📍 San Mateo, CA
🔗 hotplate.com/cloudandcrumb

Kat was always the designated baker in her friend group.

While finishing her PhD in cancer research at Stanford, she became known for making elaborate cakes to celebrate her friends’ dissertation defenses. Each one was personalized, marking a milestone that had taken years of work to reach.

“It’s a big moment in a lot of our lives,” she says. “Not everyone does a PhD, and most people only do it once.”

But by the time she was finishing her own program, she was also deeply burnt out.

A couple of years before this, Kat had lost her aunt to breast cancer. Because of travel restrictions during the pandemic, she couldn’t be there during her aunt’s final days. The loss had forced her to rethink what she wanted from life and what actually made her happy, and weighed on her as her program came to an end.

The same week she defended her dissertation, she launched Cloud and Crumb.

Finding her product focus

At first, Kat focused mostly on custom cakes. But she quickly realized she wanted to create something people could enjoy more casually and more often.

That’s how madeleines became the center of her business.

“I really wanted to be able to share something that people can eat every day or as a snack or something to be shared just over tea and coffee,” she says.

Inspired by her French roommate and best friend, she started using madeleines as a canvas for flavors from her hometown of Hong Kong.

Flavors like black sesame, matcha, and Hong Kong lemon tea became some of her signature offerings.

“These are things that you don't often see in madeleines,” she says. “But I think it's the perfect vehicle to express flavors.”

Building momentum at Stanford

Kat’s first official orders came from the Stanford community shortly after graduation.

“A lot of people resonated with it,” she says. “I think people liked my story.”

Many of her classmates and friends saw themselves in her decision to leave academia and pursue something more tangible and creative.

“A bakery is such a fantasy for people like us because it's so palpable,” she says. “You can see a product…You have one goal and the goal you can complete within a day or two days.”

Compared to the long research timelines she was used to, baking was much more immediate and gratifying.

Her first popup was successful, but it also taught her an important lesson about inventory management. At the time, she was using a simple order form without any inventory controls.

“I just kept getting notifications,” she says, laughing. “And I was like, I guess I'm feeling scared now.”

Learning how to run a sustainable bakery

Today, Cloud and Crumb is Kat’s full-time job, and she spends around 80 hours a week running the business.

“Running a solo bakery is not an easy job,” she says. “You gotta love it to do it.”

A major lesson she learned early on was the importance of simplifying her menu.

At one point, she offered around 20 different flavors and products at once because she wanted to make everyone happy. Eventually, she realized that approach wasn’t sustainable.

“I was too much of a people pleaser so I wanted to offer everything at all times, which is a recipe for burnout.”

Now, she keeps her menu tighter, allowing her to focus on quality and consistency while protecting her energy.

Finding the right tools

When Kat first started selling online, she knew how to bake but didn’t know how to run a business.

She spent hours watching YouTube videos and learning from other bakers online, including Atori Cafe, where she first discovered Hotplate.

“I liked the idea a lot,” she says. “And also the fee system is really transparent which is something I always worried about with other platforms.”

Since then, preorders have become a core part of how she runs Cloud and Crumb, helping her manage production while building a loyal community of regular customers.

And while the transition from Stanford PhD to full-time baker has been intense, it has also felt deeply meaningful. She knows her aunt would be proud to see her make this leap, and what the business has achieved so far.

We can’t wait to see what’s in store next for Kat. Fingers crossed for lots more collabs with Garden Creamery!