Conversations with Kath Baker

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kath Baker.

Hi Kath, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born in the city, but raised by mountains. My entire life has been shaped by time outside. From Minnesota to Maine to Alaska to Colorado, and many in between. I’ve lived in the harshest elements and they grew me into the person I am. They taught me resilience, independence, emotional grit, and how to find beauty in every season of life, even when you don’t see the sun for months.

I wouldn’t call myself an intense person, but I’ve always been drawn to challenge. The kind of struggle that feels good once you’re on the other side of it. I guess they call that type II fun and I think it applies to careers and life, too. Alaska built my backbone. Boulder built my community. The first taught me how to endure, the second taught me how to let people in.

I grew up in a family of artists but I chose the more “stable” route and studied chemistry. My passion to create quickly outweighed my diploma and led me to where I am today with my career.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest hurdle of my career was launching Hexa Custom just months before COVID. My business partner and I bootstrapped the company from nothing. Tiny budget, limited salaries, wearing every hat. We fought through factory delays, tariffs, and late-night calls with the factory to keep production moving. Those early years demanded everything: resilience, resourcefulness, and a stubborn belief in what we were building.

Like any startup, Portal has faced its fair share of challenges. But what’s impressed me most is the team. Every obstacle has been met with a solution, not an excuse. There hasn’t been a single setback big enough to shake them, and watching that resilience in action has been genuinely inspiring.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I moved to Colorado from Alaska in 2019.

I wanted to work in the outdoor industry and be surrounded by people building things. Boulder had that energy. I didn’t have a network or a roadmap, so I started creating one. I worked for free, taught myself design, technical creative skills, and documented everything with my camera. First for fun, then for clients. Over time, I partnered with brands like The North Face, YETI, and National Geographic to lead creative strategy before I decided to break off on my own.

I then co-founded Hexa Custom, an outerwear brand focused on customizable premium gear for clients like Google, Netflix, The Olympics, Audi, and more. Achieving this by designing a proprietary backend system that allowed customers to build their own technical apparel. I led brand, product design, and storytelling while building the company with friends and collaborators from the Boulder community. That experience taught me how to build something from nothing.

After six years of building Hexa, I reached a natural turning point. I had done what I came to do and was ready for the next challenge. At that same time, a new neighbor to my co-working studio had popped up, Portal Thermaculture. What was maybe fate, or just perfect timing, I’ll never be sure. They were just getting started and I was just leaving my start-up. It felt like a no brainer to jump in and help them start their business.

What started as a creative partnership has evolved into a much bigger role. Helping shape Portal’s brand, content, events, and national expansion. Portal is the natural intersection of everything I care about: building brands from the ground up, designing systems that scale, and creating experiences that bring people together.

One of the most exciting parts of my work with Portal has been bringing my technical background into the company. This year, we launched a completely rebuilt booking platform, designed specifically for contrast therapy and experiential wellness. It solves problems we faced as operators, and now we’re taking it even further: evolving it into a booking and studio management system for the fit-tech space.

Between our physical locations and a booking platform built for studios like ours, Portal is positioned to lead an entirely new category in wellness. I couldn’t be more excited to build this with the team and help shape what comes next.

How do you think about luck?
I mentioned luck earlier when talking about how Portal came into my life, but I’m not sure I really believe in luck. I believe in timing. The good breaks and the hard hits are just the ebb and flow of life. What matters is what you do when the timing shows up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kbcreative.me | https://www.portalthermaculture.com/
• Instagram: @tkbakes | @portalthermaculture

Image Credits
1. Elliot Whitehead 2. Adam Concannon 4. Elliot Whitehead 5. Jeff Jones 6-7. Skylar Sun 8. Ryan Christians