From Healing to Hearth: The Heart Behind Old Oak Sourdough

What began as a personal journey toward healing and nourishment slowly grew into a calling for Kristyn Suemnick, one shaped by faith, family, and a deep love for community.

For Old Oak Sourdough owner and baker Kristyn Suemnick, sourdough wasn’t just a new skill….it was an unexpected gift. With no formal baking background and a kitchen that had been gluten-free for years, she never imagined bread would become central to her daily life, much less the heartbeat of a thriving business. But through long-fermented loaves, early mornings, and plenty of courage, Kristyn discovered not only nourishment for her body, but a way to serve her community in the most timeless way…..by feeding them.

In this snippet from a past issue of Front Porch Life Magazine, Kristyn shares how sourdough surprised her, how Old Oak Sourdough came to be, and the moment she realized her front porch had become a gathering place, one loaf at a time.

Can you share how you discovered your passion for sourdough baking?

My passion for sourdough came as a great surprise because I didn’t consider myself a baker (hello pancake mixes and boxed cakes!), but I had also been gluten-free for a decade due to some health challenges and sensitivities to gluten, so I didn’t do much baking. I had not allowed wheat flour into my kitchen for so long, but my children were little toddlers, and I felt a pull towards learning to eat differently to see if I could bring some healing to my body through food.  

I dove into research and continued coming across information about organic, long-fermented sourdough bread and how many people with gluten sensitivity or intolerance could often enjoy authentic sourdough.  (*I do just want to acknowledge this is different if you are diagnosed with Celiac disease).  

So, in early 2020, I decided to give it a whirl. I had never baked a loaf of bread in my life, but the joy I felt in that accomplishment and the discovery that I could tolerate and digest it well just blew me away. My little family absolutely loved it, and I quickly put as much energy and effort into learning and baking as I could. I joke with my husband that we had no idea that sourdough would become a main topic of conversation every day for the past 4 1/2 years, almost equal to how much we enjoy talking about our kids! I may be the owner and baker, but I couldn’t have done it without the support of my husband and family behind the scenes. I am so grateful that my husband shares my passion with me and supports me like he does.

What inspired you to start Old Oak Sourdough, and how did you turn your passion into a business?

I have a strong faith in God and believe He leads us into new seasons when the time is right. The first month of baking sourdough, I had a name come to my mind & heart if I ever were to have a bakery. It would be called Old Oak Sourdough. I live in California, so we are surrounded by oak trees, which are one of my parents’ favorites. We also have a pair of oak trees on our little corner property which my in-laws planted years ago before we became the house’s owners, and it gives a nod to the street we live on. So, this name encompasses our family roots, and I knew that was the name I would use.

I had so much support from the first few months of baking that it was overwhelming. I started taking weekly order requests for Saturday Sourdough. I began to increase my baking but still maintained that it was just a little something for fun and on the side. With each week, though, I was learning and growing and was wholeheartedly consumed with sourdough and serving my community. It was wonderful and challenging learning all the things that you can only learn once you dive into something.  It became a bit difficult, though, because, with my baking schedule on top of my work schedule, I was now working 6 days a week and feeling stretched for time.   

I finally came into that new season I had been pushing off because change can feel challenging. I was really happy with what I was doing, but I had invested in two large-scale stone and steam bread ovens (and that is a whole story by itself!) to keep up with demand and my limited baking schedule. A new opportunity to work with my bread oven company came up, and it felt like the stepping stone to moving further into baking. It was a bittersweet decision because I had loved working at my home church for nine years, and in complete honesty, the decision came with equal amounts of tears as it did excitement. 

However, it also came with its own challenges as I continued to work tirelessly.  After nine months, I knew I couldn’t continue working at that pace, growing my bakery, and caring for my sweet family. I finally took the huge step into baking 100% as my own full-time business in January of this year. It took me four years to take this leap. 

I currently bake twice a week, which is four full days between dough preparation and the long, 24-hour fermentation and baking the following day. I bake 80+ loaves each day, along with some sweet sourdough treats like cookies and cakes, so my customers can have a little medley of savory and sweet bakes.   

Can you share a particularly memorable moment or story from your baking journey that stands out to you?

I have so many moments throughout the day with my kids and husband just reaching for the sourdough at almost every meal, and it makes me so happy! But from a business perspective, a memory that really stands out is from a particular sourdough pickup day. Seeing my customers pull up, with their kids piling out of the car and seeing everyone coming to the door, smiling because they knew each other and I knew them. Seeing their kids swing on my front tree swing really hit me that this is what it means to be part of my community. What a unique way to share in other people’s lives, to bake the bread they serve at their family table. For me, it doesn’t get more special than that. I have the most amazing customers, most of whom have become friends, and that is something I treasure.   (full article is in a past issue of Front Porch Life Magazine)

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