What happens when you decide to dismantle an 8-year-old global success story to build something leaner, smarter, and more equipped for 2026?

Recorded live at Google Headquarters in Sydney, this special episode of Process takes you inside Thoughtful Minds Connect. In celebration of their 10th anniversary, the elite data and performance minds at Thoughtful invited Arielle to host an intimate, unfiltered conversation with Raquel and Adam, the visionary founders behind cult fragrance house Who is Elijah.

This is not a retrospective look at success; it’s a conversation recorded in the eye of the storm.

While the moving trucks were quite literally at their warehouse, Adam and Raquel revealed the real-time reality of a massive business restructure, the $1.7M mistake that nearly cost them their brand prestige, and their new Top-Down strategy for global retail rollout. This is definitely a masterclass in founder transparency.

So whether you’re navigating a complex supply chain, pivoting your brand positioning, or looking to the best data minds in the country to optimise your performance, Raquel and Adam’s strip-it-back-to-grow approach offers a roadmap for any creative founder feeling the heaviness of a scaling business.

In this episode:

• The $1.7M Lesson: Raquel opens up about a massive retail deal that taught them the danger of a Bottom-Up strategy.

• The Great Restructure: Why they are shutting down their own manufacturing to focus 100% on brand and lightweight operations.

• Top-Down Authority: Why starting with Harrods and Selfridges is the only way to protect prestige in a crowded market.

• AI as an Emotional Agent: Adam’s fascinating off-mic theory on how product data must evolve to serve the emotional human through unemotional AI agents.

• The Thoughtful Edge: How shifting from Meta to Google (with a 40% higher AOV) transformed their performance marketing.

• The Future of Founders: Why the next generation of brands will thrive with teams of just two people and simplified supply chains.

Featured in this Episode:

• Shop Who is Elijah at whoiselijah.com.au

• Brought to you by Thoughtful: Elevate your brand performance at thethoughtfulagency.com or DM Arielle for a direct intro to the team.

  
  

Say Hello!

• Our Guests:

• • Adam Bouris on Instagram @adambouris

  • Raquel Bouris on Instagram @raaaquelbouris
    

• Our Episode Partner: The Thoughtful Agency on Instagram @thethoughtfulagency

• Your host: Arielle Thomas on Instagram @arielle.thomas

• Us: on Instagram @processthepodcast ⁠

New Episode Drops Every Tuesday.

Catch you on the next one!

How do you protect your brand when the unthinkable happens? In this episode of Process, host Arielle Thomas is joined by Sally Branson, a leading Crisis Management and Reputation Management Director. Together, they pull back the curtain on the high-stakes world of protecting a creative legacy.

Sally reveals why a crisis is process-driven rather than just a disaster to be feared. From the volatile nature of influencer marketing to the legalities of product safety, this conversation is an essential masterclass for any founder. They dive deep into the necessity of due diligence, the power of transparency against misinformation, and the heavy emotional impact a public crisis has on a founder's mental health.

Whether you're navigating stakeholder management, rebuilding your SEO reputation, or establishing consumer trust, Sally’s "control the controllables" approach offers a roadmap for maintaining brand integrity in an unpredictable digital age.

In This Episode:

• How to treat your reputation as a tangible asset rather than an abstract concept.

• Navigating the "new rules" of influencer marketing to avoid liability and hidden risks.

• The secret to building unshakable consumer trust through radical transparency and product safety.

• Why due diligence is your brand's best insurance policy against future scandals.

• Managing the emotional toll on founders when facing public scrutiny and high-pressure stakes.

• Mastering stakeholder management to keep partners and investors aligned during a storm.

• Tactical SEO strategies to reclaim your digital narrative and rebuild after a reputation hit.

• The future of brand integrity and how to stay resilient in an evolving creative landscape.

Say hello to us!

You can find us through the links below:

• Our Guest, Sally Branson, on Linkedin Here

• Your host, Arielle Thomas, on Instagram Here

• Process the Podcast on Instagram Here

See you next Tuesday!

Michelle Battersby is one of Australia’s most influential female founders.

From launching and scaling Bumble Australia to co-founding Sunroom, and now leading Peanut, the global social network connecting women through fertility, pregnancy and motherhood, Michelle has built her career at the intersection of tech, community and female empowerment.

In this episode of Process, Michelle opens up about her transition into matrescence, the psychological shift into motherhood that mirrors adolescence, and what it really looks like to lead a high-growth global company while pregnant and postpartum.

We discuss:

• What matrescence actually means, and why no one talks about it

• Why pregnant women in leadership roles matter more than ever

• The realities of startup life behind the glossy headlines

• Building Bumble in Australia and what that taught her about brand and community

• Co-founding Sunroom and taking the leap into entrepreneurship

• Scaling Peanut as a global platform for women navigating fertility, pregnancy and motherhood

• The decision-making frameworks she uses as a CEO

• Risk tolerance, ambition and redefining success as a modern woman

Michelle shares candid insights into balancing motherhood with executive leadership, how identity evolves through different seasons of life, and why representation of ambitious, pregnant women in business is critical.

This conversation is for founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, women navigating career pivots, and anyone curious about the psychological and strategic layers of building community-driven tech companies.

If you're interested in female leadership, startup growth, motherhood and modern ambition, this episode is essential listening.

Find Michelle on Instagram here.

Find your host, Arielle on Instagram here.

Find Process the Podcast on Instagram here.

See you next Tuesday x