A Conversation with Kae-Lin Wang, Cyclist And Photographer
Artisan bread, long-distance trips, and deep conversations
These days, Kae-Lin Wang is making the most beautiful artisan bread you’ve probably ever seen. When she’s interested in something, she fully commits to it. Wang is also a cyclist, comedian, and photographer, and she’s based in Seattle, Washington. In 2016, she thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) through California, Oregon, and Washington—an experience she says changed her life forever. She has more projects in mind for the future, but she’s focused on the current moment. This year, she signed on as a sponsored rider for the bike brand All City. Along with baking, riding bikes and building community are currently bringing her life.
We spent some time on the phone one Saturday in January talking about being open to opportunities as they come, committing to and obsessing over one or two creative things at a time, saving money, and her dream bike/bakery concept.
What are you up to these days?
I got a job as a baker at a local kitchen. We bake all the baked goods for two cafes. That’s mostly where my energy is going these days. I was unemployed for 7 months last year and while summer was fun, I needed a job. I was looking for marketing jobs, but I cringe a little bit when it comes to analytics and numbers. The only other jobs that made me super excited were baking jobs, but I had zero experience. I only knew how to make artisan bread. I had never used a KitchenAid or made cookies. I wanted to find a small bakery that would take me under their wing and show me what it’s like to work in a commercial kitchen. One shop called me back and they wanted me. I took it right away. I’m a huge early bird so I go in whenever I wake up or whenever I want. Each day is different because it’s based around a different menu. I love it. I’m on my feet and working with my hands making food all day.
You’ve done a lot of different things. What are some of the jobs you’ve held?
I just kind of go with it and take opportunities as they come. But at the same time, I’m 34, and I’d like to buy a house and settle down one of these days. It just hasn’t happened yet. I don’t say yes to everything, but if it’s an opportunity and I think about it, then I’m like, why not?
I have my degree in marketing, and after college I worked at a little startup doing SEO [search engine optimization] stuff and content writing, but I got laid off. That’s when I started doing wedding photography, and I did that for about 2 years full time. But I wanted something more stable because freelancing was hard. I nannied, which was great because it was good pay and hours even though I didn’t have benefits. I did that right before hiking the PCT. When I was injured and taking a break from the trail, I worked at my friend’s company called Girlfriend. I helped with emails, returns, and other stuff. After I finished the trail, I was so fired up about the outdoors and was mostly applying to nonprofits and outdoor organizations. But nobody wanted me because I had no experience and I didn’t have a master’s degree. Unemployment for 2 or 3 months was really hard because I was excited and knew what direction I wanted, but I kept getting rejected. I randomly applied to a little co-op here in Seattle. I bagged groceries, which was so fun because I hadn’t done that before. I was just so happy to have a job. Three months later, I went through topical steroid withdrawal. If anybody is interested, I blogged about that experience. I went through that while working at the grocery store, and a year later I got a job at corporate doing their marketing and memberships. I did that for another year and was pretty healthy by then. Then I got laid off right before the pandemic.
Check out more of Kae-Lin’s stunning photography on her website, karenkwang.com.
What have you been learning recently?
One thing I’ve been learning during the pandemic is that I feel like I’m finally being true to myself in my mid-30s. I thought I was in my 20s, but I look back and it seems like all a lie. I’m very independent and passionate, so I’ve been trying to figure out why I am the way I am, and where it stems from or what it’s rooted in. One of my downfalls is that I hate asking for help. I have this thing called hyper-independence, which is rooted in trauma. It’s just how my mind works. When I have an interest or thing I’m working toward, I just obsess about it, and I work really hard to obtain or achieve it. But I’m not one of those people who can focus on eight different things at once. I have to narrow it down to one or two things and get really good at them. It’s been a huge growth process and I’m really happy where I am now. I’ve not reached the end and I’m looking forward to more growth. But mentally I feel so much more truthful to myself. I hope everyone is using the pandemic to dig in deeper and learn more about themselves, the world, and everything.
What brings you inspiration?
There are different layers, but I feel inspired first by my friends’ personalities that are different than mine. My Enneagram number is 8. It’s a really intense one. A lot of my friends are 4, which are basically my opposites but we have the same values. When I talk to them, I feel inspired because they have character qualities and strengths that I really truly aspire to become. They’re more sensitive and emotional, and they love to talk about their feelings. They love my energy, but I love them because they’re so quiet, passionate, aware, and sensitive.
I also get inspired by really honest conversations with friends and people who are truthful, genuine, and energetic. I’m a very honest, open, comfortable person. My hope is that they would feel the same way around me. I just want people to be their truest selves around me. I love hearing about people’s dreams, what they want to accomplish, and what makes them happy. I love hearing about people quitting their jobs and doing something they love. That fuels me.
How did you get into photography, bread, hiking, and biking? What led you down those paths?
Photography: I started taking pictures in high school. I was a huge scene kid and I went to concerts two to three times a week. That was my outlet because I didn’t do any sports or hobbies or clubs. I just loved listening to music. It was like my own community outside of the local high school. I would always bring a disposable camera. When I’d get the film back, I’d be like, these look kind of good. Disposable cameras led to my first film camera. Then I finally transitioned to digital. In college, I joined the newspaper and was a photojournalist for three years. I love candid stuff. I never wanted to make photography a full-time thing until I lost my job and was like, well, I’m going to try to do this wedding thing. I’m still taking photos, and I love the documentary style of photography and capturing people in their rawest forms. I love to capture people, details, and landscapes. A lot of people are so self conscious in front of the camera, so if I can get them to love the photo of themselves, my work is done.
Bread: I got into baking bread because a friend shared baby starter with me in fall 2019. I never cared about baking, but it sounded fun at the time. At first, I had so many failed loaves. I worked really hard at it. I needed to take breaks from it in the beginning because I wasn’t getting it. Then when I lost my job, another friend was making beautiful loaves, selling them, and delivering them locally. I wanted to try it, too. Because people were actually placing orders, it meant I actually had to make good bread. Being my obsessive self, I was on YouTube watching so many videos. I was dreaming and having nightmares about sourdough. I made over 250 orders all summer. For me, the best part of the bread thing was the community. I didn’t know so many people were into artisan bread. The whole community of new bakers needed an outlet because the baking scene can be pretentious. I hate that because I want every outlet to be accessible and beginner-friendly as much as possible. If I can do bread, you can do bread. So I started a Facebook group called the Sourdough Pals. It was a group of people baking sourdough during quarantine. So I shared resources and guides and videos.
Hiking and biking: I grew up never doing outdoor stuff. I was never active. I never did sports. In 2012 before I started hiking, I got a bike and was just riding it. I signed up for STP, which is a ride from Seattle to Portland. A friend and I just started training. This was also when I started to learn how passionate and committed I can get. We trained every week to ride up to 100 miles. It showed me what my body is capable of. A lot of our physical goals are all mental and not based on what our body looks like. Biking was my gateway to the outdoors. I gave up biking for 6 years because I was hiking and mountaineering. I hiked the PCT in 2016. A few years later, I was reacquainted with my bike. I traded in my aluminum bike in late 2019 for a gravel touring bike, and I started setting bike goals. I went on my first bike camping trip in 2020 during the pandemic. I have a vision to ride a really long trail one day to challenge myself and learn something new. I feel like a whole different person from when I did the PCT, so this next project would have more intention.
Sometimes you post on Instagram about money. What financial advice have you gleaned?
The PCT taught me how to save. Before that, I was not saving. I wanted to save $20,000 before the trip, which is unnecessary. I only spent $5,000 for my hike, but I wanted backup for when I returned because I wouldn’t have a job. I wanted to make sure I could pay rent afterwards. I think I put $150 from each paycheck into the bank. I saved up for it for a year and a half. Right now, I’m going paycheck to paycheck, and I really can’t save that much now. But saving is something I would recommend. If you haven’t started saving, even $10 a month is huge. It’s taking control of your finances and being smarter with what you have. Of course, I have to remember that everybody’s financial situation is different and unique to their own experiences. I like to use my Instagram to gather information about finances. I did all that research for a couple weeks and then opened up a retirement savings account. I wish we would talk more about it and not be ashamed. That shit is not simple. It’s like politics.
Connect with Kae-Lin on Instagram and see more of her lovely photography and bread boules.
Your Instagram bio says “currently: learning how to lose followers more organically.” What’s the story with that?
I have this love and hate relationship with the internet. It’s good because it connects you with people. It also can be a good resource for education. But because I’m not a business, I just don’t care about growing followers or becoming an influencer. If you do, that’s great. I’ve learned that people think they know me because of the internet. I appreciate all the support from strangers, but I also can tell when people treat me differently because of who I am on the internet, and it’s a really gross feeling. That’s not what I’m about at all. I strive to be 100 percent authentic and genuine yet the internet doesn’t do that. It’s this constant battle between wanting to show who I am, but also knowing that I can’t fully do that. I don’t know if I’m trying to lose followers, but I’m definitely not trying to gain followers. I put it in my bio as a joke at first and some people actually took it really seriously. Ideally, I want people to know me in real life before seeing me on the internet. My hope is people find me on the internet and think I’m boring, but then they meet me in real life and realize I’m so strange and unique. The coolest and best people out there have the shittiest Instagrams.
What’s your dream?
I want to start a bread and bike bakery. There are actually already shops like that. There’s one in San Luis Obispo that’s called Bread Bike. They basically deliver bread on a cargo trailer. I would like to do that and sell other things like my matcha cookies and salt, and create a menu that’s kind of Asian-inspired. There’s not a lot of Asian-owned sourdough businesses. I would focus it around outdoors and bike people, and then we’d do group rides to different bakeries and share baking recipes. That’s my long-term idea. I just want to build a community of people with similar passions and hobbies. That’s what makes me happiest.