Vivy Yusof's book, 'The First Decade' reflects on her early entrepreneurial days

Vivy reading an excerpt from her book during the launch for industry counterparts. photos: FashionValet

In under a week, The First Decade: My Journey from Blogger to Entrepreneur by Vivy Yusof took the bestseller spot at various bookstores.

“I am definitely on Cloud 9 and I hope to stay on it for a while,” she responds when asked about the book’s success in an interview with The Star. “Honestly, I still can’t believe I finished writing a book! I am the most impatient person and writing a book requires long-term patience.”

But page by page and chapter by chapter, Vivy persevered, and the result is a best-seller, published by a renowned Penguin Random House.

“It is a dream come true,” the first-time author says referring to Penguin Random House SEA’s decision to publish the book. “To even finish writing feels surreal and now to have it being a bestseller in bookstores just days post-launch is just unbelievable.”

“Vivy’s book The First Decade is perhaps one of the most anticipated books of the year in South-East Asia. A fearless storyteller, we thank Vivy for choosing Penguin to share her stories with the world. Saying it like it is, she gives the readers a frank and real account of herself as an entrepreneur, a celebrity, a mother, a wife and most importantly as a woman. It is a privilege to publish one of the most inspiring stories of our times,” is how Nora Nazerene Abu Bakar, publisher at Penguin Random House SEA describes the book.

The First Decade is indeed a candid depiction of Vivy’s early years of an entrepreneur, co-founding FashionValet with her husband Fadzarudin Anuar. Currently, they hold posts of creative director and chief executive officer of FashionValet.

Vivy and her husband Fadzarudin Anuar (left) during a Q&A at the book launch.

Contrary to what most would expect, this isn’t a tale of success but rather an account of what Vivy describes as an “honest review” of her first ten years of being an entrepreneur. That means sharing stories of failure, that other aspiring entrepreneurs can benefit from.

“I feel like the entire book has a lot of mistakes and learnings peppered through it.”

These ranged from managing people to business models to product development and of course, managing social media backlash. It isn’t often that those who have achieved success talk about what went wrong – especially in a book but for Vivy, it is important that the book also serves as a learning opportunity to others, particularly young people, who hope to run their own business someday.

“I think if there’s any take-away they get from reading it would be to give their all – in life and studies – because you only get one and you don’t want to live with any regrets,” she says. “Even if you fail at anything, you know you’ve given it your all and you can walk away and move on happily.”

Now that the story of her venture into entrepreneurship has been told from her perspective, she hopes that it corrects the perception that things have been easy for her.

“I hope that it will quash the misconception that everything was handed to me and I don’t have to work for anything because I come from a comfortable background,” she explains. She has come to terms with that label but the book has provided the opportunity to share things from her point of view.

Vivy and her family at the book launch.

“It’s nice to share my side of the story and show people that anyone can achieve if they want it. I’ve had to put on a thick face when getting rejections. I’ve had to stand on TV in front of the nation to beg for funding. I’ve had to be brave to ask for things because they didn’t fall on my lap. I’ve had to be publicly humiliated when I or the company makes mistakes.”

These are her “unseen’”experiences that the book gives readers a look into, the “behind-the-scenes” of an entrepreneur.

Reminiscing on some of the early events did put her in a vulnerable place, she admits. This, despite the fact that she is quite used to sharing her life on social media and during her days blogging.

“But writing a book takes the vulnerability to a whole other level,” she stresses. “I’ve had to revisit my mistakes in running the company. I’ve had to relive the painful memories of closing down business units. I’ve had to write the hurtful things that were done to me either from people I trust in my journey or having to endure painful comments by netizens.”

Throughout the whole writing process, however, Vivy remained steadfast with her eyes on the end goal, which was what she wanted the book to be.

“It was my motivation,” she says. “I wanted to produce a book that people can learn from the first ten years, whether they want to be entrepreneurs or not.”

The First Decade: My Journey from Blogger to Entrepreneur was officially launched at two events in Malaysia which saw followers, fellow entrepreneurs, and members of the fashion fraternity turning out in full force to celebrate the first-time author. On Dec 12, 150 people attended an event hosted by Penguin for members of the public while on Dec 16, the book was launched by Khairy Jamaluddin for industry counterparts.

Now, while still basking in the glory of being a best-selling author, Vivy jokes about what is in store for the next decade, and says, “Maybe a movie, with Anne Hathaway playing me in a hijab.”

“A girl can dream, so why not? She says in jest. “In the meantime it’s back to the office for me!”

The First Decade: My Journey from Blogger to Entrepreneur is available on the following webstores – https://malaysia.kinokuniya.com, https://mphonline.com/collections/non-fiction-bestsellers, https://www.popularonline.com.my, https://www.amazon.sg.