Huang Xuanni grew up as the sixth of seven daughters in a family that clearly preferred sons. This is the story of a 44-year-old businesswoman from Hunan Province in central China.
Her parents barely paid attention to her. She ate alone on the doorstep and they rarely remembered her name. In one heartbreaking incident, her parents abandoned her on the mountain when she fell ill. According to the South China Morning Post, a stranger found her and brought her back home.
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Life at school was no easier. She walked almost three hours over the mountains to get there. She brought food from home for only one yuan ( ₹13 in the current amount) as a weekly allowance. Her classmates often stole her rice.
Through it all, Huang pushed through and earned a degree from Hunan Agricultural University. She later moved to Shenzhen after her marriage.
However, the relationship turned violent. She fell into depression. She lost custody of her daughter after the divorce. Instead of giving up, she decided to rebuild a life on her own terms.
Huang Xuanni took a big leap of faith in 2015. She quit her job and started a women’s clothing store on Taobao, China’s giant online shopping platform.
With only 50,000 Yuan (more than ₹6.5 lakh) and a friend by her side, she bought a small luxury outfit at the Shenzhen market. Huang clicked the photos herself while her boyfriend modeled, SCMP reported.
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She targeted petite women who were struggling to find clothes that fit well. Within one month, sales exceeded 1 lakh yuan ( ₹13 million).
However, by 2017, some bad business decisions left her buried under 50 lakh yuan in debt (over ₹6.5 million). Instead of giving up, she buried herself in books about branding, fashion and business. She also took online courses.
In 2020, Huang launched her own brand: Mix Selection. She also tapped into the neo-Chinese fashion trend, mixing traditional silks with modern styles.
By November 2023, her neo-Chinese dresses alone had achieved sales of over 87 lakh yuan ( ₹11.5 million). She erased all her debts and even organized a celebratory meal for every creditor, the publication reported.
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Huang has taken her brand beyond just clothing. She personally connected with customers on social media, sharing her everyday outfits and meals and making her followers feel like close friends.
She was among the first clothing store owners in China to use social media in this way. She was later accepted into the prestigious Executive MBA program at Peking University.
Mix Selection is international
By 2025, Mix Selection’s sales will exceed 250 million yuan ( ₹333 million crowns). The brand has gone international and built a community of nearly 20 million followers.
Huang has also created an AI-based knowledge platform that includes branding, communication and life skills. But wealth aside, her bigger goal is to inspire other women through books, movies and her own lived story.
“I want to tell those girls like me, suffocated by family and marriage, not to give up. Hang on a little longer and there is hope,” SCMP quoted her as saying to Chinese media.
