Meet Weichao Kong of .standstill. in El Sereno

Today we’d like to introduce you to Weichao Kong.

Weichao, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m a proud stoner. To me, the greatest stoner trait is the need to share. We all know that feeling. You get off a long day of school or work. Call your dealer, and roll a fatty. But who wants to smoke that all by themselves?? So what do you do? …hit up all your homies… “wanna cheef?”

I used to live for those moments -still do, but obviously as you grow up, you can’t do that everyday.

So when I discovered tea ceremonies on a trip back to China to visit my family, it immediately clicked that this can become my thing. The similarities were endless. Starting from the botany of the plants (I swear I’m not high right now), the farmers, down to the consumption, and most importantly, the sharing!

I got myself a tea set and started hosting friends for tea sessions. And then .standstill. was born!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Life would be pretty boring if everything was smooth sailing!

For me, the toughest thing was probably having to relocate a lot growing up. My parents used to work for the government and we moved out of China when I was ten years old. Every two years, we would move to a new place. I grew up in Toronto, LA, Frankfurt (Germany), and Atlanta.

It was tough as a kid to move right when you felt comfortable in one place. But it also taught me a lot about different cultures and how to adapt while still being true to yourself and your heritage.

Looking back, that really set me up to not back down from struggles and take them in stride.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about .standstill. – what should we know?
.standstill. is a tea company. We direct-source loose leaf teas from our partner farms in Asia, focusing on natural and low-intervention farms. We host plenty of tea sessions here in LA, where we share our teas. Yes, they are 420 friendly!

Although tea is a main focus at our sessions, what I am really proud of is our curation of our guests. We try to invite people intentionally. The chillness of our sessions really helps people relax, be present, and open up. I love seeing people develop genuine connections at our tea table, and to see those relationships blossom.

Imagery is also very important to me. I take most of the photos we use. They encapsulate a moment in time, a vibe, a memory. And that is all a reflection of our brand.

Up until now we’ve been very experience-focused. But we are launching our web store and some products very soon!

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My partner in life, Tiff. That’s my ride or die. I Love you!

Also our business partner Susan. She is a design mastermind and the person behind all of our dope branding. Shout out to her!

And my parents 😀

Contact Info:

• Website: www.standstilltea.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @standstill.tea

Image Credit:
Aaron Miller (For the Personal Photo of me)

Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.