About Us, the folks (and dogs) at Happy Mango Beads
Happy Mango Beads is an internet based business located near the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains in a small town called
Berthoud. It all started over 20 years ago when Dan & Rudi Taylor began collecting African Trade Beads as a hobby. As the collection grew they tried selling some of the beads and “Happy Mango Beads” was born. Because of Dan & Rudi’s love of travel (and history in the import/export field) it was the perfect business for them. Now they travel all over the world to countries such as;
Peru,
Nepal,
Indonesia,
China,
Ghana,
Italy (to name a few) in search of special beads, pendants and amulets. Dan & Rudi LOVE their work and they love beads - we believe the Happy Mango Beads website is a reflection of that.
Also working at Happy Mango Beads:
Whitney - She’s always singing! Whitney is Dan & Rudi’s right-hand woman. Besides working for HMB she operates her own web-based business, check it out at Little Mango Imports. She recently graduated with honors from the
University of Colorado at
Boulder with majors in International Affairs & International Economics. She loves to travel, ski and talk politics...oh, and she's a 4th degree black belt in karate!
Emily - Em is invaluable! Nobody has a better work ethic. She works in our office most of the time, but she also gets stuck working in the shipping room when we get busy. She is a student at University of Colorado at Boulder with a double major, Geography and Spanish. Emily recently returned from living in Chile for 5 months where she attended a university in Valparaíso. Em loves yoga, tennis, fishing, speaking Spanish and her sweet little Beagle, Lucy, who enjoys coming to work with her.
Sally - We are lucky to have Sally. She has an extensive knowlege of gemstones and recently put together our Gemstone Information Chart and currently she's working on a 'trade beads' chart. Sally and her husband, Roger (who someday we hope to have running our shipping room), have the best sense of humor EVER! Spend 10 minutes with them and your jaw aches from laughing! They moved to Colorado from California in Sept '08. They love to road trip and camp along with their 3 big dogs, Little Bear, Tucker and Jenni.
Samantha - Sam is our 'new girl' ever since Sally graduated from that position. She is learning the ropes and currently working with Rudi - sorting, calculating, photographing, counting, making spreadsheets, etc. - a job which requires both math skills and the ability to 'question' everything! Sam has 3 children and sometimes brings the youngest, Anna, to work with her. At only 3 years old, besides wearing beads, she can also write the word 'beads'!
Zoie, Tinkerbell, Cricket & Stella - Honestly they aren’t the best workers…they are ALWAYS underfoot, but of course they don’t get paid either. Tinkerbell (she was a rescue, she came with that name) is a Rat Terrier and she likes napping under the shipping table. Zoie is a 4lb blue
Chihuahua and the star of a recent bead magazine ad, she also has her own pile of beads she buries her bones in. Cricket, also a Chihuahua, is a recently rescued "puppy mill survivor", she's still very shy and timid with most people, but enjoys running around the warehouse with her ducky in her mouth. Stella the Anatolian Shepherd comes to work almost daily, even if Dan & Rudi (her owners) are out of town. When she arrives in the morning she always has to run around smelling all the beads, it's an odd thing, but somebody has to do it!
Pearl (in memory of) - Some of you might remember
Pearl - she was the “boss” of Happy Mango Beads for many years.
Pearl passed away a few years ago after a long bout with Cushings Disease. She was a good ‘ol girl and she loved to wear beads! Her picture remains on this page.