TigerAngel is owned and operated by a stay at home mama! 

     Hi, my name is Janel Kirk Mangold. I was born and raised in Eastern North Carolina, and currently live in Greenville with my wonderful husband Fred, two sons Austin (arrived in 12/05) and Sean (arrive in 8/08), and three cats Hannah, Punky, & Reese Cup.

     In 2004, after much reflection upon my life as a "career" woman, I came to the conclusion that I wanted and needed to be my own boss. I had worked many different jobs while going to college for Middle Grades Education, and even lived in NYC for about two years and worked in East midtown for a hedge fund. I have been an office manager (very small office), medical transcriptionist, waitress, and a cheerleading coach for a middle school in my home town. When I moved back to NC from NY, I was at a crossroad in my life. Meeting my husband has definitely impacted my life significantly because he gives me the encouragement and support I need to work closer towards my goals.

     My mom is a very important person in my life and has influenced it in many ways, for the better. And without her support and constant belief in me, this store would not exist! For many years my mom would mention that I should do something with graphics or design because she saw something I didn't really see in myself...creativity. We began working on personalized calendars together, and I ventured off onto my own and just recently taught myself how to draw graphics (with my mom's help). Never knew I had this kind of creativity in me until I was in my early -mid 20's (which wasn't too long ago!). There are many things I am passionate about, so I decided to try and combine them all into one store.

      I have worked hard trying to create something original, and unique. Becoming a mommy has influenced and pointed my creative "talents" (humbly said) in the baby direction. How could I not focus on baby? Baby things are so much fun! I am currently blessed to stay at home full time with my son, Austin, and being a stay-at-home parent is not an easy task. I love every minute of it, but it brings its fair share of challenges, along with the many great rewards! With that being my first priority, it is still my goal to keep my website growing, and I hope to add new products on a monthly basis. Please bookmark my site, and spread the word! :O)

Happy Days and Smiling Faces!!

Sean's special birth announcement
(by me of course :O)

(left) Proud big bro Austin with Sean 4 days old
(right) Smiling Sean, 6 weeks old

 

Austin, my first born son,
few days old, December 2005.
   

The name :  

My dad has always called me Tiger,
and my husband calls me Angel- I put the two together and voila Tiger Angel
was created. In their own words, are their stories as to why they call me Tiger and Angel.

  by Lynwood Kirk, my daddy :O)

(family portrait by Bousquet's Photography in Bath, North Carolina)

  by Fred Mangold, my hubby :O)

I moved to Greenville, NC in October of 2004, to start my new job as General Manager at Mayflower Seafood Restaurant. I had been working at Mayflower in Burlington, NC since August of 1999. I started off as a server, and worked my way up to Assistant General Manager. When the owners brought the offer before me to move to Greenville and be the General Manager, I jumped right on it. I had no real ties in Burlington, so it was easy for me to go. I had friends, but this opportunity was too good to pass up. When I got to Greenville, I started working right away to get things ready for opening day. Many hours were spent at the restaurant, mainly because I had no assistant, and there was a lot for me to do. My life became very mundane, all I did was work. I was averaging 80-90 hours a week when the restaurant first opened. The little time I had off from work, I didn't do anything because I was too tired. I lived in a state of perpetual tiredness; some people work to live, I was living to work. My life was miserable, but I loved my job.

Then on December 9th, 2004, Janel called to see if we were hiring and whether or not she could set up an interview. I told her to come in that afternoon, since I had some time. When she came in, I thought she was absolutely gorgeous! My first thought was that I wanted to take this woman out. I started her interview, which wasn't much of an interview because we talked for about 45 minutes about everything but work. I hired her on the spot. After she left, I was very excited, and I went to my friend/employee, Pat and I kept going on and on about this woman. The problem was I was already seeing someone that was still living in Burlington, but I wasn't that happy in the relationship.

Things started off slow with Janel, and she told me at one point I almost made her quit (working all the time made me stressed and my fuse was short). I'm getting to the reason I call her Angel, I promise. We started talking more and more while at work, and it was really nice to have someone to talk to. The more we talked, the more I liked her. She was all I thought about. I started scheduling her for a lot of shifts at the restaurant so I could have her around. And on my days off, I would find "a reason" to go to work just to see her. We finally made plans to hang out and shoot pool. I was too nervous to go by myself, so I brought Pat along with me to help me not make a fool of myself. All three of us hung out a lot after work, and Janel and I would hang out after telling Pat goodnight, and talk for hours. She was bringing meaning and happiness back into my life. The night that we finally kissed, it was like magic. I literally got dizzy from that one kiss. After we officially became a couple, things moved very quickly and Janel got pregnant. We went on a much needed cruise vacation in June, and I asked her to marry me. We were married on November 5, 2005, the happiest day of my life. The second greatest day of my life was December 27, 2005, when our son Austin was born. I never thought that I wanted to get married and have kids, but when I met Janel, all that changed. I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, 2 months after I met her. She is the most amazing woman I have ever met. I call her my Angel because my whole outlook on life changed completely when she became a part of my life. She saved me from a life of nothingness. Because of her, I have life, a beautiful woman to share my life with, and the greatest gift of all, our son Austin. I love her with all my heart and soul. She is my everything. She is my Angel.