I’ve often wondered why the guy who owns the luggage store a few doors down from me comes to work all dressed up. Every day around noon, he walks down Orchard in a suit and newsboy cap with paper and briefcase in hand to open up shop. His wife, who runs the store with him, dresses simply and casually; it’s not really a job that requires your Sunday best.

This morning, as I was walking to the bank to deposit some cash into our bank account, I saw a man dressed in a suit standing outside a building silently passing out flyers. As I strolled by, I thought to myself that it looked a lot like the guy who owned the luggage store a few doors down. On the way back it was unmistakable – we locked glances for a second as I passed. I didn’t wave hello; perhaps I was worried that he’d be embarrassed that I noticed him there working his second job. I wondered to myself whether he had a son who’d end up spending that money on a new pair of Jordans.

It took a chance encounter during my walk through Chinatown to remind me of the immigrant struggle and how much I have to be thankful for. My parents have also made sacrifices to afford me the many opportunities that I have today, and it’s important for me to think back on them every time I feel like I’ve got it tough. Fact is, I’ve got it pretty good.

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In an era where so much is computerized, I’m still quite fond of using notebooks. One reason that I enjoy them so much is that it’s fun to flip back and see what I was thinking about or working on in months and years past. I’ll use them for to-do lists, to take notes during phone calls, and to doodle in.

While cleaning rummaging around my desk today, I came across a spiral notebook that I had while I was working my day job a few years back.

For those who might not know, I didn’t begin my post-collegiate career in fashion. I graduated with a dual degree in Economics and Public Policy and had no interest in pursuing a job relating to either major. I ended up taking an offer at an IT consulting firm and working in that industry for seven years; during those last three years, I was simultaneously working on 3sixteen with my partner Johan (it wasn’t until Januay 2007 when I quit my consulting job to work full-time on 3sixteen). Some of my clients were local and others required me to travel weekly – this notebook was used during my project in Honolulu, where I spent 3 months in 2006.

What I found most interesting (to me, at least) was the visual reminder of how I was juggling my side passion during my day job. If you look closely you can see references to 3sixteen – credit card numbers, new store information, invoices to be charged – lodged in between notes from meetings on software fixes to be made. Finding this notebook was a great reminder of how much things have changed, how far we’ve come as a brand, , and most importantly – of how grateful I am to be doing what I love all day long.

This week, the New York Times posted a story on the struggles of Jake, a well-respected mens and womens clothing retailer in Chicago. I wasn’t suprised to read what I did, as this specific problem has plagued boutiques and independant designers for a long time. The downturn of our economy has only served to highlight the unfortunate situation more, but it’s always been around.

I happened across a thread discussing Jake’s situation on StyleForum, an internet discussion board that I frequent. While most of the posters were simply judging the situation from a strict economic standpoint, calling the designers foolish for continuing to ship product when they were already owed money,  I can empathize with the predicament that independant designers face – on one hand you need to get paid for your orders or else you might be out of business next season, and on the other hand you want to have your product in the best stores and are often willing to make concessions to get your line in them. And this brings us back to the unfortunate situation I was mentioning earlier: boutiques will always want as much product as possible without paying for it, and designers will always tempted by the opportunity to put their clothing in great doors (at the risk of getting paid late or not at all). Because I don’t have a background in retail, my perspective is limited but it strikes me as dishonest for a store to bring in product without knowing if they can pay for it – or even worse, knowing that they can’t pay for it. I can, however, speak from a designer’s standpoint. Wisdom and caution must definitely be exhibited when shipping stores (especially ones that are carrying an outstanding balance), but I do understand why those brands continued to send product over in the hopes that they’ll get paid eventually. Sadly, I dont think this is a situation that will ever be remedied; there will always be plenty of young, hungry brands for stores to serially take advantage of.

Last week I had the opportunity to hang out with some friends of mine from the pacific Northwest; to me they are Milton and Bryan, but to hip hop aficionados they are Ohmega Watts and Braille. Together with their partner in crime Tyson (aka Othello), they form a hip hop trio called Lightheaded. I first met them in early 2004 when they were touring through Chicago. At the time I was just starting to push a nascent t-shirt brand called 3sixteen, and it was via our shared passion for creativity in the arts that our friendship was born. Here we are, five years later… Othello is married with a baby boy, Ohmega has two successful solo albums out and a budding graphic design career, and Braille has a beautiful daughter. We’re all in different life stages and have gone through much; though we aren’t able to keep in touch as much as we did in the past, it’s always a pleasure to reconnect in person and see how we’ve all grown and what we’ve learned since the last time we met.

Braille is currently touring in support of an album he recorded with S-1 of Strange Fruit Project called Cloud Nineteen. They’ve gone to bars, concert venues, youth groups, after school programs, juvenile detention centers, shelters and more this past year to do shows and give albums away. Yes, the album is available for purchase in stores and via iTunes, but their goal has been to give away 30,000 copies free of charge. So far they’ve already distributed 9,000 and are receiving loans and gifts to print the remainder of the cd’s they need to reach their goal. When asked why they’ve decided to do this, Braille said that their heart for the project was to make positive, uplifting music available to anyone they met without cost being a preventative issue.

Over these past several years, I’ve been slowly discovering what it means to be a Christian in a creative industry. I’ve been encouraged by several individuals along the way who I really respect  – people who are sure of their faith and are not ashamed of it, and express it in the best way they can with the talents they’ve been given. Braille (and the Lightheaded crew) is definitely one of those people. We’ve had opportunities to talk about the role our faith plays in what we do, and I am always encouraged by how focused he is on how his art can edify others. That, and his relentless desire to perfect his craft and give it more impact. It’s fine to say that you want your beliefs to affect others through your art, but it means a lot more when you’re really good at what you do.