Vivy Sofinas Yusof, 29, a daughter, wife, mother and entrepreneur (co-founder of Fashion Valet and Duck Group) is an idol to many women out there.
Not only is she famous for being the woman behind Fashion Valet, she is also famous for blogs and Instagram. With her witty jokes and charming personality (not to mention her absolutely flawless, gorgeous fashion sense), one will never be bored while going through her blogs.
Image credit: LOREAL Paris
Even though she graduated in law from London School of Economics, it was her passion in fashion and shopping that inspired her to venture into the e-commerce industry. As an inspiration and idol for many of us, we surely can learn a few things on business and family from Vivy.
On Business: Take risks
Back in 2010, online shopping in Malaysia was not a yet a trend for us shopaholics. This inspired Vivy to start Fashion Valet with the aim to bring the latest fashion to our doorstep.
Obviously the risk was high for her knowing that people were still not used to purchasing things online but together with her husband (back then boyfriend) their hard work and determination to build their business empire has finally paid off.
Currently Fashion Valet has gone offline as well with their first brick-and-mortar shop at Bangsar Village 2 and has a flagship store in the bustling Orchard Road in Singapore.
Vivy shows us that in terms of business, don’t be afraid if your idea is new, different and something that people are not accustomed to. If it is something that you are passionate about then take the challenge and make it work.
Just like any other new entrepreneurs, Vivy definitely went through some challenges in order to start up Fashion Valet and for her it was the lack of capital. RM100k was all they had in capital and it was used mostly on office and warehouse rent/renovation, stock purchasing and marketing activity.
They didn’t even take any salary until their business was stable. She went to meet with a lot of VCs (venture capital) and financial institutions in order to boost their capital but was denied so many times.
Nevertheless, she did not give up and eventually she found the perfect VC. This proves that perseverance and her (never give up) attitude is what made Fashion Valet as successful as it is today.
On family: Quality > Quantity
Juggling between work and family is never easy. Even more so for Vivy who needs to run her company, manage her employees, attend meetings and functions. Time like these that we as mothers wish we could split ourselves into two in order to get everything done.
For Vivy, family is everything especially after the birth of her children (a son and a daughter). Since both children are still toddlers hence they required more attention and family bonding with the parents.
Thus, Vivy ensures that she would always spend time with them first thing in the morning and last thing at night (she prefers to shower her kids in the morning herself without the help of her maid).
Also, she believes in making do with whatever you can and the essential of time management. Vivy would always focus 100% during weekdays and do as much as she can so that her weekends are free for her to spent time with her family. It’s all about the quality time spent not the quantity.
Motherhood has also changed Vivy’s perspective in life. It has taught her not to be selfish, that her children come first and every decision making would revolve around her children.
Running her business empire requires her to travel a lot but since having her children she has cut down on her travelling activities. This would ensure that she can always be there for her children if they ever needed her. Also because Vivy cannot be away for a long time from her 2 little toddlers (something that we as mothers would understand).
If you have not liked her yet, go on and check out her blog at https://www.proudduck.com/. If it’s not for her fabulous fashion sense that will wow you (her obsession with white is astounding – she makes white look sooo good), the cheekiness of her writings will definitely entertain you. Love her or hate her, Vivy Sofinas Yusof is a name you should look out for.