in the past, I think all business owners have, often it can actually slow down your progress.
Venturing into business for me after quite a big public career in showbiz and television has made me think that I have a lot of admiration for people that do take that plunge, because being at the helm of a business is not easy. It is incredibly stressful and there are times when the weight of the world is on my shoulders.
But what I will say is, if you keep up the crusade that you’re on, you have an amazing business you believe in, you hustle, you don’t stop, and you keep going, even when you get ‘no’ repeatedly, it is possible to create great things. My big revelation has been that it is not simple, it is not easy, and there is a reason why not everyone does it.”
Q: What would your best advice be to people wanting to pursue a business venture?
Georgia Toffolo: “Mine would be study the sector first. All sectors are cyclical and there can be sectors that are right for disruption. There can be sectors that are full to the brim of private equity money, be canny about that. And then alongside that, you have just got to know and be passionate about every ounce of what you’re trying to do and what you’re trying to create.
I would also say to people, do not be scared to outsource if you are not the expert in that field. As founders, we often think we can do everything. We must be the Jack of all trades. We are in that scrappy start-up mentality where we are head of accounts, marketing, social media, you name it.
But there is something quite cool about finding someone that’s better than you at something and bringing them onto your team. That collaborative effort can help you move quicker.
As a leader, saying, ‘Yeah, I’m good at most things, but you’re better than me at this,’ that relinquishing of power makes people feel like they are with you on the journey. When you have a team that will back you to the end of the earth, and they know you will back them, I think you can create something really special.”
Q: What unexpected barriers did you face when you were starting your businesses?
Georgia Toffolo: “The thing that shocked me the most since founding the businesses has been a really unexpected one. I thought that my public persona and my millions of followers would be incredibly beneficial. Now they are 90% of the time, but there is a 10% takeaway where people have hesitancy.
They think: ‘She’s good at being funny on the telly, she’s very good at entertaining us on social media, she was on Made in Chelsea, she won the Jungle, she couldn’t possibly be the person I should trust to buy my dog food from.’
That hesitancy of trust has been so unexpected for me. I have to work really hard to make sure my customers, particularly dog owners for my dog food business, trust what I am saying. Some of the television and brand partnerships I have done previously can actually work against me on that.
I hope that the work I have done over the past few years in gaining that trust with my customers is paying off, but I did not expect that automatic lack of trust because of my television background to be a block for the business. When I do deep delve with my customers, it comes back to the same thing: ‘Why should we trust you to tell me what dog food I should buy?’ It is just quite interesting.”
Q: Has that changed how you look at brand deals now that you have a business, and does it add another layer to who you would work with, given that it is not just your followers but also your customers who are seeing your partnerships?
Georgia Toffolo: “Totally. I would like to think I have always been militant with who I partner with from a brand perspective for me personally, and that is why I set up my talent management agency five years ago, because it gives me complete autonomy.
But since launching my dog food business, this has never been more important. If my Wild Pack customers see me working with someone they might not trust, I don’t think that reflects very well upon me or my businesses.
I am cut-throat. If I don’t use a brand, if I don’t love a brand, if I don’t trust the brand and every part of its process, then I won’t work with them. It is a simple no-brainer. What is amazing is that I own 100% of my talent management agency that represents me.
I have the final say, even if one of my managers says: ‘This is a brilliant brand partnership, the money is very good.’ It’s a wonderful luxury to be able to say no. If they do not align with us, that’s the end of it. It is tricky sometimes to say no to the money, but in the long run it’s definitely the right thing to do.”
This exclusive interview with Georgia Toffolo was conducted by Megan Lupton, Senior Content Executive at The Champions Speakers Agency.
