My name is Tapiwa Victory Manyika Maridzo. I’m originally from the beautiful land that is Zimbabwe. I am happily married to the love of my life, Munashe Maridzo. The third daughter to Samuel and Maureen Manyika. Sister to Sharon, Ano, Bella, Judah and my brother-in-love Emmanuel. Daughter-in-love to Claive and Beauty Maridzo, sister-in-love to Keith and Hope. An aunt to Neil and Maita, a granddaughter, a niece, a friend and most importantly a child of God. I am an esthetician by profession, content creator, lifeguard and currently studying for my Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. When I finished high school in 2018, my life changed for the better although at the time I had not yet realized it. While others went away for university, I stayed home for four years with my parents and little sisters. In my second year of being home, after discovering my passion for beauty, winning my first ever makeup competition with Flori Roberts Cosmetics Zimbabwe in 2020 and working for them as a beauty content creator, I decided to attend Elite School of Beauty Zimbabwe in 2021 and attained my diplomas in Facial Electrical treatments and Beauty Specialist treatments. I started my businesses Miss Tory Makeup and Miss Tory Cosmetics in 2021, working as a makeup artist and selling beauty accessories. I eventually opened my first studio in 2022 at the back of the offices of the church my father founded – Out for Christ International Ministries Incorporating Living Word Churches. I began my online degree in 2022 and I’m set to complete it in 2025.I married my husband in September of 2023 and relocated to Australia just a few days after. In the background of all this happening was a girl who became extremely passionate about cooking. With staying home after high school for so long, the first two years were kind of like taking a two-year gap year. In an African household if you do this you will become everyone's personal helper and chef. I was the only one who wasn’t working or going to school, so it was the perfect opportunity to be the one to make my little sisters' lunchboxes for school everyday and cook dinner for my family on most if not everyday. I didn’t mind it because I found myself genuinely enjoying it, browsing through YouTube for ideas. Everyone in my family has a unique relationship with food so I would have to customize meals according to their preference. I would cook a meal for my sisters and a meal for my parents. These preferences would change every few months. From traditional Zimbabwean food, to Asian soups and stir fries for my parents. To lasagna and TikTok recipes for my little sisters. My little sisters did not play about their school lunches either. I had to be creative or else they would not eat. I would always be online learning how to make different recipes and being inspired to create my own. When my mom had time she would come into the kitchen, and we would cook together with my sisters. Instilling her wisdom and teaching us how to make the best stews. My dad would come home with all the ingredients I needed to make certain dishes and he eventually bought me my first three cookbooks. Even as a little girl I remember sitting in my paternal grandmother’s kitchen and she would include us in making meals and take us to the garden to get fresh vegetables. My sisters, aunts, cousins and friends are all great women of value too, so I’ve learnt a thing or two from them about the kitchen. Now being married, the best part of my day is my husband coming back home from work, the kitchen smelling great and he being excited to eat what I’ve made for him. I would post on my Instagram stories meals that I would make for my husband and family. Many young women began reaching out to me asking me to share my recipes. Some would even express certain challenges they were having in the kitchen due to time constraints, running out of ideas and never having learnt how to cook. With new changes taking place in their life most of them saw it necessary to take action and would ask me to help. There was a time when I was very active with content creation but mainly beauty related content. I stopped for some time and my sisters and friends would always remind me that I had to get back at it because they genuinely believed in me and believed that I was good at it. Even in being with my husband, he would encourage me telling me that I’d be great at it. I just needed to be myself. So that’s what I started doing, sharing a part of my life that fulfilled me on social media, the honor that God granted me to serve my husband and to serve my family. I wasn’t thinking much of it, I was simply sharing my cooking for those that had asked me to but my Instagram grew in just a matter of weeks, and we had some great videos that performed well. Many young women that had just gotten married, were preparing for marriage or aspiring for marriage reached out to me telling me of some of the problems they were having in the kitchen and how I was inspiring them. I had the privilege of having some creators and influencers who had created a name for themselves in this industry reaching out to me, sharing my videos and even mentoring me. Giving me tips on how to further grow and expand in the future through social media.One day during his ten-minute tea break at work, my husband called me as he usually does, and that’s when the idea dawned on us. To create this book, and we never looked back.
