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Angela Beer is New Zealand’s newest fairy godmother of femininity and fun – shunning a high paying job in favour of building a business that celebrates women.
That business is Hello Dolly – a brand created by Angela “for women and the men who love them”. Her aim is to sprinkle a little magic into the mundane things in life, an ethos she runs her business and her life by.
“Hello Dolly was created for women aged 18 to 80, but the brand is not defined by age or gender or social status – Dolly is an outlook. We’re for any woman who wants to feel independent, capable, confident and sexy.”
The 32-year-old Mt Eden woman had owned her own marketing consultancy for the past four years and was earning a pay packet that most people would kill for. “I had been successful doing things that I hadn’t been particularly passionate about. The money was great but I wasn’t really happy, so I ended up spending a ridiculous amount of it on shoes.”
At an annual Dolly Lunch she holds to catch up with her girlfriends, Angela announced that she was throwing in the marketing towel to follow her dream of creating her own business.
“I’ve known about Dolly for five years, it’s just taken me this long to get it out on the table and not worry about being laughed at.”
While she may have been apprehensive about running with her “girly and unserious” idea at first, she couldn’t have wished for a better brand launch, having made a successful appearance on the first episode of the New Zealand series of Dragons Den last year. Sticking to her guns has proved a rewarding move, and her products are now being snapped up by women from all over the country who have bought online at www.hellodolly.info Inspiring and helping women is a significant objective for Angela, who comes from a very strong female background and cites her mother Ona as one of her biggest inspirations.
“My mum was widowed twice and raised four children on her own. Hello Dolly is a tribute to all the wonderful women out there, especially single parents who strive to create a better life for themselves and their kids.”
Part of the reason the business has had swift nationwide appeal surely hinges on the Hello Dolly ethos that women can be smart and feminine. Angela’s advice to other aspiring businesswomen is simple.
“Never be embarrassed about what you love to do. You owe it to yourself to give it a try, and it’s always better to find out if it could work than be left wondering. What’s more scary than failing is having never given it a go. Fear is a great motivator.”
While she is thrilled about the attention the brand has received in the last month, she tends to shy away from the entrepenurial label that has been thrust upon her by the media.
“I don’t feel I deserve that kind of label just yet because everything is still so new, and I’m still learning. I just see myself as an ordinary woman who loves what she does, and I’ve been extremely lucky to find a vehicle to express that.”
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femininity and fun – shunning a high paying job in favour of building a business that celebrates women. 
While she is thrilled about the attention the brand has received in the last month, she tends to shy away from the entrepenurial label that has been thrust upon her by the media.