For nearly a decade, Birgundi Baker gave audiences Kiesha Williams, a character who evolved from an outspoken teenager into one of the most emotionally layered figures in The Chi’s history. Now, with the series finale behind her, Baker is stepping into a new chapter, and she’s doing it on her own terms.
In this conversation with Blex Media, Baker reflects on what it meant to grow up on set, why she believes mental health support isn’t optional for actors, and how motherhood, both her own and Kiesha’s, shaped the woman she is today. She opens up about the season that pushed her hardest, the audition story that almost didn’t happen, and what it’s like building a life beyond the role that made her a household name: music, a new short film, and Duck Donuts Baker, the family business she runs alongside her mother in Wendell, North Carolina.
From Howard University graduate to leading lady to entrepreneur, Birgundi Baker’s story is a reminder that legacy isn’t built in one role. It’s built over a lifetime of choices. This is that story, in her own words.