Leadership does not always have to follow the usual rules. The Visionary Leader Redefining Conscious Leadership explores how Torie Smith is bringing empathy, self-awareness, human connection, and genuine communication into the way people think about leadership. Drawing from two decades in hospitality, creativity, and personal growth, Torie offers a different perspective on leading people, building trust, and creating spaces where people can truly be themselves.
Torie Smith: Where Hospitality, Human Connection, and a Different Kind of Consciousness Meet
How two decades on the frontline led Torie to Empathic Gangster® and a new way of thinking about leadership, communication and human connection.
Some lives make sense in retrospect. Torie Smith’s makes sense only when you stop trying to put it into a straight line. An artist became a hospitality professional. A bartender became a bridge between people and leadership. A mother became a student of consciousness. A woman drawn to design, psychology, human behaviour and spirituality eventually built a world that could hold all of them. Her journey has rarely followed a single direction, yet every turn seems to have left something behind for the next one.
Today, Smith is the founder of Empathic Gangster®, a hospitality keynote speaker, Spirit Advisor, artist and creator whose work brings together human connection, mindful consumption, leadership, creativity and her deeply personal interpretation of consciousness.
Her story begins long before the brand.
“I was born into a party,” she says.
Her father and grandfather were jet boat racers, and speed, adventure and risk were familiar parts of her childhood. Growing up in the country gave her another influence entirely: motorcycles, nature, sports, exploration and the quiet freedom of being outdoors. Between those two worlds, she developed an unusual combination of intensity and observation.
She grew up quickly and became fiercely independent. Music, art, design, technology, psychology, entertainment and friendship all captured her imagination. By the time she left her hometown for college, she already had a strong sense that her life would eventually circle back to her community.
She remembers leaving for college with a thought that stayed with her for years: one day, she would return to speak to teenagers about the raw, formative years that shape so much of who we become.
That instinct to turn lived experience into something useful would become one of the defining threads of her career.
A Life Built Through Experience
Smith graduated with a degree in Visual Communications and entered adulthood carrying a background that had already exposed her to experiences many people encounter much later in life.
Therapy and recovery became part of her early journey. She learned to confront difficult chapters directly, while discovering that creativity was essential to her sense of identity.
Her professional life eventually led her to the mountains, where she became a bartender.
What could have looked like a departure from her creative education became another form of education entirely.
Hospitality taught Smith how people behave when their guard is lowered. It taught her communication, responsibility, consumption science, conflict resolution and the subtle dynamics between customers, employees and leadership. Her TIPS certification gave her a formal foundation in responsible alcohol service, while years behind the bar gave her something no certification could provide: thousands of real conversations with people from different backgrounds and walks of life.
She began to understand hospitality as a human system.
For two decades, she worked close to the frontline, frequently occupying the space between management, corporate leadership and employees. She challenged practices she believed were harmful, pushed for change and became increasingly interested in the reasons teams struggle.
A recurring pattern caught her attention.
Managers were frequently spending their days solving problems, managing turnover and putting out fires. Frontline employees often felt disconnected from leadership. The resulting cycle affected culture, performance and retention.
Smith eventually decided she wanted to do more than point out the problem.
She wanted to help change the system.
When the Unexpected Became the Foundation
In 2018, Smith experienced what she describes as a profound spiritual awakening after reading The Untethered Soul. She describes entering an immersive period of channeling, during which she explored consciousness, spirituality, quantum concepts and what she describes as Galactic Law.
Her interpretation of that experience became the foundation for the next chapter of her work.
For several years, she stepped away from conventional professional life and devoted herself to writing, listening, creating and examining her own experiences from radically different perspectives.
She describes the period as living between two worlds.
The experience also forced her to solve a practical problem: how do you translate an intensely personal internal experience into language another person can understand?
That question became central to her work.
Smith began examining ideas from multiple perspectives, having what she describes as extensive internal conversations about a concept before communicating it. She would also discuss ideas with other people, listening for patterns in how different individuals interpreted the same experience.
The objective was simple: find language that could travel.
Then add what she calls the “Torie twist.”
The Birth of Empathic Gangster®
Empathic Gangster® emerged from this period organically.
Smith describes the brand as a reflection of her personality, worldview and experiences rather than a conventional business concept built from a market template. It brings together hospitality, art, consciousness, self-expression and her interpretation of spiritual principles.
At its centre is a philosophy that challenges the assumption that strength requires emotional distance.
Empathy, in Smith’s view, can coexist with confidence, boundaries, directness and decisive action.
That idea is reflected in the name itself.
Empathic Gangster® represents a person who can care deeply while remaining grounded in their own power. Someone who can listen without losing themselves, lead without domination and remain authentic without performing a carefully constructed identity.
Her broader philosophy includes concepts such as Harmonic Living™, Galactic Attunement™ and Galactic Law, terminology Smith uses to describe her framework for understanding consciousness, energy, human behaviour and the relationship between inner experience and physical life.
One of the principles she repeatedly returns to is neutrality.
Her interpretation is that circumstances carry the meaning people assign to them. Change the lens, and the experience can begin to change with it.
This idea runs through much of her work: observe, question, extract what is useful, integrate it and then decide how to move forward.
From Spirit Advisor to Hospitality Keynote Speaker
Smith’s work has gradually brought two seemingly different worlds together.
One is deeply personal and spiritual. The other is grounded in the practical realities of hospitality.
She calls herself a Spirit Advisor, while also positioning herself as a hospitality keynote speaker and workshop facilitator. Her goal is to bring the insight gathered through her personal journey into conversations about leadership, workplace culture and human connection.
After years of being the person who identified problems between management and frontline teams, she decided to become part of the solution.
Her leadership philosophy centres on intentional hiring, stronger communication, employee empowerment and the creation of collaborative teams.
She describes her approach as dissolving energetic hierarchy and introducing more human-centred ways of operating.
The language may come from an unconventional place, yet the question underneath it is familiar to almost every hospitality leader:
What happens when the people responsible for serving others feel disconnected from the people responsible for leading them?
Smith believes the answer begins with leadership.
A workplace carries the emotional tone of the people running it. The way managers communicate, listen, respond to mistakes and treat employees eventually becomes part of the culture.
For Smith, this is where hospitality becomes much bigger than restaurants, bars and hotels.
It becomes a study of people.
The Walking Confessional
Perhaps the most distinctive element of Smith’s work is her relationship with conversation.
She describes herself as having spent much of her life as a “walking confessional.” People tell her things. Sometimes things they have never said aloud before.
She sees that openness as a responsibility.
Smith listens for what sits underneath the words. She considers the speaker’s perspective, emotional state, history and language before responding. Her aim is to communicate in a way that the other person can actually receive.
Sometimes that means compassion.
Sometimes it means a difficult truth.
She has learned that the ability to make people feel safe enough to reveal themselves can become a form of leadership in its own right.
Her definition of impact reflects this belief.
She measures success by the version of themselves people feel comfortable becoming around her.
That perspective also explains why visibility has always been complicated for her.
Smith has spent much of her life being known within communities while remaining relatively private herself. She has little interest in conventional celebrity. What she wants is something more intimate: to remain Torie, simply on a larger scale.
She wants people to know the person behind the ideas well enough to understand the intention behind her words.
Art as Another Language
Art has remained a constant throughout her life.
Smith describes herself as someone who thinks visually and has long been fascinated by three-dimensional art, design and imaginative environments. Her work now extends into visual interpretations of the experiences she describes through her spiritual practice.
Her artwork, including Ethereal Magik, has become part of that exploration.
She sees art as a way of communicating experiences that conventional language can struggle to capture.
That same philosophy informs her plans for a physical Galactic Attunement™ space in Las Vegas, where she envisions bringing together art, experiential design, conversation and her approach to consciousness.
The ambition reaches beyond creating another office or consultation room.
She imagines an environment people can experience.
Something playful. Immersive. Artistic. Unexpected.
Very much like the woman behind it.
The Person Behind the Brand
For all the terminology surrounding Smith’s work, her deepest motivations appear remarkably human.
Her greatest accomplishments, she says, are her relationship with her husband and her two daughters.
Motherhood changed her pace. Marriage changed her understanding of patience, compassion and vulnerability. Both experiences forced her to encounter parts of herself that independence and ambition alone could never reveal.
Her definition of leadership grew alongside those relationships.
She became increasingly interested in listening, sitting still and allowing other people’s experiences to expand her own perspective.
Her father remains one of her strongest influences. She describes him as someone who taught through trust, gave her responsibility early and approached life with confidence, competence and humour.
From her mother, she learned to look for the silver lining and to maintain faith in something larger than herself.
Together, those influences shaped a woman who values independence while increasingly understanding the power of connection.
A Different Definition of Success
Smith has received professional recognition, including an honorary doctorate in Advanced Studies of Psychology, and has been recognised as a Spirit Advisor and Thought Leader.
Yet traditional accolades hold limited significance for her.
She measures her success through relationships.
- Did someone feel heard?
- Did a conversation change their perspective?
- Did an employee leave an interaction with greater confidence?
- Did someone feel free enough to become a fuller version of themselves?
Those are the metrics she remembers.
Her philosophy toward failure follows a similar logic.
“We attempt, we learn, we pivot, we attempt again.”
For Smith, experience becomes useful when it is examined rather than simply endured.
That belief may be the clearest thread connecting every chapter of her life.
The bartender became an observer of human behaviour. The artist became a communicator. The hospitality professional became a leadership advocate. The woman who experienced an unexpected spiritual awakening became a Spirit Advisor. The mother and wife discovered another dimension of vulnerability. The entrepreneur eventually found a way to bring all those identities into one ecosystem.
She calls the journey a rollercoaster.
She also knows how to ride.
Building a Life Which Feels Like Her
Smith has spent years collecting the people, experiences, lessons and creative instincts that would eventually inform her vision.
She keeps a black binder containing the names of people she has met over two decades whose energy, character or talent made an impression on her. Many are people she hopes to collaborate with as her work develops.
Her long-term dream is equally personal: a boutique hospitality establishment for her community, designed to inspire people and provide space for artists.
It makes sense.
After spending much of her life studying what happens when people gather, she wants to build a place where they can gather differently.
A place where hospitality becomes art, where leadership feels human, where creativity has room to breathe and where people can simply be themselves.
That has always been the larger idea behind Torie Smith.
She has little interest in becoming a polished version of someone else.
Her philosophy is almost the opposite.
Bring the whole person.
The messy chapters. The ridiculous ones. The difficult ones. The creative ones. The spiritual questions. The hard-earned lessons. The laughter. The contradictions.
Smith believes a person’s individuality is their greatest source material.
And after a life spent moving through worlds as different as hospitality, art, psychology, entrepreneurship and spiritual exploration, she has arrived at a surprisingly simple conclusion:
Who you are, how you treat people and the experience you create around you become the real legacy.
For Torie, the work now is bringing that philosophy into the rooms where it can create the greatest ripple: hospitality teams, leaders, founders, creatives and individuals searching for a more authentic relationship with themselves.
She has spent years gathering the pieces.
Now, she is building the place where they fit.
BEHIND THE SCENES: The Interview Questions that lead to this article.
Professional Journey & Purpose
Could you share your professional journey and the experiences that inspired you to become a leader focused on conscious living, personal transformation, and empowering others?
It’s been a blended journey of “beyond me” and “in the drivers seat” that has landed me right here, right now; who I am on a foundational level, inspires all that I do.
How I was raised and the example in which my parents set forth is a huge part of how I operate — along with who I am encoded to be, and the friendships in which I’ve had growing up.
Friendship and relationships have been my core currency operating system since I was a kid. Nature, art, entertainment and self expression has been foundationally present since the beginning.
I’ve always been fascinated and emotionally charged by the human experience and what makes peoples’ hearts happy. I love witnessing people’s magnificence, competence and seeing their dreams come true.
Being a wife, mom, athlete, artist, hospitality professional, with a background in design and psychology — rooted in Heart, Soul and Spirit. It’s all woven together, everything that I love,
I carry with me, to share; as perspective, innerstanding, reflection for others, caring embrace, service provided…
My first job ever was at a grocery store — that I worked after school. I loved getting to know everyone who worked there, shopped there, memorizing the store layout, knowing where everything was, in order to be as helpful as possible.
That experience taught me so many foundational rules of operating, beyond schedules, product freshness, organization and display aesthetics and necessary gusto.
The moment in time in which I was there, was a massive union strike. I walked the picket lines for more shifts outside, then I worked inside. Creating a humane-centric community based life force energy within me, at 16.
Defining Conscious Leadership
What does conscious leadership mean to you, and what qualities do you believe define a truly conscious and impactful leader?
Conscious leadership is a full heart, soul, mind embodiment experience. It’s usually clearly defined by those who give a shit about the details; the heart beat, the pulse, the spirit of the experience.
Conscious leadership is the opposite of going through the motions, it’s the lived and breathed passion that pulls it all together, creating a grandmaster piece in its wake.
Heart, patience and integrity are the qualities that standout above the rest, without them “leadership” tends to look like dragging everyone behind you to cross the finish line, rather than a cohesive, collaborative team effort.
The Power of Empathy in Leadership
How has empathy influenced your approach to leadership, communication, and building meaningful relationships with the people you serve?
Meeting people where they are and assisting them in visualizing, together, where they can go, is far more effective that anything else.
This life is incredibly intricate and it takes a competent, capable individual to finesse this shit. I see that version of people, so clearly, and I hold them at that level of truth and knowing until they can see it for themselves.
Authenticity & Self-Awareness
Why are authenticity and self-awareness important for effective leadership, and how do you encourage individuals to embrace their true selves?
Self awareness provides us with a clear mirror, in which to walk through and share our vision, heart and intention with the world.
I don’t know how to not be me. I put a Torie-twist on everything that inspires me. I love to share my Spirit and vigor with others, so that they too can step into their freest self.
When leadership shows up as themselves, it gives those around them, the freedom to do the same. Then you really know what you’re working with.
Transforming Mindset & Potential
What approaches do you use to help people overcome limiting beliefs, transform their mindset, and recognize their own potential?
Perceiving oneself from a zoomed out perspective, is incredibly beneficial.
People often only perceive themselves from the driver seat perspective. I like to show people how impressive, competent, beautiful and foundationally flawless they are from my perspective.
This conversation illuminates the narratives and beliefs that are playing into their experience that have the potential to be transformed.
I offer a Galactic Attainment experience, that allows individuals to discover their own cosmic magnificence and what it entails to be human on a holographic level. Once you experience what you’re really made of, you can’t help but be different.
Purpose-Driven Leadership
How can leaders align their personal values and purpose with their professional responsibilities to create meaningful and lasting impact?
Every micro response, decision and action effects the macro experience. Functioning from a heart, soul, spirit grounded space, is the first step. Articulation, transparency and clear communication is the next. Patience, understanding and finesse execution round it all out.
A leader has to have the balls to say, “that’s not right” and then do something about it.
There is always a way to make things fair, even if it comes down to rock, paper, scissors, drawing straws, or flipping a coin.
A leaders personal values organically show up in how they speak and lead, whether that’s inspiring those around them and leading us into the future is up to them. Either way how they show up creates meaningful and lasting impact.
It’s not just on leadership, it takes two to tango. At the end of the day all is neutral, how the observer interprets the leadership is also at play. A teacher can share information and lead by example but if the student isn’t grateful, appreciative and extracting golden nuggets to implement down the line, the ball is dropped.
Creating Meaningful Human Connections
In an increasingly digital and fast-paced world, how can leaders preserve genuine human connection, compassion, and emotional presence?
Pace, presence, engagement, frequency and intention comes into play. People tend to gravitate toward leadership that feels like a sanctuary, that offers an experience that feels like “a breath of fresh air”, that provides a reflection or environment that offers freedom to be thy Self, or inspired to embrace ones true self.
Lessons from Challenges & Transformation
What significant challenges or turning points have shaped your leadership journey, and what lessons did they teach you about resilience, growth, and transformation?
Who I am organically is quite wild and unruly, very wild wild west, shoot from the hip; I’ve had to cultivate a level of self mastery that allows me to reign my personality in and out, so that it serves me, those around me and humanity.
Having kids changed me on a foundational level. Because I was working in the same environment before and after, I was able to clearly witness myself; the growth, transformation and difference, it was blatantly apparent. My patience, ability to relate, engage and connect was significantly altered, in the best way.
The experience of marriage absolutely changed me on a foundational level as well, effecting my confidence and ability to stand taller and stronger in my convictions at work. Knowing that I have someone who loves me unconditionally, standing in my corner, having my back, waiting for me when I got home, supports me outside the home.
My husband is my confidant and business/life sounding board; I trust his heart, integrity and insight, whole heartedly. I wouldn’t be who I am today, without him. He keeps me grounded, sane and accountable.
Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders
What strategies or principles do you believe can help emerging leaders develop greater confidence, self-awareness, empathy, and purpose?,
Connecting with nature, observing thy Self, playing, creating, self expression… all things that allow us to go deeper into the human experience, make us better, more confident, understanding and experienced leaders.
Leadership, Well-Being & Conscious Living
How can leaders create a healthier balance between professional success, personal well-being, and conscious living?
Dissolving the rigidity between “professional” version of self and “unprofessional” version,— bringing both into alignment with each other.
Allowing ourselves to be more of our true self at work and being more professional and consciously aware that we represent our own personal brand off the clock tends to do the trick.
Your Vision for the Future of Leadership
What changes do you foresee in leadership and personal development in the coming years,
and what role will conscious leadership play in shaping the future?
The dissolving of energetic hierarchy and dictatorship, shifting into more collaborative teams. I see leadership
roles being more reflectionary of friendships, allowing execution to be more enjoyable and alive rather than
transactional or simply going through the motions of service.
Legacy & Lasting Impact
What kind of legacy do you hope to create through your work, and what would you like
people to remember about the impact you made on their lives?
If all people remember is that, “she gave a shit and she did something about it”, I’m happy.
