Making good on a vow to her mum

Shelley Burrows is more like the woman who single-handedly raised her than she thinks.

The 43-year-old describes her mother as someone people were drawn to, a woman not afraid to tell it how it is and a bit of a local legend who could spin a negative into a positive with ease.

Sitting down for a chat with Shelley, all three traits shine through early.

Shelley’s mother, Gail Catalano, was known as a bit of a larrikin in the Australind community.

But it was her strength which is perhaps what she will forever be remembered for as she battled pancreatic cancer for three years up until she succumbed to the disease in 2013.

While at first Shelley struggled with losing her “best friend”, it was her mother’s dying wish that inspired her to make her biggest career move yet.

Just over two years after losing her mother, Shelley opened Life & Soul Boutique in Bunbury.

“When she was dying, one of the things she said to me was that I couldn’t have her cancer journey be my story,” Shelley said.

“She made me promise.”

While the Australind woman well and truly has her own story, it is obvious that the people around Shelley are helping her shape it.

The now business owner spent three years being her mother’s carer and admits to being on a downward spiral after her death.

“I was her carer, her person, I did the whole cancer treatment journey with her for three years,” Shelley said.

“I stopped my life because she was my best friend.

“After she passed away, for 12 months maybe, I was lost.”

It was then that a combination of her mother’s dying advice and the incredible selflessness of her 12-year-old daughter kicked her into gear.

Her daughter Tayah asked her mother if instead of getting presents for her 12th birthday, her friends could donate money for cancer treatment.

“I thought ‘is this kid for real’,” Shelley laughs.

“If she can turn her sadness into a positive, that is something my mum instilled in her too.”

It was again her family which guided her to open her Victoria Street store, going into business with her “sister” Sally.

Although Shelley was an only child, at a young age her family friend Sally moved in with the duo and the two grew up together.

“Sal had worked in retail all her life, she’d travelled a bit and worked in London and she was always on me to open a shop,” Shelley said.

Shelley had dabbled in retail, including her cousin’s renowned Bunbury store Dre’s Boutique.

After having her two daughters, Tayah and Ashlen, to her husband Graham, Shelley said the time was finally right.

“No word of a lie, I drove into town with Sal, walked up to the store and said ‘do you want to do this shop?’,” Shelley said.

“Things just fell into place from there.”

Even the name came easy, with Gail again shaping Shelley and Sally’s decision.

“Sal loved my mum like her own and she was both our life and soul,” Shelley said.

More than a year on from opening the store doors and looking back, Shelley says the popular boutique has helped her cope with losing her mother.

“I’ve met people, heard their stories, their sadness and I guess it’s been like a therapy to me,” Shelley said.

“Those friendships and relationships are the things I would have never dreamed of.”