When Kim Virgona and her husband made the move to the Whitsundays, she knew one thing for certain — she wasn’t about to spend her days in paradise stuck behind a shop counter. Enter Dottie Lottie: an affordable range of ladies’ cotton and linen clothing, dreamed up on an Airlie Beach morning walk and now a firm favourite with locals and cruise ship visitors alike.

Kim wasn’t new to retail — she’d owned three clothing shops before the move. But landing in one of the most beautiful places in the world, she wanted a business that gave her a life, not just a living. Walking past the markets setting up one morning, the idea clicked: why not a clothing stall? She spent the next month visiting every market in the region to make sure Dottie Lottie would offer something genuinely different, landing on breathable cotton and linen pieces perfectly suited to the Whitsundays’ tropical climate.

Kim’s very first market was a cruise ship market — and it poured with rain and blew a gale, with her husband having given her a crash-course in gazebo assembly just days before. “What have I got myself into?” she remembers thinking. Three and a half years on, she wouldn’t change a thing. She’s made lifelong friends among fellow stallholders and met travellers from every corner of the globe, all drawn to this beautiful piece of paradise. Along the way, her Facebook page has become a genuine sales channel — she’s even stepped outside her comfort zone to start filming videos of new arrivals — and Dottie Lottie now posts clothing to customers right across Australia.