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5/27 - What's going on with Street Wheat?

Nikhil:

Street Wheat began as my rebellion against the corporate nature of my former job. I was a utilities consultant, and while I focused on what I considered beneficial projects - advanced grid, net metering, community solar, I was burnt out and struggling to find meaning. I've long dabbled in baking as a side hustle, and in May 2025 decided to try it out more regularly to see if it could replace my day job. Local ingredients and down-to-earth manual labor felt like the respite I needed from endless project planning, managing underpaid development teams, and generally not feeling connected, or invested, in the software products I helped to build and sell.

I have been absolutely in awe at the support the Wedge community, and all Street Wheat customers have shown me. I eventually quit that job and primarily baked for much of the last year. Such a life transition is not without its challenges. I came to realize that while much of my struggle with corporate work was value-misalignment, many of my issues persisted - leading to a ADHD diagnosis and a lot of ongoing realignment of priorities. The conclusions I've drawn are ever changing, but the "all-or-nothing" thinking is very clear to me now - full-time baking felt like what I needed to balance receding from the corporate world. Full-time baking is also incredibly difficult. On top of my unique struggles managing my time, it is a ton of work to produce high-volume laminated pastry in a home kitchen fully by hand. The challenge is a big part of what I love about it, but at this point I don't think it's something I can keep up full time.

Concurrently, I've recently gotten more involved in politics - starting a job at the senate and joining the LHENA board. In some ways these roles scratch the community-building I've been itching for, frankly with a much higher impact:labor ratio than Street Wheat. Since I'm now employed in a more fulfilling fashion I don't feel the drive or the energy to continue to bake at scale. I am learning to better balance my own interests and goals with the pressure of external expectations - a big part of me wants to keep it up, but I know that is largely driven by the parasocial nature of promoting the business on social media (not to discount the real social benefits of connecting with neighbors). All that to say, things are changing - and I apologize for the reduced availability of my products. For now, we are getting off TikTok and Instagram, not feeling obligated to stick to regularly scheduled programming, and trying to shift the focus from income to community engagement.