SME POWER Talk Podcast with Zanele

Описание: SME POWER Talk Podcast with Zanele

Zanele’s journey into food was not born out of a dramatic career crisis, but rather a quiet moment of discovery.
While working as an IT technician, her life took a turn in 2012 when she fell pregnant. Spending more time at home, she began experimenting in the kitchen — trying new recipes, watching cooking shows, and paging through food magazines. Inspired by her husband’s passion for cooking, what began as curiosity soon revealed itself as something deeper.

“I realised that I actually love food,” she shared. I spoke to my husband and said, I don’t think I want to go back to corporate. I want to go to culinary school.

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That decision would change everything.
The Birth of Cooking with Zanele
While still studying at culinary school, Zanele launched Cooking with Zanele on Facebook and Instagram, sharing recipes and photos of her dishes. The response was immediate.
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People started asking, ‘Why don’t you teach us how to cook like this?’ That’s when I realised there was a need,” she explained.
Soon, Zanele was hosting cooking classes across the country — from Johannesburg and Durban to Cape Town, Richards Bay, and smaller towns often overlooked.

But she knew she couldn’t reach everyone physically.
Her solution? Write a cookbook.
“I called it a cooking class in a book, because I wanted even those in small towns to have a piece of me in their kitchen.”