Meet 39-year-old mother of 5 who made the move to be a chef at the age 15

Benedicta Elechi, a 39-year-old Nigerian woman from Anambra state, is on a mission to make a positive impact in the lives of those she comes across with her culinary skills and excellent cooking.

The mother of five shared her story with Legit.ng where she opened up on her dreams and challenges. Elechi was born in Ilorin even though she grew up in different parts of the country since her parents moved around a lot. However, her formative years were spent in Port Harcourt City where she schooled and was able to mold her thoughts on the things she wanted to do in life.

Elechi started cooking when she was a teenager as she claimed her mother was a chef asides being a civil servant. Of the six children her parents were blessed with, she was the only person who had a keen interest in cooking and toeing her path.

She said she has come a long way in creating her cooking brand as she took Legit.ng correspondents through her journey. She studied Analytical Chemistry at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST).

Elechi’s first creation is fishtoes; a meal she created from potatoes and fish at the age of 15. She had special interest in commercial production of yoghurt and this made her work on it as her final year project in school.

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The beautiful woman talked enthusiastically about her life as a chef as she said her love for good food and the presentation of food made her explore the profession. From cooking in the house at the age of 24, Elechi was able to raise enough money and convince family friends that she was up to the task.

At 29, she started her company and was able to employ about 158 persons after two years of starting. The mother of five considers the five-year-period where she cooked at home a grinding phase as she gave it her all.

Intrigued by the success she was able to achieve at that age, Elechi opened up more on the things she did to get to this point where she is now. According to her, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had a program called NSE bubble in 2006. She was able to tap into this by buying stocks and reselling to make more money. This made her new business move forward as she was able to cover the capital aspect of it.

This development made it easier for her to take on the role of cooking for corporate organizations and private firms. Elechi grew her brand by venturing into baking, catering and the production of yoghurt. She had corps members and undergraduates working for her at different points in time.

The young woman relocated to Lagos in December 2016 after she got divorced. She got involved with Daddy Freeze, a popular OAP in Nigeria, and felt there was a need to be closer to the father of her baby. Elechi had three children from her previous marriage; she adopted her niece legally when her elder sister passed on and have a child in her new union with the OAP.

When asked if any of her children is interested in becoming a chef like her, the founder of Tastebudzng said her 10-year-old daughter enjoys working with her in the kitchen even though she wants to be a pilot. She believes parents should allow the children be the best they could be; their role is to guide them after all so they do not make the wrong decision.

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Elechi who has successfully built Tastebudzng, her cooking brand, in Lagos is confident she would be able to record many successes as she did in Port Harcourt. She said in about six months of being in Lagos, her clientele had increased. She said she records about twenty five to forty percent profit in her turn over and that is good for her.

The beautiful woman said not finding riverine and eastern cuisine easily in Lagos made her focus in that area even though she is not limited to the cooking of other meals regardless of the origin.

Legit.ng correspondents asked Elechi about her achievements so far and she said she cannot count her blessings; she has touched over 200 lives in a space of six years. She feels extremely fulfilled about making positive impacts in the lives of the youths. Interestingly, the great chef said she has a road, Dictachi lane, named after her in Port Harcourt.

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That was the name of her first company; she had made the road and had installed some facilities there when she was starting. Elechi who has adopted Tastebudz as her name wants the youths to believe in themselves and find something they are really passionate about to do.

She said she had never seen herself struggling to get a white collar job and feels happy with her status. However, she confessed to being pushed off the edge with taxes from the touts, local government officials as well as state and federal officers.

Asides cooking, the eloquent Nigerian woman has a passion for writing even though she has not fully explored that area.

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Source: Legit.ng