"Taking something that's an idea in your brain and making it come to life is super rewarding", with Connie Mansfield, on Asian American

Transcript:
0:01
Hello everyone, welcome to The Intersection, a podcast program about intersectionality, intersectional identities, and intersectional journeys both professionally and personally.
And as we all know, they are very interconnected.
0:17
And I am your host and producer, Zhoufang.
Today we have another amazing guest coming here to share with us their own journeys and stories and the learning along the way.
Please continue to listen and find out more.
0:33
Welcome.
All right.
Hello.
Welcome back to The Intersection.
And this is the first recording that we are having since our summer break.
0:49
So I'm excited, and I also feel a little nervous and rusty and I'm so excited to have our guests, the 1st guest for our new season, Connie Mansfield, here today.
And Connie and I met, I think, briefly at a International Women's Day event, and that was our first kind of meeting.
1:15
And then after that, I think we've had a bunch of meetings and interactions because Connie's amazing and she's an entrepreneur in Portland, OR, and she's the founder and she's the maker behind PDX Fresh Start.
1:32
So I'm gonna let Connie introduce herself.
Welcome, Connie.
Thank you.
So.
I'm Connie Mansfield, founder and maker of PDX Fresh Start.
We make self-care items like for bath and body and really focused on kind of the Asian American experience.
1:53
So a lot of scents are related to, you know, familiar sense of my childhood, you know, like boba and Tai tea and and fun things like that to kind of incorporate into our daily lives just to make sure that we have a point of reflection every day.
2:12
And yeah, so we really want people to be able to focus on themselves.
Yeah, I really appreciate you mentioning your childhood memory and experience 'cause I love your products.
2:27
They are very sweet and not just the flavor or the scent, it's just kind of the overall aesthetics and the feelings of it.
And I feel my guess is kids really like your products.
Yeah, 'cause they are so colorful and vibrant and cute and reminds me of the summer in the South.
2:47
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah, we.
Appeal a lot to kids and then a lot of like kids at heart too, so definitely.
Yeah, and I think you told me this story before, but can you share, you know, the start of your business 'cause I feel it was not, it was kind of an accident and I'm air quoting so and I love that story.
3:10
Can you tell us?
Yeah, of course.
So it all started.
I've always been a maker, but I always dabbled in a lot of making and didn't really focus on one particular thing.
But my kids were really interested in bath bombs at the time.
So I got really obsessed with trying to make the perfect bath bomb.
3:30
Spent a lot of time researching and trying to understand kind of the science behind it and really worked through that and got really interested in it.
The company I was working with at the time had a maker's fair and, you know, it was just free to participate.
3:46
So I, I signed up and I was got a lot of positive comments and, and everyone was very receptive to the idea.
So I thought, you know, this might be a good, you know, Ave. to explore and kind of make more things related to self-care.
4:06
And a few years ago, my mom actually passed away.
And so it kind of was the instigator for me wanting to focus my time on something that mattered a lot to me.
And self-care is super important in our everyday.
4:24
And I think often times we forget about it because we get so caught up in everything that's happening day today.
And so I thought this was a great time to spend spend more time focusing on what I enjoyed and bringing that joy to other people.
4:43
And so that's kind of how PDX Fresh Start got started was just my hope that I can bring some joy into other people's lives so they can focus, you know, on, you know, creating peace for themselves too.
I appreciate that and I'm sorry about the passing of your mother.
5:02
I know it's a few years ago, but as we all know, grief is, you know, it's not, it's not done just, you know, right after.
So I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm also really glad that you have been focusing on self-care and self-care products things.
5:20
Can I assume that you are a grudge entrepreneur?
Yes, absolutely.
My garage is completely packed with supplies and yes, so my making is indoors and you know, I have an an area that I make a lot of my goods and kind of explore things and there's a little bit of cooking involved.
5:41
So it's close to the kitchen.
So like lotions and things need to be cooked.
So yeah, so definitely taking over the garage and any free space that exists.
I love that take up the space.
5:57
And you mentioned, you know, creating and perfecting your products.
You require research and science.
Did you have a sciency background?
I do.
Well, I have.
A engineering degree, but I don't think it really translates necessarily to making.
6:16
Maybe a little bit, maybe methodology, but you know, I probably could have had some help with chemistry and things like that, but definitely just methodically testing is super important.
And then testing the final product with different types of people.
6:34
Making sure that it's accessible for folks is really important to me too.
Can you share more?
When you say to make it accessible to people, did you mean pricing or the ingredients or oh?
OK, yeah, so I definitely want to make it pricing accessible.
6:52
I know everything is very expensive these days, so I want to make sure that people are able to afford a little bit of self-care and then accessibility.
So just making sure I don't include, you know nut oils or different oils that people could potentially have allergic reactions to.
7:10
I try to make or I everything is vegan and then just trying to make sure that I use ingredients that are as organic and best as possible so that folks are able to use it.
Yeah.
That's important because as we kind of mentioned already, a lot of children use your products.
7:30
So you definitely want to make sure it's safe for folks.
And I want to just like quickly mention the science aspect a little bit.
I think that it actually takes a lot of work and research in developing your products and want to mention, you know, one thing.
7:47
The first thing I used of your products is the the breeze, the tube.
And I have that actually on my desk at all times because like, I don't want you to share, like any of your, like, secrets if you have any.
8:02
But how does it work?
Because this is so amazing.
For example, this breathing tube, you just kind of like put it under your nose and you sniff it and the scent just instantly clears your head.
How did you make this product?
8:18
I'm so curious.
Yeah.
So I use all essential oils in those since it's directly in contact with, you know, like a nasal pathway.
And then I use menthol actually, which helps clear, you know, passageways and, and is able to kind of carry the scent a little longer and is a lot more strong and kind of helps clear, you know, clear sinuses or, or different things like that.
8:49
Yeah, this is a really, really great product and I I want to manage to, you know, I'm not getting paid to say this, but these pediatric star these like breathing tube really has been helpful for me personally and I've been giving this away to friends as well.
9:08
So I think it's a very unique thing that exists in the market.
So yeah, I highly recommend it.
Thank you.
And you mentioned, you know, you want to make the products accessible and I know you know, at your, you also have your job and how do you kind of balance?
9:29
Maybe balance is not really great work word because you are a parent of two children and you have a full time job and you have PDXPDX fresh start and then now you have various partnership with other vendors in town, for example, Tender Loving Empire.
9:50
So you have a lot of things going on.
So going back to self-care, you know, how do you kind of like step back and kind of recharge or take care of yourself with so many things going on at the same time?
10:05
That's a great question.
Yeah, I think I definitely work to dedicate certain parts of the day to certain parts of my life.
So obviously during normal working hours, I, I work and then, and then when the kids come home from school or daycare, I try to spend as much time with them as I can before their bedtime.
10:29
And then after that is kind of myself care time or PDX fresh start time.
So like I'll either make into the, you know, evening or I'll kind of just take a step back and, and kind of relax and reset for the next day.
10:46
It's definitely a toll.
I think entrepreneurship is not always for the faint of heart.
You have to really have a lot of passion and desire to want to, you know, do the thing.
So, you know, it's good to to assess once in a while whether or not it still feeds your passion and your your energy and then deciding kind of how much to time to take towards that or, you know, to step back as needed.
11:14
Yeah, I think the step back part is really important.
And you talk about, you know, assess the business from time to time.
And that reminds me kind of like, when did you start your business and how many iterations you've had since the start?
11:34
Yeah.
So I think the first time I sold was in 2018, I think my first official vending market maybe it was like 2021-2022 around that time.
And then I think I've kind of iterated a few times since then.
11:54
I've obviously changed I think my, the name and the logo and kind of spent more time on some rebranding and was more, came on more strong in 2023 and pretty much signed up for like every single event I could possibly get into just to kind of understand what the market was like.
12:20
And from there, I think like this year, I've definitely taken a little bit of a step back in terms of doing markets just 'cause, you know, I reassessed and kind of decided, OK, like I understand the market a little more and what what people are interested in.
12:37
And I can now focus on some of the main events or, you know, different stores like Tender Loving Empire.
So understanding the market more has helped a lot to refocus where I want to kind of give my energy to in the business.
12:57
Yeah, I think that's a really important lesson for entrepreneurs out there or folks who want to start their own businesses.
I feel like oftentimes because we are creatives, like we always have a lot like I want to do this, I want to do that.
Oh, I want to do that also.
13:15
But it's important to kind of audit sometimes like the things we do and then refocus on the things that really matter.
So thank you for sharing that.
And can you talk a little bit more about, you know, going through these your priority, like what is the learning along the way?
13:38
How do you decide, oh, that is not worthy of my efforts, but this other thing is more important?
Yeah.
So I definitely have focused more on like as an example by POC or Asian focused markets.
13:56
I really enjoy what I gain out of it, which is community.
It may not always be like the biggest or the most lucrative, but what it gives me and in terms of energy and community and, and kind of happiness and just being able to be among vendors that are able to kind of express themselves creatively, I think that's been shown to be really important to me.
14:23
And so I definitely focus my energy on those type of markets the most and I definitely, you know, will always sign up for those type of markets just because I gain so much from it.
And then I think the other part is just kind of understanding, you know, what I enjoy making too and what is able to give the most to the community.
14:49
So like as an example, what's funny is I, I started with bath bombs, but I actually noticed that bath bombs don't sell that well because it actually isn't that accessible.
So a lot of people don't have baths And I so that's one thing I, I learned from interacting with customers.
15:09
And so I'm like, OK, well, I think I'll focus my energy on things that I can and people can use in the shower since most people have access to a shower.
And so kind of refining my products to make sure that they continue to be accessible and be things that people can incorporate into their lives easily.
15:30
So twofold, yeah.
So a combination of what type of markets and then also what type of products?
Yeah, I appreciate that a lot.
Like for me, that definitely resonates because I, I mean, I do have a bathtub, but I never take a bath.
And so I shower but, and you have this shower steamer, which is also really cool.
15:53
And I hear you mention community and accessibility many times.
Now you, you want to make the products accessible as much as possible and to really touch on our bipod and Asian American community.
Can you share the why behind it?
16:10
Why are they so important to you?
Both community and accessibility, Yeah.
I think community has always been very important in my life.
My parents have always been deeply embedded in, you know, the Asian American immigrant community.
16:30
And I think I didn't realize how important that was until I got older or I didn't appreciate it as much maybe.
So I think that I was often surrounded by folks that, you know, maybe didn't look like me or were biblock.
16:49
And I realized, you know, I always often, you know, code switching, like I'd have to explain myself.
I'd have to explain, or maybe I just choose not to explain.
I just stay silent about my own personal stories and my own background.
17:07
But when I'm in community with BIPOC or Asian, I feel like I'm able to be a lot more myself and be open about the different, you know, experiences I've had.
And oftentimes they've had something similar happen to them.
And so it's just feels really nice to be able to bring my whole self and to be able to talk openly about my own experiences.
17:32
Like I don't have to pretend like that part doesn't exist.
I'm able to open up about it.
And I love hearing, you know, how different communities experience different things as well.
I love learning about how different people experience, you know, maybe even the same thing.
17:52
And so it's always been interesting to me to hear about it that way.
And actually a year ago we I had started a Asian American collective, art collective with another business partner and we had a store on North Williams that had 40 something Asian American artists selling their work.
18:20
And I think that part I'll bring back.
Accessibility was super important to me because I wanted to make an accessible way that someone could be in a storefront, even if they were a budding new artist.
And so that's always been and will continue to be a super important part of what I want to contribute to our community is being able to raise voices and bring other people's experiences forward.
18:49
So I just value that so much and and the creativity that people bring within our own community.
We're all so diverse.
So it's been wonderful to see.
And then I think accessibility is important just because, like you said, a lot of my products cater to children.
19:10
I've noticed a lot of people, you know, we're in a world that people are very aware of what they're choosing to buy and, and put onto their bodies and products they use.
They want, they're very conscious about it being eco friendly and vegan and organic and just making sure that they are choosing the best products for themselves to be the healthiest version of themselves.
19:37
And so I find that to be very important to contribute to.
So that's the main reason for accessibility.
Yeah, thank you for sharing.
And I feel Portland is the perfect market for it.
And a lot of us really care about the environment, which I think is really aligned with your work as well.
19:58
And I feel your products are so safe and friendly.
You know, like, I almost wonder.
This is actually maybe a little bit for self-interest.
If I brought your products to camping, do you think that's like safe for the environment?
20:15
Yeah, I think for the most part they are safe.
A lot of my products are packaged in like recycled weed straw, so it's compostable as well.
So yeah, I do try to make sure that it's as eco friendly as possible.
20:34
That's really good to know because I'm just getting into kind of camping and outdoors myself and I was noticing, you know, it's it's not that easy to get very environmental friendly products when you go outside and you have to be very conscious about what you spill on the ground or what gets in the water, for example.
21:01
So that's really good to know that your products can be used in nature as well and earlier.
OK, so listeners cannot see this, but I see on your background you have a line that says you make something.
21:19
Oh yeah, you make it happen.
You make it happen, Yes.
Yeah, yeah.
I feel like that's very much me.
I, I feel like I have an idea and then I take it to the like over the top.
21:40
I go overboard with it and I take it to like the NTH degree.
But yes, I, I feel like I'm definitely like a doer, like absolutely through and through.
I like to make sure things happen and I don't like to stay in, you know, constant just talking about something.
21:59
I just want to do it does.
That make you happy?
Yes, I think seeing something come to life from nothing is one of the most rewarding things that you can do is taking something that's an idea in your brain and making it come to life is super rewarding.
22:26
I mean, that kind of explains a lot.
You know, you, you said you weren't necessarily a scientist, but because you really want to make the perfect bath bomb for your kids.
You, you, you just got into it and you got to the end.
22:43
Of it, definitely so.
I want to touch on a little bit about you mentioned you are hoping PDX fresh Start brings joy to people's lives.
22:58
And as we all know, you know, as children from immigrant families or in my case immigrant myself, we tend we tend to kind of deprioritize joy or pleasure or things that we can enjoy either by ourselves or with loved ones.
23:20
Can you share a little bit about your experience with finding joy and share joy?
Joy?
Yes, I.
Completely agree, I think as a child of an immigrant family often times that is thought of as a luxury right?
23:39
A joy is, you know, after survival, obviously, and I think I've always kind of had that as a kid is just spreading joy, is wanting to spread joy.
And I don't know if it's because, you know, like, it may be as a part of a survival technique to just be like, OK, like, yes, I remember even like as kids, I would write like little notes to people that just kind of make them feel good.
24:04
And it's kind of funny 'cause I feel like my, my daughter does that now too, of just, you know, saying nice things to people.
I'm prompted to just kind of make them have like, you know, a good day.
And so I definitely think that it's so important, even though it was de prioritized so much in my own life because I know how 1 little thing can make somebody's day.
24:35
And we all, you know, are living through different hardships or different things in our lives.
You know, that is life.
But if you can bring something special to someone or make them feel good, it's always going to be, you know?
24:51
You're never going to regret doing that.
Yeah, that's so cool.
I feel like a lot of us, not just BIPAC or Asian community, we, we sort of like we're a little ashamed of, you know, enjoying things because we want to show people how hard we are working, how much we grind and how busy we are.
25:19
But we don't really prioritize joy.
And like you said, now your children are, you know, learning from you and they are spreading joy.
And I think that's such a wonderful thing.
Do your kids bring the the bath products to school?
25:38
They share with their friends, I often give to their friends, they love sharing that their mom sells bath products.
And yeah, they really enjoy that aspect of my life.
They, they think it's fascinating and being able to sell things and kind of watching me grind I think is always going to be good too 'cause like you said, you know, we were taught on hard work.
26:03
And so I'd like to show them hard work too, so they understand things don't come easy.
You have to try really hard to make things.
Happen.
Do they help you?
Are you?
Are you a little worker?
Yes, yes, my older one helps me label.
26:19
He actually really loves it and he's very efficient at it, which makes me super proud 'cause I'm like a very efficient, focused person.
So yeah, he's like a little, he makes a little production line for himself to put labels on.
26:36
Wow, that's impressive.
I don't know how to do that at all.
Yeah, it's cute.
Yeah, so he's a little elf.
How about your daughter?
Does she do?
She wants to help, but she's a little too young, so she'll try.
26:53
She'll play with the stickers.
That's about it.
She can bring your water.
Yes, exactly.
Speaking of which, you know right now maybe talk, talk a little bit more about business, it's already September and I know last year you did holiday markets and have like you know presents etcetera.
27:16
Do you have what's your plans for the business for the remainder of the year and possibly next year too?
Yeah, I think definitely doing holiday markets.
I really enjoy helping people pick out gifts.
It's actually really fun folks will, you know, be like, oh, I have this person in mind and they're into this and they like these kind of scents like and kind of helping them pick out and kind of the joy it brings them to give someone else a gift is beautiful.
27:43
And then this year I'm probably going to focused on bath bomb wands.
So I have a local person that's also by Asian American actually, and he does 3D printing.
And so I'll be working with him to kind of create some bath bomb wands, which are really fun for gifts.
28:03
Yeah, they're like magic wands, but you put bath bombs in them.
Cool.
OK, you need to make a video, yes.
I know, yeah, I will definitely need to make videos so people understand what they are.
Yeah, I'm like, OK, what?
28:22
That is fun.
How about next year 'cause you said you've been trying to refocus and kind of maybe a prioritize a few things.
What are the priorities for you next year?
Yeah, I.
Think probably focus on stores more.
28:39
I see.
I haven't had a chance to do that this year.
So I was hoping next year maybe I could focus on kind of creating a catalog of my products and being able to do more wholesale or consignment and maybe expanding in the number like states that I'm in.
29:01
That's the whole wait, what are the states you are in now?
Just Oregon and Washington.
OK, well, not just.
Yeah, they're hard.
Yes, have you?
Done.
Any markets in Washington?
Not yet.
OK, Yeah.
29:17
'Cause I know the farmers market in Vancouver, WA it it is pretty impressive.
Yeah, I've heard that.
Yeah.
So I feel like that could be a really cool thing to do.
And I do have another curious question.
29:34
Again, it's business related.
So we all know, you know, holiday shopping and you know just regular shopping as well potentially is being impacted by taxes and tariffs.
Has that impacted you?
29:49
Yeah, supplies pricing has gone up.
I actually get from a local supplier, but and most of their things are, you know, based in the US.
However, there are some, you know, some types of products that are like, you know, coconut based products that are or Shea, I think is another in cocoa butter.
30:14
Some of those are like based outside of the US.
And so as a result, supplies continue to increase our supply cost rather.
So yes, definitely the raw materials are increasing.
I've kind of held off on ordering things, you know, from from other countries.
30:37
So yeah, luckily that part hasn't really impacted me.
Yeah, that's good to know because I've also heard certain countries are holding off shipping altogether.
So I feel, I imagine, you know, it's, it's just the timing.
30:53
It's already September and a lot of vendors are getting ready for holiday markets and sales.
And now it just seems like a extremely challenging time for makers and retailers.
Definitely.
So hopefully you don't get impacted too much because of the supply chain issues.
31:14
Yeah.
So one question that I like to ask our guests is I know your work largely is connected to environmentalism and sustainability.
31:33
And as we all know right now, our whole world and climate is being challenged either by, you know, nature or human made decisions.
And at times it can feel very depressing and feel kind of hopeless at times.
31:56
And as someone who works pretty closely and have a close relationship with the environment, how do you stay like from a personal and perhaps on a macro level or personal level, how do you stay hopeful these days 'cause you know what's going on with that knowledge?
32:18
How do you kind of like look forward in our future?
Yeah.
I think we all have, you know, our personal contribution to that, right.
So kind of how I was saying, you know, being very conscious about consumption and kind of our capitalism really, right, Like do we really buy those items, right or are they going to end up in a landfill?
32:48
So, you know, being very conscious about those type of things, making sure we're, you know, kind of repairing items that we have.
Like so a lot of like, you know, in the past, maybe when before I really knew I, you know, I would, you know, maybe toss a pair, pair of jeans or something that had a hole in them.
33:05
But like, and now I'm much more conscious about that.
I kind of think through, OK, like can I get a patch for this?
Can I try to fix this somehow?
Like trying to reuse the things that we have and make use of everything that we do have.
And then I think being part of, you know, important, like watching kind of the legislation and kind of being aware of what's going on in the world and being an active voice in that.
33:34
So a lot of, you know, when they're trying to, you know, take public lands or, you know, change policies that are that are impactful to, you know, either on people's ability to access or just, you know, wildlife, you know, like changing environmental habitats for for wildlife.
33:57
Just kind of being aware of that and just being, you know, voicing and expressing your concerns to, you know, your own, your own, your own government or local government is super important too.
So just kind of being aware and then just being aware of your own use.
34:17
And I think one thing that a lot of us don't do enough or don't know how to do is follow legislation.
And that's actually really important.
I like information is power.
I feel, I feel being informed is a really important way of kind of like, OK, if we don't know that, we'll never know how to counter that or what to do.
34:43
And to me that is kind of like the other side of being hopeful because if we don't know how to respond to certain policies and legislations, then we there's no way to be hopeful about what comes next.
35:03
So thank you for that tip.
And also really want to suggest and invite more folks to follow legislation, especially locally.
I think on national level you will hear about that on the news I feel and and those are really high level big picture, but I feel local legislations really impact our day-to-day life like in Oregon OR Portland, things like that.
35:36
So yeah, I really appreciate that called out.
It's so important to do.
And as we kind of wrap up our conversation today, do you have any advice that you would like to share to entrepreneurs, especially women of color, entrepreneurs like yourself?
36:03
I definitely say it doesn't have to be perfect to just start right.
I think that's so important because I think I've always grown up where you don't want to, you know, get going and make a mistake.
But that's where you learn the most is the mistakes.
36:19
And probably you're the only person that noticed you made a mistake.
So just do it.
I think just go for it if you're interested.
It gives you energy, it gives you passion, you have passion behind it.
And you know, just go for it and try.
It's kind of like the, you know, you might as well ask because the worst thing you'll hear is no.
36:39
So the worst thing that'll happen is you'll make a mistake and that's now you know, and that's OK and you'll learn from it.
I love that because still, myself included, I'm still a little bit afraid of hearing no, like, rejection is never easy to accept, but that.
36:57
But we learn from them.
Yeah.
So thank you so much today, Connie.
And for folks who want to try your products, where do they find you, both online and in real life?
Yeah, online, PDX, freshstart.com.
37:14
And then in real life in Portland, I'm in a store called Oliver and Wax, which elevates BIPOC makers and artists.
Also Tender Loving, Oddpire and Hello Portland, which is downtown.
And then in Seattle, there's a consignment store that's BIPOC owned called Big Whale Consignment, so there.
37:38
And there's also a cute little play space called Junebug Play Space that's BIPOC owned, that's in Ridgefield.
So they also have my products.
In Ridgefield.
Cool.
That's like a pretty big event venue, right?
Yeah, they do have an event space there.
37:55
I think there's a casino there, yes.
But yes, there's a lot of cool stuff happening in Ridgefield.
Cool.
So yeah, hopefully we will have more folks go learn about your products and the amazing things you do.
38:12
And oh, your Instagram.
What's your Instagram?
Oh yeah, at PDX Fresh Start.
OK, great.
Yeah.
So people make sure go follow Connie's Instagram like their stuff is really, really great.
And thank you again Connie today for your time.
38:28
I always enjoy our conversation and I always learn something new from you.
I appreciate so much for having me though.
Thank you for listening to today's episode of The Intersection.
We hope you enjoyed it and if you like our program, please subscribe and recommend it to your friends and family.
38:51
Our original music is created by my friend Kel Van Zong and I am your host and producer.
Zhoufang.
See you next time and take care.