Vilma Cafirma Tucay was born in the Philippines and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii. She attended Keaau Elementary & Intermediate School and Waiakea High School. In 1985, her family moved to Honolulu on the island of Oahu, where she attended McKinley High School and graduated in 1988. She then attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, graduating in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Speech/Communications and Theater. She interned as a newscaster for KHVH-NEWS 99 and KISA and worked as a reporter/writer for various newspapers and magazines, including UH Kaleo, Fil-Am Courier, and Impact Magazine. Her interest and desire to become a model and actress led her to attend a local modeling school in high school and enroll in numerous drama classes in college at UH and elsewhere. She also began entering pageants. In 1991, she captured the title of Miss Asia Petite USA 1992, and six months later, she was crowned Miss International Hawaii 1993, winning Best In Interview and Best In Talent Awards with a dramatic monologue from the movie "Nuts." Awarded a scholarship, she re-enrolled at UH to take Business classes. She also had the opportunity to travel back to the Philippines and to Hong Kong. At the age of 19, she started teaching modeling classes and became a Director at 22 for a modeling and talent agency called Auditions. She was also the Pageant Director for Pearlridge Center's Miss Pearlridge Teen and Pearlridge Teen Board, choreographing their fashion shows at the mall. Additionally, she appeared in commercials, print ads, a play at UH, and was an extra in Richard Chamberlain's TV series "Island Son."

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In 1994, at the age of 23, she established her own modeling company called Vogue International Modeling & Talent Agency. The agency offered modeling and acting classes, represented models and actors (becoming a Franchised Agency with the Screen Actors Guild), and produced and directed numerous pageants. Her first pageant was the Miss Asian Universal Scholarship Pageant, where Miss America 2001, Angela Perez Baraquio, got her start. She then became an Executive Director for Miss VIP, a preliminary to the Miss Hawaii/Miss America Scholarship Program. Her first queen, Kehaulani Christian, became Miss Hawaii, and she had the opportunity to travel to Atlantic City to watch the Miss America Pageant. Active in the pageantry world, she and her mother opened a boutique called Vogue Fashion by Cafirma. Her mother, an extremely talented seamstress, brought her designs to life. They sponsored various organizations, including Miss Hawaii and Miss Universe when Brooke Mehealani Lee was Miss Universe 1997. As her company grew, she added more divisions, including the VIP Dance Company. Her dancers performed in their productions (pageants and fashion shows) and were hired for other events.

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Vogue International was a member of the International Modeling & Talent Association, and she traveled annually to Los Angeles and New York with students passionate about modeling and acting. They showcased their talent and competed in numerous modeling and acting competitions, meeting top models, actors, and agents from around the world.

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After 13 years, she decided to close her business to focus on raising her boys. She is married to her wonderful husband, Ricky, and they have four boys: Brandon, Bronson, Braeden, and Brennan. In 2012, they were heartbroken when their oldest, Brandon, passed away. He was a talented musician, a graduate of Iolani School, and a drummer for the local group Kapena.

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She worked full-time as a skincare consultant and makeup artist for Clinique and a certified nurse aide. She also worked for local modeling companies as a director of admissions, instructor, and pageant director.

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She also pursued her acting career and is represented by BLISS MODELS & TALENT.  Her Principal credits for commercials include Hawaii Dental Service, American Savings Bank, Autozilla, and Central Pacific Bank. 

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In 2017, a year after her mom passed away, Vilma decided to re-establish her business, focusing on pageants. She is now the owner of V2K Productions: V stands for Vilma, and 2K is how you pronounce her last name, Tucay.