The Past
May of 1978 was a month like any other. Spring was making its presence felt on the Scottish Highlands and the sleepy town known as Bridge of Allan was going about its daily business, as it had done for many centuries past. Then, Hazel Coldwell was born.
One of the first things one notices about Hazel is her energetic, almost effervescent, aura which fails to hide, and indeed complements, a quick intelligence. It came as no surprise at all to discover that she started work at a relatively early age, working for a hairdresser for a mere seventy-six pence an hour and buying her burger after burger.
At fifteen she moved with her parents and two brothers to Tenby in Wales – the place she loves and talks about with passion – and found a more amenable job working in the cloakroom of a night club. Even at such a young age her ambition was evident and after two years of working as a barmaid at the local pub she became its manageress.
Despite her ambition, Hazel wisely invested time in her education and went to the London College of Fashion to study Fashion Management and read Interior Design at Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design.
But her career soon rose to prominence again and she skipped her graduation ceremony because she had already found work on a “super yacht” in Parma, Majorca for one hundred euros a day. The boat belonged to a billionaire and the word “super” barely does it justice. It was sixty-five meters long, twelve meters wide and four storeys high. It had two helicopter pads and birth for a sea plane, a forty two foot sail boat, a rib – a type of speed boat – and a tender, which is a vessel which supplies its mother-ship.
After a year Hazel became head house keeper. A year later she was promoted to Purser and was responsible for ordering the ship's stock, its accounts and rosters. She worked there for a total of four years and so impressed a friend of the owner that she took a job as his Personal Assistant and spent most of the next two years living in New York – a city she adores. While there she tried her hand at freelance fashion design for six months and created handbags and t-shirts, but soon after meeting her fiancée to be, Jud, she left and moved with him to France.
Mauritius
Their daughter, Mia, was born on the seventeenth of November 2007 and a year later the three of them followed in the footsteps of Jud's parents and moved to Mauritius. At the beginning of 2009 they started their own company, Luxury Living Ltd., which specialises in interior design and the design and supply of uniforms and bed linen to the luxury yacht industry. Hazel's extensive knowledge of the business and her education have proved very useful.
But it doesn't end there, Luxury Living Ltd. is also the Mauritian agent for Carrol Boyes – who is famous in South Africa for her work in pewter, stainless steel and aluminium – and Charl Dettmer a talented young photographer (www.charldettmer.com). Both artist's work is available for sale at Hazel’s shop at the Black River Business Park in Tamarin.
Of course all work and no play is no good for anyone and Hazel loves to spend time with her family walking in the gorge or visiting places like Chamarel. She finds Mauritians to be very relaxed and friendly people but would like to see more recycling in the country!
Her future plans include expanding her business to include event management and she is also very keen on getting involved with charity work, particularly, “At the risk of sounding like a Miss World contestant...” with children.
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