As a child, he dreamed of opening a bakery in Los Angeles and serving shrimp croquettes on the Oscars red carpet. At 31, Elie Salomon doesn't (yet) have a restaurant, but he has found something better: a Brussels communications agency that has become the right hand of dozens of entrepreneurs, restaurant owners first and foremost. A portrait of an entrepreneur who has always gravitated around the table.
In the Salomon family, cooking is handed down. “I grew up watching my grandmother and my mother cook and bake.” So is entrepreneurship: both his parents are self-employed.
After a brief stint in Maastricht studying international business — too structured for his taste — Elie launched into artisan pastry-making from the family kitchen. Orders poured in, and one thing became clear: everything sells on social media. So he trained in communications.
After internships at Proximus and two years in project management for L'Oréal, Elie realised that large organisations were not for him. He resigned with a clear plan: to open his own restaurant. Business plan finalised, premises found… then Covid reshuffled the cards. Elie saw it as an opportunity. Restaurant owners needed more than ever to stay connected with their customers, and he knew from his pastry days that a great visual on social media is enough to make people want to order. In 2020, he founded Whoops Agency, a name borrowed from his favourite expression whenever the unexpected strikes. A way into hospitality through a different door — and to stay there.
Six years on, the agency does everything in-house: visual identity, websites, photo and video, social media, advertising. Around Elie are Charlotte on imagery, Marta on design and a few interns. Shoots take place in the middle of service, “to capture the restaurant's real atmosphere”, and the schedule follows the news closely: a delivery of scallops comes in, and the photo is taken on the spot.
His real added value is knowing the trade from the inside. “I know what raw materials cost, and how huge the rents are.” Present in restaurants almost every day, he dares to say what isn't working — right down to the quality of the plates. “We're frank. Diplomatic, but frank.” A closeness that builds loyalty: most of his clients have been with him for nearly five years.
Today, Whoops works with clients from every sector: medical, hair and beauty, yoga studios, fashion… The team has even filmed in a cosmetic surgeon's operating theatre. “We learn our clients' trades — that's what makes ours so rich.” The world of food remains close to his heart: among other projects, the agency manages a food market at Gare Maritime, bringing together ten stalls under a single visual identity designed by Marta.
AI? A useful tool, but not a threat. “You can spot an AI-generated visual straight away. For a restaurant, having the same image as the place next door isn't much of a selling point.” And his passion for cooking has never left him: a personal project is “in the works”.
To get started, Elie could count on the unwavering support of his parents, entrepreneurs themselves. Looking back, he wouldn't change much: “Every decision came for a reason, and it all shaped me.” Entrepreneurial spirit runs in the family.
Want to see what it looks like? Head to whoopsagency.com!