Ally Mollo is like any active 11-year-old girl. She loves to draw and dance, and over the summer she plans to hone her volleyball skills in hopes of making the sixth-grade team next fall.

But unlike other kids her age, Ally spends time each week helping her parents run her business, Custard ’N Jelly. Ally is the creative force behind the business.

When her grandfather died, her mother, Julie Mollo, assured her that he was watching over her as a guardian angel. Impressed with this idea, Ally began drawing angels in her notebook. Her parents decided to make dolls based on the sketches. The company name, Custard ’N Jelly, is a play on the Italian words for guardian angels – “custode angeli.”

That was three years ago. Today, Custard ’N Jelly sells plush angel dolls in 18 toy stores and hospital gift shops across the country, including Landis’ Labyrinth Toy Shop in Larchmont Village and Dragonfly DuLou in Los Feliz. The 8-inch dolls retail for $14.99, and a portion of each sale goes to charity.

The Mollos contracted with a factory in China to make 7,000 dolls. Ally’s parents put up most of the money for the business, but other family members contributed, too. It’s been a challenging process.

Custard ’N Jelly isn’t selling enough dolls yet to be profitable, and about 6,000 dolls are sitting in the Mollos’ garage. But that hasn’t stopped Ally from dreaming bigger.

Julie Mollo said she and Ally want Custard ’N Jelly to be a lifestyle brand akin to Hello Kitty.

“We’re hoping to get enough traction with the angels that we can get an investor in and grow the brand,” the mother said. “We have all kinds of ideas.”

Ally said she’s glad to be involved.

“Being part of a business at this age is something I never thought I’d experience,” she said.