Founder, creative director and mother of two, on building Who Is Elijah and designing a life on her own terms.
Founder. Creative director. Mother of two. Raquel Bouris built WHO IS ELIJAH into one of Australia's most loved fragrance houses, and along the way she has been rewriting what modern motherhood can look like.
For our Mother's Day series, we sat down with Raquel to talk about identity, ambition, building, and the seasons of becoming. For the past eight years she has been building two things at once, a brand and a family, and she speaks honestly about both.
"It took almost 8 years, but I have now designed my life and business to give me this version of our mornings."
What does your morning routine actually look like (not the curated version)?
"Right now, it's slower, and I've built it that way. We now work from home since closing the doors on our big HQ office, so there are no alarms in our house. We wake up naturally, have breakfast together, and ease into the day instead of rushing out the door. Six months ago, this would've been a completely different answer. It was chaos, early starts, constant movement. I never saw my kids during this chaotic period. It took almost 8 years, but I have now designed my life and business to give me this version of our mornings."
What's the hardest thing no one tells you about being a founder and a mum?
"Honestly, I haven't found it hard in the way people talk about. But it's also all I've ever known. I was already building my business when I fell pregnant, so there's never been a version of my life where the two were separate. Of course there are hard days, but if I'm being honest, it's rarely about the kids. It's usually work. Something breaking, something going wrong, decisions that carry weight. If anything, it's a superpower. I can multitask anything and everything."
What's one non-negotiable in your self-care routine?
"I need alone time. Me time. I am a loner at heart. I need to watch Real Housewives (or my favourite, Law and Order) at bedtime, with no one talking to me. And massages! I crave massages with my phone out of sight. I am also loving Pilates, either alone or with a friend, and long walks!"
Becoming
There's a quiet confidence in the way Raquel talks about it all. The sense of a woman who stopped performing motherhood and started designing it, on her own terms and at her own pace. Trusting instinct. Building outside the rules. Mothering through it all.
It's exactly the kind of story we wanted to tell this Mother's Day. Because the mothers we admire most aren't the ones who have it all figured out. They're the ones building something real, and choosing, again and again, the version of life that feels like theirs.
Part of A Mother's Day Series by Veeorè. Follow Raquel at @raaaquelbouris and discover WHO IS ELIJAH at @whoiselijahparfum.
