Non-Toxic Skin Care, Resilience and Mindfullness

Show Introduction and Guest Welcome 0:00

Welcome to Energize and Revitalize with Dr. Amy. I'm Dr Amy Coopersmith, a doctor prepared nurse practitioner. And this show is about empowering you to live a radiant, healthy, and balanced life. Very excited to introduce today's guest, Jody Scott, one of the founders of Green Goo, family run wellness company that began in a farmhouse kitchen where she, her mom and her sister crafted their first plant infused salves in mason jars. And now that business has expanded into a nationally recognized name.

And I think I saw that you've sold a million products. We have. That's awesome. Well, again, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. Now you were the first guest I've had on who I haven't known in some context or another. So I'm so excited about this journey and for me to be able to do the podcast and meet new people and hear their stories. Well, that is also one of my greatest joys of being here with you as well. So thank you. I was doing my homework kind of listening. You did another podcast and I kind listen to just kind check it out and your story gave me goosebumps.

And I just had the chills and just can't wait for our listeners to hear about your journey and how really inspiring it is. Thank you, it will be fun to share. Here we go. First, can you tell us about Green Goo? Yes, so Green Goo is plant-based first aid and body care products. My sister's an herbalist and a midwife and I was pre-med. And we saw an opportunity where there were clean ingredients in personal care, products and food, but not in your first-aid. We found it very interesting that the natural consumer, including myself, was willing to abandon my natural ethos because I thought these chemical-laden products were the only products that could get the job done.

And then even more interesting was that the conventional consumer was generally dissatisfied with what was available as it relates to efficacy.

Green Goo Origins and Plant-Based Formulas 2:06

Here we have chronic skin conditions at an all-time high and most of these solutions are used for seven to 10 days or you need to go see your physician. So our goal was to prove that we could make plant-based products superior than your chemical-laden products and also bring sustainability and some fun to a otherwise pretty boring space. That's so great. We've talked on the show before about toxins in the environment, including what we put on our skin. And our skincare is our largest organ and things are actually absorbed into the bloodstream through our skins.

I think so many people just don't think about that when they're choosing their skincare products. It's so true, and we're even finding out now that because it's our largest organ, it is so much more connected to the rest of our system to have homeostasis. So you think about your skin and the neurotransmitters and how it communicates with your immune system, how communicate with you nervous system and inflammation. And so it a real opportunity to not only avoid the ingredients that don't serve you, but also bring in the nutrients that can help you feel and live a healthier life.

Wonderful. So your products, what are they made from? Plants, plants and plant-based oils. What's fun about Green Goo is that when we were making this in our kitchen, so when started, we are growing the herbs in a backyard and then we're drying them on old screen doors and taking them through this infusion process. It's very old world concept, the way things were done hundreds and thousands of years ago. And we're making it in our kitchen, we have the longest line at the farmer's market, and we needed to scale.

And what we did is we preserved that process because that's why the products work, is because of those herbs and that special infusion process that protects the integrity of the plant, yields the highest amount of medicinal properties, then those plants work with each other to elevate their purpose and their function. And so to this day, we still do the same thing. We bring those plants to our manufacturing facility, take it through that process, protect the integrity of the plant. And then these custom oils go into these products with plant-based oils and beeswax to have nice, healthy transporters that absorb into your skin at an optimal rate and really give you the results you're looking for.

Do you have a favorite product? I do, although it's close. I've got some ties, but I would say the Skin Repair is, and it is our number one selling product. So it was designed to be a burn and scar like Moderna alternative after sun. It's incredibly hydrating, But what I love about it is that it's also an incredible anti-aging product and it is phenomenal for eczema. So it kind of like this utilitarian solution and I need like low maintenance skin care so I can just put this on my face every night.

I live in dry Colorado and my skin is so hydrated and you know I'll even about once or twice a week I call it butter up and i'll just salve up from head to toe and let my skin just drink it up and then I just feel so much better and I don't have to have that putting on lotion and 30 minutes later your skin is dry again. Really the more you use our products the less you need them. I love that. I was just thinking today, this is our winter here in Florida. So it got down to the 60s the other day, but my skin is dry.

And I said, oh, I need something different for this. so I'm actually going to try that product because this isn't working for me, the dry skin. Oh, we got that solution for you. Yeah, I think a lot of like a of my clients tend to be more mature people. And yeah, our skin just naturally gets a little bit drier as we get older. And it's fascinating that skin conditions, chronic skin, conditions are at an all time high. And we have so many more things that we're exposed to, whether it is in the environment, there's petroleum, paraben, phthalates that were exposed,

Skin Repair, Dry Skin, and Product Benefits 6:29

to forever chemicals, and even our stress and our lifestyle. It really shows up in our skin. Our skin tells a lot of stories for us. When you first developed this product, had you had any bad experiences with the commercial products? It was just what we knew. We didn't know that there was even an alternative world in that lane. And when my sister was going to herb school and she started making these topical salves, we started using them. My dad was in the military and he would take our first aid formula, which is like a Swiss Army knife for first-aid, and take it on as deployments.

And what's great is it's a neosporin alternative. It's good for cuts and scrapes, but then bug bites, bee stings, cold storage, chafing, ingrown toenails. Yeah, so the military would just pop it in their fatigues and they would have it with them. That is really when we saw the opportunity that Oh, there is a world outside of what we have been told is the only solution for our over-the-counter needs. And then really looking at the skin in a more advanced state of this opportunity of not just things to avoid, but ways that we can give our skin more nutrition and have more wellness in our life.

So you started, you had a degree in psychology? So I got my undergrad in psychology and biology. Got my master's in health psychology, was pre-med, and then specialized in psycho-neuroimmunology. And then used to train resident physicians on the biopsychosocial model. What that meant was rather than the physician just prescribing a medication, It was really taking the time to have an intake of the patient and its whole person. So what was their lifestyle? What food were they eating? Can they pay their bills?

Do they have a healthy relationship so that you could help facilitate whatever that intervention is and have it give the results that your really looking for. That's such a holistic, wonderful way to treat a patient, which we just don't see that much. We don't and I'll have to say I was getting my Well Woman checkup a couple of weeks ago and they handed me an iPad and started asking me all of these questions and i was like, yes, we're making progress. We're coming up with that system and, I feel like GreenGoo is sort of that full circle where it is yes it, is plant-based first aid and it's wellness but it really looking at whole, your wellness from a holistic perspective.

And I love talking to our customers around, you know, when they have an eczema flare-up, and what else are they doing in their life? Are they getting enough sleep? Or are avoiding, the things that aren't serving them? we have the Journal of Behavioral Medicine and the journal of dermatology joining forces and showing evidence that people who practice mindfulness, they'll actually have an immune response that helps with eczema flare-ups.

Holistic Background and Mindfulness 9:54

And so it's really neat to think about how we can be a part of that whole journey. So I'm really loving that it is full circle for us. I think as a society, we're becoming more aware of what stress is doing to us. And I that's where it starts. Being mindful is a very generic term, but in my own practice, I always say I'm type A and I just go. That's my goal. I'm working on that. You're taking my deep breath, stepping outside for a few minutes. And just in, I think people need to know that you don't have to be perfect when you're, you know, on the path to mindfulness, but to start, just get started.

I love that you just offered the handful of tactical approaches to mindfulness, because you're right. Mindfulness is this umbrella. And like you said, go outside and take a couple deep breaths. I think sometimes we feel like if we don't meditate for two hours a day, we're not getting the benefits that everyone talks about. Mental fitness, just like physical fitness small little moments in doing that really go a long ways. And when I went through sort of a mental fitness boot camp and, you know, we can talk about the selling of the company and buying it back and what that was, but That mental fitness boot camp was the thing that got me through that difficult time.

And I had a coach that would set, I to set my alarm every three hours and I have to do different presence exercises for 30 seconds to two minutes. I was it. But the importance was having the consistency every three hours and building that muscle, if you will, so that in a high-stress situation, I could get present very quickly and be in control of my nervous system and have clarity to be able to make decisions in high risk situations. And I love that you had a coach too. I think a lot of our endeavors and things that we've never done before, we can just benefit so much from having a mentor, someone to guide us.

It's so true. And I will say this coach to me, if you're out there, thank you so much. Because when I wasn't able to continue paying for him, he was like, If you show up every Monday at five o'clock, I'll be there. So you can find those people in your life just that hold you accountable and will help you through those kinds of situations. That's such dedication to just really do something that obviously he believed in. So you have another product line for women's intimacy. We do. It's our Southern Butter line.

And this was born very similar parallels to Green Goo. But it was our customers that were coming to us and asking if they could use our products, our Green goo, for intimate purposes. And at first we thought it was just a couple unusual phone calls. And then friends and family came clean and they said, well, we're using green goo for intimate purposes and we are not sure if you should be or not. So my sister and I decided to look at the sexual wellness space. And we saw a lot of the same similarities that the natural consumer was willing to abandon their natural ethos because they were told these were the only products that could get the job done.

And the conventional consumer wasn't happy with the results either. A lot these brands that are on the market are parabens, silicone, petroleum-based, and they're actually pulling the hydration out of their cells. So you end up needing the product more and it's not really giving you the glide or what you're looking for. And so what's great about Southern Butter is not only does it add the hydration and the cellular repair, but it also increases sensitivity because when your skin is happy and it is healthy and hydrated and your skincare barrier is in good shape, it feels better.

It's a fun brand. So many of my clients are women in menopause and we optimize their hormones if they're a candidate, but still vaginal dryness is a really big complaint that affects relationships and comfort. And even when we're not being intimate, having that situation is very uncomfortable. So I love having an alternative for them to healthily treat that And Southern Butter, we put a lot of fun scents, natural essential oils that are,

Southern Butter and Intimate Wellness 14:47

you know, an aphrodisiac or they're stimulating or their calming because also everyone's mood is a little bit different in terms of how they get into the bedroom. And so we want it not to just be the act of the intimate moment, but all the things that can lead up to it. and that also adds some fun to. Excellent. I'm going to have you hold that thought. We're going pause for a break from our sponsor. You're listening to Energize and Revitalize with Dr. Amy. Don't go anywhere, we'll be right back.

Welcome back to energize revitalize the Dr Amy, I am Dr, Amy Cooper Smith, and my guest today is Jody Scott. the co-founder of Green Goo. Before the break, we were talking about all the wonderful products you have that are natural plant-based made sustainably. But now I would like to talk about your journey as an entrepreneur and how you developed this company, made it awesome, and then what happened then? Well, things moved really fast. Like many entrepreneurs, you don't plan You don't plan. You accidentally find yourself as an entrepreneur.

So we were doing a lot of learning along the way. And we grew to 150,000 points of distribution in less than five years in all of your major retailers, grocery, independents and so forth. I was traveling three weeks out of the month. going cross-country and meeting with the various buyers. And this was also a time where the term plant-based was not something people were very familiar with. So we were forging the path. I'll never forget sitting in front of a pharmacy buyer, a national pharmacy, and I said, I have a plant based Neosporin for you.

He about fell out of his chair. He's like, really? And I said, just take it home. You'll see. And of course, today we know, we call it the plant-based renaissance. It's very much a term that people are familiar with, but it does give some context in terms of how difficult it was and how much energy you're putting forward in sort of that fight or flight mode and that entrepreneurial mode as you're growing. And so, you know, we grew and then the pandemic happened and we were 98% retail and suddenly no one's coming into the stores.

We have a huge team now and it was terrifying. Now, thankfully the team pivoted very quickly and were able to build a direct-to-consumer model, which we weren't sure. If you have poison ivy, are you going to be willing to buy it?

Business Growth and Pandemic Pivot 17:28

And of course, systems optimized, right? All of a sudden we had same day shipping. And believe it or not, everyone, there was a time where you could put in your order for Amazon and it took a week. Not anymore. We're so thrilled now. Yeah, so spoiled. Two hours later, it's at your doorstep. And, you know, was really scary. Thankfully, we did not have to let a single employee go. We were very proud of that. But we're also competing with some of the biggest companies in the world. They can weather storms like this.

not a small family company that is essentially bootstrapping it its way through. And so we recognized at that time it was time for us to find a financial partner and get the support for to be able to expand. I love it. So what happened was you had an investor or did you outright think to sell? So we weren't planning to sell, but we were given a proposal where basically we folded our company into a portfolio of other companies of, other brands. And the idea was that we would become a part of a bigger organization.

We didn't own it though, But we then have the financial resources to expand and have a global footprint. So it was kind of like just growing up into the next stage. Um, and unfortunately they faced, uh, soon thereafter, legal and financial issues. And essentially I had less than 24 hours to fire my entire legacy team that we had fought so hard for. That's including my mom, my sister, husband, brother-in-law, employee number one, college friends who had changed their careers. It was devastating. After all the tears, we're sitting at the kitchen table and we are kind of processing that we lost 15 years of our time and our financial resources and what felt like our sense of purpose.

I mean, Green Goo and Southern Butter, they were just an extension of who we were. And suddenly we're calibrating with my mom and sister and I, like, who has what inventory? Because now Green Goo's not producing and hasn't been for a few months. And I might not have my lip balm next week because I'm about to run out. You know, I am about runout of my repair. So we are seeing who have what. Then we looked at each other and said, we gonna start having to make this in our kitchen again because we can't live without it.

and then customers are emailing us like one person's like I got my eczema and how am I going to resolve this without this my son's a paraplegic this is the only thing that helps for my wound care my mother's the diabetic you know I mean you're getting all of these emails and finally we just looked at each other and we said we have to buy it back we don't know how and that's when my sweet coach who I'd only had for a short period of time and I called him and i said I'm not going And he said, you show up, Jodi, and I will be there for you.

And thank goodness, because I had spent so much of my career doing, You're just like pushing and doing. That was resilience. All of a sudden, the name of the game is being. It is getting present. it is Getting clarity. Otherwise you're going to be hijacked with depression, anxiety. you really need that clarity in order for you to be able to make that next decision and go to the board and, go meet with investors and try to find creative financing to do the thing.

Company Buyback and Resilience 21:08

And it was one of the most difficult and rewarding times of my life. I'll never forget my daughter looking at the front door and she's like, mom, why is there so much garbage at frontdoor? And I said, well, we can't afford pickup this week. You know, we have to be really creative. And at the same time, I'm building myself as a human being and becoming more present and seeing the halo effect and the impact it's having on my family and my nephew who's living with us and realizing that there is a different way to live.

And 18 months later, we bought it back. As an entrepreneur, I can relate to developing something from just an idea and making it bigger. And then also maybe it kind of outgrowing the original intent. I went to a lot of business seminars when I first started and they talked about your end game or how do you scale? When do sell? So that's a really common thing for entrepreneurs. Even when you love your baby that sometimes that is the next step. So you did that and then just had terrible consequences that nobody could have predicted.

But you really said it earlier when sometimes you just have to pivot and do it differently. When you decided to buy back your company, what did look like? Again, in uncharted territory, right? You've never been in this situation and there was a lot of mentors and a lots of long walks and strategizing and knocking on doors and finding various people who would back us to support us and be able to make it happen. and a lot of technical pieces and parts, right, because it's not easy to untangle something like that.

And then also the risk of, we have not been in production for 18 months. What is it going to look like when we you know, are the customers going to come back? And it was only maybe four months ago that I got to tell, we just had our year anniversary, that i got tell our customers the story and say this is what happened and this where we've been and where were going. And the emails and the support and phone calls were overwhelming. I mean, I was in tears of joy day after day and now to this day I have it set up like when I send out our you know like mass emails I now have its sent from my personal email.

instead of, you know, typically you have like an email that the team checks and people will email me and go, wow, I wasn't expecting a response. And I'm like, i have so much gratitude for being here with you right now. You bet you I am responding and it's, it just, getting so more joy out of it and so, much more gratitude and yet, we're rebuilding and almost starting over, but it is such a gift. Yeah, I think when you're going through the downtime and you just, it can be overwhelming and just you can't really necessarily see to the end point.

But then when look back, sometimes we know that we had to go through that in order, like you said, to become mindful to have that appreciation. And I think where I stand too with it is I feel so empowered to share the story and give other entrepreneurs and people the tools because now I know that I can access these resources and this way of living for other challenges, whether they're personal challenges. You face a death in the family, an illness, or unemployment or what have you could be a major change in your life.

And finding a way to find whatever gift and opportunity or learning that you can from it and grounding yourself so that, you couldn't move through it because it's so easy to let that nervous system and mind take over. We have a saying like, don't leave your hand on the hot stove for too long. Feel it, your human and that's fair. But then moving from that and saying, OK, how do I get curious? How do i navigate this? how Do I innovate with this, even when it's some of the toughest stuff that's ever been presented to you?

And investing in the same way that coach had me do that every 3 hour, every three hour. call it performance rep, reminding yourself that your emotional investment is just as important as your physical investment. Absolutely. Well, that's really good advice. And we're just about out of time. But do you have, if you were to leave our listeners with one piece of advice for skincare or mindfulness, what would it be? Well, from a skincare standpoint, don't wait to feed that beautiful skin of yours all the nutrients that it can have because we have misunderstood our

Final Advice and Closing Remarks 26:18

skin for a long time. And when you start taking care of it, you will feel the mindset shift. In that, it will also support your presence journey. The more you can get present today, the more joy you'll find and the clarity you find in your challenges. So how can people learn more about you and connect with you? So LinkedIn, Jodi A. Scott, and also at greenq.com. I'd love to hear from you. Well, thanks again for being here today. Thank you for having me. And thanks to our listeners for tuning in to Energize and Revitalize with Dr.

Amy. If there are questions you would like to here about or more topics you'd like hear about, please send me an email at radiantpodcast2025 at gmail. com. I'll be back next Saturday morning at 7.30 with my special guest therapist, Stacey Roberts, to discuss chronic pain and how nutritional changes can help. Until next time, here's to your best life.