My Neighborhoods

I love LA! I was born at Kaiser Permanente on Sunset Boulevard in the East Hollywood / Los Feliz Neighborhood.

As an LA native, I see Los Angeles through the eyes of love. I feel blessed to enjoy so many cuisines from around the world just by visiting various neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles County. Thai food in Thai Town, Ethiopian Cuisine in Little Ethiopia, and late-night Hong Kong-style comfort food in Alhambra & Monterey Park.

I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. My dad’s family was in San Pedro, Long Beach & Culver City. My mother’s family was from the San Fernando Valley. We would travel through many different neighborhoods when visiting family. I noticed different flavors in the neighborhoods we traveled through and visited.

My first apartment was in Montebello, then El Monte, then Azusa. I was too far from DTLA for a daily commute to City Hall, so I moved back west to Alhambra for 4 years, then Los Feliz for another 4. I signed leases on 2 different places in Pasadena & South Pasadena on the SAME day. I floated between both cities for the next 10 years (and was able to sublease the place I wasn’t staying in). I had a short stint in Long Beach to oversee a project, then back to Pasadena, South Pasadena, and I finally settled in Garvanza, Highland Park.

I have moved through many communities and worked on projects in those neighborhoods and surrounding cities. I can trace my design lineage through the many projects I have touched. It’s humbling to know that so many families live in the houses, duplexes, triplexes, bungalows, condominiums, ADUs, and apartments I’ve remodeled or designed from the ground up.

Another way I serve the communities I live in is by connecting charities and businesses through their merchant processing. If you need credit card processing equipment or other merchant services for your online or brick-and-mortar business, I can help you with that through VCCP Merchant Services.

We have made it part of our mission to donate 20% of our profits to charity. 10% goes to a charity fund supporting local charities like The Burrito Project. The other 10% goes to a charity or charities of the merchant’s choice.

By switching to VCCP Merchant Services, a local business can be proud to support its favorite neighborhood charity groups while receiving top-notch credit card processing.

I’m focused on working on projects in the neighborhoods I love, providing boutique-level merchant services, and supporting charities we all care about. I hope we get to work together soon.

Cheers!

Alan Pinel