With a long history of exposure to entrepreneurship, philanthropy and innovation, Vashti Uys possesses all of the qualities of a smart and successful business leader. While earning her degree in education and teaching at Auckland University, Vashti also worked her way up in the street fashion industry, learning the ins and outs of the business and assisting in the setup of two retail stores. Throughout the years that followed, Vashti sustained productive careers in both recruitment and teaching, becoming National Account Manager of a top recruitment agency and even co-founding an English school for children in Japan.
Remarkably, though, her prospects reach much further. Combining her prime entrepreneurial abilities with her creativity, originality and eye for fashion, Vashti, with the help of her husband, gave rise to her own unique and prosperous international business.
MOOI was born in 2012 following Vashti’s creation of a single handbag for herself while living in South Africa. Having selected the hide, shape, and design on her own, the inquiries of the origin of her bag and consistent compliments she received signalled an opportunity for Vashti to turn her hobby into a blooming enterprise.
Since then, MOOI has met with vast success and popularity in the industry. Although — like with any business — the entire journey has not been smooth sailing, Vashti has found that the company has only grown through overcoming these obstacles. As a brand based devoutly in high quality standards, many of these challenges have simply involved maintaining MOOI’s top value and excellence. “With every MOOI bag individually handcrafted and our extremely high values of quality and consistency, getting the productions team to ‘buy-in’ to our brand values took some time,” explains Vashti.
“But it now works seamlessly.”
Ensuring this calibre in her products has proven to be an ongoing challenge. As a result, Vashti works closely with her suppliers to ensure products are made with the proper grade, colour and quality of material to meet her high standards of production. One glimpse at the stunning and reliable nature of MOOI products, however, proves that the time and energy invested is well worth the result.
Another difficulty for Vashti has been navigating international markets to discover cultural differences and the best approaches to marketing and communication. “It is almost like I need to start each marketing plan with a clean slate, a blank canvas, and work out that market’s intricacies and differences,” she says. “This is a challenge, but one that I find exciting, and love to conquer!” As a whole, all of these experiences have only pushed MOOI to reach new heights. “These challenges have become learnings,” Vashti declares.
In addition to supplying top-grade products, MOOI also recognises that the process is equally as important as the product. The company has adopted sustainable practices by sourcing materials that are bi-products of the economic food industry, for example, by utilising the hides of animals already culled for meat. In this way, MOOI works with local famers and tanneries in order to support sustainable farming practices.
Furthermore, the business has also lent a hand to disadvantaged people in South Africa by offering employment opportunities to those with little-to-no training at the Uys family-owned factory, Indigo. Now creating as much as 80 per cent of the company designs, Indigo allows new staff to gain experience in different roles and work towards a permanent position in the company.
Even the name ‘MOOI’ itself reflects the brand’s pure and genuine values. Meaning ‘beautiful’ in Afrikaans, MOOI was originally meant to represent the elegant and unique crafts Vashti had come across in her travels. However, over time the name came to symbolise so much more. “When we started working with the team in Cape Town I quickly realised that the depth of talent and design application from South Africa would be all consuming for me,” she explains. “I wanted my business name to resonate this talent, craft and design. I wanted something that would encapsulate the beauty of this art.”
In terms of her own values, Vashti certainly exhibits the drive and ambition of a true leader. While creating her signature handbags, Vashti has been known to name her designs after family members and women that she knows. According to her description, a handbag named after herself would contain all the qualities that have shaped her into the successful entrepreneur she is today. “The Vashti would be strong, versatile and hardy!” she describes. “Not very sexy. Sorry!”
In terms of providing advice to other women hoping to start their own business, Vashti believes in taking a leap of faith. “If I waited to have the perfect idea and the perfect business model, I would have never begun,” she states. “I look back at our first website, business cards, and merchandising material and chuckle. Put your product or service out there — the market will let you know where to from here.” As MOOI’s success has shown, the reward is well worth the risk. “Just start!” she exclaims. “If you have a dream to start a business, it won’t happen unless you make it happen.”
