Creative We Love Empire State Of Mind

Serial entrepreneur and La Porte Space founder Hayley Bonham is reinventing the way we work, rest and play, and she’s doing it in style

- Lindyl Crabb

ON PAPER, HAYLEY BONHAM is not your average entrepreneur. For starters, she’s a young woman, she’s a stylist on the side and she founded a public relations agency at the age of 27. But she has a confidence and wisdom that belies her years. “I’ve always seen things differently, even as a child I’d think up concepts and ideas,” Hayley says of her ability to spot a gap in the market and turn it into something people want. It’s this talent, not to mention creativity, tenacity and vision, that saw Hayley launch the fragrance brand Maison D’Amour in 2011 with a friend. She describes it as a “passion project” that was conceived when they couldn’t find the perfect premium unisex scent. “Business came naturally to me; I love being around people and strategising,” she tells. “I actually studied fashion and nutrition because I couldn’t decide on the direction I wanted to take, so my business arm is self taught.” After working for fashion brands and PR firms early in her career, she started her own, Bonel PR, with her partner in life and business Rory Elsom. She quickly learnt “to take risks and surround yourself with mentors who you can trust that offer great advice”. In 2015, the couple did just tha