'I sold everything I had after a stranger told me I didn't look happy - and brought something new to Manchester'
27.05.2023 - 18:31
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
At 28-years-old, Vinnie Tao was not satisfied with life so he quit his job and sold all his belongings to help him start afresh. At that time, he had a job at his dad’s restaurant, two degrees and even though he knew the path he was on would lead to a stable life he just wasn’t happy.
And it showed in his demeanour which was something that people around him would notice.
“A customer stopped me and told me I don’t look happy. It was out of nowhere, I didn’t necessarily have a relationship with this person, so it was quite surprising.
“It was essentially a stranger asking if you’re okay. He told me that if don’t change anything, in ten years time I’ll be in the same situation feeling the same way.
“That was a catalyst for me to quit [my job] and sell everything that was holding me back financially. Like my car, vinyl records and guitar stuff.
“Stuff that I bought for myself to enjoy. basically, get rid of all the debt that was holding me back, stuff that cost money.”
For Vinnie, now 34, those luxury items were holding him back and the money could be used to help fund a more fulfilling venture. But even then he still didn’t know what he wanted to do exactly, so, after quitting his job he spent a year creating a ‘moodboard’ of business ideas stemming from something he was actually passionate about, fashion.
“I was doing nothing basically, I was eating into my savings. I didn’t know anything about benefits, so I put myself in a corner and put pressure on to do something.
“Within those months I was going through business plans and models. Using templates from Prince’s Trust and stuff I learned from university and pieceing it together.
“I wasn’t set on what I was doing, I was making it up as I went, but I knew what I