Nigerian Chef, Hilda Effiong ‘Baci’ Bassey has a desire to inspire and motivate young women.
It’s been three days since Hilda broke the world record for the longest cooking marathon.
The exhilarating feat trended online and around the world for several days. Hilda had a meeting with the press on Thursday, May 18th where she shared her experiences, thoughts and plans.
She believes women are capable of so much more. “Growing up, I just thought that I wanted to get married and have kids and my husband will take care of me, that’s because we haven’t created a system where women know they are capable of so much more.”
"Women are so strong and so tenacious. People believe that if you are a girl and you are smart, you cannot be cute. If you are a beautiful young girl, you cannot be smart. If you are smart, you shouldn’t be doing too much with your smartness because there are men there to pay for your lifestyle."
"You can be young, you can be beautiful, you can be smart, you can be sexy and you can still be capable of changing the world."
She got rejected because some people felt she was a slay queen with nothing to offer. "I remember when we started this journey, I remember being turned down from different engagements because they looked at my Instagram and felt I was just a slay queen, they felt ‘somebody that has something upstairs, why is she having all these fine fine pictures?’"
"You don’t have to be dressed like a nun, how I look does not reduce the value of what is in my head."
"I am not saying walk naked, but it’s important that women are allowed to be themselves and being beautiful and attractive does not mean that’s the only thing you have to offer, you have a brain, you have a God and you can be all these. You are allowed to be beautiful and fix your nails and still dream big."
The Guinness Book of World Records are reviewing the evidence before announcing that she broke the record and giving her the certificate.