Meet Kimberly Wallis Licht | Baker and Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kimberly Wallis Licht and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kimberly, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When everything shut down due to the pandemic in 2020, it seemed as though everyone was making banana bread, including me! I needed a creative outlet. One evening, I was reading a story about Shabbat to my son, and at the very end there was a recipe for making challah. I had never made it before and my son wanted to try. We did it together and it was a complete disaster! I knew nothing about working with yeast or baking bread other than the directions from a box. We decided to try it again until I got it perfect. It took a few tries to find the recipe that I liked best with a few tweaks here and there, and it became our weekly tradition. We really and started to enjoy celebrating Shabbat as a family every Friday during quarantine. It gave our family something to look forward to, and a moment to pause and be grateful.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am an actor and, during quarantine, auditions really slowed down. Virtually all auditions , when they came back, were required to be self taped at home. The process changed, yet, I still needed a creative outlet. Learning how to make challah provided some of that for me, as well as a groundedness and purpose. I love a good challenge, and I love the opportunity to create. I have always disliked cooking and avoided the kitchen at all costs. When coming up with a name, since I never planned on becoming a baker, “The Accidental Baker” seemed like the perfect choice.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I had an out-of-town visitor, I would first take them to the beach. Venice Beach to be more specific. There is so much wonderful people watching there and so much to do. We would rent bikes or go rollerblading on the pathway to the Santa Monica pier, and have lunch at Back on Broadway. We would go shopping at 3rd St., Promenade and then head back to the valley for dinner. One of my favorite little spots for dinner is Kinza Sushi on Van Nuys Blvd. It’s small and not too many people know about it but the menu is so big with so many wonderful different sushi rolls. Everything is fresh, delicious and unique. . Of course if it was Friday, we would have to enjoy some of my delicious challah! A sweet one for dessert would probably hit the spot. I would recommend either the classic chocolate chip stuffed, cookie butter or Nutella!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate this story to my son, Casey, who inspired me to try something new. I want to dedicate it also to my daughter, Jordan, who is my number one taste tester, and my husband who has given me so much support.

Website: The-accidental-baker.ueniweb.com

Instagram: @kimtheaccidentalbaker

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3344141245643761/?ref=share_group_link