Fast Five with a kind-hearted commercialist

Family values

Tom’s grandfather was chairman of the Melbourne Stock Exchange. His father, Kelvin, was an entrepreneur who ran hugely successful truck sales and rental firms. Tom says he was “the best example of how to conduct yourself that a child could have hoped for”.

The family home hummed with business talk, and employees were often invited for dinner. When Kelvin Griffith died in 2023, aged 93, many among the hundreds of mourners wore hi-vis. “From a lot of people, the prevailing comment after Dad died was, ‘He was always so kind to me.’”

Tom feels fortunate that his early work experience with catering giant Peter Rowland underscored the value of treating people well. Alan Bond’s wedding and Gretel Packer’s 21st birthday party were among a list of high-profile gigs, where the staff were always treated as peers.

“I learnt an awful lot about managing people and how to behave,” says Tom. “It was a great start.”

The Emma & Tom’s story has been well told – an inspired Tom returned after seven years away from Australia, and enlisted childhood friend Emma Welsh to launch their eponymous drinks brand in 2003. Their catchphrase – “Look After Yourself” – encapsulated an ethos of making positive choices.

“It’s now sold in schools and hospitals and all of those places you want to be able to buy a decent, healthy drink,” Tom says.

Success didn’t come overnight. It took tenacity to keep reinforcing the brand’s message, and stamina to knock on enough doors to put their product in 5,000 cafes and shops around Australia and push into the overseas market.

The power of what they’d created became clear when, years later, they tried a fizzy alternative called Habitat. It wasn’t selling well – until they changed its name to Emma & Tom’s and sales picked up immediately. Tom cites the power of a strong brand.

With thanks to Uni Melb

Tom regards the Wade Institute as “a tremendous asset to the university”, and the Faculty of Business and Economics as a place of learning that Australia is blessed to have. He’s chuffed to help others, knowing it’s easy to be stuck in your own bubble running a business, and can be helpful to have fresh eyes taking a helicopter view and asking, “What are you doing?”

“There’s a great saying that’s so true: ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.’ If you’ve done things a thousand times yourself, it’s not very onerous to help someone get themselves set. I don’t tell people what to do – I tell them what I would do. They’re all smart.”

He remains deeply connected to his old University and Ormond peers.

“It was an unbelievable opportunity. I really enjoyed it, and I’m very proud to this day to be an alum, to be attached to that institution.

“My time there was a wonderful foundation to launch off and grow.”