Episode 144: From Economist To Culinary Mega Brand With Winifred Nwania 'Zeelicious'

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On this rerun episode of The Podcast, I sit down with Winifred Nwania, a Culinary Expert, Cookbook Author, Etiquette Coach & Expert, and also Cooking Show Host on DSTV. We have the most awe-inspiring, mind-blowing, and revelatory conversation about her passion for cooking and her journey to becoming one of Africa’s premier culinary phenomena out of Nigeria. This conversation is so expository and illuminating as it simplifies in the most unique way how a simple skill or passion can evolve into a global message that elevates you and impacts lives extraordinarily. If you have ever wondered about the future of your passion, talent, or skill, this conversation will provide all the answers you need to get started and honour the call of your purpose to be more, do more, and have more.
Key Highlights:

• The passion for winning. (13:49)
• How it all started. (16:27)
• The benefits of National Youth Service Corps lectures skills acquisition. (17:51)
• Documenting her cooking recipes: Sharing pictures on Blackberry and starting a blog whilst working a 9-5. (19:54)
• Quitting her 9-5 job to honor her calling. (20:30)
• The birth of Zeelicious foods. (23:05)
• The role of reading books and prayers in her pursuit of purpose. (29:29)
• Now, what next? (32:09)
• Starting her YouTube channel, hosting her first cooking show on TV, and the inspiration from Food Network’s Siba Mtongana. (36:39)
• Resolute self-development through learning and deliberate practice. (41:54)
• The journey is as important as the destination. (47:27)
• Have a vision. (49:09)
• Corporal Sunday’s drills, the lesson of tiny details, and the focus on excellence. (54:47)
• Vision, tenacity, and decisiveness. (59:33)
• My journey is far from over. (1:03:15)
• What making an impact is not. (1:09:43)
• Everyone on earth is on assignment. (1:10:48)

About Winifred:
Winifred Nwania, fondly known as Winnie is the founder of Zeelicious Foods Company and the host of the Zeelicious Cooking Series that airs on her YouTube Channel and ‘My Naija Plate’ which airs on DSTV Channel 173.
As a proud citizen of the African continent, her passion to create mouthwatering Nigerian/African-inspired delicacies has taken her and her audience on a tantalizing culinary journey since 2018.
Winnie has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Lagos. She quit a high-paying oil industry job in 2017 to pursue her dreams in the culinary industry.
Today, she has grown the Zeelicious Foods brand from humble beginnings as a little YouTube channel with a few hundred subscribers into a burgeoning media empire working wi is the only cookbook you’ll need to step up your cooking and healthy eating lifestyle - the highly seasoned professionals and some of the biggest multinational brands in the industry and now serves a global audience of over 1,200,000 people with her fun and simple cooking tutorials of African and continental recipes.
Winnie has always loved food and all it encompasses especially the nutritional aspect. She’s currently studying for an internationally recognized Nutritionist certification. On completion, she would be a certified Nutritionist—able to offer professional advice on healthy eating, and healthy meal planning, as well as helping people beautify their lives through the food they eat. By the 1st quarter of 2022, Winnie will launch her first-ever cookbook,
‘Winnie’s Sizzling Selections’, is the only cookbook you’ll need to step up your cooking and healthy eating lifestyle - in an authentically African way.
Connect with Winifred on Instagram
@zeeliciousfoods
@winniesschoolofelegance
Let's continue this conversation on
Instagram: @tonbra.nwosuagwu @createdformorethepodcast