WCWM: In Conversation with Evette

Welcome to the Working Class Women Movement! Today, we are diving deep into the world of African cuisine with Evette, the Guinness World Record holder for the longest cooking time by an individual. In this post, Evette shares her journey from her childhood in West Africa to running a successful business in Australia, emphasizing the importance of authenticity in African cooking.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to the Working Class Women Movement. I'm your host, Nita, and today I am in conversations with Yvette. And I'm gonna ask her to introduce herself so we know a little bit about her.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Okay, cool. Well, my name is Yvette Coivier. I am the current Guinea's World Record holder for the longest cooking time by an individual, standing at 140 hours. But it was initially 150 hours, but by the time they deduct all the mistakes and stuff, it came down to 140 hours, which is like six days.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

You were cooking for six days.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Something like that.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

Yeah. Before we get to the world record, before we get to 140 hours, I just want to know who was little Yvette when growing up. Did you grow up in Australia? Where do you come from?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Um, well, my my um growing up is a little complicated. Um, my childhood, because um I was conceived during the war. Okay. So I'm originally from Liberia, then I was born in Ivory Coast, then I grew up in Ghana.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Then I came to Australia.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Wow. So to Liberia, born in Ivory Coast.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Stayed in Ghana, then ended up in Australia. Australia. Yeah. Oh, that's really that's like and you're you were going through the war which was in Liberia?

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Yeah, so my parents kind of flew the war from Liberia, then went to Ivor Coast where I was conceived.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

I mean, sorry, where I was born.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

And then you went to school in Ghana?

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Uh went to school in Ivor Coast for a while. I think we stayed in Ivory Coast for about 10 to 12 years.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Then um, we then moved to Ghana because there was a little bit of conflict in Ivory Coast too.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

And then when did you get to Australia?

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Oh, we came to Australia, I remember that day.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

You actually did you?

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Yes, it's 2007, August 16, 2007.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

And how was that? Like, how was that culture shock coming from all these three African countries and then coming to Australia 2007? It wouldn't have been that diverse around that time.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Not really. Nah, it wasn't. Um, I was really excited. Then getting here, things were really different. Um, it wasn't what I expected. It was, it was both, you know, a little bit of both. So um coming to Australia, I had this whole mindset that Australia was having. I was wondering like, do we work on, you know, do they have like floor ties? Do they have like, you know, what does the saree look like? And coming here. Um it was different. There wasn't many people like me, honestly. Um, school system, life, everything was just really different. But for me, I think the biggest shock would have been the food. The food? I remember going to a university in Toowoomba where they had a multiculture event and we saw something that looked like rice. It looked really good. You know, I thought maybe, yeah, this is some kind of jell of rice.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

And we tried the rice, it was raw. The rice was not cooked properly. And that was one of the biggest culture shocks for me because I'm a fruit person. So that got me.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

And then when did you actually start loving the idea of cooking?

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Oh, that that's an interesting question. But funny enough, I didn't really I just naturally like to cook, but I didn't kind of see it as anything big, if that makes sense. Yeah. Um I was the older sister then of about nine kids. I think there was ten of us. My parents had nine kids, so I was the older sister of nine kids. So being the older sister in Africa, you have to do it. Take care of everybody. Yeah, you gotta learn how to cook. So my mom taught me how to cook at a very early age. But then also being young, I genuinely loved cooking. Like I'll be cooking in little cubs, and you know how you know kids play with toys and stuff. For me, I would just be like blowing the charcoal and smelling the food, saying, This looks so good, I can literally eat it. Um, but when I moved to Australia, then I was 15, I think I noticed um, like I started to take it seriously when I noticed how much people love my food. So, for example, if we have church, culture stuff, I always like to just volunteer really cook and take it there. And I just love to see how when people eat the food, how happy they were, how excited, and how it brought people together, the joy it brought to people. I think that's when that clicked to me. Yes, it's yeah, I must cook. Yeah, and I think that was around when I was about like 20, 20, going to 21. So, what did you study in university? What? What did you study in university? Oh, actually, funny enough, I did not go to university at all. Yeah, I just did um hospitality. Okay. Yes, and I also what was the other thing? I did um diploma in disability and childcare.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

And then now you are a business owner, you have a well-recorded I think the well worker is my university.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

I just did it in six days.

SPEAKER_02 5:23

Okay, so you're saying that you realized from cooking uh for people in church and volunteering your time that you wanted to cook, right? Yes. So and then when you decide that you want to cook, what then drives you to literally get to a point where you get into the Guinness Book of Records? Because what's that transition between I'm cooking for people in church at 20 to this is going to be a lifelong thing? When did you get that? I'm gonna actually do this for the rest of my life.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

Oh, that's an interesting uh question. And it's a long story, isn't it? Um, I remember moving to Melbourne from Queensland. Um, I think I was around 21, going to 22 when I moved here. I was saying it was around in 2014. I remember walking in sunshine. I'm not sure if you know where that is. Yeah, back then it was boiling, it was it was great. So uh I was working at the abatto. That was my first uh job in the meat uh as a meat processor. Yeah, so that's where I was. So I wasn't even in the hospitality industry, I just studied it for fun and stuff. Then uh one day I was walking in sunshine with a friend. I saw an African restaurant, it was called Food Africa then, and they had like followers of food on the window and stuff. And I looked at that, I'm like, I'm really good at turning rice around. Like, I would love to work here. This would be great for me. And that was just it. That was just what I said.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

It was the beginning.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Yeah, my friend was like, why don't you go and apply? And I went and applied, they accepted me. I ended up being the head cook there then. Yeah, you know, um, and people just loved it. Like people were so excited when they come. Like a lot of people were just coming because I was one of the chefs there, so they just loved it. Like, even up to now, people remind me of that day. Like, oh my goodness, you were such a good cook. I'm like, I kind of sometimes I even forget some of those things, and people are still reminding me.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

And that was how my journey started. Then I worked there for about a year, met someone, fell in love, moved on, and ended up working in the Crown Casino, doing cleaning, and then move on to disability. And um, but working there, I always had a dream to have my own restaurant. But for some reason, that didn't happen. You took a few steps back. Yeah, ended up getting married, having a child, and just focused on something else. And I was just cooking for my husband and family and friends, and I still got the reaction. I remember going overseas and I cooked for some family friends, and they loved the food so much that they were singing the minest song out of that. You know what I mean? I still have the video. So it's just stuff like that. And every time that happens, it just clicked. I think for me, it clicked that cooking was not just food. It somehow I had some kind of gift to it where it makes people happy and it just kind of brought joy to people. And I'm a people person, so I wanted to see more people happy. And another thing was that I always noticed that in Australia when people open African restaurants, they kind of take the authenticity away from our food. Yes. It becomes more a little bit western, like westernized instead of authentic African food. I remember um being with uh some friends, I was telling them, Oh, I'm gonna open a restaurant, but I don't want it to be westernized. I want it to be authentic African food and I wanted to bring that back. Yeah, I wanted someone to have African food and feel like they're back home or they're having whatever we're gonna have at home or at, you know, somewhere in Africa. I just wanted them to get that feel of what it feels like to have an African food.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

I like that. You've actually literally answered the question I was gonna ask you next.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Yeah, so it's not true.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

We can skip to what is the misconception people have about West African food? What do you think people think about West African food?

SPEAKER_00 9:17

I think um, especially here in Australia, we're a little behind when it comes to culture or multiculture. And I feel like African food is behind too. Like Africa in general in Australia, Africans, um, I think we're kind of like one of the last immigrants that started coming to Australia. So they're still kind of adapting to getting used to Africans, uh, who we are and our food and stuff. So I feel like there's a lot of um lack of knowledge in that area. And they probably, I mean, it's like what people think of Africa jungle, we eat weird stuff, and our food is not edible, it's not international friendly. And I'm from Liberia, I'm like originally Liberian, and our food uh is just so beautiful. Yeah. Like we can cook anything and it's so healthy. It's just like it's you can turn our food into like international cousin. True. It's crazy. Like we have fried ochre or fried eggplane, um, we have like vegetable soup, and then on top of the on top of that, we have the fufu. Yes. But all of fufu is just like a mashed potato, yeah, a bit thicker, and you have steels and mead. I'm pretty sure you guys have similar things. Similar foods, yeah. Yeah, and it's so international friendly. And if the world gets to understand and see what we have and give it a taste, they will fall in love with it. And that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to introduce that. So it's almost like African food is merging now, it's just coming up now. Like it's the new thing because everything has happened, everything has existed, and now we are the only people that have been left behind, and now we're coming up. So the world is just getting introduced to West African food and African food in general. Yeah. And I want to be part of that.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

That's so true, because there's not so many restaurants in Melbourne that it's a few. There's Taste of Africa, isn't there, and then there's you. Yeah, and then Taste of Senegal. Yeah, so not so many, yeah, and not a lot of even on, you know, there's this African festival that happens, not a lot of representation. Yeah. And that twist that you're talking about where it's a good thing. Again, it still happens. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I don't like the crowd.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

I don't want the crowd. Yeah, it really happens. Do you know? Before you continue, I feel like people are looking for something different. They're looking for something authentic. And that's that's what they're looking for. But we are trying to um into what what we think they want, but what they actually want is something authentic and something different. And I think if every African uh food business or people that are getting into food business, I would encourage them to have that understanding that they're not wanting you to change it for them to make it like to suit them, but they actually want the original, like the originality of the food. That's that's what people are looking for. That's really true. So if you understand that, I think that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Then you don't write it at all.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

You wouldn't do that because it's it's amazing, it's beautiful the way it is.

SPEAKER_02 12:27

It is. Yeah. So when you when you make some of the foods, because I got to actually see that you also do these big orders. Who are your clientele when it comes to these big orders? Oh, still African people, or it's different type of cultural people.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

So when it comes to the restaurant, we do have few African um, or how do I say customers? But when it comes to um our big orders, I think most of that is African actually. We do have a lot of um, especially the Nigerians, most of my customers are the Nigerians. Um, my people, the Liberians, a lot of them make these food at home, and then that's what they eat every day at home. So most of them don't really come out that much. But once in a while we do get support from that community, but majority of my customers are, when it comes to catering, it's definitely Africans.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

But when it comes to restaurant, it's a lot of Asians and Australian and to raise people just trying to try new things and trying to get a taste of African food. That's right. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

Okay, so um, what dish best dis best represents your story and why?

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Oh, I I did not know that question because I would have thought about it. Oh what's that one dish? That's a really good question. Wow, I wish I could have thought about it a little more, but ooh, I I love a lot of things. That's the thing with me. I get bored sticking to one thing. So something that would describe my personality will change all the time. So I'll probably have a few of them.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

Because I saw in your menu you had fried jalov, and I was like, oh my god, this is different.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

That describes me. Fried Jalov is definitely different, and there's a little story to that. Yeah. It's actually called wisdom jalov. Okay. Why is it called wisdom jalov? That's a good question. So I this jalob, the story behind wisdom jalov was when I had the previous milk bar slash restaurant, um, there was a little house at the top because it's milk bar. So my son and I lived at the top of the restaurant. And that's why I opened a milk bar slash restaurant so I can be with my son and just take this journey with him. Because then I recently became a single mom. So I just wanted to like, you know, stay with him and just give him quality time. So I remember there was a time, um, it was a Saturday morning, we sold um food and we had leftover jollof rice, and I just wanted to make something quick for him to have lunch. Yes. So I decided to, you know, the Africa, I don't know if you guys have that in South Africa, but but in West Africa, we our breakfast is fry eggs with tomato, onions, shillows. Yes, yes, we can do it. And then we have that with bread and the mayo. So I'm like, I want to be creative. So I decided to um fry the eggs and then mix it up. Like just, you know, kind of uh cut it a little bit and then add the jollof and just fry them together with shillots. And that's how fry jollof came about. I was just making lunch for my son. But guess what? My son was like, mommy, this tastes so good. This is so amazing that you need to put this on the menu. Yeah. And that's how Fry Jolove, Wisdom Jolo, got on the menu. You see, so it's named after my son. It does have a story. So that describes me. Yes. And why it describes me is very simple, but why it is something that describes me because I'm very creative, I'm very ambitious. I'm always trying something new. I just can't stick to one thing. I'm not built like that. So I'm risk taker. So that was one of the risks I took. Just try to put fry gel off on the menu, a new jalove that is not part of the jalove debate. Yeah. So the world doesn't know about that yet. But they're yet to know. So fried off is available now. Africa, we made our own fry rice and it's called Fry Jalove. Mr. Jalov, I like that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Because I was just like, I saw it on the menu, and I was like, this is so different. And I was like, I think I'm to come try this. And now you're only opening at one, so I'm like, oh. And I will make time to definitely.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

You can always order.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Oh, but then I stay so far.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

Oh try overheats. There could be an opportunity there for you to try.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

Um all the way.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

No, like they can do delivery.

SPEAKER_02 16:42

Yeah. Yeah. I'll definitely do that. Okay, so let's get into the business part of it, right? Okay. You were ambitious enough to have restaurants and went for it, right? So a lot of women dream of opening businesses, but fail, or they they fear the the sense of failure, right? Like if I do something, I might fail. What gave you the courage to start?

SPEAKER_00 17:07

I understand the fear. I think we that end up taking that step to start. We also had that fear. But I think the difference um with people like me would be we try to overcome that fear. And for example, like taking the world record, I saw someone did it and they succeeded in doing it.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

So you kind of look at people, it's not like comparing yourself to them, but it's encouraging and motivating yourself. But people that have overcome that fear and tried and did it and they made it, and you say, if they can do it, then I can do it, I can do it. So I I I just say I use people that are making it, people that are doing it. That's why it's important to do stuff because you don't know how many people you're encouraging. It's important to go places that Africans are not at. Because the younger generation is looking at you, they're looking at us. And sometimes I remind myself of that. How many people am I gonna encourage by taking that step? For example, you you mentioned something like university. I didn't get the chance to go to university because I grew up doing the war and we were moving from place to place, from different country to another country. So I had a lot of lack of opportunity growing up. And I said to myself, even though I grew up with a lot of lack of opportunity, how can I change my story? I think that was one of the reasons that was that was where my motivation was coming from. That where I am right now is not the end of my story. I want to create a new story about myself. And I have a story for the word to, I have a story to share that the world needs to hear. But how can they hear my story if I don't change my story? How would they want to hear my story? Yeah. If if I don't take a bold step to overcome, you know, where I am right now to kind of create a new story or give myself a platform. So I think that's those little things put together and watching people that dated, people in businesses, and just kind of um taking that bold step and saying, if they can do it, then you know, I'm just like them, I can do it too.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

So do you ever experience moments where you doubt yourself or you just wanted to give up?

SPEAKER_00 19:16

All the time. As a single mom running business, a business, um, it's really tough because everything I do, every step I take, every business opportunity I have, I have to think about my son. Initially, before I opened a milk bar slash restaurant, I wanted to open a food truck. I made a call and did everything, but I felt like that wasn't gonna suit me as a single mom. So that was why I went into um a milk bar slash restaurant. Then it wasn't going that great. It was really tough. Um, the location was not great and all of that. It was just things were not growing. So every single time I was telling, I would say to myself, why did I make this decision? Sometimes I forget why I took that step, why I decided to go on that path. And I would be saying to myself, I could have done it this way, I could have done it that way, why did I do it? Should I just give up? And I'll say to myself, I've come too far to give up. And then sometimes, I think the people that work with me will tell you this. Sometimes I'll be in the kitchen and saying to myself, You got this, you can do it. Like I'll literally motivate myself. Because sometimes uh we have to be our biggest cheerleader in order to make it. We have to re uh how was the word for it? Like reinsure ourselves that it's possible, we can do it. Otherwise, um you'll just end up giving up. But to answer that question, every single day. It's like every day I have to remind myself why I did it and help myself overcome that fear. So it's an everyday thing.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

It's inspirational because I guess we we do forget there are moments where you just want to walk away from everything. And I always say half the time when I'm at work and I'm like, I think I just want another life. And I would just know that that day is a is a bad day. I'm like, did I just have another life or just a break and then I'll come back to this life again? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

So it's why did I do this again?

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Why did I choose this path? Yeah, why?

SPEAKER_00 21:08

All the time.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

So, what sacrifices did you have to make to build your vision?

SPEAKER_00 21:14

A lot. It's not easy. It's really, really I'm I'm not gonna lie. Anybody trying to do business, it's hard. Working for yourself, you don't get paid for one, two, three years sometimes. But you just gotta keep building and believing that, you know, in due time, um, it's gonna pay off. So financial, I have never been broke in my life, so broke. Well, let me say, since I started working, since I came to Australia and I started working and started being independent and looking after myself. I've always been the type of a giver, the type of person that is, and this is something I don't ever say. Like, I'm the type of person that I'll randomly just take a friend out and do things for people, like single moms, because I have passion for them because you know I know what it feels like. Just supporting people and Doing things, family member, if there's a birthday, I'm the one to remember and make something happen. So I'm the type of person that the fun, you know, always doing the vibe. Since I started a business, it changed me. That's the biggest sacrifice I had to make. Financially, it was crazy. Yeah, a lot of mistakes learning, and you know, you don't even know if the customer is gonna walk in today. And you just have to trust that it's gonna happen. And you're constantly taking money from your pocket to just sustain the business and keep trusting that sooner or later it's gonna come together. So I would say that's one of the, and also I don't know, if which one is is more, they're both even like my son. The amount of time I would like to spend with him, um, do things with him, I had to kind of, you know, divide that with the business. And that's something that kind of every day it haunts me. But I have to tell him that, you know, we're doing this together. Tomorrow you're gonna remember that we both sacrifice for this to work. So I tell him, I say, mommy just has to work a little more just for us to get to where we want to be. And then tomorrow we'll both spend as much time as we can together. We're gonna travel the world and do a lot of things. I do a case. I have to encourage my son because he's also sacrificing his time with me. I mean, it doesn't mean that I don't make time for him, but the amount of time that I would like to spend with him and missing out on a lot of few things that hurts. But it has to be in order for something great to happen, sacrifices have to be done.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

That is so true. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

I hope I'm answering your questions.

SPEAKER_02 23:41

You did. You definitely did. You you you're answering all of them. That's great. Because you've already answered the next one, so just jump to another one. That's great. So, what advice would you give women who feel too late to pursue their dreams?

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Oh, okay, I'll go back again to the world record. The reason why I go back to that, because that's one of the biggest reasons why I attempted to break it, because I wanted to motivate and encourage people like me. Because, like I said, I grew up with a lot of lack of opportunities. Um, there was a period of my life, seven years, where I couldn't have my restaurant or or pursued um my dream. So it felt like I was behind. It felt like it was too late. But I said to myself, it's better late than never. True. Like I don't want to live my whole life in regret. And regret, I've watched people regret, and even in their old age, they will still talk about how they miss out on becoming who they were supposed to be. They missed out on achieving this or doing that. And I feel like when you have a dream in you, it's a life. It's almost like you're pregnant with a baby. True. And if that baby doesn't come out, you feel uncomfortable. And for me personally, I feel like that's what it is. So until you give birth to that, you'll never have that complete peace. So it's never too late. I feel like you only fail when you don't try. You only fail when you give up. There's nothing like failure. If you try and it doesn't work, at least you learn from it. You gain a lot of knowledge. If I tell you the amount of knowledge and wisdom I have gained from starting a business, I will never regret that. Even though I lost so much, but I also gained so much that money can never buy. True. And I'm so grateful for that. And tomorrow, I can teach a lot of young people this. Like if they want to start a business, I tell them, take this path because this path is not gonna work. So you're gonna help other people. So I would say, no matter what, just try. It's never too late.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

I like that. I even feel motivated, honestly. Like I'm sitting here and I'm like, oh, I think maybe I needed to hear this. Honestly. Where did the idea of attempting the Guinea's world record first come from?

SPEAKER_00 26:07

I should have waited for you to go to how you're talking about it.

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Now you have to tell us where it really came from. Like, how do you get to say, World Guinea's book of records, I'm gonna do this? Who is telling you all about this? Where do you find it?

SPEAKER_00 26:23

Interesting enough, I was just on social media.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Yeah. Um, I think I was going through a phase in my life at that time of re-resets. Yeah, I think we all have this phase where for me it was a new beginning, reset, and that was when the whole business journey came true. Um, I recently just opened uh milk, I think this was in 2022, I can't really remember exactly. 2020, 2023 actually. Um I was just at home going through my social media and I saw a girl in Nigeria, like all over the internet, people I know were posting someone doing the Guinea's World Record for the longest cooking time by the individual. And I was like, oh, this is a thing. And then I remember um there were times that we, there was a time we actually had a housewarming where I had to cook for three days straight to um make sure everything is, you know, together for our event. And I didn't have much help at them. So I just had to do everything on my own. And I was fine. But I didn't know I was sitting on a world record uh talent or gift. Yeah, so when I saw that, I was like, oh, this is me. I can do this because I've done it before. I've done three days before. If I can do three days, I can do maybe another two and I should be fine. So I I just believe, but I also going to the bigger picture, it was more like I saw a doll, an opportunity for me to achieve something big. You know, like I think I felt like I had something in me that says I'm meant to be more than where I was. Yes. And what where, you know, where what I was doing. Um, I'm meant to be great. But at the same time, my life, my life path has kind of, you know, closed every door. You understand? So I felt like this was an opportunity or a door for me to enter for something bigger.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

Every breath. Yeah, every breath. And I just saw it as an opportunity to do something to encourage um other people, people like me that felt like you know they've not had the opportunity to achieve their dreams. And, you know, I just wanted them to know that there's a place for everyone to achieve their dream. And I think that was the story behind me attempting to break the Guinea's record. And you did. Thank you. And you did. But to answer the other question of how everything came about, so I applied and I'm not a paperwork person. I that's my awakeness. I don't like it. You can I can cook all day or do anything with my hands, yeah. But don't give me paperwork. I get really frustrated. So I just don't like it. I don't know why. Um, so I had to go online. That was when I started the first uh day. I went online and spent the whole night applying for it. I'm telling you, it was very probably a bit simple, but for me, with that, it takes longer. So I'm being honest. So I took the whole night to apply for it. I didn't tell anyone because I believe if they heard that, they would not believe in me. They would think I'm crazy. Yes. So I waited six months later after applying. That's when they sent me an email on my birthday month and telling me I was approved to attempt um to break the Guinea's World Record for the longest cooking time by an individual. But the funny thing is, it was only 100 hours then when I applied. By the time I got approved, someone else has already broken the record from Hilda Bassi, which was Alan Feature in Japan. And he did 119 hours. From 100 hours, it then became 119 hours. And you like, it just keeps on getting steeper and this cannot be true, sir. But I was like, the thing with me is when I put my mind to something, I'm gonna do it. Whether I'm gonna fail or not, you know, I'm gonna succeed or not, I'm still gonna try anyways. And I was like, I've already decided I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do it. Yeah. And once I got approved, I took like a few uh days or weeks to kind of, you know, I can't believe this is happening. Then I contacted some friends and then we started planning on how to uh put everything together. Um, it was a bit hard because I tried to raise money for where I couldn't. So I had to kind of, you know, I just only I could only raise a little bit and it cost so much to do it. So I just had to kind of plan everything, like it took me one month to just put everything together. And initially I was gonna do it within a year, but I realized that everybody was attempting to break it at that time. And I didn't know they can approve so many people at once. Okay. But then some people were not approved, they were just attempting to break in. But anyways, I also had to speed it up and just do it in one month, and then we just did everything in one month.

SPEAKER_02 31:03

140 hours of cooking is literally beyond physical strength, right?

SPEAKER_00 31:10

But anything is possible. I feel like if you believe in God and believe in yourself, anything is possible.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

So, what pushed you in the moment of feeling exhausted? Because this is 140 hours you're on your feet, because you can't be laying on the ground or sleeping and cooking. What pushed you through? Like when you were feeling like I am exhausted, there's nothing left in me. What pushed you through? A hundred for that six days, you said?

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Yeah. Yeah, six days. Um sleep? No, so every four hours you get like a 20 minutes break. So initially I tried to take like power naps, but they were more like shutdown naps. They were trying to shut my body down. Then if you watch some of the video, like people were hitting pots and trying to keep me awake. So, and then I was asking myself, what's the problem? Like, I was okay before I went. So, why am I struggling? So I started to kind of observe what were the patterns, then I discovered towards the end, maybe two days, maybe 20 days in, that is the power naps. So I had to stop having power naps and then just keep going through straight through it. Yeah. But to answer your question, um, what pushed me through doing the marathon to keep going when I felt exhausted would be, I think number one, my faith in God. That's my biggest, that's where I pull my strength from, really. That's the number one. I I cannot say anything else. I think that kind of so doing the marathon, I'll be praying and just trusting in God and believing that I'm here, I'm on a mission, and I cannot give up until that mission is accomplished. And I think that's how I kept going. And my team, really, my team, um, the assistant chef, you know, my team were like making sure they keep me on track. I was telling them no matter what, do not let me sleep. And yeah, they did great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:00

That is that is insane. Like when I got to see it, I was like, this is it's it's it's beyond, I don't know, like it's really inspirational and very motivating to see an African woman in the diaspora in Australia breaking a world Guinea's book of records. You still holding the record?

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Currently, as far as I'm concerned, I don't know. I haven't gone in an email that someone else has. So for now, yes. But you know what's interesting? I haven't said this to anyone. I don't know if you want to hear this.

SPEAKER_02 33:31

Tell me.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

One morning I woke up at home, and this is what I hear. My son said, Mom, I'm getting more confident. He's nine. Yeah. Um, I'm working on myself, I'm trying to focus and concentrate. Can you guess what he said to me? What? Because I'm trying to break your record.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

Your competition is in your heart.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

So, I mean, if you're out there, my son is trying to break the record. So I I I it was the cutest thing. It was the most motivating thing and powerful thing ever. I mean, it's funny, but it was just so much.

SPEAKER_02 34:10

Your story has to be heard by a lot of people. There's somebody out there in Liberia, in Ivory Coast, in Ghana, in any part of Africa who didn't have actually thought this was possible. I myself didn't even know it was possible until I saw your story on social media. Wow. And the person who tells me about it, I think it's a mutual person that we know, Fraser. He does the shisang. Oh, that's funny. And he goes, Oh, I've got a friend who broke the world record. He's so lovely. Doing what? She's cooking. I'm like, cooking. Then I went onto social media and I was like, this is, and you are female and you're a woman. And I'm like, yes, girl, this is what we're talking about. It's so inspirational. And having to just hear you that you're a single mom, yes, you're once married, and now you're just conquering this journey by yourself, being a single mom, showing up for yourself all the time, showing up for your community. Yeah, it's it's beyond inspirational. And I just feel like everybody has to know. You should be screaming every day to say, I'm the world champion. Oh my gosh. Still holding the record to date. So it's it's it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

No, I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 35:18

So let's we are gonna wrap up and we're gonna have closing questions. And every time, just a few more.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

That's okay.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

Um, what would you say to a young woman, a young African girl watching this who feels unseen right now, who feels challenged to a woman who is going through a tough time in their marriage, or who is a divorcee and who is a single mom, and they're just feeling really unseen, what would you say to them today?

SPEAKER_00 35:53

Um, that's quite a bit of question together, but we can work this out. Yeah. Um, I'm saying, number one, if wherever you are right now, it's just it's it's just a process. That's not your destination. It's part of the process. Your story is being built up. Um, as a Christian, I'll say your testimony is being built up, but um just see it as God training you for something bigger or life is training you for something bigger, whatever you believe in. Um, and know that your time is coming. And when you see that opportunity, you first of all, I'll say to be bold, to be courageous, to be strong enough to take the step when you see the opportunity for you to take that bold step, to enter that door that you know has been opened for you to make a change and change your story or change your path or your journey. To not be afraid. The biggest thing I'll say to people is to not be afraid to take a bold step wherever you are, like if it's in a you know, unhealthy relationship, if it's in an unhealthy friendship or whatever circumstances it might be, wherever you found yourself and you feel like you're stuck, it's not the end of the it is not the end of the journey for you. It's just part of your story. And when you break free, you're gonna, you know, help a lot of people, encourage a lot of people. The same with how you're sitting there right now, feeling like it's the end of your life. When you break free, you'll be able to tell other people that you know I was once there and now I'm here. So just have that courage and that motivation to know that um it's not the end of your story, and there's, you know, there's a brighter things ahead for you, and be bold enough to take that step.

SPEAKER_02 37:36

And I love that. So when people hear the name events years from now, what do you hope they remember you as?

SPEAKER_00 37:45

A lot of things. Yeah, they'll remember me as a lot of things, and it could be a combination, you know, whatever I do could be good to some people and it could be bad to some people, and everybody experienced people in different ways. So, but I do pray that the good things will overcome the bad. So I do want people to remember me. Not really as it's not really about being good or bad, but just as a strong, courageous, bold. I'm genuinely a risk taker, so you know, I've taken good and bad risks, but you know, that's why it's called risk. You know, when you take them, you know that it's either gonna go bad or good. But I want people to rem remember me as someone, as an African woman that wants to be part that wants to be part of history. I speak fast, but I'm gonna slow this down. That wants to be part of the change. Yes. You know, an African in diaspora that is making a change, that is bold enough to change the narrative. To um, you know, our people have been through a lot. You know, our history is crazy, especially from where I come from, Liberia. I want to be someone that has built the community, um, shine a light in all the dark places. For example, food has taken African food to another level that nobody thought it was ever gonna be. Um, even back home, you know, someone that did not forget about her people back home, the whole of Africa, we're all one. I don't see Nigeria, I don't see Liberia, I don't see South African, I see Africa as a whole. And I want to be part of that unity. I want people to remind remember me as someone that brought unity, someone powerful that united her people and brought a big transformation in her community into the world. If that makes sense. So my heart is very big, and sometimes I'm even afraid of myself. It's weird, but it's true.

SPEAKER_02 39:38

Yeah, it generally happened. So um, you know, when we started, I had said to you as we were setting up, I say to you, um, the internet is forever.

SPEAKER_01 39:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

So I do this because I'm hoping anybody who watches it, and even if we're no longer there, they could be motivated. Even anybody. Yeah. Young girls, women, young boys, anybody can watch this video. Everyone.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

It's for everyone.

SPEAKER_02 40:02

So I want to challenge you right into the camera. Yes. I want you to leave a message to your son. Oh, okay. To your son. I did not say that coming, but I love this. To your son. Because one day, we will maybe not be there. When he ever comes across this video, what would you say to him?

SPEAKER_00 40:21

Oh, that's a powerful one, emotional one, very touching. Well, wisdom. Wisdom, Chibike or Suji, I'm calling your full name, your full name. Whenever you ever, ever, ever come across this video. I want you to know that you're powerful. Your eco. Do not ever let anybody intimidate you. You can do anything that you put your mind to. You can be the next prime minister of Australia. You can change the whole world. You can be the next martel Martin Little King. Yes. Is that the right way? Yes, Martin Little King. Martin Little King. You can be the next Martin Little King. So I want you to believe in yourself and know that you can do anything. Like you are great. And know that if your mom can do it, then you can do it too. So believe in yourself and do not let anybody put you down and do not let anybody tell you you can't do anything because you can.

SPEAKER_02 41:25

Thank you, Vit. It was really a great chat. And the working class women movement is about inspiring young women and telling stories of women who are doing incredible things. And I am going to live here motivated. I'm going to live here also thinking about my own dreams that I am full of that I also need to do. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 41:46

You gotta give birth to it. It's there for a race.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

So thank you so much for your time. Um, thank you for sharing your wonderful place with me. And I'm actually gonna take some few shots and then people get to see. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:59

It's not set up though.

SPEAKER_02 42:00

Even if it's not set up, it's always the raw and the authentic stuff. That's it. Right. That's what we want. It's the role, the authentic stuff. I'm so glad. So thank you so much for the time. This is the working class women movement, and I'm with Yvette. And until the next one, remember to be courageous and go for your dreams.

SPEAKER_00 42:20

And be bold. And be bold. Lovely. Thanks for having me. Beautiful.