About Us, the folks (and dogs) at Happy Mango Beads
Happy Mango Beads is a small, internet based business located in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains in a small town called
Lyons. It all started nearly 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 is also a senior at
the University of Colorado at
Boulder with a major in International Affairs & International Economics. She loves to travel, ski and talk politics...oh, and she's a 3rd degree black belt in karate!
Lesley - She handles all of our advertising, plus everything else! Her infant daughter,
Paisley, comes to work with her everyday and keeps the shipping room entertained. Besides
Paisley, Lesley has another daughter, 8 year old Haley. Haley thinks she might run HMB someday! (really though, she’s the smartest kid we’ve ever met) We’re a dog-friendly business, and previously Lesley was a veterinary technician, so she keeps all the dogs at HMB healthy.
Emily - Em is invaluable! Nobody has a better work ethic. She’s our bookkeeper, but she also gets stuck working in the shipping room when we get busy. She is a student at
Colorado
State
University at
Ft.
Collins with a major in Business and a minor in Spanish. She loves to snowboard, play tennis, cruise around in her Jeep and shop!
Zoie & Tinkerbell - 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 guards the bead room day and night. Zoie is a 4lb “blue”
Chihuahua and she’s so famous here in
Lyons that local businesses always remember her on Christmas. She also has her own pile of beads she buries her bones in.
Pearl (in memory of) - Some of you might remember
Pearl - she was the “boss” of Happy Mango Beads for many years.
Pearl passed away last summer 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.