June 14, 2024 • 26 mins
In this delectable episode of our podcast, Martina sits down with Kgomi, a talented home cook and innovative content creator who has been winning hearts and appetites across social media. Kgomi shares her journey from a passionate home cook to a digital sensation, offering insights into her creative process, favorite recipes, and the challenges and rewards of sharing her culinary adventures online. Tune in to hear about Kgomi's inspirations, her tips for aspiring content creators, and maybe even pick up a few cooking tricks to try in your own kitchen. Whether you're a food enthusiast or a content creator yourself, this episode is packed with flavorful advice and inspiring stories. Don't miss it!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's Up? Everybody? Welcome to the Chatroom, a podcast dedicated
with having interviews with upcoming stars and influencers of our generation.
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so don't forget to become one of our valued Patreon members,
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(00:24):
supporting this podcast? Enjoy the episode.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening everybody wherever you're listening
in from today. Your host is me Martina and I
am joined by Homoso Carvalu with me, Hi Homozo.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hi, how are you great?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Thanks? How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I'm doing well as well.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
It's so awesome to have you here, the woman with
many heads, IT quality assurance specialist, home cook content creator.
There's so much to you, Hey, why don't you tell
us a bit more about stuff that you do?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
So my day job is a IT quality assurance specialists.
So I do QA on IT systems in the company
that I've worked for and I've worked there for almost
five years now. And on the side, apparently we mustn't
(01:21):
call them side hussles. We must call them our portfolio careers.
So my portfolio career is it's as a home cook.
I have an Instagram page and I post recipes and
pictures and I'm quite interested in cookbooks, quite interested in
(01:41):
food photography, and so I've got a food photography sort
of page where I help people learn how to cook.
And yeah, so that's what I do on the side
my portfolio career.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
That's awesome, that's really really great. So today we're just
going to be talking about all the stuff that you do,
all those hats to wear, and also we're going to
talk a bit about Women's Month, because we know that
we're in Women's Month right now, and I'm sure a
number of people don't really know what Women's Month is
about and what it means to be a woman. So
it's going to be very fun and interactive, but also
(02:15):
educating the people as well.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Awesome, So tell us how did you come up with
not exactly come up with Kumu's kitchen, but like what
drove you to want to be a home cook and
be so passionate about posting recipes and doing all this
food stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
So I definitely wasn't driven. I was pushed and forced.
So what happened was when I married my husband, he
said he was going to cook and I was supposed
to wash dishes. And that's how it was supposed to
go down. There was no left, no rights. It is
written in my marriage contract somewhere in my fin read
(02:54):
the fine prince says that he is supposed to cook
and to our statious. But nevertheless, as we started our
marriage and sort of saw how things spoke, you know,
marriage is not black and white, unfortunately, and it's not straightforward.
And so what happened is he actually just didn't have
(03:16):
time to cook, and I found myself having more time
than he did, and so it all of a sudden
didn't make sense anymore that he was the cook of
our family and I was the dishwasher. And so at
some points we switched roles and I started cooking and
I had to learn how to cook, and it was
(03:38):
very deep end like for me, I think I just
cooked the same thing over and over again. At some
point I found aokbook that I thought was really cool,
and my parents bought me this cookbook. I think they
were very concerned. Oh, I was a eating So my
parents bought me this cookbook and I just loved it pictures,
(04:00):
and so I started buying and buying and buying cookbooks,
just falling in love with pictures, trying things here and there.
You became a mainly pictures. Yes, yes, I still am.
I just I just need to build a shelf and
then I will continue. But as I as I started
buying cookbooks and just more and more cookbooks, and then
(04:24):
I started cooking, and then I decided, okay, I need
to take pictures, and so that's how it sort of happened,
and I started taking pictures and posting them, and hence
the beginnings of Commune's Kitchen.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
That's so amazing. It's actually not your usual you know.
Oh my gosh. When I was growing up, I really
loved cooking, and so it was just natural that when
I was older. You know, it's not your cliche story.
It's actually a very unique story, and I think that
makes it even a better one.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Yeah, it's been it's been challenging. I mean, I've only
been cooking for about three years is maybe maybe really
went three years.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yes, your pictures everything they're doing this all your life.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Hey, thank you. Everything that I've learned, I've learned in
three years less than three years. So I'm just almost
hitting the three year mark of cooking. So it's been
it's been a journey. I've been learning quite a lot, really,
just trying to be a sponge and gain every piece
(05:27):
of knowledge that I can. And everyone who knows me
thinks this is absolutely crazy that I can cook, and
I am all for them. I think exactly the same thing.
It's not. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Oh
this is weird.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
This was not the plan.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Never never never been interested in food, never never. But
you know, it was an opportunity I saw. I was
very excited, very interested in taking pictures, and so I
just feel like, you know, to share the picture without
the recipe is not helpful. And so that's why I
started sharing the recipes because, like the same way I
(06:04):
learned all of us in a short time, I feel
like everyone can learn a lot in a very short time,
and so to share the recipes and show people that
it really is possible to just start cooking and that
you can make amazing foods in your house. Really yeah,
I mean really, if you've got the tools there with
you and you know how to read, it's pretty straightforward,
(06:25):
I believe, Yes, everyone who can read as a cook.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
In my opinion, that's amazing. That's amazing. So what would
you say you're enjoy more cooking or baking, and what's
your favorite thing to make? Like you go to meal
where you know that. Okay, if we wake you up
at two am and say cook us something, you can
make this without looking at any recipeople or needing any instructions.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
I think for me, baking is has been a lot
more successful than cooking. And so I don't know why,
maybe because of the way, like my head works, I
studied it. So I studied informatics, which is business and
it together, which has a lot of economics, a lot
(07:08):
of numbers, and if you tell it to do the
wrong thing, it does the wrong thing. So there's a
lot of truth, can I say it that way? In computers,
they don't lie to you. They just do exactly what
they're supposed to do and exactly what you tell them
to do. And so I think coming from that sort
of unlike most people, so coming from that background, baking
(07:32):
is so much easier. I tell the oven one eight,
it does that well, apparently, but it does that. I
put in measured amounts and measured amounts work together and
it comes up to exactly how it's supposed to. With cooking, however,
things can change and you're allowed to be a lot
(07:53):
more experimental. You're allowed to do things that you can't
necessarily do with baking, and so it's a lot more unpredictable.
And so that's why I probably lean more to the
baking side. I thought it was predictable at first. It's
definitely not. But I've leaned more to the baking side
than I have the cooking side. And then my go
(08:15):
to meal I don't have one. I can make a
lot of things without recipes. Oh yes, I don't have
a go to meal. I think these three years have
done you good. Now you'real we can wake you up
at two am.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
You can make anything.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
I can. I can cook now. But I think one
of the reasons for that is because I have an
Instagram page. The cooking process is very different than what
people would assume. We don't eat a lot of things
beyond the picture I take. So, for example, I will
test out something, I'll test it out again, and then
(08:49):
if I test it out, like maybe the third or
the fourth time, i'm happy with it, I'll take a
picture and post that, but I'll probably never return to
that for the next few months because there's other things
that need to be made. There's other pictures that need
to be taken. So like, for example, my husband has
things that he loves, but he'll probably not eat those
(09:10):
things for a few months because there's other stuff that
need to be made. I can't just go over our
favorites the whole time. I can't do that. It's not effective.
It's not efficient.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
No, definitely that makes sense. And now let's talk about
content creation because in this digital age, I mean, it's
like everyone is a content creator. As long as you
have at least one person following you on your WhatsApp status,
then you're a content creator and you're entertaining somebody out there.
But there's some people who actually want to monetize their
content and to make money from the content that they make.
(09:48):
So do you have any tips for people who would
want to do that? Like, I mean, your content is
really great, You've got a great following on your Instagram.
You make amazing, relatable and practical content, which I guess
is some of the stuff people would need to make.
But what other stuff behind the scenes can a person
do to make sure that they put out content that
(10:08):
would get them something in return.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
I think the goal shouldn't be that you should want
to make money. Money should never be your main goal
or your main priority. Your main priority should be your
audience and the audience that you have in mind. So
what you should be doing is saying, what can I
do that could benefit the people that are around me?
What can I do to help the people that are
(10:30):
around me? And what you'll find is when you're helpful
to your community, people will give you money money. A
lot of people will say, you know, I attract money.
You attract money by being helpful. You don't attract money
by running after money, right, And so that's one of
the main things I think that people may be missed.
(10:53):
They start want followers, and that's great, you can want followers,
but it's very disappointing because for all content creators, we
people and follow us every day every day, people and
follow us, right, It's not somebody follows you, oh every
day every day. But like if we're just going to
(11:15):
speak solely at the unfollowing, I mean, my account gets
recommended people they're doing instead of because of the name.
When they see the content it might not be beneficial
to them, and because they're no longer beneficial or their
account is no longer beneficial to our lives. And so
your goal is to remain beneficial to your audience. You
(11:37):
don't have to everyone, but only to the people that
you you want, so only the target market of your
page per se. So that's probably the first thing. And
when you know that you're benefiting people, then you won't
get caught up in wanting to make money and where
(11:59):
the money is going to come from and all of
that stuff. I will say that it's a long road
to making money because there's a lot of people involved.
They are, like you said, a lot of content creators.
So a lot of people are content creators. The market
is competitive in that. In that regard, there's a lot
(12:19):
of people who who also post incredible, incredible content. I
follow them incredible content, you know, So in that regard
the market is competitive. So like, if there is no
financial gain, would you still do what you do? And
that's the big question. And I think because I didn't
(12:40):
start wanting money, Actually my prayer was absolutely wrong. I prayed.
I was like Jesus, some free stuff, please, yes, Lord,
let's go and I get lots of free stuff. My
prayer was definitely inaccurate. I get lots of free stuff.
But even so, I know that I would still have
a food page, whether people followed people didn't, whether I
(13:03):
made money or I didn't. Because it's my hobby, it's
not my job, so it is very different if it's
your job. So if you have if you're coming in
with a business mind, then always think about the people.
Always think about how you can benefit people, how you
can produce content that's beneficial if you come in with
a business mind. But like I said, the mindset really
(13:25):
does change things. If you have a business mindset for
your Instagram page or a business mindset for your YouTube page,
the content will flow in that direction and hopefully through
your planning they'll be able to make money and it
can be a real portfolio career for you. But know
what you want and know why you're doing it, I
think is important.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Okay, that's really great. I think you've really said something
so powerful because I'm also a believer in the fact
that if you do something that you're passionate about, it's
not going to feel like work the moment it starts
feeling like work, like if the money is motivating you, Okay,
we take away the money, you're not gonna do it anymore.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
I believe you just do something.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Where like you would, you wouldn't rather be doing anything else.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yes, definitely, and it shouldn't. Yeah, it shouldn't. It Well,
you see, that's the other problem is sometimes you do
what you're passionate about and it still feels like work. Unfortunately.
You've follow so many chefs and they love food, they love, love,
love food, but food has now become their twenty four
to seven job, and it's impractical, practical. They are not
(14:35):
parts of your job that you like. For example, I
absolutely like and so to believe that there that you know,
content creating is going to be this amazing outlet and
there's going to be no parts that you don't like
is impractical. They are going to be parts that you
don't like. There are going to be parts that absolutely
feel like work. I mean, it's my hobby and sometimes
(14:57):
it feels like work.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, lifinitely. I mean I love cooking as well and baking,
and I know there are some days where I'm just like,
I'm so passionate, I've got the fire. I'm like today
I'm gonna make Sunday roast and roast potatoes and listen
this and this and that, and there's some days I'm like,
sounds delicious.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
I'm just gonna have bread.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Like I'm just gonna have bread.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
So when you're content creator, there's no I'm gonna have bread.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
You're gonna have to every day.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
You have to push, you have to do what you
have to do. So, yes, I'm grateful to God though
that a lot of us have been able to create well,
have been able to make our our our pages financially
beneficial to us. But it's also not a It's not
steady until I think you have a huge following. Even
(15:50):
when you have a huge following, it's not steady. It's
a different world altogether, honestly, Like if we would get
into it. I worked with a brand and paid, I
think three months later, it's not sustainable if you don't
have finances, It's it's a different world. I think it
looks very glamorous, but when you're in it, it's it's
(16:12):
verything else. Yeah, there's there's a lot of you know,
different things that you'll figure out as you go. So
really do be passionate about it. And if it is
just a hobby then, you know, don't don't swear it
too much, just you know, do it as a hobby
and what comes comes. And make sure that you are
(16:34):
a multifaceted person, that you have multiple streams of income
as well, so that you know you're not just reliant
on one thing, you're not dependent. Yeah. I think that
helps as well, especially when you're starting like me.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
It helps to have a job that's really really great.
I think that's some awesome and wholesome and wise advice.
So thank you so much for that. And I'm sure
anyone who listens to this will really take that to
heart and use it for their benefit. So now one
last question on the food aspect of things, right, and
you've got ten seconds to answer it. Okay, okay, you
(17:10):
are stuck in a house for three months and you
can only have five foods five right, You've got oials,
no five foods, so like either you have apples and
peanut butter, and but it's food items, not food like
not a meals. Right, You've got your spices, you know,
(17:31):
your rosemary, your salt, you've got your cooking oil. So
those basics are there, But what are five things that
you would have in your house for those three months,
and you've got ten seconds starting now, so.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
I can't explain them. I should just tell you what
they are. Just tell me what full chickens, So the
entire chickens. Definitely. I don't know if I already have
pasta or not, but pasta's important. Definitely rice, And on
the veggie side, I don't know what I have.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Okay, Okay, let's say you have spices, right, you have
your spices, you have tomatoes and onions, you have milk, yeah,
that's all you have. That's all you have.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Okay, oil then oil?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Yeah, and oil.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Definitely fool chickens. They're very versatile. Definitely pasta that's extremely versatile.
The most versatile I think vegetable that you can have
is probably spinach, So definitely some spinach. Unfortunately I live
on potatoes, so I'll have to cheese potatoes. And for
my last one is steak, because why not? Because why not?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I mean that's enough of a reason.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Why is definitely.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Well, now let's move on to Women's Month. I just
want to know what does Women's Month mean to you personally? Like,
not like what it represents globally, but what it means
to you as a woman.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I think it's it's beautiful that we're able to recognize women.
I know in the country that we live in a
lot of the time we recognize for the purpose of
acknowledging struggle. But I don't. I don't. I don't think
of that as Women's Month. I don't think of women
and acknowledge all of our struggle. And you know, like
(19:33):
the only reason women are celebrated is because we had
to walk to those buildings, we had to come together,
we had to strike. I think when I think of
Women's Month and what it means to me is a
celebration of women and what they've been able to accomplish,
and they're well the almost the joys of it, the
(19:54):
positives of what it's like to be a woman and
what it is to be a woman. Fortunately, when when
I I think of Women's Month, I remember who we
are and who we are today, and who we are
today in this country, that we are so MAULTI faceted,
that we're all these things, wearing all these hats, and
we're able to do it, not that we are multitasking,
(20:15):
but that we're able to do all these things and
we're able to really do them. Wow. When I think
of women, I just am excited for us. I'm excited
for what we've been able to do, excited for what
we've been able to accomplish, and really excited to see
women win. I love this month just because everywhere we
(20:36):
look there's a woman's event there, women who are being
their accolades are being recognized. I love that. You know,
there's all of these beautiful announcements and women's months. It's
like every time there's a women's month, people are announcing
all of the great things that they've been able to
there's a celebration. Oh this is how we're all gonna
(20:59):
are the based again, and next women's mind will be
able to celebrate women all over again. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I think that's really that's really great. I feel like
sometimes we focus so much on like, of course we
have problems, there's somethings, some things we still need to
conquer now. But I feel like women's they should be
about celebrating the things we already have conquered as well,
not just speaking about the issues we currently have, but
also taking time to just be like, oh, wow, we've
come so far, because I mean decades ago, women couldn't
(21:30):
get an education, it was a crime. In some countries,
women couldn't drive. I mean they are still some countries
right now where women can't drive, like, but we've come
far and I think it's it's amazing for us to
be able to recognize that and just celebrate that as well.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Yeah, I think our country, unfortunately, maybe it's because of COVID,
but we don't celebrate Women's Day like in other countries.
There are some countries where women dress that up on
Women's Day and go to their city centers and walk
in the streets and get excited. And I wish we
would do that here, but obviously COVID. Yeah, but that's
(22:11):
how when I saw that, I think it was last
year or maybe the year before, when I saw how
other women in their countries celebrate women. You know, no
man in sights. It's just women celebrating being a girl's day.
Love that it really is. It's it's really like, it's
a girl thing, it's a girl day. It's honestly, it's gorgeous.
(22:32):
But I just wish we could do that. I wonder
if we would. But obviously, now with the with the road,
now we have to you know this too shall pass,
and once it does, I hope we're able to celebrate
like that, you know, having girls day outs and doing
girl things because we're celebrating Women's Day. I love that, Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
And I also feel like it shouldn't just be like
a one day thing, like obviously we have the internationally
recognized one, but I feel like as sisters, we should
celebrate each other even every day. Like compliment your friends,
compliment your sisters. Support their portfolio portfolio what's I can't
remember the top portfolio careers support their portfolio careers, you know,
(23:13):
because that's how we've get each other up and get
each other to a better place.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Yes, and not having any animosity, not having any jealousy
or any competition. I mean honestly, Like when I started
my food page, I didn't follow a lot of people
on my food page. And the reason I didn't is
because I just didn't see the point of it. I
have an Instagram page, and I used my Instagram page
(23:39):
a lot, so I just felt like, Okay, here's the
food page, and I just followed a couple of people.
And then I met a lady and she was like,
the best thing about her cooking page is the fact
that she can see everyone else's work. And I was like, what, Yeah,
So I started following. People started following, people started following,
(24:02):
following following, and at some point I had followed. I
think about I don't know how many people I've follow
out on my cooking page, but I followed like, let's
just say five hundred people. And it is so amazing
to wake up every morning, will not necessarily wake up,
let's say around eight eight pm and go onto my
(24:25):
Instagram and you just see what all my my created
that day. It's so good. And they're all women, most
of them, I think ninety percent of them a woman.
And it's incredible just to see what they've created and
to like and to comment and to share and to say,
oh my gosh, look here, Oh I love this, you know,
and support each other because we're all in this together
(24:46):
at the end of the day, and I find it
so interesting. One of the sorry back to Instagram, unfortunately,
one of the Instagram tips is don't comment on your
competitors stuff. And it's like, what what.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Do you mean?
Speaker 3 (25:02):
What do you mean They're creating such amazing things. Yeah,
like this culture that is that is like don't, don't,
don't engage, don't do this, and it's it's it's so limiting,
it's so contradictory to the to the joy of content creating.
One of the joys of content creating is to have
(25:23):
friends that content create and each others come to really
push each other and see each other win. And Women's
Mouth for me has been that instagrampen when trit and
center and it's fault to see that's really amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And I do agree with you. I mean, the only
way we build each other up is by supporting each
other and you know, making sure we're all good and
offering a hand where we can. So I think it's yeah,
some great stuff you've said, and I hope a lot
of people take heed to that. And just you know,
because a lot of the stuff that happens in the world,
(25:59):
like all jealousy, all the competitiveness all the time, is
simply because you know, you don't realize that you can
actually learn from the other person. Like if they're posting
amazing content, you get to see it and be like, okay,
so what can I do better? You know, without having
to tear them down, yeah, for their good content, Like
you know, so it's really amazing. Thank you so much
(26:20):
for taking time to really speak to us today about
all these things. It's really been great having you and
hearing all the work.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
What's a pleasure share, It's definitely a pleasure. It was
great to be here.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Thank you so much for joining us, and to everybody
who listened, thank you, and good night, good morning, good afternoon,
wherever you are.
What's Up? Everybody? Welcome to the Chatroom, a podcast dedicated
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(00:24):
supporting this podcast? Enjoy the episode.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening everybody wherever you're listening
in from today. Your host is me Martina and I
am joined by Homoso Carvalu with me, Hi Homozo.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hi, how are you great?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Thanks? How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I'm doing well as well.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
It's so awesome to have you here, the woman with
many heads, IT quality assurance specialist, home cook content creator.
There's so much to you, Hey, why don't you tell
us a bit more about stuff that you do?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
So my day job is a IT quality assurance specialists.
So I do QA on IT systems in the company
that I've worked for and I've worked there for almost
five years now. And on the side, apparently we mustn't
(01:21):
call them side hussles. We must call them our portfolio careers.
So my portfolio career is it's as a home cook.
I have an Instagram page and I post recipes and
pictures and I'm quite interested in cookbooks, quite interested in
(01:41):
food photography, and so I've got a food photography sort
of page where I help people learn how to cook.
And yeah, so that's what I do on the side
my portfolio career.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
That's awesome, that's really really great. So today we're just
going to be talking about all the stuff that you do,
all those hats to wear, and also we're going to
talk a bit about Women's Month, because we know that
we're in Women's Month right now, and I'm sure a
number of people don't really know what Women's Month is
about and what it means to be a woman. So
it's going to be very fun and interactive, but also
(02:15):
educating the people as well.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Awesome, So tell us how did you come up with
not exactly come up with Kumu's kitchen, but like what
drove you to want to be a home cook and
be so passionate about posting recipes and doing all this
food stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
So I definitely wasn't driven. I was pushed and forced.
So what happened was when I married my husband, he
said he was going to cook and I was supposed
to wash dishes. And that's how it was supposed to
go down. There was no left, no rights. It is
written in my marriage contract somewhere in my fin read
(02:54):
the fine prince says that he is supposed to cook
and to our statious. But nevertheless, as we started our
marriage and sort of saw how things spoke, you know,
marriage is not black and white, unfortunately, and it's not straightforward.
And so what happened is he actually just didn't have
(03:16):
time to cook, and I found myself having more time
than he did, and so it all of a sudden
didn't make sense anymore that he was the cook of
our family and I was the dishwasher. And so at
some points we switched roles and I started cooking and
I had to learn how to cook, and it was
(03:38):
very deep end like for me, I think I just
cooked the same thing over and over again. At some
point I found aokbook that I thought was really cool,
and my parents bought me this cookbook. I think they
were very concerned. Oh, I was a eating So my
parents bought me this cookbook and I just loved it pictures,
(04:00):
and so I started buying and buying and buying cookbooks,
just falling in love with pictures, trying things here and there.
You became a mainly pictures. Yes, yes, I still am.
I just I just need to build a shelf and
then I will continue. But as I as I started
buying cookbooks and just more and more cookbooks, and then
(04:24):
I started cooking, and then I decided, okay, I need
to take pictures, and so that's how it sort of happened,
and I started taking pictures and posting them, and hence
the beginnings of Commune's Kitchen.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
That's so amazing. It's actually not your usual you know.
Oh my gosh. When I was growing up, I really
loved cooking, and so it was just natural that when
I was older. You know, it's not your cliche story.
It's actually a very unique story, and I think that
makes it even a better one.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Yeah, it's been it's been challenging. I mean, I've only
been cooking for about three years is maybe maybe really
went three years.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yes, your pictures everything they're doing this all your life.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Hey, thank you. Everything that I've learned, I've learned in
three years less than three years. So I'm just almost
hitting the three year mark of cooking. So it's been
it's been a journey. I've been learning quite a lot, really,
just trying to be a sponge and gain every piece
(05:27):
of knowledge that I can. And everyone who knows me
thinks this is absolutely crazy that I can cook, and
I am all for them. I think exactly the same thing.
It's not. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Oh
this is weird.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
This was not the plan.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Never never never been interested in food, never never. But
you know, it was an opportunity I saw. I was
very excited, very interested in taking pictures, and so I
just feel like, you know, to share the picture without
the recipe is not helpful. And so that's why I
started sharing the recipes because, like the same way I
(06:04):
learned all of us in a short time, I feel
like everyone can learn a lot in a very short time,
and so to share the recipes and show people that
it really is possible to just start cooking and that
you can make amazing foods in your house. Really yeah,
I mean really, if you've got the tools there with
you and you know how to read, it's pretty straightforward,
(06:25):
I believe, Yes, everyone who can read as a cook.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
In my opinion, that's amazing. That's amazing. So what would
you say you're enjoy more cooking or baking, and what's
your favorite thing to make? Like you go to meal
where you know that. Okay, if we wake you up
at two am and say cook us something, you can
make this without looking at any recipeople or needing any instructions.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
I think for me, baking is has been a lot
more successful than cooking. And so I don't know why,
maybe because of the way, like my head works, I
studied it. So I studied informatics, which is business and
it together, which has a lot of economics, a lot
(07:08):
of numbers, and if you tell it to do the
wrong thing, it does the wrong thing. So there's a
lot of truth, can I say it that way? In computers,
they don't lie to you. They just do exactly what
they're supposed to do and exactly what you tell them
to do. And so I think coming from that sort
of unlike most people, so coming from that background, baking
(07:32):
is so much easier. I tell the oven one eight,
it does that well, apparently, but it does that. I
put in measured amounts and measured amounts work together and
it comes up to exactly how it's supposed to. With cooking, however,
things can change and you're allowed to be a lot
(07:53):
more experimental. You're allowed to do things that you can't
necessarily do with baking, and so it's a lot more unpredictable.
And so that's why I probably lean more to the
baking side. I thought it was predictable at first. It's
definitely not. But I've leaned more to the baking side
than I have the cooking side. And then my go
(08:15):
to meal I don't have one. I can make a
lot of things without recipes. Oh yes, I don't have
a go to meal. I think these three years have
done you good. Now you'real we can wake you up
at two am.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
You can make anything.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
I can. I can cook now. But I think one
of the reasons for that is because I have an
Instagram page. The cooking process is very different than what
people would assume. We don't eat a lot of things
beyond the picture I take. So, for example, I will
test out something, I'll test it out again, and then
(08:49):
if I test it out, like maybe the third or
the fourth time, i'm happy with it, I'll take a
picture and post that, but I'll probably never return to
that for the next few months because there's other things
that need to be made. There's other pictures that need
to be taken. So like, for example, my husband has
things that he loves, but he'll probably not eat those
(09:10):
things for a few months because there's other stuff that
need to be made. I can't just go over our
favorites the whole time. I can't do that. It's not effective.
It's not efficient.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
No, definitely that makes sense. And now let's talk about
content creation because in this digital age, I mean, it's
like everyone is a content creator. As long as you
have at least one person following you on your WhatsApp status,
then you're a content creator and you're entertaining somebody out there.
But there's some people who actually want to monetize their
content and to make money from the content that they make.
(09:48):
So do you have any tips for people who would
want to do that? Like, I mean, your content is
really great, You've got a great following on your Instagram.
You make amazing, relatable and practical content, which I guess
is some of the stuff people would need to make.
But what other stuff behind the scenes can a person
do to make sure that they put out content that
(10:08):
would get them something in return.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
I think the goal shouldn't be that you should want
to make money. Money should never be your main goal
or your main priority. Your main priority should be your
audience and the audience that you have in mind. So
what you should be doing is saying, what can I
do that could benefit the people that are around me?
What can I do to help the people that are
(10:30):
around me? And what you'll find is when you're helpful
to your community, people will give you money money. A
lot of people will say, you know, I attract money.
You attract money by being helpful. You don't attract money
by running after money, right, And so that's one of
the main things I think that people may be missed.
(10:53):
They start want followers, and that's great, you can want followers,
but it's very disappointing because for all content creators, we
people and follow us every day every day, people and
follow us, right, It's not somebody follows you, oh every
day every day. But like if we're just going to
(11:15):
speak solely at the unfollowing, I mean, my account gets
recommended people they're doing instead of because of the name.
When they see the content it might not be beneficial
to them, and because they're no longer beneficial or their
account is no longer beneficial to our lives. And so
your goal is to remain beneficial to your audience. You
(11:37):
don't have to everyone, but only to the people that
you you want, so only the target market of your
page per se. So that's probably the first thing. And
when you know that you're benefiting people, then you won't
get caught up in wanting to make money and where
(11:59):
the money is going to come from and all of
that stuff. I will say that it's a long road
to making money because there's a lot of people involved.
They are, like you said, a lot of content creators.
So a lot of people are content creators. The market
is competitive in that. In that regard, there's a lot
(12:19):
of people who who also post incredible, incredible content. I
follow them incredible content, you know, So in that regard
the market is competitive. So like, if there is no
financial gain, would you still do what you do? And
that's the big question. And I think because I didn't
(12:40):
start wanting money, Actually my prayer was absolutely wrong. I prayed.
I was like Jesus, some free stuff, please, yes, Lord,
let's go and I get lots of free stuff. My
prayer was definitely inaccurate. I get lots of free stuff.
But even so, I know that I would still have
a food page, whether people followed people didn't, whether I
(13:03):
made money or I didn't. Because it's my hobby, it's
not my job, so it is very different if it's
your job. So if you have if you're coming in
with a business mind, then always think about the people.
Always think about how you can benefit people, how you
can produce content that's beneficial if you come in with
a business mind. But like I said, the mindset really
(13:25):
does change things. If you have a business mindset for
your Instagram page or a business mindset for your YouTube page,
the content will flow in that direction and hopefully through
your planning they'll be able to make money and it
can be a real portfolio career for you. But know
what you want and know why you're doing it, I
think is important.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Okay, that's really great. I think you've really said something
so powerful because I'm also a believer in the fact
that if you do something that you're passionate about, it's
not going to feel like work the moment it starts
feeling like work, like if the money is motivating you, Okay,
we take away the money, you're not gonna do it anymore.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
I believe you just do something.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Where like you would, you wouldn't rather be doing anything else.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Yes, definitely, and it shouldn't. Yeah, it shouldn't. It Well,
you see, that's the other problem is sometimes you do
what you're passionate about and it still feels like work. Unfortunately.
You've follow so many chefs and they love food, they love, love,
love food, but food has now become their twenty four
to seven job, and it's impractical, practical. They are not
(14:35):
parts of your job that you like. For example, I
absolutely like and so to believe that there that you know,
content creating is going to be this amazing outlet and
there's going to be no parts that you don't like
is impractical. They are going to be parts that you
don't like. There are going to be parts that absolutely
feel like work. I mean, it's my hobby and sometimes
(14:57):
it feels like work.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, lifinitely. I mean I love cooking as well and baking,
and I know there are some days where I'm just like,
I'm so passionate, I've got the fire. I'm like today
I'm gonna make Sunday roast and roast potatoes and listen
this and this and that, and there's some days I'm like,
sounds delicious.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
I'm just gonna have bread.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Like I'm just gonna have bread.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
So when you're content creator, there's no I'm gonna have bread.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
You're gonna have to every day.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
You have to push, you have to do what you
have to do. So, yes, I'm grateful to God though
that a lot of us have been able to create well,
have been able to make our our our pages financially
beneficial to us. But it's also not a It's not
steady until I think you have a huge following. Even
(15:50):
when you have a huge following, it's not steady. It's
a different world altogether, honestly, Like if we would get
into it. I worked with a brand and paid, I
think three months later, it's not sustainable if you don't
have finances, It's it's a different world. I think it
looks very glamorous, but when you're in it, it's it's
(16:12):
verything else. Yeah, there's there's a lot of you know,
different things that you'll figure out as you go. So
really do be passionate about it. And if it is
just a hobby then, you know, don't don't swear it
too much, just you know, do it as a hobby
and what comes comes. And make sure that you are
(16:34):
a multifaceted person, that you have multiple streams of income
as well, so that you know you're not just reliant
on one thing, you're not dependent. Yeah. I think that
helps as well, especially when you're starting like me.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
It helps to have a job that's really really great.
I think that's some awesome and wholesome and wise advice.
So thank you so much for that. And I'm sure
anyone who listens to this will really take that to
heart and use it for their benefit. So now one
last question on the food aspect of things, right, and
you've got ten seconds to answer it. Okay, okay, you
(17:10):
are stuck in a house for three months and you
can only have five foods five right, You've got oials,
no five foods, so like either you have apples and
peanut butter, and but it's food items, not food like
not a meals. Right, You've got your spices, you know,
(17:31):
your rosemary, your salt, you've got your cooking oil. So
those basics are there, But what are five things that
you would have in your house for those three months,
and you've got ten seconds starting now, so.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
I can't explain them. I should just tell you what
they are. Just tell me what full chickens, So the
entire chickens. Definitely. I don't know if I already have
pasta or not, but pasta's important. Definitely rice, And on
the veggie side, I don't know what I have.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Okay, Okay, let's say you have spices, right, you have
your spices, you have tomatoes and onions, you have milk, yeah,
that's all you have. That's all you have.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Okay, oil then oil?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Yeah, and oil.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Definitely fool chickens. They're very versatile. Definitely pasta that's extremely versatile.
The most versatile I think vegetable that you can have
is probably spinach, So definitely some spinach. Unfortunately I live
on potatoes, so I'll have to cheese potatoes. And for
my last one is steak, because why not? Because why not?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I mean that's enough of a reason.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Why is definitely.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Well, now let's move on to Women's Month. I just
want to know what does Women's Month mean to you personally? Like,
not like what it represents globally, but what it means
to you as a woman.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I think it's it's beautiful that we're able to recognize women.
I know in the country that we live in a
lot of the time we recognize for the purpose of
acknowledging struggle. But I don't. I don't. I don't think
of that as Women's Month. I don't think of women
and acknowledge all of our struggle. And you know, like
(19:33):
the only reason women are celebrated is because we had
to walk to those buildings, we had to come together,
we had to strike. I think when I think of
Women's Month and what it means to me is a
celebration of women and what they've been able to accomplish,
and they're well the almost the joys of it, the
(19:54):
positives of what it's like to be a woman and
what it is to be a woman. Fortunately, when when
I I think of Women's Month, I remember who we
are and who we are today, and who we are
today in this country, that we are so MAULTI faceted,
that we're all these things, wearing all these hats, and
we're able to do it, not that we are multitasking,
(20:15):
but that we're able to do all these things and
we're able to really do them. Wow. When I think
of women, I just am excited for us. I'm excited
for what we've been able to do, excited for what
we've been able to accomplish, and really excited to see
women win. I love this month just because everywhere we
(20:36):
look there's a woman's event there, women who are being
their accolades are being recognized. I love that. You know,
there's all of these beautiful announcements and women's months. It's
like every time there's a women's month, people are announcing
all of the great things that they've been able to
there's a celebration. Oh this is how we're all gonna
(20:59):
are the based again, and next women's mind will be
able to celebrate women all over again. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I think that's really that's really great. I feel like
sometimes we focus so much on like, of course we
have problems, there's somethings, some things we still need to
conquer now. But I feel like women's they should be
about celebrating the things we already have conquered as well,
not just speaking about the issues we currently have, but
also taking time to just be like, oh, wow, we've
come so far, because I mean decades ago, women couldn't
(21:30):
get an education, it was a crime. In some countries,
women couldn't drive. I mean they are still some countries
right now where women can't drive, like, but we've come
far and I think it's it's amazing for us to
be able to recognize that and just celebrate that as well.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Yeah, I think our country, unfortunately, maybe it's because of COVID,
but we don't celebrate Women's Day like in other countries.
There are some countries where women dress that up on
Women's Day and go to their city centers and walk
in the streets and get excited. And I wish we
would do that here, but obviously COVID. Yeah, but that's
(22:11):
how when I saw that, I think it was last
year or maybe the year before, when I saw how
other women in their countries celebrate women. You know, no
man in sights. It's just women celebrating being a girl's day.
Love that it really is. It's it's really like, it's
a girl thing, it's a girl day. It's honestly, it's gorgeous.
(22:32):
But I just wish we could do that. I wonder
if we would. But obviously, now with the with the road,
now we have to you know this too shall pass,
and once it does, I hope we're able to celebrate
like that, you know, having girls day outs and doing
girl things because we're celebrating Women's Day. I love that, Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
And I also feel like it shouldn't just be like
a one day thing, like obviously we have the internationally
recognized one, but I feel like as sisters, we should
celebrate each other even every day. Like compliment your friends,
compliment your sisters. Support their portfolio portfolio what's I can't
remember the top portfolio careers support their portfolio careers, you know,
(23:13):
because that's how we've get each other up and get
each other to a better place.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Yes, and not having any animosity, not having any jealousy
or any competition. I mean honestly, Like when I started
my food page, I didn't follow a lot of people
on my food page. And the reason I didn't is
because I just didn't see the point of it. I
have an Instagram page, and I used my Instagram page
(23:39):
a lot, so I just felt like, Okay, here's the
food page, and I just followed a couple of people.
And then I met a lady and she was like,
the best thing about her cooking page is the fact
that she can see everyone else's work. And I was like, what, Yeah,
So I started following. People started following, people started following,
(24:02):
following following, and at some point I had followed. I
think about I don't know how many people I've follow
out on my cooking page, but I followed like, let's
just say five hundred people. And it is so amazing
to wake up every morning, will not necessarily wake up,
let's say around eight eight pm and go onto my
(24:25):
Instagram and you just see what all my my created
that day. It's so good. And they're all women, most
of them, I think ninety percent of them a woman.
And it's incredible just to see what they've created and
to like and to comment and to share and to say,
oh my gosh, look here, Oh I love this, you know,
and support each other because we're all in this together
(24:46):
at the end of the day, and I find it
so interesting. One of the sorry back to Instagram, unfortunately,
one of the Instagram tips is don't comment on your
competitors stuff. And it's like, what what.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Do you mean?
Speaker 3 (25:02):
What do you mean They're creating such amazing things. Yeah,
like this culture that is that is like don't, don't,
don't engage, don't do this, and it's it's it's so limiting,
it's so contradictory to the to the joy of content creating.
One of the joys of content creating is to have
(25:23):
friends that content create and each others come to really
push each other and see each other win. And Women's
Mouth for me has been that instagrampen when trit and
center and it's fault to see that's really amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And I do agree with you. I mean, the only
way we build each other up is by supporting each
other and you know, making sure we're all good and
offering a hand where we can. So I think it's yeah,
some great stuff you've said, and I hope a lot
of people take heed to that. And just you know,
because a lot of the stuff that happens in the world,
(25:59):
like all jealousy, all the competitiveness all the time, is
simply because you know, you don't realize that you can
actually learn from the other person. Like if they're posting
amazing content, you get to see it and be like, okay,
so what can I do better? You know, without having
to tear them down, yeah, for their good content, Like
you know, so it's really amazing. Thank you so much
(26:20):
for taking time to really speak to us today about
all these things. It's really been great having you and
hearing all the work.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
What's a pleasure share, It's definitely a pleasure. It was
great to be here.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Thank you so much for joining us, and to everybody
who listened, thank you, and good night, good morning, good afternoon,
wherever you are.
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