HILDA BACI:

After Setting a Cook-a-thon Record, It's Time To Take This Gen Z Seriously

BY OLAMIDE OLAREWAJU

Winning a Guinness World Record is no mean feat. As someone offered a bit of background on the preparation for this one, I can say this.

From trying to apply to inviting an adjudicator, record consultancy, the guidelines for and understanding the guidelines for the application process, waiting time till approval, how to break the Guinness World Records title, a guide to evidence, and so on It’s a whole lot of preparation and intentionality, so as easy as it may seem (or as Hilda Baci made it seem), it’s a whole lot to work on, and with a team of about 120 people, she certainly wasn’t playing or leaving anything to chance.

She is also a perfectionist; she’s a “go big or go home” girl, and that’s evident in planning her Cook-a-thon (something Nowe from her team coined from her “Cooking Marathon” tag, and that’s become a tag sensation).

She’s worked because she’s had to. Worked in TV stations and shuttled between Abuja and Lagos before even getting her own place in Lagos, cooking for 200 staff in a Nigerian company, and proudly taking on projects that will move her forward and ultimately earn her financial independence. Her cosy restaurant in Lekki 1 lets you know the head chef is intentional about her craft.

She constantly mentions how people try to downplay her abilities, calling her a “slay queen.” Admittedly, she likes to dress a certain way, but that’s what she wants—her style, her body. That doesn’t take away how smart she is. And I agree, because if you stay in a room with that smart lady, you will be held spellbound by her big dreams, and she’s well on her way to achieving everything. She’s that driven! I am excited to share her story; there’s something youthful and pure behind her that makes sure she’s taken seriously.

In her DTNow Interview, she’s talking about preparing herself for this, working her way up, her brand new life as a record breaker, working on a book documenting her childhood and recipes, and more.

You have a fresh platform after breaking a record; what has been happening to you and for you as a brand and as a food content creator?

I've pretty much stayed doing what I know how to do, which is creating content, working on my class recipes, setting the ball rolling, and all the other things I had planned, like finding a space for the restaurant expansion because we're opening up a bigger space. Obviously, there are lots of meetings, photo shoots, and interviews like the one we're having now, so it's just balancing out the extra deliverables that I now have and continuing what I used to do before.

What has changed since breaking a Guinness World Record? Who was Hilda Baci before winning this cooking record, and who are you now? Personally and all?

Personally, I wouldn't say anything has changed; maybe I'm a bit more conscious now in terms of just my environment and what's going on around me, but in terms of my career, obviously, I have a lot more work to do, I'm in talks with a lot more brands, and I'm having more serious conversations. I have a lot more responsibility.

So I'm just curious to know how much your life has changed. I'm sure it has changed careerwise, business-wise, personally. How do you find yourself right now compared to how it was before? What's the difference?

A lot of things have changed. Obviously, lots of people now know me and know what I look like. And sometimes I forget—honestly, I actually forget. So when I go somewhere and I notice that everybody's looking at me, there's obviously that. My social media has pretty much blown up, so lots of people are on my social media when I post a picture, a video, or even a story. I think the only thing that has pretty much stayed the same are my friends. Like, my friends are still the same, they still yab me the same, they are not all over me, you know, they're honestly still the same people. And I think that helps with keeping everything else, like, maybe my personal life, very grounded, you know.

But work-wise, I have a lot more deliverables, like, every day. I used to see it in movies, and before you know it, this is my life. In movies, they'll be like, Oh, she has become successful; the next day she's asking her assistant, what am I doing today? And you know, one day I was actually asking my assigned assistant, Oh, what am I doing on Thursday? And they just don't know, like, Really, you? Like, this is you; wow, you know. So now it's weird, like, I have a calendar; I have a lot of things. But I constantly feel like this, so I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. I have a severe case of imposter syndrome.

And even before the cook-a-thon, when my business page had blown up, that was something I still struggled with. So every time I have so much to do, I have media rounds, and there's something telling me, Don't get used to this. It may not always be like this. I guess that's trying to keep me humble, but it also tries to stop me from basking in the experience of all the changes. But I'm starting to understand

Cover Credits

Photography: Humphrey Ominisan

Makeup Products: Zaron

Cosmetics

Hair: Ozoigbo Henry for Hair by Brown

Styling: Dipo Ayo-Adeusi For Light In The Marketplace

Styling assistants: Ayomide Sanni, Rhoda Briggs

Outfits

Moofa

Lanre Da Silva

Orire

The RANI Company

Location: WOODstyles Limited

Experience Centre that that's not the case. Accepting it is not a bad thing. Obviously, lots of people are looking for me. So there's that as well. So it's just, it's nice, you know, there's a lot of positive change and a few negative changes as well.

Why/What inspired you to set your sights on winning a world record? It couldn’t have been easy. What challenges did you face in preparing for it?

I just honestly felt like it was time because, again, I have had thoughts about it a while back, and I knew that I wanted to do something out of the ordinary; I wanted to push forward my limits and my boundaries; and I also wanted to be known for something that was very In line with what I do. It was important for me to be regarded and respected in my field, which is the culinary industry as well. This was one sure way to actually express that aspect of myself and just show my tenacity and, basically, my craftsmanship as well. That's one reason, obviously, and there are lots of other reasons that I did this, but in terms of challenges, putting the team together, we had a lot of physical challenges with the space because we built a functional kitchen with drainage and running water on a stage that wasn't meant for that, so I think we had different challenges in terms of production, in terms of basically putting the entire event itself together. For me, during the events or during the attempt, just fighting through my inner demons—anxiety, fear of failure, physical exhaustion, and just pushing my body through its natural limits was definitely very challenging, and being scared of letting people and yourself down as opposed to it motivating you to do more almost takes away from the energy that you have, so that was definitely a struggle as well. I guess that's where preparation comes in because, again, it took years to actually prepare for it. I prepared physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally, and it took a lot of money. So that's where all that preparation now pretty much came into play, and definitely, the support from my family, friends, and Nigerians and Africans, in general, came into play to help me push through that.

When did your love for cooking start? Do you have a standout memory of anything that set you on this path (cooking, food content creation)?

I can't say for certain when exactly I started to really love cooking, but I just need to know that it's something that I've always done since I was a child, and I just so happen to be really good at it, so it's like the way people can sing, that's kind of how I can cook. I mean, I can sing too, but *breaks into a laugh*, yeah, it's just something that comes very naturally to me, So it never really feels like work, even when I'm super exhausted. One of my biggest ways to show someone that I care for them is to make something for them. So it’s just something I've always really liked to do.

You mentioned at some point that you wanted to be “taken seriously." What experience(s) made you think this Yes, I mean, I won't say one; it wasn't a onetime experience like, “ Oh, I went through this." No, it wasn't a one-time experience. It was just more about understanding the industry that I have found myself in and knowing that again. I was growing as a person, so obviously my goals are evolving and I want to do more, and let's be honest, I don't look like the conventional chef; quite a number of them are much older than I am, so I guess we have become so used to this idea of what a cook or a chef looks like. To now come and say, Oh, I do this, and I'm really good at it, and I have something to offer, you actually have to go the extra mile to let people know that yeah, “this is what I'm about,” you understand. So it was just all that, and I remember being passed up for a speaking engagement just because of how I looked, and I guess they were just on the assumption that that was all and there's probably nothing up there and it's not right, but just going by how our culture and how society has been with the perception, I can understand where that comes from, and that's why it was even more important to me to constantly prove that it goes beyond that. You can't just look someone in the face and say, This is all they are. People are changing, growing, evolving, and learning, and there's always something to offer. There's always something upstairs if you give that person a chance.

FOR SOME PEOPLE, IT'S JUST A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT. BUT FOR ME, IT GOES BEYOND THAT BECAUSE I SAID SOMETHING. I WANT TO BE THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORD HOLDER. AND I TOOK MY TIME. I KNOW HOW MUCH EFFORT IT TOOK, NOT JUST FROM ME BUT FROM EVERYBODY, EVEN FROM NIGERIANS IN GENERAL.

What have been the highs and lows of this record-breaking cooking season for you? There are so many highs just coming out—I wouldn't call it a triple but more like a hundred percent increase in my social media—having people that are willing to fight for me, that care for me, that try to understand me, that support me—that’s very amazing. You know, there's getting to work with brands that I've looked up to, admired, or respected, and there's getting to work with people that I have respected as well. Just seeing an opportunity for my business and my brand to grow—those are definitely highs. Then for the lows of navigating through becoming a celebrity or becoming someone who is well known or popularly known, It can be a bit of a struggle in terms of just now understanding and accepting that you are no longer just representing yourself, but it's important that you make a conscious effort, not necessarily to change who you are, but to be more careful in terms of understanding that things can be taken out of context and trying to articulate yourself. It's a bit more stressful and is a bit more difficult now to be able to do that because I'm well aware that I am no longer Hilda of before But I am Hilda, the record breaker.

What inspires you?

I don't want to lie, the fear of being broke, the fear of being broke definitely inspires me. There's a kind of lifestyle that I want to live, there's a life I want for my children, my parents, and my family in general, and I feel like it's my responsibility to make that happen. like nobody's going to make it happen for me so that definitely pushes me. Another thing is just seeing how hard my mom has worked to get us to the point that we are because she was very intentional about all her kids in terms of how we schooled and everything, so she sacrificed a lot of things and deprived herself of a lot of things when she was much younger just to make sure that we had the best of education, so I feel like it's important that I'm able to reward her when she can still enjoy what that reward is so that definitely pushes me. My brother definitely inspires me as well; he's a very content, very honest, very driven person, and he's very comfortable with who he is. So that sort of pushes me to remain true to myself in whatever happens or whatever changes around me or with me. So there are quite a number of things, but top of my list is my fear of being broke.

What would you say, or how do you feel about being an inspiration to many people? It feels good, but it also comes with a lot of pressure. I definitely have to be honest about that because it's just the way Christianity is where you can just put all your problems on God and expect that you know he's going to just solve everything for you It's just easier to say, oh, I'm looking up to this person so whatever this person does is fine, like, Oh, if this person can't do this, this means I can't do it, too, so that means that it comes with a lot of pressure on me because now I know that there are people looking up to me and that means I need to constantly show them that you know what these things are possible And you can push through your limits. You can push through whatever barriers are set in front of you, whether by yourself or by society.

To achieve whatever it is you want to achieve, being able to do that every single day, every waking day, definitely comes with a lot of pressure.

What do you think this win means for women who are perceived a certain way because of how they look/dress?

A lot of people tend to believe what people say about them, but that's not me because I believe what's in my head and not what you say about me, so just being able to do this I feel like I've gotten the opportunity to show people that it goes beyond what people say and what they can see and it's important that the responsibility is on you to actually prove that that's not the case, I get that you don't need to do anything to prove to anybody but again, it feels very gratifying for someone that has said to me “Oh she can't be on this panel because she looks like this” to now come back and say they want me to do this speaking engagement or that speaking engagement is definitely very gratifying to actually have that feeling. So everyone pretty much owes it to themselves, and maybe seeing me do it would motivate them to know, Yeah, I can do it too, like they can do it as well, and I just want women to understand that you don't have to look a certain way to have a lot of value to offer or a lot of things to bring to the table. If you have a lot to offer, it goes beyond how you look.

You have a bit of work experience and didn’t just “blow up…”

2018, 2017. I was doing a breakfast segment on a TV show, but that wasn't enough, and I needed to work. So, I got a second job. And that job was at a breakfast company. It was called Breakfast King. So, they just got a contract to make lunch for an insurance company. I think there were about 150 or 200 staff. The owner of the company was my friend. He reached out to me and said, Is this something you can do? And I said yes. So,

I used to call it lunch division manager. Every time I had a new job, I had a fancy name for it. But primarily, my job was to cook. So, I was cooking for like 200 people every day. There was a menu. So, maybe today it would be like jollof rice, coconut rice, or afang soup. So, I would make the food. I would follow them to the island because we were in Surulere at the time. So, I would go to the island, and I would serve the food. Like sharing the food. (It was Linkage Assurance). They still know me. Some of them came for the cookathon. Then I would come back and go to the market.

I PUSHED MYSELF, AND I BELIEVED THAT IT WAS MY DREAM. I PUSHED MYSELF, AND IT WAS MY DEDICATION TO IT AND MY WILLINGNESS TO INVEST IN IT THAT PROMPTED OTHER PEOPLE TO JUMP ON THAT DREAM AS WELL. SO, IF YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS IS YOUR DREAM AND IT'S WORTH FIGHTING FOR, THEN, HONESTLY, FIGHT FOR IT.

So, I would be up at 3 a.m. to cook. Then I would go and do my show because it was a breakfast show. So, in the morning, I would do my show, come back, and go to the island. So I did that for about a year. Then I got the opportunity to have my show on Pop Central TV.

The “Dine On A Budget” show So, when I was doing that show, I remember saying I couldn't afford the house. And a lot of people said I was using the poverty narrative. But what it meant was that I had quit my other job on the TV station at the breakfast company. Pop Central was on the island. It was a live show. It was every week. I didn't have a place to stay because where I was staying prior to this was owned by the TV station that I was working for. So, I used to come to Lagos, do the show, and go back to Abuja.

I couldn't afford a place on the island then. So, my producer at the time ended up becoming my closest friend. One day, I was rushing to leave the station. And she asked, Why am I always rushing out? And I told her, I don't have anywhere to stay, and I have to go back to Abuja. Because I won't be able to sleep here. I don't have anywhere to sleep. She was like, Come to my house. We weren't even friends at the time. We had known each other for two months. She was primarily my producer. I stayed with her for three months until I was able to save up enough to get my first apartment. So, while I was doing that show, I got a job as an offline store manager for a fashion retail company. So, I was simultaneously doing the live show as well. I was still trying to act too. I remember acting. I was in one movie. A multi-channel silent factory movie was called Dream Chaser. I auditioned and got the role. I remember my boss telling me that if I was going to do that movie, I should just quit my job. So I was sneaking around. I was saying I wasn't feeling fine. I wouldn't come to work. So, I could go on set to shoot. My brother was the assistant director. He tried to make sure that I would do my scenes. And go back to work. So, I did that for another year. Eventually, I decided that I couldn't continue like this. Let me start this food business. My brother and my friend Evelyn told me that I should take this food business seriously. I used to cook. I didn't have a page. My friends would tell their friends that Hilda is a very good cook. You can order from her. I didn't have a kitchen. I would go to their house with my friend, who recommended me to them, just for safety. I would cook there. I would make the food for them. They would pay me. Then I would leave. I was doing that. I was saving up. Eventually, I got a few things, like foodstuff and kitchenware, and then I started. It was around the lockdown period. That was when I started. When I started, I used to post. Even the food that I make for my friends. I would post it on my page. My brother and I were living together. He would be hyping the food. If you go to my page, you will see the videos. He is talking about the food. Little by little, my page started to grow. I used to share recipes there too. In 6 months or so, I saved up. My brother and I put money together. We moved to a much bigger apartment. It had a nice kitchen. I could now afford to attend to more customers. I just kept building this business from there. Then I started my cooking career. I did a couple of cooking classes.

I had around 30 students. I charged 15,000 Naira for the class. I was happy to share the knowledge I had. Eventually, from there, it just kept growing. If I am going to be selling to single people, I have to open a restaurant. I started saving up to open a restaurant. That is how I opened Amiko's by Hilda. I started saving up to open a restaurant. I am so happy. When I opened Amiko's by Hilda, I already had around 1,000 students. I think I have already trained over 1,000 students. A lot of my students came.

The celebrities that used to come to my show came as well. When people say that I know a lot of celebrities, I say that I don't just know the celebrities.

When I had the cooking show, I used to DM them. I remember I DM-ed P-Square. When the cooking show was happening, he saw my DM and said, I saw it.

I DM-ed Nse Ikpe Etim and said, I would like you to come to my show. She came to my show. That was my first encounter with her. I invited her. I was so fortunate that she agreed to come. She came for the show. She was very happy. She liked the food. When people came to the show, they really liked the food. That was when I realized that I could cook.

Let’s talk about your right-hand chef, Chef Sunny...

Chef Sunny wasn't supposed to be the only person assisting me. The culinary team consisted of over 30 people. I had over 30 chefs and kitchen assistants. They were supposed to assist me. I had a lot of fear and anxiety that first day.

Chef Sunny was the person I started with. He is the head chef at the restaurant. He already knows how I like everything prepped. He knows how most of my recipes go. I had already gotten comfortable with him. He was very encouraging and helpful. He was talking to me. When I started being scared, he said, “Don't worry, you can do it”. If he was allowed to cook, he was willing to get into it as well. I remember crying in the caravan. I said I can't do this. I need him. I don't want anyone else. I said they should go and ask him if he could stay longer. The fact that you dream that you have to stand for 4 days doesn't mean other people need to stand for 4 days with you. They asked him, If he still wants you there, do you think you can do a couple more hours? He said, Yes, he is going to stay there until whenever. That was how I went back. Eventually, I ended up having just three assistants. Chef Sunny, Chef Lola, and Chef Chizuru from Rent-A-Chef were the only three people I ended up being comfortable with. The only reason one of them had to leave was because it was clear that he was physically exhausted and tired, but he still wouldn't leave. He still wanted to be there. I didn't have access to my phone. He didn't have access to his phone. It's not like he knew that he was blowing up.

Lola did not know that. I guess the people that were on the stage with us knew because they had access to Instagram and Twitter. None of us knew what was going on. It was just sharing. It was very genuine. It was the same way during the dry run. It's just that during the dry run, I had more than one assistant because that was the dry run. They were prepping in the other kitchen, and there was nobody standing there with me. They were just bringing what I needed. But again, this is not a dry run. This is the main thing. Honestly, he was so helpful. Not just him, but the three of them. The reason why I was comfortable with three of them being there Lola had actually been my procurement person. She does all our buying and shopping. She had gone to the market four times in four days. There were a lot of things we had to buy. The cost of ingredients was running into millions of Naira. It was one person handling the entire purchase. It was a lot of things. We had to order a few things. She did all of those market runs and was still willing to stay on stage. I remember her holding me up when the cramps (I was on my period the whole cook-a-thon) got really bad. When they came to tell me that the food was not tasty, she was the one they sent to come and tell me that they were not really eating it. Maybe you need to taste it.

Chef Chizuru is also a very neat cook. That's the thing. I think that's what's most important to me. They were cleaning and working, and they just knew. Sometimes, before I even ask, I'm asking what I'm cooking next. They had an understanding. They studied the menu that we had created. They were working with it. They were so driven. Oh my God! Angels in human form that's it. I always say that they attract what you want. I'm saying that's what they love. Lola has worked with me for over two years. That's why they felt that they would be able to do that.

For anyone who is trying to find their waylooking up to you, what tips can you share with them?

So I say this to my students a lot that just start; don't wait for it to be perfect Because people see me now and just assume that I dropped from the sky, but that wasn't the case, there was an entire journey. Unfortunately, there was no Tiktok for me to film content when I did my first empty house and all that but just start; don't wait for it to be perfect There's beauty in growth, like there's a lot of beauty in growth, because, in truth, you will not appreciate how far you've come unless you can look back at where you're coming from. So honestly, just keep at it. Every day strive to improve your craft, improve your mental health, and improve your vocabulary; just make it a conscious effort that you need to be learning something every day, whether it's in entertainment, fashion, or politics. Just make a conscious effort to learn and grow because you don't know it all. It's important to also have a teachable spirit, ask questions where you're not sure and don't jump to conclusions, don't just assume, don't take a little bit of knowledge and then think you know It's all. It's important to constantly learn and grow because that's the only way you'll be able to build something better. It's important that you evolve. You're constantly evolving and changing with time.

Plans for the future?

The Cook-a-thon being, like, a party that you don't have to pay for is something that I want to try to retain. So, that's something, because I feel like the more people get to try Nigerian food, the more people want to learn how to make it, and the more people want to even try these recipes. Because I feel like Nigerian food is really good food. And the beauty of Nigerian food or Nigerian recipes is that you can tweak them, adjust them, and even with other foreign recipes, you can always add a Nigerian touch to them without losing their essence and all that. I intend to do that. I'm working on a book as well. And with that book, I intend to tell different stories—basically, things about my childhood— that translate to a particular recipe. So, it just gives a larger understanding of me as a person. And, you know, I feel like once you read things like that, it will prompt you to want to even try them, make them, and experience them yourself.

So, in any little way that I can, I already teach people to cook. And that's something that I intend to keep doing. it would further drive conversations about Nigerian cuisine, and stuff in general. I understand and appreciate that I have started a trend.

We have seen a lot of other Cook-a-thon/ attempts after yours. How do you feel about them?

You know, in AMVCA, they will say they will award you the Trailblazer award because you started something, you started a movement. And for people to want to do this, it means this was so successful that it prompted them to see that, okay, I can try it too, and I can do it too. And that's a good thing for me. That's commendable, in my opinion. Right? But then, on the other hand, is seeing how much work I put in and how much effort and how many people have actually come together to do this and do it properly. No one has a monopoly on these things.

Because I'm a huge advocate for what's worth doing, it's worth doing well. And because I really like to share what I know and what I've learned, I'm looking for somebody who is actually very keen on doing this and who asks the right questions. I remember when I wanted to do the cook-a-thon, I strongly considered DM-ing the Indian chef. The only reason why

I didn't DM her was just because I didn't think she was going to respond to me. And then just even seeing how she responded to the cooka-thon and how she was very supportive and friendly. Now we follow each other. I would comment on her post. I now feel like if I had actually DMed her, maybe she would have responded.

Because for me, I would happily ask her questions like, You've had this thing for five years, could you please tell me the things you encountered? This is what I think you should look out for. And that's honestly something that I'm happy to share. That's information that I'm happy to share. But then the human part of me is, Oh, it took me this long to do this thing. Like, you know, thinking that you can just wake up in the morning and do it, I don't think you fully understand the greatness or how powerful this is.

For some people, it's just a Guinness World Record attempt. But for me, it goes beyond that because I said something. I said, Oh, I want to be the Guinness World Record holder. And I took my time. I know how much effort it took, not just from me, but from everybody, even from Nigerians in general. Because it was the attention that Nigerians gave it that made the results come out as fast as it did. Because it just garnered so much interest, right? And if I didn't do my due diligence, and I didn't do the right thing, and if God wasn't on my side, it wouldn't have been this successful. And I feel like if you're going to put in that much of your physical strength, and put your life on the line like that, you owe it to yourself to do it properly. Right? So, again, I can understand where a lot of the backlash comes from. Especially when people compare what other people are doing to what I'm doing. I know that by opening yourself up to comparisons, say, if you want to do something that somebody else has done, especially in such a short period of time, you're opening yourself up to a lot of comparisons. And that's something that you need to accept and understand that, you know what, I'm doing this thing within one month, two months, three months of this person doing this and being successful at it. A lot of people are going to come for me and you need to understand that and you need to accept it. And if your motive for doing it is right, like, it's true to you, run with it and just, do what you need to do. Because in truth, I was not waiting for anybody to come and tell me, Yes, Hilda, go. You know, like, you got it, you got this. I pushed myself, and I believed that it was my dream. I pushed myself, and it was my dedication to it and my willingness to invest in it that prompted other people to jump on that dream as well. So, if you believe that this is your dream and it's worth fighting for, then, honestly, fight for it. Because, again, I don't have a monopoly on attempts. The fact that I've attempted it doesn't mean every other person should back off. Like, Oh, Hilda did it. So, I feel like the only thing might be, oh, another person might be concerned that I may not have the resources to be able to do it at the scale that Hilda did. But that's not me as a person. That's how I wanted to do it. What is most important is that you do it following the guidelines in the book so that after standing for whatever number of hours you've stood for, sat for, or cooked for, it's worth it at the end of the day. For me, it went beyond just recognition. I really wanted to get the plaque. I really, I know they asked me in interviews, and I'm like, yeah, I'll be fine; I'm already a winner. But in truth, it's like, This is why I started doing this thing. That's why we were so excited when we got the approval. So, I really wanted it. So, it just makes all these efforts a lot more worthwhile. That's not the only thing that makes your efforts valuable, but it definitely makes them even more valuable. So, I just feel like you owe it to yourself to do it right.