At 3sixteen, we are constantly inspired by the family and friends that surround us, and the experiences that we have. Now that 2017 is almost in the books, we thought it’d be fun for our team members to reflect on something special that got them stoked this year.

Joseph Chin (Operations) 
For me, the most memorable part of this year was a trip to New York. I was a part of a wedding in Brooklyn, so it was great to experience the East Coast with friends. l also got to visit SENY with my girlfriend, and Andrew and Wesley took us out for pizza and around the Lower East Side. There are still a lot of things I’d love to see: The Met, the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park, etc.

Coming back, I noticed that cars can be isolating. Everyone uses public transportation there, and you’re forced to be around people all the time. Because of that, you can’t help but people-watch. Maybe it’s a little creepy, but it’s interesting to see what people are wearing or reading. Now that I’m back home, I’m making an effort to walk around more - especially around the Arts District and DTLA, which are more friendly to pedestrians than other parts of LA.

Cameron King (Retail/Operations)
My source of inspiration in 2017 was moving to Los Angeles. I packed up and moved from my small town of San Luis Obispo, unsure where I’d end up. I’m happy to have landed at 3sixteen!

Robert Lim (Content)
This was a great year for music and art. I was lucky to experience Tom Sachs’ Space Camp at Governor’s Island. The camp consisted of ten tasks - some surprisingly difficult. The most memorable was drawing an uninterrupted, four foot-long line on a wall - as close as possible to the previous line. After doing push-ups until you couldn’t do any more. This sequence of tasks underscored how focus and perseverance can help you to succeed, and how failure can make you stronger.

Spencer Ramirez (Sales) 
In 2017 my biggest inspiration was getting married! After meeting in preschool and growing up only a couple of miles from each other, it’s crazy to see how life can just fall into place if you allow it.

Photo: Steven Sebring

Wesley Scott (Design)
I was able to see Patti Smith perform and read from her new book, Devotion, at St. Ann’s Church in Brooklyn. I’ve been a Patti Smith fan for a long time, so it was nice to see her in such a casual manner. I was really inspired by her humility - she could have any musicians in the world perform with her, but she brought her daughter to play piano and her neighbor from Rockaway Beach to play guitar. It was refreshing to see someone who has so significantly changed the direction of music and pop culture to be so down to earth, and still be so excited to share her work with people.

Roland Torres (Operations)
When Spencer and I were in Berlin, we met a guy that worked for byborre. Learning about the brand and process of making their pieces was very intriguing, and it was amazing how unique their line is. It was definitely a catalyst for my creativity, knowing you can keep coming up with new cool stuff.

Johan Lam (Co-Owner)
At the beginning of 2017, I set out to focus more on family - knowing that we had a baby on the way. Remembering the sacrifices my parents made to give me so many opportunities in life - and having a son, who now gives me a renewed sense of purpose in my career - was my biggest source of inspiration this year.

Andrew Chen (Co-owner)
This summer, LA-based succulent specialists Cactus Store opened up a pop up shop in the LES/Chinatown area. They built a custom greenhouse fixture and trucked in hundreds of rare cacti to sell through the fall. As someone who’s pretty new to plants, they had a ton of stuff that I’d never seen before in person, which was cool. But perhaps what was most special about the shop was their staff: the knowledge and passion they had for what they sold was really special.

I bought a few pots and plants from Cactus Store throughout the summer, along with tees and stuff for friends - but on their last week, I approached Han (the one I worked with the most) and asked him if he would be willing to put together a little arrangement for me. He asked if I had any particular plants I wanted to include but I told him to surprise me. He worked on it for a few hours and delivered it to our office later in the afternoon, and what he came up with was beautiful. All of the cacti he included in the arrangement were weird and unique, of course, but what I liked most about it was that I imagined Han being around these cacti all summer long - so the ones he put in there were probably (hopefully) some of his favorites.