Welcome to my first interview – if you haven’t guessed I literally make up the direction for this blog as I go. I started with just a mission to get more girls skateboarding for fun & fashion. Along the way I found out there are ways to be fashionable and give back – 3 Thirty is a perfect example.
3 Thirty’s motto is “Be the Rad You Want to See in the World” so I was inspired from the start than I found there’s meaning to 3 Thirty’s name. They literally pick 3 causes a month and give up to 30% of the profits to those causes. Here goes my interview with Krystal Berry – founder 3 Thirty!
JB: Who started 3Thirty and when?
My name is Krystal Berry. I am from Los Angeles, California and I started 3 Thirty more than two years ago.
JB: What was the inspiration and do the numbers 3 and 30 have additional meaning to you?
I went through the whole song and dance of what society (and my parents) expected me to do. I went to college, got a degree, and got a good paying corporate job (all before I was 23). But after a few years, I still felt like my soul was missing something. I finally asked myself “what the hell would make me happy” and I came up with two things.
- I wanted to help others and make a difference in the world (or at least my community)
- I wanted to reconnect with the surfing/skating lifestyle that I loved but left when I got the corporate job
I love being on a board and I love the good vibes that come with being part of the community of surfers and skaters. Everything about the surf and skate life is rad! Skaters and surfers are constantly pushing their limits, dreaming, striving to be better, shredding harder, and having fun. And they are seriously the coolest people you will ever meet in your life. Skaters keep it real and encourage one another. That’s inspiring to me. I want to have people like that around me all the time.
So, I created 3 Thirty, a lifestyle company that is influenced by the surf, skate and snowboard life and does good by giving back to the action sports community and various causes (environmental, animal and humanitarian). The giving back aspect of 3 Thirty is super important to me. It’s okay to have fun and do what makes you happy … but the world is just bigger than me (or you). We have to protect what we love which means protect the environment we play in and respect and help the people and animals we share it with.
The name, 3 Thirty, comes from my inability to choose just one cause to support. I couldn’t select just one charity, so I decided to do as many as I could, changing the causes every month. 3 Thirty supports 3 causes every Thirty days. The cool thing about the way 3 Thirty is set up is that it gives back to the surf, skate and snowboard community, it empowers females to go after their dreams, and supporters get to help the charities they love by SHOPPING. How dope is that?!
JB: Do you make your own designs – for tees, totes, beanies, jewelry, etc. or do you partner or combo?
I currently do all the designs for 3 Thirty’s brand. I do not consider myself an artist or a graphic designer but I try to create apparel that makes a statement and is something that you would where everyday. You will find “Be the rad you want to see in the world” (3 Thirty’s motto) on a lot of the items we sell and those are our best sellers.
I am planning to bring in new designers and collaborate with brands and people in the scene to create new designs that represent the radgirls in the skateboarding, surfing, fitness, snowboarding, outdoor adventurers world. It’s no secret that the girls in action sports don’t get as much love as the guys do, so sometimes the apparel selection is limited which is bull crap because girls want to have style while they are rippin. It’s unfair for the industry to not cater to the girls as much as they do to the boys. So 3 Thirty plans to be a place where ladies of shred can find apparel that is for them, buy them and supports them. To do this I will team up with brands that are already out there, showing the love.
I have teamed up with a few skate brands all ready, like Silly Girl Skateboards and OG Betty, and I am now selling their apparel online. You can get awesome skate apparel on shop3thirty.com and know that you are giving back to your community at the same time.
JB: This year you supported EXPOSURE Skate – a non-profit near and dear to me as it’s in my home of San Diego and I participate. How’d you hear about EXPOSURE Skate?
I learned about EXPOSURE Skate at the 2014 Boarding 4 Breast Cancer’s “Skate the Coast” event. B4BC was promoting the Exposure Skate Benefit contest so I checked out their website and knew instantly that I needed to support this organization and their mission. I had a booth at their 2014 event and got to meet a lot of cool girls and shortly after, I worked with Amelia Brodka on a 3 Thirty campaign to raise money to help cover travel expenses that some competitors are challenged with. Amelia is so chill, inspiring and dedicated to Exposure and skateboarding. She is the definition of a radgirl and I am lucky to have her support 3 Thirty as well. We will be campaigning again for Exposure in the early summer and early fall before the 2015 Exposure Skate event. But year round, people who want to support Exposure Skate can go to www.shop3thirty.com and purchase any “skate brand” apparel and 30% of the proceeds will be donated to Exposure.
JB: Can you tell me about what’s going on with you and Silly Boards? I saw the contest on Instagram but I’m hearing there’s more – what’s the scoop?
I connected with Silly Girl Skateboards last year and I thought they are just the coolest skate company. They are very supportive of skater girls, their team riders are sick and their apparel kicks ass. Luckily, we both thought it would be a good collaboration to support one another. 3 Thirty is now selling Silly Girl Skateboard apparel on our website. Soon, we will be selling their boards and other items and all of it will support females in the skating community. It’s a win-win. We will have more Silly Girl/3 Thirty contests & giveaways throughout the year so follow us and them and watch out for those events. I definitely see design collaboration in the future but maybe in early 2016.
JB: Do you just sell on-line – is there a store or do you go to street fairs or ???
Right now we are only selling online however, getting 3 Thirty apparel into stores this year is in the works and occasionally we sell at street fairs and events. We don’t do events that often because they cost money and we try to keep our expenses low so that we can donate more of our profits to our charities. We do plan to attend more contests and events in the California area to show the love and promote our charities so you may see us there walking around. Make sure to say what’s up to us!
JB: Favorite piece which one is it that should have its picture in this blog and what makes it your favorite? (If you absolutely cannot get down to 1 can you get down to favorite 3)?
Dang, that is a hard one… I definitely have more than one favorite item… I seriously love all the tanks we sell that say “Be the Rad You Want To See In The World”. Not just because they are so comfy- I seriously wear one everyday- but also because I always have people (both dudes and girls) stopping me to say how rad the quote is.
I also love my “ADOPT” shirt! I am passionate about all the causes we support but animals are super important to me. I think as human beings it is our job to respect them and protect them. One way to do that for domesticated animals is to adopt them and discourage buying from pet stores. Thousands of good animals get put to death everyday because there are not enough room for them in the shelters. It’s very sad. So I love my adopt tank because it helps save lives.
My other favorite items are those that are in the works.
I have a “Be The Rad You Want To See In The World” temp tattoo coming out in the summer, more sticker designs and maybe a new hat design. Yew!
Thanks to Krystal – and LOL JB is me Jordan Beal – I hope you use the links in the post to check out all the truly rad stuff 3 Thirty has going on and follow them to keep up with all that’s to come.
Remember it’s up to each one of us to be the rad we want to see – more girls can & do skateboard as they see girls skateboarding! So let’s see your stylish shredding.