Happy Birthday, Vivy Yusof.

So tomorrow I will be having my IELTS exams. *nervous* As I flip through the practice test book that I got from my friend, Najwa, one of the topics for the speaking test is about an idol.

An idol is a person who you look up to, and adore to the point that it motivates you to become a better version of yourself by having your idol as a benchmark.

Other than my lovely, multi-talented & cute father *ehem daddy I’m your favourite right?!* my idol, would be Vivy Yusof.

I remember the first time I first saw her Instagram post. It was a picture of her, heavily pregnant with her first child, Daniel, with hand gestures,  captioned as , This is the way out. Haha. I thought it was funny. And then I saw her on Make The Pitch Malaysia, for Fashion Valet, where entrepreneurs participate to win over investors. I also tumbled upon her blog Proudduck.com. She got me hooked after only reading one post. Vivy is intelligent, both study based, (hello, who else went through SPM & A levels in a year and got distinctions for everything?) She went to The London School Of Economics which is my absolute dream school. Hand-in-hand with her then boyfriend, she started up Fashion Valet. Fashion Valet is an online store, a house of multiple local brand.

I feel that it’s a smart way to start off from scratch. First thing’s first, networking. From a couple of brands that went onboard, to hundreds of brands now. Keep in mind that one brand/company have their own customers base. Multiple customers base, combined, and boom! Well obviously on top of that they spend on marketing and everything. Vivy said that she got a lot of support from her readers as well. And then, Fashion Valet started  their own in house brand, FV Basics. As well as collaborations with other brands during festive seasons, like FV Raya. Congratulations FV, for the first retail store. These people are geniuses.

Don’t even get me started on Vivy’s dUCk scarves. Exclusive packaging, the details… from the box and the ribbon, to the thin printed paper that wraps the scarf, and the sticker, as well as thank you card & style card. On top of all that, Vivy & her team came up with character for her brand. The way I see it, a product is even more attractive when you put a character behind it, and even more when there are stories that people could relate to, behind every product. It’s a bit hard to believe that some people still question why dUCk scarves retails for a higher price compared to other scarves. It’s all in the details, guys. I  try to imply some stuff to my Mom’s brand, Marian. I learn that when you put passion in the things you do, the outcome is always better. I used to feel like I’m forced to help out my mom’s brand. I like it, now.

There’s this free psychology  in marketing talk that I went to with Elysha & Jaja when we went for UK uni exhibition that made a comparison between two brands that use emotions in their marketing strategy. The one that uses emotion obviously sells more, cause people love it when they can relate to something. Humans are obsessed with relations, sometimes we even try to create our own relations to two situations that don’t relate, just to make ourselves feel better.

Vivy is not only smart, she is also very witty and funny. You gotta love  funny & smart people.  Don’t believe me? Read her captions & blog. Of course I do not know her personally, and I only read her stories on her blog, but I can tell that she is compassionate from all her stories about her friendship and family. Vivy is also very passionate & ambitious, and she sees things a very positive perspective. Even in the worst situations. I absolutely adore that. I love that she utilises every opportunity she has, and turn it into something big.

On top of all that, Vivy keeps on thanking Allah for all the things she have.   When we learn to be thankful for the things we have, we’ll be happier and inshaAllah He will reward us with more.

To my absolute idol, Happy Birthday Vivy Yusof! May Allah always bless you.

  

You don’t know me, but we met once, in Boat Noodle. I even got pictures with you. You were very kind and also said stuff that motivates me to work harder.

xx Syahirah Syamimi