As Featured in The Sunday Times Entertainment Vip Perth Liftout on 29th April 2012.
Behind The Monkey was thrilled to be included in the Style Insider Top 50 Fashion Destinations in Perth.

For Mother’s Day, Fashion writer Des Eddy interviewed BTM Keeper, Elaine and her daughter Brody for the Local Newspaper. Reprinted below – you can view the original  article here

Monkey business on Mother’s Day

By Des Eddy

WITH Mother’s Day fast approaching, we spoke to a well known Highgate mother and daughter about their special bond.

If ever there was a family bond cemented in trust and honesty then it would have to be mother and daughter team Elaine and Brody Macleod from Highgate store Behind the Monkey.

I have had the privilege of knowing Elaine for many years in the retail and wholesale world of fashion and have watched her daughter grow and mirror her career.

I asked this loving mother daughter duo their feelings on working so closely together.

Is there anything you would have done differently as a mum and daughter?
Elaine: Finding more balance between work and home and having more time with Brody and the family when they were smaller.

Brody: Well they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and that couldn’t be truer than with Mum and I. We both have such similar taste and thought-processes so we often find ourselves coming to the same conclusions. How we get to those conclusions, on the other hand is sometimes a different story!

Do you have a happy memory you’d like to share about one another?
Elaine: Brody will hate this, but in Grade one the teachers kept her solo performance of “The Little Christmas Tree” a complete secret and then suddenly there was this tiny figure belting out a huge number in front of a few hundred people and we never even knew she had a voice of note! So we laughed and cried and soaked up the Christmas spirit sitting under Mount Lawley Primary’s jacaranda trees. It was a pretty special time and some Christmas mornings still, I’ll watch the video with a box of tissues on hand!

Brody: There are so many happy memories – I always loved working on window displays with Mum. We would stay back late or go into the shop early, pull the place to pieces and hand craft, what I think, were the most fabulous window installations.

What’s the most meaningful gift you’ve ever given one another?
Elaine: Brody is very thoughtful with her gifts and I do treasure them. One year she gave me a beautiful soft gold leather journal and I’ve used it to write back to her on certain occasions. So it’s become a gift that goes between us with some of my thoughts, memories and emotions in relation to her. Hopefully it is something she’ll be able to look back at when she’s older.

Brody: I’d have trouble picking between two gifts from Mum, both of which mean so much to me. The first was for my 18th birthday – Mum had made one of her original Monkeyshine designs (a heart ring set with a semi-precious stone) in 9ct gold set with one of my grandmother’s sapphires. The other was for my 21st birthday, Mum commissioned local jewellery designer Beth Allen to replicate one of my great-grandfather’s rings (two intertwining snakes heads) into a silver bracelet set with the most beautiful light coloured rubies in their eyes.

What gesture epitomises your love for one another?
Elaine: When I go away I’ll be fossicking in the suitcase for something and I’ll find a little note tucked into some clothes to say hello. Then I’ll open my handbag a couple of days later and find another one, I love it.

Brody: Showing up at the store (even on my days off) with coffee and cake – it seems like such a small thing but I know how hard mum works and she rarely gets a moment to sit down and relax during the day so sometimes something as small as a cup of coffee can really help (and mum has always had weak spot for a good lemon tart).

What do you value most in yourself? What do you value most in each other?
Elaine: I believe I have the ability to share and understand other people’s feelings. In Brody I value her kind nature, sensitivity and generosity.

Brody: Mum has achieved so much with Behind the Monkey – moving from fashion wholesale to retail was a big step for her but over the past five years she really has lead the way in jewellery adornment and has the most fabulous reputation inspiring people to step out of their comfort zone and express their personality through jewellery. I don’t feel anyone in Perth is doing what Mum is doing and that is like everything she puts her mind to – she really isn’t afraid to step-out and be the ‘first’. I have always found that to be really inspiring.

How is working together at Behind the Monkey?
Elaine: It’s been a very rewarding experience for me. I get to look at the business through different eyes and we’ve got to know each other on a whole different level to our home life.

Brody: It has been the most amazing experience. I originally started at Behind the Monkey in 2007 on a casual basis whilst finishing high school. I feel like we really got closer in the year that followed after deferring from uni, I spent a year full time managing the store with Mum. We are both fairly strong personalities however as I mentioned before, our thought-processes as so similar that we always ended up on exactly the same page. We have had some really great experiences in the store and together have met some truly remarkable people. Mum’s creativity has really pushed me to experiment with new things and I feel that I have learnt so much about how retail works.