WOMAN OF PASSION: Making women look good

“Before I started Vivo I had been in employment for 20 years. My last job was with the British government. As an adviser for the Department for International Development (DFID), I worked on governance programmes funded and supported by the UK  in various developing countries.

“But after 10 years with DFID, I desired to get out of full-time employment and become my own boss. I also wanted to have more control over my life. After my contract expired, with no option for renewal, the logical option would have been to look for another job, but I wanted something different. I wanted to start a business, but I wasn’t sure what kind of business.

So I joined forces with a friend who was in a similar situation and we started importing and selling dance and fitness attire.

“We opened our first store at The Junction Mall, along Ngong Road in Nairobi, in May, 2011. I really didn’t expect to make any sales on the very first day, but to our surprise we actually did sell. For a person who doesn’t like selling (I am not a good sales person) this was an exciting moment for me. I remember counting the money we had made at the end of that first day, and it felt like we were playing Monopoly.

We were lucky to have opened shop at a busy location, so passers-by would see something they liked, come in and buy it. The business has since grown to focus on selling regular clothing for adult women, but we still sell generic dance and fitness clothing.

NO REAL STRATEGY

“When we started out, one of my challenges was that I didn’t have any experience, background or training in retail or fashion, so I made many mistakes along the way.

Firstly, it was difficult and costly making decisions about where to open our stores. Then, there was the problem of finding good staff with the right dedication and work ethic; I even had some unfortunate experiences with theft earlier on and they were extremely upsetting.

Moreover, I was trying to do almost everything by myself: I handled the finance, marketing, administration and human resource management.

I was going crazy, putting in insane hours and not doing things properly. I didn’t even have a real strategy. However, I sorted this out by bringing in a team with expertise, who could help manage those areas.

It takes time to get a good team together, and I am happy with the one I am working with right now. Now I can focus on the creative work, the buying and the overall business strategy.

“Running a clothing business in the midst of many others is also not easy. We make half of our products at our workshop at the Ngong Road Professional Centre and import the rest, and we have to make sure that we have stuff that keeps our clients satisfied. To achieve this, when I travel, I buy samples that we use to borrow ideas from and then modify to suit our clientele’s tastes.

A lot of styles you find on the market are not unique; they are modifications of whatever is trending at the moment.

“Before Vivo got proper premises to host all our operations, a year ago, we were working from a five-bedroom house and everyone was in different rooms.

Now we have more space and I am able to keep an eye on all the back-office processes and feel the buzz of everyone around me. This loft floor was not here when we moved in (she says pointing to it) but we ran out of space downstairs and built it to create more space for our management and design teams.

“Four years later, I am happy with the growth. We have seven retail outlets at different malls in Nairobi and Mombasa and I employ 36 full-time staff.

FUTURE PLANS

In future, I want to grow the business further, in terms of our product range, and also coverage. I’d like to have stores in a number of East African cities besides Nairobi and Mombasa, and then go outside the region as well.

And I really want to move forward with our plans for the yet-to-be-launched Vivo Foundation, which I will use to equip teenage girls with the skills to face life with confidence.

“Meanwhile, when I look back, I am glad that I took the step to start Vivo, which means “alive” in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The name really goes well with my passion for helping people feel good about themselves.

What I love about Vivo is that a person will come in, try something on and be amazed at how they look and feel in it, and they walk out with a spring in their step.

Our clothes are so versatile that they can be worn by women of all ages – grandmothers, mums and daughters – of all sizes (plus size or slim). And depending on how you accessorise them, the outfits can look completely different. We love it when a client says ‘I would wear this, but not how you’ve done it here’.  That’s great! One of the ways women can really express themselves is with how they dress, and we love to see the creative ways our clothes are worn.

“I also love that I am happy and I wake up feeling excited every day; that is what is important to me. Sure, money is important too, but what’s more important is how I spend my day. I have learned through my experiences that I’m fully responsible for how I feel, and the extent to which I’m happy and fulfilled. Staying in employment would have been the safe and easy option, and it’s nice to be able to plan around a fixed salary.

But still, depending on the job, there can also be a lot of pressure and you might end up spending a lot of time on things you do not necessarily want to do. I’d rather earn a bit less money and do something that I really enjoy.

Being self-employed means I have more freedom to manage my time, and most importantly I can be more available to my two pre-teen daughters. And it’s not that I work less hours, but that I can decide how to schedule them.

“That said, and as I always tell people who are mulling leaving employment to go into business, everyone’s circumstances are different, so you need to make smart decisions that work best for you.

Perhaps you can still find satisfaction in what you are doing simply by changing the way you approach and look at your situation. Whether in business or employment, the most frustrating place to be in is at an unhappy place, especially if you are doing nothing about it.

You are ultimately responsible for your own happiness and for your experiences. You’ve got to be clear about what you want, and then go out there and do what it takes to make it happen.”

HOW SHE DID IT:

• Build your portfolio and client base by offering cheaper, but good quality services, than other professionals in the market.
• Don’t let money be your motivator, focus on giving quality service.
• You can become passionate about anything; just do what works for you. If you’re losing your fire, find out why you are no longer passionate about your current situation and do what you can to change it for the better.
• Partnering with a friend who has similar interests makes the journey easier and more pleasant. He or she becomes a sounding board who can share with you different perspectives and approaches to any problem.