Interview – The pride, passion and perseverance of Toni Martello

Introduction: Toni (Maria Antonietta) Martello is Founder and Executive Director at Azzurra One Enterprise, a successful and much-respected travel retail staffing, promotional and marketing services agency in Sydney, Australia.

Remarkably, this year marks the 41st anniversary since she created Azzurra One, initially employing two staff to sell cigarettes at Sydney Airport, later adding wines & spirits, wellness and confectionery products to the portfolio.

Over the ensuing years, Azzurra One has grown to providing over 50 promotional and marketing services across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth Airports in Australian and Auckland Airport in New Zealand.

“How’s that for an 18 year old Italian woman who arrived in Australia nine years earlier with no work experience or knowledge of the English language?” as Martello put it on LinkedIn recently.

Like all entrepreneurial success stories, Azzurra One has had to overcome a few bumps along the road. None more so than the devastating human and commercial impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

Hit as if by a runaway train by the pandemic, which saw Australia’s borders closed for two years, Azzurra One has since recovered strongly in line with the region’s rapid travel rebound.

Last year the company was incorporated across the Tasman in New Zealand, and Azzurra One commenced operations at Auckland Airport. Numerous other developments are in the pipeline as the business bounces back. The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie caught up with this remarkable businesswoman to discuss her 41-year journey that has far from run its course.

Martin Moodie: Toni, let’s start at the very beginning. Tell us about your early days in Italy.

Toni Martello: I was born in 1954 in a small town called Vigonovo, which is close to Venice. My four siblings were boys, so I quickly learnt how to stand up for myself.  My father was the proprietor of an electrical appliance business where from the age of 11 I worked every day after school. I have never known a time when I was not working.

When I was 14 and a half, I left school and worked full time in our business. Ideally I would have continued with my education but that was the norm in those days. It wasn’t the easiest of times given the damage to the country and economy in the post-war years; however it was a case of persevere and being resilient otherwise you starved.

I was married at 16 and had my first son soon after. By the time I was 17 I was working full time with my husband and his family in the bar they owned. That was a 5.30am to midnight proposition with me making coffee and serving breakfast for the early risers, through to waitressing into the evening. For people unfamiliar with Italian feeding habits, late meals are part of the cultural fabric of the country.

What led to your emigration to Australia?  

We decided that life in Italy offered little to no opportunity to advance so we investigated moving overseas. Australia at that time was offering significantly discounted fares to immigrate so that was our ultimate destination. As a side note, Canada was our alternative option. However the thought of sun and beaches outweighed blizzards, moose and bears.

We left Genoa in November 1973 aboard a ship with a few thousand fellow compatriots. As the Suez Canal was closed due to conflict, we travelled via Cape Town.

The trip was challenging as the policy was to segregate the sexes. This, the frequent storms we encountered and five heavy smoking women who shared my cabin made the trip thoroughly unenjoyable. All of this changed when we entered Sydney Harbour on 23 December and I first caught glimpse of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We had arrived at the greatest country in the world as far as I was concerned, a prophecy which ultimately proved true.

When I look back at it now, my love and affection for Italy will never falter. However, I knew from day one that this country would be my home forever. I had arrived in Australia, unable to speak a word of English and with minimal skills. My own attributes were an ability to dream, a desire to exceed and a passion for work. What could possibly go wrong?

On debarkation, with a mix of excitement and trepidation we were bused to an immigration centre on the outskirts of Sydney. We shared a dwelling with four families for four months, before renting an apartment, where we lived for the next six years.

I got my first job at a cable factory, working seven days a week on a production line and was so lucky to have obliging neighbours who minded my son.

At 20, I had my second son and was working two shifts to support our family as my husband went back to school. While the hours were long and laborious, I had no choice as I was the sole bread earner in the family.

Gradually my English improved by talking to work colleagues and management, store owners when buying commodities, from the television and radio, and fortuitously an English teacher at the migrant centre who used to give me private lessons in any spare time that I had.

For those wondering, the first word I learnt in Australia was ‘egg’.  This invaluable lesson occurred when I attempted to buy some eggs from the local store and, being unable to explain what I wanted, proceeded to make clucking noises and flapping my arms.

God bless the owner and other customers; they all laughed and quickly explained the names of other products on the shelves. This was typical of Australians, they’re accommodating, have a great sense of humour and are prepared to give everyone a fair go.

My next job was selling encyclopedias door to door for two years. A lot of these doors closed quickly when I introduced myself in broken English; however many remained open.

With the benefit of hindsight, those people purchased a complete set notwithstanding the language barrier. I guess they saw what I hoped to project – I was a hard-working, resilient woman struggling to improve my situation and with the personality to pull it off. Within 12 months I was the salesperson of the year and won an overseas trip.

I then sold advertising space in an Italian/English telephone book which was challenging as multiculturalism was a concept society hadn’t adopted in the 70’s. Nevertheless, I persevered by visiting every restaurant, bakery, corner store and even brothel within my allocated region. For my efforts, I was repeatedly recognised as their top salesperson.

Looking back on my encyclopedia days and working for this employer, they were instrumental in improving my self-confidence, language skills and selling prowess. As a side note, there are so many stories to tell, but none could ever be published!

After working there for two years, I worked with the British tobacco manufacturing company, W.D. & H.O. Wills. I was a hostess in pubs, clubs and racing venues, the standard uniform being a short skirt, low top and high heels. Socially unacceptable today but that was the era. Through this role I met Janet Clarke who became one of my closest friends and introduced me to travel retail at Sydney Airport.

Let’s just backtrack for a moment. Tell us about your early memories of being a non-English-speaking immigrant in Australia.

The immigration camp was a former WW2 barracks and not designed for families whatsoever.  In addition to Italians, we had British, German, French, and representatives of a host of other nations. Notwithstanding the fact that the war had only ended 18 years earlier, there was harmony amongst us as we all had the same dreams and aspirations.

One major advantage of this united nations set-up was that I learnt that I had the ability to learn languages very quickly. Within a short period of time, I became competent in Spanish and Portuguese.  Little did I know that this attribute would become pivotal in the creation of Azzurra years later.

On thing we couldn’t get over though was the quality of food. Everything provided to us in the food halls in the camp was boiled, even the meat. Coming from a country that takes immense pride in taste and presentation, it was uninspiring and provided the incentive to leave the facility as soon as possible.

Another course of consternation was the absence of real coffee. In those days, Australia was not a sophisticated country. I remember being aghast at asking for a coffee and getting instant coffee with milk and two sugars. Having only consumed cappuccinos and espresso in my youth, it was a rude shock to the system.

And how did Azzurra One come into being?

Initially selling tobacco products at Sydney Airport, I achieved such extraordinary sales that in 1982 the manager at Allders International [a former travel retail giant, at that point number two in the world behind DFS Group -Ed] asking whether I would be interested in representing brands that were not being promoted. I willingly accepted. This was the genesis of Azzurra One.

I chose the name Azzurra – it means light blue in Italian; this is the colour of the sky and for me the sky’s the limit! That’s why this name is so important to me, it reflects who I am and my attitude to my life and to my business!

My first client was Patons Macadamia, who I represented for 33 years. I was then introduced to Continental Spirits who I represented for 31 years. From that point onwards, with my credentials evident, my client base grew exponentially.

It soon became apparent that to properly represent my clients I required assistance as I was working unsustainable hours per week. Therefore, I employed two staff, after which the reality of being a small business operator struck home. The nature of some clients and infrequency of payment meant that I took on another job in order to ensure my staff were always paid.

Consequently, my standard working day commenced at 7am and finished around midday. I then went to my second job until 5pm and then went home to cook dinner for the family. My evening shift at the airport commenced at 7.30pm and finished around 9.30pm.

“I work on the floor five days a week and weekends if required. I do not live in the office insulated from issues arising on the floor.”

Aside from taking Christmas day off, I worked every day of the week for the next seven years. Nevertheless, I felt blessed to have these opportunities, and it strengthened my resolve to succeed and make my children proud.

People ask how Azzurra has managed to achieve such amazing results given I had only arrived in Australia nine years earlier, unable to speak a word of English let alone understand it.

The answer is simple:

• Self-confidence and employing humour to compensate for my limited language skills.
• I also employed the best staff, all of whom are multilingual. Collectively, Azzurra staff speak nine languages, aside from English.
• I additionally place a strong emphasis on training. This was reinforced during the COVID lockdowns, where I took the initiative to engage my clients to conduct training sessions via Zoom so that all Azzurra staff knowledge was current, and they remained invested in the company. Through this approach, Azzurra staff hit the ground running when the airports reopened.
• I also emphasise the importance of staff working outside of their comfort zone. We’ve all been to airports where staff are reluctant to approach other nationalities; this doesn’t occur with my staff.
• All of my team are trained in other brands to ensure they can promote all Azzurra clients. This cross-training yields amazing results as it’s relatively easy to persuade passengers to buy more than they originally intended or diversify their purchases. Some companies consider this unworkable; however, Azzurra’s clients absolutely support it.
• Finally, I work on the floor five days a week and weekends if required. I do not live in the office insulated from issues arising on the floor. I also spend considerable time in the bond acquiring stock, unpacking pallets of products and placing them on the shelf. While not my job, empty shelves reflect badly on the duty free operations, both for my client and myself. This to me is leadership by example.

Who was running the Allders International business in those days?

Nick Hillyard and Tony Hoy were major players in Allders when I commenced at the airport.

Any standout memories down the years?

To coincide with Azzurra’s 25^th anniversary, I attended a huge launch party with Pernod Ricard. A halt in the proceedings was called and unexpectedly a huge image of me was projected on the screen and the Chivas Master Distiller gifted me a personalised bottle of 25 Year Old Chivas to recognise my contribution to their success. It was an incredibly special moment and a memory I will always treasure.

In 1990 I was invited by Continental Spirits to attend my first-ever TWFA in Singapore. It was absolutely incredible, and for the first time I could see what a huge industry I was a part of. It was an amazing experience meeting new friends, seeing new brands, selling to new customers.

“There is nothing inspirational being approached by a salesperson who asks, ‘Can I help you?’ ”

Following Singapore, I frequently attended the TWFA shows in Cannes. If I thought Singapore was big, Cannes was massive. This provided me with the opportunity to network with companies that were considering moving into, or were not represented, in the Australian market.  Better still, life couldn’t get any better visiting fabulous patisseries before the show commenced.

To celebrate my 40^th anniversary at Sydney Airport someone unbeknown to me sent my profile and that of Azzurra to the most popular radio programme in Australia. Imagine my surprise when I received the audio of it later that morning. The program is national and hundreds of thousands of listeners heard who I was, what I’ve achieved and how respected I am in the TFWA community. I couldn’t help but cry with happiness and pride that day.

Perhaps this is somewhat self-validatory but Azzurra recently undertook an activation for a local gin company at Sydney Airport. This coincided with another activation with a world-renowned gin brand by another agency. Our sales were four times greater than our competitor, notwithstanding the price parity and lack of name recognition. This is what Azzurra is all about: subject matter experts, multilingual staff, cross brand selling and a proactive attitude.

Azzurra One is currently celebrating its 41st anniversary. I love my team; they are my family. I love what I do, and I love that there is still so much more to do, and so many fabulous clients to meet, support and partner with!

Who have been your key career influences?

I have worked with and met so many incredible people who have influenced and supported me. Many have become lifelong friends. The list is endless; however, I must highlight these key people as without their guidance and friendship I wouldn’t be where I am today.

• Ian Strachan: My first mentor, he opened my eyes to the opportunities that existed in the travel retail industry.
• Chris Lale: Another mentor and close personal friend. In fact, we recently went to his wife’s birthday dinner. His support, wit and wisdom were essential during the formulative years of Azzurra.
• Warren Vesey: Who took over from Chris and provided continuity in mentoring and friendship.
• Jack Frankel was the manager in Allders who took the massive leap of faith by asking whether I would be interested in representing some of their clients at Sydney Airport.
• Janet Clarke: This amazing woman saw my potential and never hesitated to support me. Thorough my best days, and more importantly the worst, she was my rock. Her death left a hole in my heart that can never be filled. I remain close friends with her beautiful daughter who continues her legacy of kindness and compassion.

Outside of those I’ve personally met, I truly admire and respect Richard Branson. His work ethic, leadership and attitude is what I want to emulate.

My two sons are my driving force. I wanted to set an example of what you can do, I wanted them to have the education I didn’t have and I wanted them to be happy. I am so proud of them, and now they both have their own businesses.

I wanted to show my sons that with integrity and hard work you can have success and achieve your dreams – I have done all of this for them and for me. I am really proud of what I have achieved and built.

Any repeatable funny stories along the way?

Humour is paramount to me and something that I use constantly when dealing with passengers. This is by design as it disarms them and establishes a rapport. There is nothing inspirational being approached by a salesperson who asks, “Can I help you?”

Some of the lines I use on a daily basis include:

• “How can I help you spend your money!” It never fails!
• Telling the passenger’s partner to go to the perfume and cosmetics area as her boyfriend/husband intends to buy her something VERY expensive.
• Asking whether an intended purchase is “a selfish or sharing bottle?” The philosophy being that the selfish bottle is always expensive. When considered in this context, most passengers buy both.
• Approaching a passenger and saying “Good morning/afternoon, I can’t spend my money so I’m going to spend yours.”

My partner recently accompanied me to the airport to see how Azzurra operated. After we finished, he regaled a story about a Korean passenger who intended to buy a A$20 bottle of Scotch.

Apparently, I told him that it would be a loss of face if he returned home with something so cheap and then proceeded to upsell to a bottle of The Macallan. I then upsold further by pointing out that the more expensive bottle was the same colour as his tracksuit and that it’s a sign from the heavens that this was intended for him.

As my partner escorted him to the cashier, the passenger asked him, “What just happened?” His response was that he’d just met Toni Martello. The passenger laughed and said, “God she’s good!”

I was pulled over for speeding when selling encyclopedias. When asked why I was speeding, I explained to the young police officer that I was late for a sales opportunity. Instinctively, the sales part of my brain kicked in and I proceeded to try and sell him a set. This banter continued for 15 minutes until he finally said that he wouldn’t book me as long as I stopped trying to sell to him. I conceded so we both laughed and went our separate ways.

Sexist behaviour was commonplace when you started off in business. What was your experience and how did you cope?

It is a simple fact of life that some people cannot or will not behave in a respectful manner. I’ve met many normal passengers and celebrities who were rude to female staff for no other reason than they thought they could get away with it.

In my younger days, I was propositioned daily. Various famous sportsmen repeatedly asked for my telephone number when passing through the airport, as well as media personalities who wanted to see me on their return from overseas. All of this occurred whilst it was obvious that I was wearing a wedding ring.

It’s not only men who were sexist as I encountered two women in my early days at the airport who believed the only way a young, foreign woman could have acquired so many clients was unscrupulously. The details are embarrassing to go into, however it almost cost me my marriage.  After 12 months I finally bought this to management’s attention, and they were immediately dismissed.

How do I deal with this? It needs to be appreciated that I commenced work in an era where women were objectified, and unacceptable behaviour was common.  Thankfully, that’s changed now; however, it hasn’t completely gone.

Generally I deflect their attention though humour as it quickly stops once they realise there’s a person behind the looks. My staff are also keenly aware that their wellbeing is essential, so they’ll quickly intervene if they observe poor passenger behaviour towards a peer.

The last course of action is security, however that has never been required as we’ve always managed to resolve the situation before that option was required.

COVID had a devastating impact on the Australian travel sector thank to the various state and national border closures. Just how bad was the crisis for Azzurra and how did you respond?

We observed how the global financial crisis, MERS and SARS impacted international travel so we assumed it would be comparable in terms of impact to the airports. However, COVID was unprecedented. Initially, we thought that the airports would close down for a short period of time; however, the Commonwealth Government mandated the end to all unnecessary travel. Overnight, Azzurra ceased to be a viable commercial concern.

While the airport continued to operate at a greatly reduced level, it was soul destroying for myself and my staff to be on the floor, attempting to sell products to disinterested people who were fearful of catching the virus. On our worst day, 56 passengers passed through the airport. This contrasted with 25,000 in the pre-COVID times.

As Sydney Airport recommenced operations, Heineman implemented the ‘Welcome Back’ campaign. This was unique insofar that Heinemann determined which agency promoted their clients.

We therefore had a situation where we represented our competitor’s customers and vice versa. In this capacity, we absolutely excelled and achieved amazing results for brands that weren’t within our purview. Sadly, another wave of COVID struck and the airport closed again.  All up, Sydney Airport operated at a severely diminished level or was closed for almost 18 months. The other Australian airports were closed for similar periods of time.

I need to emphasise the amazing Azzurra team and their performance during this time. The conditions we operated in were challenging, however the staff never complained and were resolute. This is why I am so incredibly loyal to them as mere mortals could have easily walked away.

COVID is a distant nightmare now and Azzurra has bounced back considerably. We’ve reopened in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns, as well as commenced operations in New Zealand. Perth Airport will also recommence once sufficient passenger movements occur. We also intend to move into the perfumes & cosmetics area shortly as Azzurra has received approaches from various brands to represent them.

Sum up your key principles of doing business.

I do not believe are we are in the duty free business, I believe we are in the people business.

The difference is that purchasing something is transactional whereas human interaction leaves a positive opinion of the salesperson and airport in general.

My mantra is that the overseas holiday doesn’t start when you’re on the aircraft. It starts once you pass through security and immediately see the duty free store. Therefore, their experience starts with us.

I lead my team by example and my motto is integrity, passion and hard work. I focus on building my team to build my business.

I have been told I am too emotional – but I am passionate, and this is who I am. This works for me and I am proud of who I am. I want to the best person I can be. I want to be the best leader I can be. I want my clients to be as successful as possible, and my emotions are what drives me and what drives my success.

Ethics are critical to me. I won’t hire or retain a person that engages in unethical conduct.  I will never undermine a competitor, nor misrepresent them nor poach their clients. It has been done to me numerous times but I refuse to reciprocate.

I have never considered Azzurra as being in competition with other promotional agencies as my focus has always been on achieving amazing results for my clients. While I use this term, I don’t consider them a threat, rather they are the vehicle to incentivise Azzurra to excel.

“People keep asking me when I intend to retire as I’m beyond retirement age and my answer is that I will when it’s too hard to get out of bed, or there’s no enjoyment in what I do. On that premise, it won’t be shortly.”

Finally, Azzurra is not, and has no intention of being, the largest travel retail agency in Australia. Anyone can employ an abundance of staff and make this claim. Azzurra wants to be the best in the country and the amazing results we’ve achieved reflect this. By way of example, one of the brands we represent recently outsold Chanel to be the number one brand in duty free.

You have had such a fascinating journey Toni. This interview will be read and I know enjoyed by many people in the travel retail community, not only in Australia and New Zealand but worldwide. Any closing message for them?

In 1982 I was introduced to the most amazing, dynamic and ever-evolving industry in the world, which changed the course of my life. When I started, it was just a job that I envisaged lasting a handful of months before being asked to promote cigarettes elsewhere.

Who would have known that it opened the door for me to create a company that I’m truly proud of, a company comprising incredible salespeople and my friends, and a network that I hold dear?

I feel blessed knowing that we can achieve sales targets that exceed client expectations and that passengers walk away with a positive experience when dealing with Azzurra. To me, this is paramount.

It would be remiss of me not to pay thanks to Azzurra’s current duty free partners, Heinemann, Lotte Duty Free and Lagardère Travel Retail. From cashiers to senior management, I thank you unreservedly for the professionalism you have extended to myself and my team. Whilst Azzurra has the best salespeople on the floor, it’s everyone in the logistic, promotion and managerial chain that enables us to be number one.

Special appreciation to all of my current long and short term clients.  Many are household names, whereas others are domestic up and coming brands. I offer my profound gratitude to you for the opportunity to represent you at various airports around the country. Azzurra is committed to promoting your brands to ensure name recognition and success.

All of my unconditional love and respect to the Azzurra family. I won’t mention all 40 staff as this would be too voluminous, so I’ll only mention two.  I hope this isn’t interpreted that I don’t value the contribution of others as I wholeheartedly do. If they are hurt, I unreservedly apologise.

• Jay Desamito: The Azzurra Operations Manager and heir apparent for the Azzurra crown.
• Ai Thi Le: She’s been with me for 13 years and is driven to constantly exceed sales targets.

Azzurra was founded over 40 years ago. People keep asking me when I intend to retire as I’m beyond retirement age and my answer is that I will when it’s too hard to get out of bed, or there’s no enjoyment in what I do. On that premise, it won’t be shortly.

I love the work I do and I embrace the unexpected hiccups that arise on a daily basis. Meeting new passengers or reacquainting with old is a complete joy to me, and my staff mean so much to me that it would be hard to let go.

Finally, I’ve said it before and will proudly say it again, being big doesn’t mean you’re the best. Our sales performance across emerging and premium brands within Australia has been exceptional. The longevity of our staff, their selling prowess, multi-lingual capabilities and commitment to ongoing training means that all of Azzurra’s staff can sell any client brand.

This model works for Azzurra, is supported unconditionally by our clients, and we will never operate another way. ✈