Before the age of 20, the natural entrepreneurial drive and ability within Vanessa had already kicked in with her pursuing her first major business venture. She opened and co-owned an exclusive man’s fashion boutique in the thriving and sought-after Carlton Centre.
Vanessa actively managed a manufacturing line as the backbone to compliment the fashion trendsetting creativity she brought to the market; growing her retail outlet with fresh design and quality. With the boutique’s clientele growing and with the desire to keep being consistently innovative, Vanessa set on a business trip to Thailand in 1994 to acquire fashion apparel and to import quality fabric.
It was with this business trip that things went awry for Vanessa. Caught up in every traveller’s nightmare, Vanessa was duped into unknowingly carrying books with heroin hidden in its covers. This led to her arrest and being sentenced to death. She was pregnant at the time of her arrest, leading to her sentence being postponed until after her giving birth.
