Jodi Scott fell off her bike. That’s how Green Goo started.
Riding the same Texas road she rode every day, her laces caught in the spokes, and she looked up at an overgrown driveway leading to a white Southern colonial Estate she’d somehow never noticed before. The next day, a for sale sign appeared. Her realtor grandmother told her she’d never qualify for the loan and that no one goes to Kyle, Texas. She bought it anyway.
That one bed and breakfast became four B&Bs, four wedding venues, and three event services companies. Then she got pregnant, found a first aid cabinet full of ingredients she couldn’t justify, and called her mom and sister to start making plant-based salves in the kitchen — production eventually took over so completely they had to cook meals outside on camping equipment. Green Goo grew into a national Retail brand.
Then came the pandemic, a sale to what looked like the right partner, and a federal raid on that partner that gave Jodi less than 24 hours to terminate her entire team — her mom, sister, husband, brother-in-law, and closest friends.
On Episode 236 of Fine is a 4-Letter Word, Jodi Scott tells Lori Saitz the full story: the military upbringing that shaped her values, the pivot from psychoneuroimmunology into entrepreneurship, the coach who wouldn’t let her cancel her Monday session, and the two-year fight to buy Green Goo back. Plus how Taylor Swift’s Ready For It became her boardroom pump-up song — a detail her 14-year-old daughter had to remind her of.
Listen on all platforms: search “Fine is a 4-Letter Word” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows.
Timestamps:
- 00:00 How Jodi found the show and why she insisted on reaching out personally
- 01:30 Military upbringing: honor, integrity, commitment, and overdue library books
- 02:30 Her mother, the self-taught programmer who predicted mobile business in the third grade
- 04:00 Pre-med pivot: double major in biology and psychology, master’s in Health psychology
- 04:45 Psychoneuroimmunology: training physicians on the biopsychosocial model
- 06:30 Why international medical students were the most open to holistic thinking
- 09:30 The bike fall, the overgrown driveway, and the phone call to her grandmother
- 11:30 One bed and breakfast becomes four, plus four wedding venues and three other companies
- 15:00 A pregnant Jodi, a first aid cabinet full of chemicals, and the idea for Green Goo
- 16:30 Growing herbs in Idaho, drying them on screen doors, selling at farmers markets
- 18:00 Why they renamed the entire brand Green Goo — because customers kept calling it that
- 19:30 Plant-based first aid before plant-based was a category: the uphill battle with buyers
- 23:30 The pandemic pivot from retail to online, and why they almost did not survive
- 25:00 Selling the company to find a financial partner — and what happened next
- 26:30 The acquirer gets raided by the feds. 24 hours. Entire team terminated.
- 28:30 The kitchen table moment: running out of lip balm and getting emails from customers
- 30:30 The coach who refused the cancellation and started a mental fitness boot camp
- 32:30 Micro-meditations every three hours: how presence rebuilt her decision-making
- 34:30 Leadership advice: anticipate the worst contractually, invest in mental fitness
- 36:30 Taylor Swift’s Ready For It as her boardroom prep song, revealed by her daughter
- 37:30 Where to find Jodi: greengoo.com and LinkedIn at Jodi Scott
Guest Bio:
Jodi Scott grew up in a military Family, drawing service and resilience from her father and reinvention from her self-taught programmer mother. After studying biology and psychology (plus a master’s in health psychology) and training physicians in holistic care, a chance bike accident redirected her into hospitality — building four B&Bs and four wedding venues. A sketchy first aid cabinet during pregnancy inspired her, her mother, and sister to launch Green Goo, a plant-based first aid and skincare brand that grew from an Idaho herb garden into national retail. After a sale to Green Goo collapsed when the acquirer hit federal legal trouble, Jodi spent two years rebuilding — then bought the company back. She now runs Green Goo with her family in Colorado.
Connect with Jodi Scott:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodi-scott-7234331b8/
- Website: https://www.greengoo.com/
Jodi is open to connecting with people who reach out directly. About the Show: Fine Is a 4-Letter Word is the show for leaders who are tired of pretending everything is okay. Host Lori Saitz brings on guests who get honest about what it really takes to lead with empathy, vulnerability, gratitude, and courage.
New episodes every week. Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and if this conversation hit home, leave a review. It helps more leaders find the show.
Lori Saitz is the founder and CEO of Zen Rabbit and host of the podcast “Fine is a 4-Letter Word.” An award-winning author, speaker, and broadcaster, Lori is on a mission to teach the world to be calm and grounded no matter what’s going on.
High achievers come to her because they have a strong drive to be productive, but at the end of the day never feel accomplished enough. As a nationally recognized gratitude and meditation expert, Lori guides those entrepreneurs and business and community leaders from stressed and chaotic to peaceful and focused and shows them how to live a sabbatical life. Then they then start seeing sales increase, relationships strengthen, and overall health improve.
In August 2022, Lori took a month-long sabbatical road trip with her 19-year-old cat. Read her account in chapter 8 of Love Warriors: The Conscious Expert’s Guide to Healing, Joy, and Manifestation. You can often find Lori in her sanctuary, aka the weight room at the gym. She also loves cupcakes, Thai food, and classic rock music.
