Mom, 27, makes $58,000 in week with Coachella idea

An Australian woman has revealed how she earned almost $60,000 in one week after a wild trip to a US festival sparked a business idea.

Raquel Bourism, 27, travelled to California to attend Coachella with a group of friends in 2017 when she came across “the most amazing scent” on the dancefloor.

The woman wearing it revealed it was a cheap fragrance oil from India, which Raquel became so enamoured by, she ended up buying 40 bottles of it at wholesale when she got back home to Sydney.

When strangers began approaching her on the street to ask what scent she was wearing, Raquel had the “light bulb idea to create a fragrance.”

While she tried to recreate the scent she’d uncovered at Coachella, it proved extremely difficult – however the Sydneysider wasn’t deterred.

Raquel loved the perfume process so much, she ended up making her own unique smell. Fast-forward five years and the mum-of-two has just launched her sixth fragrance under brand ‘Who Is Elijah?’ called “Nightcap”, inspired by her nights out with husband Adam.

“It’s inspired by all the unforgettable nights (and days that have turned into nights) I have spent with my husband and friends that are forever etched into my memory,” she told news.com.au.

“This sexy and moody scent reminds people of their best nights – even the ones they are yet to experience.”

The launch was Raquel’s biggest yet, earning an impressive $58,000 of sales in its first week.

“If you told me a year ago we would achieve this amount, I wouldn’t have believed you,” she said.

“It is such a pinch me moment, and I am just so grateful that people love and wear my creations.”

However it wasn’t all smooth sailing, with Raquel admitting it was “impossible” to recreate the fragrance that had inspired her business.

During the process of working with her perfumer, they came up with “His/Her”, a scent she “fell in love with” despite the fact it was completely different to the smell that had inspired her.

This fragrance was her first product launched, selling just 150 bottles in the first three months.

“For the first two years it was just me bottling the fragrances in my apartment and garage – we then transitioned to a storage unit with two staff,” she said.

“Fast forward to today and we have a big warehouse and office in Sydney, a team of 8 staff and six, soon to be seven fragrances.

“The sales have grown immensely the past year and I feel like we are taken seriously as a fragrance brand rubbing shoulders with the long standing luxury brands.”

While Raquel is still working on trying to turn the smell of the oil she stumbled across at Coachella into a scent – she said she owes a lot to that smell for inspiring her business.

“I will forever remember this trip to Coachella because of this fragrance oil, I still wear it today,” she said.

“I love the fact that a scent can carry a memory with you for life. I also strongly believe that life has a way of guiding you to the right path – I feel I am doing exactly what I am meant to be doing here at Who Is Elijah.”