Meet the industrious team of folks bringing you the magic of Hazel Village from our Brooklyn workshop! This page is ordered according to how long each person has been with the Village ♥️
Jane is Hazel Village’s founder and lead designer. The Village is Jane’s vision: she dreams up all of the animals, and alongside Sara she shares the work of designing and illustrating our products. Jane started Hazel Village in 2010, and her favorite animal is Gwendolyn Raccoon. Naturally, her first storybook The Gifts of the Year is all about Gwendolyn!
Alba is part of our local production team, sewing any items of doll clothing that we make right here in Brooklyn. She's been with the Village since way back in February 2015! Alba's favorite animal friend is Arthur Lamb.
As our workshop manager, C.C. does too many important odd jobs to count! She joined the team in August of 2016, and her favorite friend is Gaspard Duck.
Shaquya helps C.C. with many workshop tasks and can most often be found dressing dolls. She joined the Village in 2016, and her favorite Village friend is Charlie.
Raquel is our Director of Marketing. She started in November of 2016 as a salesperson for the holiday markets, and has done almost every Village job at some point over the past 8 years! These days she handles much of our marketing admin and graphic design. Raquel's favorite friend is Oliver Mouse.
Zack is our Logistics Manager. He keeps our order fulfillment running smoothly and our inventory carefully organized, and often assists with local production by cutting fabric and snipping threads. Zack started working at the Village in the summer of 2019, and his favorite Villager is Toby Newt.
Maddy is our Creative Content Manager. She shoots and edits all our photography and our long-form videos. (Psst - follow us on YouTube!) Maddy has been working here since fall 2019, and her favorite animal friend is Cyril Dragon.
Watch Maddy's Hazel Village collection tour!
Joslyn is our Director of Operations. Like any small business, there are countless complexities involved in the running of Hazel Village, and Joslyn keeps everything shipshape! She joined the team in August of 2020 and her favorite animal is Ella Toad.
Lillie is our Communications Manager. She writes blog posts, product descriptions, newsletters, etc., and also does lots of marketing logistics. Lillie joined the Village in September of 2020, and her favorite friend is Rupert Bison.
When she's not wrapping up your woodland friends for their journey home, Val can be found embroidering doll after doll with hand-stitched fancy single-letter monograms. Fun fact: Zack and Val have been friends since they were in high school! Val joined our team in September 2020, and her favorite Villager is Davey Owl.
Claudia works with Jane and Sara's designs to create samples for new doll clothing, and works with Alba to sew any items we make here in our Brooklyn workshop. She joined the team in July of 2021, and her favorite animal is Marnie Chicken.
Jess is our Fulfillment Assistant Manager, responsible for expertly packing up your online orders. She has been working at the Village seasonally since 2021, and joined our team full-time in 2024. Jess's favorite friend is Peter Badger!
Maddy also started working at the Village seasonally in 2021, and now packs up lots of online orders with the rest of our hardworking fulfillment team. Their favorite animal is Alexander Opossum!
Sara works alongside Jane to design our collections, and also illustrates many beautiful custom prints for our doll clothing. She joined the Village in 2022, and her favorite animal friend is Lucy Owl.
Leesa is our Customer Service Manager. She first worked at Hazel Village in 2023 at our holiday market booth, and joined the team full time in 2024 to expertly assist our customers. Leesa's favorite Village animal is Marnie Chicken.
Akira is our Director of Product. He manages the development of our products with our ethical manufacturing partnerships in Nepal, Peru, Cambodia, Colombia, and India. Akira joined the team in fall of 2024, and his favorite Village friend is Max Raccoon.
Leo helps Leesa with all our customer service needs, and makes lots of videos for our TikTok and Instagram. He joined the team in 2025, and his favorite Villager is Owen Fox!
Lauren assists with development and production projects and manages our holiday market. Lauren first joined the Village in 2025 working at our holiday market and came on full-time in 2026. Her favorite Villager is Annicke Mouse.
Thank you for reading, friends! We hope you've enjoyed learning a little bit more about the backstage happenings at Hazel Village. As the animals would say, "Industry and good cheer, every day and every year!"