Our Team & Process
"We get by with a lotta help from our friends."
Larry + Kathy + Edmundo + Miguel @ Hemptraders
Since the beginning, we've sourced most of our hemp & organic cotton textiles from the awesome team led by Larry Serbin at Hemptraders in Los Angeles. They've really guided us through all the difficult times & it's been so exciting to see them grow bigger & bigger every year while keeping their team in tact. As people, they're awesome and equally awesome as a hemp resource for the many hemp businesses & lovers throughout California & the rest of the nation.
To protect fair labor practices as well as ensuring that his hemp supplies are of high quality, Larry visits the farm in China annually. The certified organic cotton on the other hand is purchased from Turkey and shipped to China where Larry's textile team works their magic to make the hemp/cotton blend that the bad blankies and undies are made of. We visit & hug this wonderful group of people on a monthly basis & are always reviewing the quality of the fabrics & the hemp farmers abroad. The fabrics we carry from Hemptraders are apart of the Fair Wear Foundation as well as ECOCERT Certified meeting their Organic Content Standard.
To download the Organic Certification for our fabrics, please click HERE.
To find out more about Larry and the HempTraders family of products, you can visit their page by clicking HERE.
Chi Hang, Freelance Seamstress
We first met Chi Hang ("Chi," referring to older sister in Vietnamese) through her husband, Alex, who owns the local sew shop where we source our thread & any sewing machine needs. After her day job at a sewing company in the mornings, she comes home to tend to her adorable daughter & son in the afternoon where she sews our blankets. Though we can sew the bad blankies ourselves, we felt the need to pass this part of the production process on to Chi Hang to allow us to develop other aspects of the BAD Project. Hopefully one day our project will expand to the level where we can hire Chi Hang on full time to sew in-house because her pleasant energy is such a treat to be around! Also, we weren't able to capture a photo with her because she's a bit camera shy and also somewhat paranoid about having her photo floating around in the WORLD WIDE WEB! You can say she's a bit old school but that's what really makes her awesome to us!
Roland + Margherita + Theodora + Herma, Cutting & Sewing
Rolando & his wife, Margherita run this little flat lock sewing shop in Santa Ana, Ca where our organic hemp undies are manufactured. They're usually accompanied by their associates, Theodora & Herma and you'll often see their older kids stopping by to help on the administrative side as well. We've only been working with them since 2015 and felt almost like a family because they've been so warm to us from the get. If you're around the area and would love to source his work, feel free to msg us for more info. Lastly, Rolando and Margherita are the sweetest vendors we've ever had the pleasure to work with and we adore them dearly. We dream of a day to send them enough business so they don't have to worry too much about keeping their shop open; which they some times mention concerns about. =)
Carmen, Freelance Seamstress
Carmen is our freelance seamstress designated for custom orders whether they be hemp curtains, pillows, duvets or clothing, all from her humble apartment in Long Beach, Ca. She had recently moved from Seattle because the California weather improves her arthritis & we were so lucky to find her many talents & friendship through Craigslist! She is a senior citizen with an extreme zeal & zest for life and hass become a true friend to us & the subject of our growing philanthropic section of "i love bad" products. All profits of the custom orders made by Carmen go directly to her due to her endless altruistic efforts. As a former successful lawyer, she is active in her fight to give a stronger voice to senior citizen and legal immigrant rights & does everything from teaching assistant to a physics class, to tutoring kids with autism & high school students for their SAT's in order to make ends meet. Though she is a retired attorney turned gourmet culinary shop owner to Russian orphanage volunteer & so much more, her passion has always been sewing, painting & creating. We feel very fortunate to partner with her in making beautiful things happen through her talents & hope to continually support her in her own tireless efforts to help others.
LA Dye & Print Dye House, Gardena, Ca
We dye & prewash our fabric in small batches from George & his busy team (front office: Elva, Erica, & Monse) at LA Dye & Print. Though George often times carry a stern and busy facial expression, he radiates the warmest smile when you catch him at the right time. As for the ladies, they really do a great job in keeping the flow in the front as they are constantly swamped with work.
Fresh Prints Design, Long Beach + Indie Printing, Los Angeles
We create most all of our printed material using recycled & hemp papers whenever possible with the help of these two amazing printing teams all locally based in Los Angeles County. Our tags, labels, stickers, thank you cards, etc. are all crafted with the assistance of these guys. If you're ever in the their respective areas and are in need of quality printing services, do reach out to them!
Brittanny + Daniel + Max Too @ ilovebad organics
Together we run ilovebad organics from our office in a small home out of Long Beach, Ca. Though we all share in our passion & responsibility to inspire & create useful, clean & fundamental hemp products, we "technically" take on our own roles that fit us best to effectively sustain & grow the business. My art & design background lends me to towards the design & production for our blankies, undies, customs, packaging & media meanwhile Daniel's enormous heart, out-of-the-box mind & high spirit lends its passion to our customer service, vendor relations, website development & social media. He is also a part of another hemp enthusiast organization, THE HEMP CO-OP, where he gets to expand on our mission of spreading hemp, love, & balance. Max & his wagging tail is what keeps us grounded, sane & inspired in the office every single day. He boosts morale & is a prancing reminder of love, gratitude & pure bliss!
Together we work to service our customers' organic needs, create & sustain beautiful synergistic relationships with all those we meet & work with along the way as well as giving back to those in need, whether they be human or the environment. To do this, we donate over 10% of our profits monthly to organizations like the Corazon de Vida foundation who supports and educate orphans right over the border in Mexico in and effort to inspire them into beings that'll discover many purposes to stay within the country that needs them most. Other organizations includes the Los Angeles Habilitation House (empowering the disabled and elderly for employment) as well as the Farm Sanctuary (support rescued farm animals). We also often hand out food & care packages to our local homeless communities (150 people) with hopes to inspire more giving in our world. As a team, we strive to do every single little thing with love in our efforts to contribute toward a world that we all can enjoy, together. <3