Good News November 2021

OUT AND ABOUT 72 NOVEMBER 2021 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition The bumpy road to be- coming a millionaire took a lot of work, perseverance through obstacles and fail- ures and most of all prayer and faith, said entrepreneur Angie Cella. The successful businesswoman and innova- tor recently spoke on entre- preneurship and taking risks to Palm Beach Atlantic Uni- versity business students and faculty at its West Palm Beach campus. Rosetta Books recently published Cella’s autobiogra- phy, Blinger: An Entrepre- neur’s Faith-Based Journey, available on Amazon. Cella told the rapt audi- ence that she had not been able to find investors through television reality shows such as “Shark Tank” or Steve Har- vey’s “Funderdome,” nor through more conventional avenues. So she sold her home to pay to manufacture her invention, Blinger, a toy that safely inserts crystals in hair. “I went through five in- ventors in four years,” Cella said. “The final one, I did not have enough cash on hand to pay him in full and I warned him.” She told the students, “Your integrity is everything.” The engineer agreed to work on the prototype but said it would take six to eight months. It took 30 days, and it was finally done right. Blinger has since sold at Target and Wal-Mart and within a few years Cella had built a $50 million retail brand. She was also honored as Inventor of the Year by the Women in Toys trade group and now sells an adult ver- sion of the toy, Bijou. The idea for Cella’s new toy came through two divinely inspired dreams, she said. The entrepreneur told the au- dience she thinks the pur- pose of the successful toy was to lead to her writing the book and spreading her faith far and wide. No matter the frustration and setbacks, Cella said, “I never thought about quitting. I was compelled. Nothing was going to stop me from finishing it.” Author And Self-Made Millionaire Encourages Faith (L-R) Dr. Brian Strow (Dean of the School of Business), Angie Cella , author, Jeffrey Jacobus (owner of Classic Bookshop) and Laura Bishop , (executive vice president for advancement at PBAU.)