Hello! My name is Kelly (she/her pronouns), and I’m a 26 year old Bay Area native – born in Fremont, raised in Newark and Hayward. I started baking when I was just a young child, making my mom’s favorite cookies for her any chance I could get (oatmeal butterscotch). I made countless sweets & confections for friends and family throughout my teenage years, but baking for a living never crossed my mind until my early twenties. That’s when my older brother introduced me to the wonderful world of food service, by helping me get a job at the place he was working at - a family-owned Asian-fusion restaurant called Blind Tiger in Oakland, California!After about a year of making desserts there, I decided to move onto an actual bakery job, and was very fortunate to land a job at Niles Pie Company! I happily and eagerly soaked up all the knowledge my managers gave me, and became one of the main pie bakers for the last couple years, then a co-owner in 2021.I'm excited to say that I'm now beginning my journey into the bread-baking world at As Kneaded Bakery! I'm so happy to be able to be part of their wonderful baking team, and to learn their beautiful art!--------------------------My objective in life is to become a pastry cook without having to go to a prestigious culinary school. While culinary school is definitely a good way to learn culinary skills, I believe the best culinary skills are learned on the job.Some desired goals of mine are:- Learning the art of yeasted breads, specifically sourdough. The only bread I've made in a professional setting is Irish Soda Bread, and it definitely wasn't some of my best work.- Learn the ways of other yeasted doughs, like croissant dough and puff pastry dough (viennoiserie), and how to laminate/"turn" them properly.- Learn how to craft perfectly moist and delicious tasting cakes, without them falling apart while working with them.- Learn how to properly and professionally frost and decorate cakes, including birthday cakes, german chocolate cake, cupcakes, wedding cakes, etc.