After being gifted an adored diamond ring from her grandmother, Kelly Müller began to fully grasp the meaning behind the jewellery we wear: “I have always been close to my grandmother and being in ownership of one of her diamond rings is less about the physical object for me and more about the connection I have with her. It’s an indescribable gift to have something so precious to her now in my possession.”
It was this realisation that led her to invest in jewellery for her own daughters and to start to forge her own family traditions within her home.
We spoke to Kelly about these traditions, her favourite thing about being a parent and what she hopes to teach her daughters.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family…
We’re a little whānau of four living on Bundjalung land in the beautiful Lennox Head. My name’s Kelly and together with my husband Josh, we have two girls, Sunny and Ari, and own a marketing consultancy which I launched when Sunny was four months old. We didn’t have any family support in Australia so I needed to find a way that I could do the work that I loved while being at home with my daughter. Josh took on the role of primary carer for a while then joined the business a couple of years later. We now juggle two kids, work and home life together.
Our life is beautiful chaos – the business, the kids, after school activities, time to ourselves, time with one another – but it’s a life we’ve chosen and one we’ve worked really hard to create. It is my proudest achievement.
BON is a brand centred around tradition, are there any traditions you grew up with as a child and have they continued through the generations? If not, are there any traditions that you’ve created within your own family unit?
I don’t recall any significant traditions from childhood which is why, once I had my own family, creating them was so important to me.
We eat dinner together at the table every night between 5-6pm and we all take turns at sharing our favourite part of the day. As the girls start to get a little older and understand the concept better, this will evolve to also more regularly include something we're each grateful for.
We also started a tradition a few years ago where we each get new pyjamas and a Christmas book on Christmas Eve. It's a simple but sweet gesture that ensures we’re all together the night before Christmas and it's one that invites joy, family and connection.
As a teenager, I was always out with my friends on Christmas Eve, but I hope that by starting something small this early on, it will encourage my girls to always come home to us, to spend time with us and to celebrate with us over the holiday season.
What is one of your favourite memories spent with family members?
When I was pregnant with Sunny, Josh and I went to Hawaii with two of our best friends, Reeve and Michele. We were meant to do a month together in the States then head to Mexico but when I found out I was pregnant, we cut our portion of the trip short. We spent just a week together but there was something so significant about Hawaii. Being on that island, with the people I love so much felt like home to me. There was a deep connection to the land and I knew we would be back again.
A year and a half after Sunny was born, that time came. Josh and I took her back to the magic of Hawaii and this time, I asked if my mum and stepdad would like to come too. Outside of Australia and some of the Pacific Islands, they’d never been overseas so I didn’t think they’d actually join us. It was so incredibly special and fulfilling for me - to see my mum, with my daughter, in Hawaii – it’s a time I will never forget and we're currently planning our next trip, this time with Ari in tow.
What has been your favourite thing about becoming a parent?
While I deeply and fully adore my daughters, I find parenting difficult on so many levels – trying to find balance and calm, trying to meet and exceed differing emotional needs, trying to guide and nurture, trying to find time for myself, time for my husband and the list goes on…though I absolutely acknowledge the privilege it is to be a parent. Each time I birthed my babies, I feel like I became a new version of me.
I recognised in those moments both the fragility and the beauty of life. We truly don’t know how long we have on this Earth and becoming a parent, combined with the recent loss of my best friend, makes me want to really lean into the life that I have. Despite the challenges, parenting has shown me what matters most. It has taught me how to prioritise. To focus on family. To love more. To seek joy. To take risks. To make memories. To celebrate moments. To create. To connect.
So aside from the unconditional love, the adventures and the cuddles of course, this has been my favourite thing about becoming a parent. Finding true purpose.
What values do you hope to instil in your children?
I want our girls to know more than anything, that being kind is the most important thing you can ever be. It doesn’t matter how much money you earn, where you live, what you look like or what you do, no one will remember that - they will remember how you treat them, how you speak to them and the energy you leave them with when you walk out of a room.
I also want them to know and understand self-love, to know their worth, to believe in themselves, to nurture their mental & physical health – even on the hard days – and to know that they always have an ally in their Papa and I.
I want them to value the environment and this beautiful Earth we live on. To appreciate and care for nature and all others who share this world with them.
At BON, we each have treasured items that have been passed down to us through our families. Is there a significant family heirloom or keepsake that you’re now in ownership of? What does it mean to you and how does it make you feel?
My husband proposed with the most incredible vintage diamond and sapphire ring but sadly, just a few months later, some of the sapphires fell out and couldn’t be repaired. While we were having a new version of the ring made, my maternal grandmother sent me one of her treasured diamond rings to wear in the meantime. I then wore it on our wedding day where she was our witness and signed our papers. Afterwards, she wrote me a note thanking me for having her as such a big part of our day and she told me to keep the ring.
Being in ownership of it is less about the physical object itself and more about the connection I have to my grandmother. We have always been close and I have admired her my entire life. It’s an indescribable gift to have something so precious to her now in my possession.
What significance does the BON Seashell Charm have to you? What made you choose these pieces for Sunny and Ari and what story will they tell?
My daughters are 7 and 4, both with very strong opinions, so I definitely didn’t choose the charms - they did! Sunny tossed up between her birthstone and the seashell but decided on the shell as she said ‘it felt like a part of her’. Ari followed suit but decided on a necklace - and thinks it’s an actual shell that has been painted gold. Since birth, the beach has been a big part of our girls’ lives and it makes us so happy that the love my husband and I have for the ocean has transferred to them both. The Shell Charm is a reminder of the place we all feel the happiest.
