From Zimbabwe to the White House: Chef Zweli Williams' Culinary Journey & Community Impact

Zweli Williams-Owner of Zweli’s Kitchen

Amelia (Host): Thank you so much for tuning into Voices of Inspiration.  I am your host Amelia old. I want to start off by saying, this is my first episode, and I am so excited that you are with me on this journey as I share inspiring stories from people around the world, from my everyday life, Friends and family. This has been a long goal and passion of mine to share these stories with you.  I'm  just so grateful that you are taking time out of your day to be with me. Today's guest, Zweli Williams ,is right here in the Carolinas, but she first discovered her love for flavors at a very young age in Zimbabwe. Upon finishing high school, she migrated to Durham, North Carolina, where she attended North Carolina Central University and majored in hospitatlity and tourism. In 2016, she embarked on her way to the beginning of her lifelong dream by taking a leap of faith from her then employment to introducing her catering businesses-Zweli’s Inc s. She quickly became the preferred caterer to some of the largest organizations in the area, such as Google, UNC Duke university, and several community foundations today.

Chef Zweli is one of North Carolina's most prominent chefs at the first authentic Zimbabwean restaurant in the country, Zweli’s Kitchen. Standing in for her community, during one of Durham's most tragic crises, Chef Zweli, and her restaurant team coordinated volunteers to feed families who were evacuated from their homes due [00:02:00] to a gas leak over a six month period Zweli’s  kitchen served over 49,000 meals to those in need.

In 2020, her flavors and community service landed her and her husband a special invite by President Joe Biden to be his VIP guest at the Presidential debate. From that invite Chef Zweli, her husband Leonardo and her restaurant, were given a world stage. They were interviewed by every major media outlet in North Carolina and Tennessee, the largest newspaper in South Africa The Mail and Guardian, The Zimbabwean paper The Sunday Times Live and ultimately BBC Africa. Welcome to the show is Zweli Williams.

 Zweli: Thank you for having me. 

Amelia (Host): Thank you so much for joining me today. I want to first focus on you and your personal story. I've read a bit about your time as a young child in Zimbabwe, and you went through a lot of really tough, difficult and trying times, and I was hoping you could share a bit of your experience [00:03:00] and what led you to the U.S.

Zweli: So as you mentioned I am from Zimbabwe. I arrived into this country about, maybe about 20, 21 years ago. And originally came here for college. I went to North Carolina Central University and majored in hospitality and tourism, but I spent my first of course, my first Years of my childhood life in Zimbabwe. I grew up in a little town called Bulawayo.

And I grew up with my, I have about three siblings. I grew up with my mom in a single family home. So Yeah, growing up back home. I'm not sure a lot of people know the , political, you know, things going on in Zimbabwe. But I think up until maybe 97 things were quite great in the country and, you know, all of a sudden the economy tanked and that's why a lot [00:04:00] of parents kinda sent out their kids out of the country to get a better life and to get a better education.

So, hence. Here we are. Actually all my siblings and I went to North Carolina Central University. That's how we got here. 

Amelia (Host): Was it always the plan to go to North Carolina? 

Zweli: Not really, that just happened. And also that's where the comfort was, if you already have that with my sister was already here and moved. So if you already have family, it's easier, to be also because it's a completely different, environment, different culture, and just being around the support , that you need to get acclimated is very important. 

Amelia (Host): When, when you decided that you were going to come to North Carolina to go to college, did you have any idea that you wanted to follow the tourism and hospitality path or did that come later?

Zweli: [00:05:00] Absolutely. Absolutely. I've always been in the kitchen. I just love Entertaining people through food and conversation. So every time at home, when I was still a teenager, every time we had guests in the house, it was just, I was just in the kitchen. I was always planning, menus, always planning the problem, always planning How we can entertain the guests.

So I think it was just natural for me to just want to be in the field because it really didn't feel like, yes, it's a career, but it's something that I really, really loved to do so most times, yes. Sometimes it feels like work. However, I would say that 90% of the time when I'm in the kitchen be it in the restaurant or at home, I feel more [00:06:00] relaxed.I feel Like come distressing. So it's, , it's just a blessing in that passion for living. 

Amelia (Host) : Now, you met your husband. Does he go by Leonardo  or Leo? You met him in college, but it didn't quite work out to start with? Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Zweli:  In 1999, where we were freshmen in college. And at the time I was just from back home and he was just from the country as well. He grew up in Enfield, North Carolina. So we met at school. We both freshmen and we just clicked from day one.

We were just, I don't know, he was just there for me, like naturally from day one. And We became best [00:07:00] friends things, moving along really well until like maybe about eight months later. That's when I discovered he actually had a girlfriend, he told me that he could not call me that. I was so shocked. I was so hurt. I literally slapped him across his face and I Tell him. I never want to see you again. I never want to speak to you again because he was like, we were so close, like everything to get us, like he got me, literally got me and I was so crushed. I was extremely quiet.

He was just one of those guys in my life. When we as females, we talk about, , the most horrendous situations. He was the one I was talking about. 

Amelia (Host): Yeah. Yeah. And then you stay disconnected from him for over 10 years. 

Zweli: Yes. For over actually for over 13 years he tried to come back [00:08:00] 10 years later and he, I I wasn't having it. I wasn't having it. And another three years went by and my sister turned to talk to me into talking to him to hear what he has to say. It's been so long, like what exactly were you mad about any way, , the person, you know, mad for all this time.

And I just one day I just decided to respond to a message. And when we met up and the rest was, is literally history  for about six years now, And 

Amelia (Host): congratulations. What happened during that 13 years for you? What, what was going on with you? Because obviously you had graduated college.So what was going on with you during that time? 

Zweli: So during the 13 years I graduated college, I got married. [00:09:00] I had a son and I got divorced and My career was, it was me and my child in a single parent , struggling. So I was working hard,  fighting hard in what place to. Move up in the, in the gutter, you know, which was very difficult.

The food industry is not the easiest. It's just really not the easiest industry in terms of  time. , you're working a lot, you're working when other people are out, that's when you kind of working. So the hours that I was working with a child were very challenging. And then also you're working with people that do not have the responsibilities that you do and compared to, as a male who has a family at home,  who comes into work, the wife, the kids are at home., he, when he's in the [00:10:00] workplace, he probably has a little bit more drive, , because he doesn't have to go through the things that you go through as a single parent.

Amelia (Host):It's like you're barely making it on your own.

Zweli: Yes, it was very, very challenging. Very challenging just to. Prove myself, you know that I can do it. I can do it too. So I felt like I had to work like five times harder than the average person than the average, like people that I was competing with my workflow. So in the workplace.  I, I mean, I worked hard for years, but I worked my way up from being an assistant manager at a chain restaurant to a manager of a large restaurant. And That's what I wanted at the time. But I also knew that  I wanted to build, you know something for myself.

I just really [00:11:00] needed to have the experience and the skillset and the maturity to be able to step  into my own product.

Amelia (Host):  Sure. What was, what was the, what did you feel was the right moment, the right time that you finally decided, okay, I'm going to follow my dream and I'm going to open up this restaurant.

Zweli: So I waited a really long time. I waited a really long time because there were opportunities eventually that were just coming to me for different places. My last job was in  at a local restaurant in Raleigh called Simply Craves. I was there as a general manager for about six years. I really waited because, because I just wanted to. I was waiting for the next right move.  I couldn't just jump up and be like, okay, I'm gonna,  take another job or I'm gonna take a leap of faith right now. I felt like it [00:12:00] had to be really the right time for me. Mentally physically, emotionally, because it's a very tough transition.

Right. And by that time also Leo and I were already married. And so it kind of put things in a little different dynamic and that I was able to really focus and really think of what I really, what, what I wanted to do. 

Amelia (Host) : And Leo was super supportive of that? 

Zweli:  Super supportive. I mean, I could not, I can never, as for more than, you know what Leo does, he's like my right hand would we work like right side by side and we conquer everything side by side. M parents too. Where we have businesses back home and my parents, my parents were, you know, just affirmations that [00:13:00] it's time, we're here to support you is time even still, it was still like,  just from a job security to say an, okay, this is it.

I eat what I kill. This is it. So I quit my job. Before, before I even thought of maybe the name of the business or the anything I was like, okay, I'm gonna start off as a, we're going to start off as a catering company and then eventually work ourselves to a storefront. And I quit my job and the day I quit my job next day. I was kind of doing a lot of research of what exactly I wanted to do.

I wanted to do something that spoke to me, that's what my language, which is my culture. And it's really just. It's not that many, like African restaurants  around, especially like Southern Africa, Zimbabwe, [00:14:00] there is an enemy,  so, but that just spoke to me, just staying true to myself because I felt like I would give the best of me if I stayed authentic. It remained true to that. 

Amelia (Host): And the menu is inspired by the foods you enjoyed in your village as a child. Correct. And I hear you have some famous peanut butter collard greens. 

Zweli: Yes. And  it sounds weird. It always sounds weird when someone is like peanut butter with collards, how does that work? 

Amelia (host): There's another name for it, correct? For the Peanut Butter?

Zweli: Peanut butter is Dovi. That's what we'll call it in Shauna. And so. It's so is in a very awkward cultural country. A lot of countries and in Africa are so just dating back from [00:15:00] our ancestors, they used to grow their food. They used to hunt. They used to, , have their own like cows, their own goats and chickens and stuff.

So I wanted to. Embrace that through what they used to eat. Like when you look at Dovi collards, which is a peanut butter sauce you literally getting peanuts from your garden, getting collards from your garden. And it's literally, we use four ingredients.

So it's very simple things that somebody who was growing all of eight. This is it. This was it for them. This is what I eat, could be able to walk into their garden and make a meal. So most of the dishes are inspired by that by  growing up in rural Africa and being able to eat, to eat [00:16:00] healthy, to eat organic.

Amelia (Host): Do You work with local farmers?

Zweli: We do work with local farmers also, we're in the process of actually working with the black farmers market, hopefully starting this spring. I think one of the challenges that we've faced so far is actually getting enough product to.  If I need, I don't know if I need 80 pounds or something of collard greens. I'm not really able to get them from one farmer to get them on a consistent basis. So by working with black farmers market, they'll be able to get product from different farms and local farmers. And we'll be able to just get them from them. So, which really builds consistency.

Amelia (Host): Yes, that's great. And last year you had something really cool that [00:17:00] happened in the fall during the elections. You were President Biden's special guest at the Presidential debate in Nashville. How did you feel when that call came along?

Zweli:  It was. It wasn’t real at first because, you know, I dunno, it's something that I had thought about because two weeks prior we had been asked by the Byron funding organization to a campaign to be part of a panel with Kerry Washington and her husband, and some local elected officials and Leo and I were representing small businesses. It was really cool. It was awesome. And while during the discussion,  I was just thinking how cool it would be to actually be at the debate, which, at that point,  mean, chances are like zero, zero. Oh, that's not going to happen.

But I thought about it and thought about how cool it would [00:18:00] be. And stuff and just didn't think. Yeah. And then, , the thought just went away. It was just one of the thoughts that of course will leave your mind until the day, the evening Leo,, I was in the restaurant and Leo calls me and he says, you need to sit down and I'm like, what's going on?

Then I finally said I was busy, but I actually sat down and I was like, what's up? What's going on? And he says, Guess what? We are going to the debate.  I was like, what debate? He was like, yeah, we're going. We are. In fact, we didn't know that we were special guests or anything like that.

We're probably… we're presenting. We're not here, like maybe in small businesses and the other people that were representing different things. That's what we thought. We didn't think. Yes, it was big, but we didn't know the magnitude of it. Like [00:19:00] 

Amelia (Host): When did you realize the magnitude?

Zweli: When we got to our seats,when we got to a set and I, before like hours before we actually got to the debate…. We had a lot of news media calling. ALL these interviews lined up, you know, for us, which yeah, at that point I was like, Oh my goodness. I didn't know this was going to be this big. I didn't know until we walk in and We get  to our seats and I'm like, this is something wrong, you know, there's something wrong with this picture. Why are we sitting right here?

Why are we sitting here? And then I looked next to me, next to my seat was Dr. Jill Biden’s seat. I was like, wait a minute. I am sitting next to her. It was [00:20:00] just nuts. You know, it was just one of those evenings that everything is completely so surreal. You're trying to absorb all of it, but it's like a picture, you know, it's like, you're moving along a picture, you know, and all of a sudden it ends.

Then you'll look back and you can't even believe that's where you were. 

Amelia (Host): Look where you came from to where you were. 

Zweli: Yes. Well, I, I do have a book coming up. We are working on it right now. So I'm hoping that within maybe the next Five to six months, we just finished the manuscript. So we are in the process of looking for publishers.

Amelia (Host): s this book about your [00:21:00] personal story and your life? 

Zweli: Yes. 

Amelia (Host): And as I mentioned earlier in the show, I've read quite a bit about your story and this is definitely going to be a book that people are going to want to read it. Quite the story.

Zweli: I'm excited. I just want to inspire.  I just want to inspire other people, young girls, especially. I want the book to reach the rural Zimbabwe where I grew up. I want kids who are in difficult situations to know that it's only temporary, everything. 

I'm excited about it at the same time, a little nervous, because it's like, you feel like you're literally stripping off all the layers, putting yourself out there. 

Amelia (Host): Right. Okay. Now you are, you're actively involved within the community and in Zimbabwe. You dedicate your time to the Eden spring trust. Can you tell me about [00:22:00] the organization and what you guys do? 

Zweli: So the Eden Spring Trust provides not only food safety too. Orphans, we also provide sustainability. We want to groom the orphans to be able to be more self-sustaining in terms of teaching them how to own a business at a very young age and owning a business can mean growing tomatoes in, in your back garden and selling those tomatoes and being able to provide for your siblings and for your family.

It's not really just a handout, like, okay, here is some food. Yes, we do. We do that. But the most important thing is to making sure that this kids become self-sustaining at the end of the day. So on average, I would say that [00:23:00] most of these orphans. Literally has one meal a day, literally one, sometimes zero.

So we, our goal is to move from one meal a day to at least two to three meals a day to a week by actually providing  for themselves through training and education on how to especially agriculture, how to be able to farm. To sell and just take care and provide for themselves.

Amelia (Host):  Learning those business skills sets. That's so important developing that. That's  really great. One thing I wanted to go back to about the restaurant cooking classes, are you still doing virtual cooking classes? 

Zweli: Yes. Yes we do. So actually cooking classes, we started them before COVID we were doing cooking classes before we got the restaurant when we were still a catering business.

And we used to mainly do them around Valentine's [00:24:00] day like for like three or four days. 

Amelia (Host): Great date night! Great idea.

 Zweli: So when COVID hit, obviously, as restaurants , we, all the restaurants were struggling. So we're trying to figure out a way to be able to still have not only have presence, but be able to sustain our business with different revenue streams. We decided to do it, set it off as a YouTube channel that I started.

And then eventually I was like, okay, let's just go ahead and start doing these classes. And they are really, really amazing attendance, so happy to be part of that experience and would make things so much easier. Like this Valentine's day. We had cooking classes for Friday and Saturday. And participants were able to actually come in and pick up their boxes, their packages from the restaurant, everything already labeled for them, everything already, what a great idea [00:25:00] for them.

And it was just so easy to just come in and grab a bag with some chocolate covered strawberries some champagne and just the whole package that you need for that special day. And the day of they just log on to zoom and we actually cook alongside everything.

They were actually able to make about three different dishes. And then after that, everyone literally sat down at that living room, living room tables, and we ate. All of us together while we talked about how we met all, different stories along with, people who've been married for and all that good stuff. So it was a really, really nice.

Amelia (Host):  That's so neat. The interaction.. that's really neat. Technology is a beautiful thing. Zweli,  your story of Loss, love, strength and success is extremely inspirational. As soon [00:26:00] as I heard about you a few weeks ago, I couldn't wait to meet with you. And you're so beautiful. And I'm so grateful that you have shared with us today. If you can leave any words behind for our listeners or a favorite quote, what would that be?

Zweli: Hmm, my favorite quote is from Oprah. It is it's called the Next Right Move. And that resonates a lot, you know, to me in that whatever in whatever I do I'm always thinking, is this the right move for me right now? Is this the right move? Because yes, you can have different ideas, it's always different ideas, but you have to think about  that next right step that catapults you to the next level.

So if there's anything that I can leave today is that just whenever you're [00:27:00] making decisions, whenever you're getting ready to make a move, make a shift bear in mind that it, it has to be the next right move. It has to feel right within you. And it has to be something that you've really, really thought about.

And Propels you to the next level, there's always a move, but you have to look for that next right move in order to succeed. 

Amelia (Host): Mm, that's beautiful. If the listeners want to find you, where can they find you online?

Zweli:  So they can find me Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, ZwelisKitchen.com and Zweli’s Kitchen is the social media handles for the restaurant and Chef Zweli Williams is for my Chef’s page. 

Amelia (host):  And I will include those details under the notes of this episode at VoicesofInspirationPodcast.com. Thank you, Zweli, for joining us and sharing your story. Thank you to all our listeners. There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts out [00:28:00] there, and I'm so grateful that you have chosen to join us.

My name is Amelia and I am your host of Voices of Inspiration. Everyone has a story to tell what's yours.