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.

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