#15 Handwritten by Andrew Smith - The Yuppiechef founding story and the emotional reality of entrepreneurship

Andrew Smith joins Pierre du Plessis for a deeply personal conversation about his debut memoir, Handwritten, and the long arc of building Yuppiechef from a lounge in Cape Town into one of South Africa’s best-loved retail brands. Andrew explains how 20 years of journals became the raw material for the book, why he chose to self-publish, and how the writing process became its own form of healing and reflection. They also explore the tension between public success and private struggle, the emotional cost of leadership, the role of family, and what changed after the sale of Yuppiechef. This is part founder story, part memoir, and part honest look at what it means to keep going when the outside world only sees the polished version.
Timestamps
(00:00) Why Andrew Smith returned for a second episode
(01:23) Turning 20 years of journals into Handwritten
(05:52) Choosing a chronological structure
(10:56) How AI helped with editing
(14:14) The “privileged whining” review
(18:19) Writing as healing
(22:13) Why Andrew self-published
(31:14) Emotional truth versus literal truth
(35:33) Should leaders hide fear from teams?
(41:12) The cost of entrepreneurial risk at home
(54:54) The handwritten card system
(63:56) From e-commerce to brick-and-mortar
(69:20) Life after the Mr Price sale
(76:39) Identity after Yuppiechef
(85:39) What Brave Hardy will not repeat