Blue Door Organics Founder, Afi in Shoutout LA
Originally published in Shoutout LA July 25, 2022
We had the good fortune of connecting with Afi Patterson and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Afi, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
My favorite message comes from Law 28 of The 48 Laws of Power: Enter Action with Boldness. Whenever I’m feeling insecure or if I begin to doubt myself or my vision, I quote Law 28 to myself or I pull out the physical book, thumb through the pages, and re-read the entire chapter. It helps me overcome fear, imposter syndrome, and anxiety. But, best of all, it helps me summon my audacity! It reads: “If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.”
I also love a passage from Seth Godin’s The Practice. He says “We’ve been fooled into believing that roles like “writer,” “leader,” and “artist” are birthrights, fixed in place, something we either are or we aren’t…The truth is simpler: If you want to be a leader, then lead. If you want to be a writer, then write”. I love to create so now, I create! For a long time, I was solely focused on being an attorney because I had earned degrees and passed exams that gave me permission to practice law. There was so much that I didn’t pursue because I felt like I didn’t have formal permission to do so. Now, I create, produce, win, fail, learn, and try and try again. I love it and live for it!
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
By day I am an attorney and by night, I’m an obsessive creator. I created Blue Door Organics to fuse my love of art and healing practices.
Blue Door produces premium oils and body butters and supports a growing wellness community. Our products are for use on the face, body, and hair and they are non-comedogenic which means they won’t clog your pores! I have loved building Blue Door and we are evolving daily. I have a science-based nutrition background so I am looking forward to working with supplements and focusing on what goes on as well as in your body.
We try to set ourselves apart by focusing on sourcing premium raw materials and investigating vendors’ extraction methods. We do our best to find the most potent and pure materials from vendors who are located in soil-rich regions and who are open about their production processes. We also like to work with decent and friendly people so we can pass that good energy into our products.
The best thing about Blue Door is what the name represents! The Blue represents the blue of the sky and the limitlessness of how high you can fly. It also represents the blue of the ocean and the immeasurable depths of what you can receive. The Door represents possibility and what is on the other side of pursuit and courage.
We got to where we are today through perseverance, good people, and financial investments. It hasn’t been easy but it’s been the best journey. There have been many times when I’ve been overwhelmed and wanted to throw in the towel but every time I’ve felt underwater, I get a lovely lifeline. For example, I was trying to manage my own marketing, which was driving me mad. Then, a friend randomly introduced me to Clarissa Wright at CNW Digital. Clarissa works with huge brands but is also committed to supporting women-owned smaller brands. Clarissa set up all of my marketing and gave me so many resources in other areas. Brilliant! I was so humbled and grateful. Another time, I didn’t know how I was going to purchase some rare ingredients. I didn’t tell anyone about the issue. I just continued working and re-working the numbers. Then, randomly, I got a notification on my phone that one of my best friends sent me a cash infusion to support Blue Door! I wept.
Along this journey, I’ve learned many lessons. The best lesson is to be fearless. Don’t be afraid to put yourself and your work out there. Sure, people may chit-chat about you and be negative. But, who cares! There are even more people who crave to be inspired and to be a part of a good community. Be the inspiration. Build that community. Don’t chase perfectionism and don’t doubt yourself. Boldy ask questions – lots of them. Boldly ask for help and do not be afraid of rejection. The right people will come along and be enthusiastic about supporting you.