Mother channels personal heartbreak to launch her own business
Hazel Hollands, 58, has – in her own words – been living in a ‘black hole’ for the past couple of years following the deaths of her mother and husband.
In a bid to turn things around, Hazel decided to start up her own business – something she described as a ‘last chance saloon’.
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Hide AdThe business – All Things Arty, based at 85 Mount Road, Ore – is set to open on Easter Saturday (March 31), less than two years after her mother’s death.
Hazel’s story begins in 2007 when she quit her job in the civil service, sold her house in Ore and went to live in Turkey with her husband in order to be close to her daughter Melissa Anderson and grandson.
The family ran a cabaret club in Turkey alongside Melissa’s husband – a Turkish national – until things turned sour.
Hazel said: “My daughter split from her husband and was desperate to get back to England with her son.
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Hide Ad“We managed to get her out of Turkey but this caused problems with our son-in-law and the business we had in Turkey never really recovered.”
In late 2014, Hazel returned to England to look after her mother who was becoming seriously ill while her husband stayed out there.
She said: