In 2012, Master of Communication Vu Hoai Thu - at that time Deputy Director of a famous foreign media company in Vietnam - went on a business trip to the US. That was normal for a woman who was used to being busy, the only thing that was unusual was: Instead of closing her eyes to rest, that day she read a magazine and was fascinated by the story of two young men starting a business from mushrooms, to the point that it changed her whole life.

It is not clear how long the story of the two boys and the image of the small mushrooms haunted her, but one fine day she suddenly submitted her resignation, much to the surprise of her colleagues and family. How could one not be surprised when her position at that time was the dream of many people, and how could one not stop her when what she chose to pursue was so new and full of difficulties.

“Like many people, my husband strongly objected. I don’t remember how many arguments I had to use to convince him, I only remember when I said: Youth only comes once, I want to live with my passion and aspirations. In a few years when I get older, my inertia will be too great and even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to do it anymore, so my husband had to reluctantly agree,” Ms. Thu said.

She chose mushrooms, while her family chose safety. She was right to pursue her passion and challenge, but her family was not unreasonable in wanting her to devote herself to her current job and to her small family, which was about to welcome a second member. Many people called her decision “reckless” and “dreamy”, lacking in practicality.

But for a woman who is used to working by planning systematically, it is certainly not a moment of emotional daydreaming - which is the weakness of most women.

The final resignation letter was sent. She entered a new chapter of her life at an age no longer young…

Deciding to stick with mushrooms, she is not in a hurry to produce mushrooms or set up a factory. First, she thinks: I have to go to school first. - Ms. Thu said.

The 20-day course at the Center for Plant Biotechnology (Genetics Institute) really helped her understand many things about mushrooms.

“When I decided to change direction, I was just interested and didn’t know where to start. But after that short course, I had access to many different types of information, information from people who were growing mushrooms, from mushroom teachers, and especially information about expertise and the market,” Ms. Thu recalled.

After finishing the course, she was more cautious with each step, not rushing into production but continuing to explore the market. She spent much of her day wandering around supermarkets. Mushrooms were sold everywhere, but it was rare to find mushroom products originating from Vietnam, most of them were imported.

Questions rushed through her mind: Why are mushrooms grown in large quantities but cannot be distributed in large supermarkets? Why do we have to use imported goods? Why and why? These series of questions helped her understand that the domestic market has great potential and is being neglected.

This is the opportunity that she needs to grasp and quickly launch all the plans that she has planned in advance. And more importantly, "I decided to focus only on Vietnamese mushrooms because I believe that mushrooms grown in Vietnam will not be inferior to imported mushrooms, it's just that consumers don't know about them yet and producers are not confident and bold enough to invest."

No matter how detailed her planning is, her actions are just as "lightning fast", which is the surprise that always makes people feel curious and interested. Not yet producing mushrooms, she chose to become an important link in the consumption chain - that is, a commercial distributor of mushrooms. She traveled to all provinces and cities in the country such as Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho, Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh and Da Lat... to choose partners.

In addition to the three basic types of mushrooms that have traditionally existed in Vietnam: oyster mushrooms, button mushrooms, and straw mushrooms, she has discussed with partners to produce some more specialty mushrooms to launch more than a dozen types of mushrooms that are 100% "made in Vietnam".

And surprisingly, mushroom products are given a new look, sitting proudly in the most beautiful and eye-catching positions in almost all supermarket systems and stores in Hanoi.

Ly Tuong fresh mushrooms "launched" in early 2013, less than a year after she quit her job and gave birth...

She shared: Many entrepreneurs keep pondering. Thinking and analyzing to know when it is “ripe”. You have to know the “enough” point to decide to act immediately, just jump into doing something, fix it while doing it, if it is wrong, do it again, always prepare for the worst situation, both mentally and financially.

When the first fresh mushroom products hit the shelves, she started a new plan for herself, which was also the second "branch" that she had in mind when choosing the company name: Processing food business.

Of course, it was still mushrooms - the food that fascinated and seduced her.

But it is not as easy as making fresh mushrooms. When distributing fresh mushrooms, you can set standards for producers to follow, you buy them and then create a new shape and appearance for the mushrooms to reach the world of consumers. But processed products from mushrooms are different. No one has ever done it before, which means there is no formula, no market.

“At that moment, I realized two problems: I would be the first to enter the market and would also have the advantage in distribution. But that was also a huge challenge when I had to accept the fact that because it was new, it would be difficult to be accepted,” she calculated.

As she predicted, although she was “alone in the market”, it was not easy to “wholesale”. Mushroom floss, mushroom pate, mushroom ham, mushroom broth powder, spring rolls, mushroom sausage… were all brand new concepts to consumers. Some people were excited to explore, but others were hesitant and skeptical.

Not to mention the habit of Vietnamese consumers is to prefer fresh food, not familiar with processed food, that is the solid "ice block" that from the beginning she determined to "break" with the quality of her own products.

And that journey for her is a long story.

Every time a product is released and brought to market, she anxiously waits for the reaction, "some people praise it for being unique, but there are also people who frankly criticize it as not delicious, not interesting... I accept it all."

As mentioned above, Hoai Thu's perfectionism sometimes gets her into "trouble". She sets herself a goal of launching about 10 new products to the market each year. As soon as I heard, I judged that it was not an easy obstacle to conquer, and she herself admitted that. The proof is that many products are still having to find ways to "win over" consumers. There were even products that she had to regretfully remove because they were not well received.

In the near future, mushroom fish sauce, cordyceps soaked in honey... are the newest "warriors" that she hopes can conquer the market... They may be the most elite warriors, or they may have to stop because of the high price and picky users. But it doesn't matter when the owners of those products are people who are not afraid to face difficulties, and even always "plan" their failures in advance.