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As a young child growing up in Melbourne, Kate Reid spent many late nights with her father watching auto racing. Fascinated by the speed and adrenaline of the sport, she knew from an early age that she was destined for a career in aerodynamics. However, she never imagined that dream would ultimately lead to her pursuing the slow, methodical craft of croissant-making.<\/p>\n
After finishing a long-sought degree in aerospace engineering, a 23-year-old Kate landed her dream job in Formula 1 racing and moved to London. It was 2005, and Formula 1 was very much still a male-dominated sport. She found herself the only woman on a team of 120 people working to engineer the esteemed Williams Racing<\/a> team, which had already won multiple Grand Prix titles. She was living her childhood fantasy, yet often found herself sitting at a computer for up to 16 hours a day. Eventually, she developed symptoms of burnout, depression, and an eating disorder. In an effort to combat the grind and stress of her high-pressure job, Kate found comfort in coming home each night and baking. Working with her hands to meticulously mold, shape, and knead pastry became her method of self-care.<\/p>\n Three years into her Formula 1 career, Kate realized that the physical toll of this adrenaline-fueled world was not for her. As her health worsened, she made the tough decision to leave London and her career behind. She returned to Melbourne to be near family and to heal herself, mentally and physically.<\/p>\n In treatment for her eating disorder, Kate began to appreciate a sense of normalcy in her life. \u201cI was a regular coffee drinker at a tiny, but perfect, caf\u00e9 named Ousia,\u201d she said. \u201cI worked up the courage to ask the owner if I could help with her daily baking. She taught me to love food again. Not just the enjoyment in the eating but the pleasure in the preparation, respect for ingredients, and their transformation into something so much more than the sum of their parts.\u201d Slowly, Kate built up her knowledge of baking and started to develop a fascination for more complex p\u00e2tisserie. Over the next year, her obsession with pastry consumed her life. By day, her hands were covered in dough, and at night, she buried herself in her favorite book on the topic, Cuisine et Patisserie au Gaz<\/em>, written in 1950 by Paul Roinat. Realizing that perhaps another destiny awaited her, she booked a one-way ticket to Paris to learn everything she could about pastry.<\/p>\n