Ep #127: Healing with Natural Medicine: A conversation with Jodi Scott

So, hi friends and welcome back. Today I have a guest who is a wellness expert and owns a business that is really interesting, which is why I'm having her on the podcast today. A lot of people ask me, "What does this have to do with overthinking?" And I always say wellness and inspirational businesses and journeys of personal or professional nature all belong on the Overthinker's Guide to Joy. So, I decided to introduce Jodi Scott, who is a wellness entrepreneur, CEO of Sprye Life, and co -founder of the plant -based brand Green Goo. With a background in psychology and a passion for purposeful living, Jodi has spent her career bridging science, nature, and personal development to create meaningful impact. After selling her company and watching it drift from its mission. Jodi has made the bold decision to buy it back, and in doing so, had to completely rebuild not just the business, but herself. And that's one of the reasons she's here today. What followed was a deep journey of self -leadership, mindset shifts, and learning how to navigate stress, uncertainty, and reinvention with clarity and intention. So with that, I'd like to welcome Jodi Scott. Hello. It is so nice to be here with you. Thank you for having me. Well, it is a pleasure. And what an interesting story. So, I don't almost don't know where to begin, because you're the CEO of Sprylife, but your main business is GreenGoo. Is that correct? Correct. So, Sprylife is the company, and then GreenGoo is our brand. Love it. So tell me a little bit about you and how you got into holistic healthcare, if you will, but holistic products. - Yeah, so, oh, it has been a journey. So I actually got my master's in health psychology and specialized in psychoneuroimmunology and was going to med school. So I had a strong passion for just holistic mind -body medicine. And my sister's a certified herbalist and midwife. And I found my entrepreneurial roots while I was in the process of starting my own private practice. And I opened up this little bed and breakfast and I started gardening and, you know, really spending more time with plants and catering. And my sister approached me and said, you know, I've got I've got this idea, I've been working with plants in herb school and I think we have something special here in terms of making medicinal topical therapeutics. And my mom, we grew up in the military and my mom is a self -taught computer programmer, website developer, and the three of us just kind of huddled up and we said, "Well, let's look at this." And what was really interesting is I started looking at the first aid space specifically because at this time, you know, this was about 10 plus years ago, you know, natural was was something that we we talked about loosely right in the market. So it was like natural shampoos, natural lotions, organic food, but we weren't talking about natural first aid and we weren't talking plant based. That was not a term that was used like it is today. And, you know, I found it very interesting that the natural consumer was willing to abandon their natural ethos because they were told products like, you know, neosporin or hydrocortis and were the only products that could get the job done. So chemical laden products. And then the conventional consumer was like, you know, I don't really care about the ingredients. I have a chronic skin condition and I'm not getting the results I need. I need better efficacy. And so we looked at each other and we said, "Can we make a higher performing plant -based first aid product in this space and bring sustainability forward and bring some of these missions and visions that we've had in terms of time -honored traditions that have been lost along with clean ingredients and sustainability?" So the first time I talked to a pharmacy buyer and said, "I've got a plant -based first aid, He just about fell out of a seat Sure, because it's easier to sell hydrocortisone and neosporin and Vaseline and all the things Yeah, okay, so then but that you did obviously didn't discourage you and by the way, let me just pause for a minute I love that you're a mother daughters Sisters company so all female and all family. That's so amazing It is one of the greatest gifts of doing what we do. My sister lives one house down for me. - I love that. - And she has two little ones, so I'll ride my bike down to her house and, you know, grab some basil from her garden if mine's not looking too good. And it's really sweet. And then my parents are about 30 minutes away. So very close. And at one point when we started this, we were all living under the same roof together. So my parents had the guest bedroom. We built a little tiny house on the property for my sister and, you know, we were making this in a warehouse and brewing the herbs. So what's really interesting and we've protected the integrity of these formulas as we've grown, which is we don't put pre -made extracts in these products. We actually bring the plants in and do exactly what we did from day one when we started, which is extract from the plants, yield the highest amount of the medicinal properties from these plants, and then put these custom oils into the product. So you can't get this blend of oils anywhere else on the market, and we've protected that to this day. So now our manufacturer does the same thing. So once upon a time ago, you know, my daughter who's now almost 14, but she would be in the warehouse with us as we're, you know, mixing and brewing our herbal blends and then pouring them into the tins and it wasn't uncommon for me to find my daughter making potions in her room as I'm cleaning her room and I'm like, "What is this?" But she grew up watching us, you know, formulate these products. I love this. So what was the first thing you started making? What was your, you said first aid was your focus initially. Tell me what that was, your first remedy or? So our first aid formula, interesting considering some of the current events that we were talking about earlier today, my sister being a midwife went to the Philippines after the tsunami hit hit and she went to help birth babies. And one of the observations she made was that she was going into these remote locations and, you know, they're bringing these big duffel bags of first aid. And then when they got to these remote locations, they would find that, you know, this woman had preeclampsia and she really just needed more protein, more food. And she thought, gosh, it'd be really great if we didn't have to bring so much stuff with us, along with, you know, these chemical laden products and these beautiful gardens that had been untouched by Western medicine. And so she was sharing that story with me. And as we were formulating our first aid, we said, "Well, rather than just being a topical antiseptic, let's make this a portable first aid kit in one little tin. Let's have simplicity in people's homes. Let's reduce the waste." And oftentimes you would find this in the first aid is you buy a first aid product, you've used it for whatever that symptom is, if it's an acute symptom, it goes back into your first aid cabinet, it collects dust, and by the time you need it again, it's expired and boom, thrown into the landfill. So we thought there's got to be a way where, you know, it's more resourceful on the day to day. So our first aid product is not only a topical antiseptic, but it is for cuts and scrapes, bug bites, bee stings, blisters, chafing. So it slows down the bleeding, speeds up the healing, it has some anti -inflammatory properties, you know, so it takes some of the pain out and the itch and the sting. So you'll find if you have this with you, you're all of a sudden like, how did I live without this? And it can be applied to an open wound? Absolutely. You can't. Wow. Wow. That's, that's an all in one product for sure. And what's the name of that particular product? It's called Green Goo First Aid. We just call it what it is. What it is. You know, we had all these different names when we first started started, we thought, well, let's, it's already a learning curve for people to learn the plant properties and what they do. So you'll find with GreenGoo, our dry skin formula that's for eczema, we call it dry skin, our repair formula that's anti -aging, it's repair. Our poison ivy formula is poison ivy. It's really smart. Just call it what it is. Yep. Just call it what it is. So good. Okay. So you expanded from that, you started this company 10 years ago with your mom in the guest room and your sister in a small guest house on the property. Now everybody's got their own homes. You're 10 years old. It started with the first day at Remedy and then how many different products do you carry now or offer now? So we grew and you know, first it was in the first aid space, then we started developing anti -aging health and beauty products, very first aid focused. And then from there, oral care and deodorant. And same thing, you know, we often found, for example, with deodorant, people were more focused on, you know, whether or not it performed where you didn't stink, you know, your body odor and cleaner ingredients. And what we found really interesting, because we're always looking at like the transdermal absorption and how these plants work together because oftentimes one plant like your arrow and then you combined it with you know, plantain together They also have synergistic effects and so what we found with deodorant Which is very interesting is that your armpit absorbs more than 70 % of what you put in it It's a great transportation Vehicle interesting and you know when you look at your armpit it is a different kind of tissue. It's a different kind of skin. And so we thought, well, why don't we just not focus on just anti odor and ingredients? Let's provide more nutritive resources. So our deodorant has things like holy basil, vitamin C, ashwagandha, functional mushrooms, and even echinacea. So you can have some immunity responses, some adaptogens. And So, you know really expanding into all of these different and we even have a sexual wellness brand called southern butter, which is super fun Yeah, really fun. And so, you know Formulating is really fun for us, but then also tackling a problem and adding You know more of sort of this mind -body medicine from where we started and really grounding our formulas to offering other components. So you'll find even with the sexual wellness brand, it's not just about the act of having sex. It is the, you know, what brings you into the bedroom and what gets you excited or sometimes you need to calm down, you know, to enhance the mood. And so bringing in these essential oils that, you know, may be calming or exciting or an aphrodisiac it to it. So really looking at the body and the mind and how that relationship can can marry with our products. Oh, I love that. That is right up my alley on every level. I love the mind -body connection. I always love, although I'm a big fan of Western medicine, I also, as you've heard from my other episodes, very much lean into holistic try and cure what ails you by eating well, exercising, hydrating, getting plenty of rest. And then of course, if you need Western medicine, it's there for you, which is a beautiful thing too. So I really love the synergy of the two, but yes, when you can do it naturally and holistically and organically, always a good thing. - Well, and we always tell our customers too, what's great is if you can solve the problem with these ingredients that are, you know, less impactful and sort of a negative way on your body, it sets you up for success when you need that Western medicine. I mean, that's right. A doctor will tell you, my best patient that I work on is one that shows up with everything else being healthy outside of what we need to address, and they're the ones who are going to recover quicker, have better results. And so, yeah, it's just an opportunity to really marry those two again. That's so good. Okay, so first aid, beauty and health care, sexual enhancement, if you will, whether that's moisturizer, essential oil, beautiful. Any other categories that you're also in? And then the personal care, the deodorant, and so forth. Now I will say fast forward today, we also now have women's health included, which means we have vitamin supplements for women at all stages of their sexual wellness time. So whether it is perimenopause, prenatal, or multivitamin, it's hormone balancing and that brand is ovamoon. But we didn't have that 10 years ago. That was something that we just recently incorporated into the company. And does that require FDA approval? It does not. So it does have a vitamin supplement label. And of course, we have to follow the guidelines of that. And we can't make claims that haven't already been identified or proven through the FDA. So for example, even on our green goo first aid products, you know, my sister being the herbalist would say, hey, you know, marshmallow root has more medicinal properties than what the FDA recognizes. But we can only put on the labels what the FDA has identified as the active ingredient and how they identified what it does. I understand. Okay, so 10 years ago, you birthed this idea with your sister and your mom. I love it. You brought all these expertises into this cadre, if you will, your mother's computer programming skills, your background in science, your sister's background in herbalism, and you bring it together to create this company. How did you launch it? And I mean, grassroots companies are tricky. And this is also pre -social media, because there was no TikTok, Instagram, where you put up a product, you find an influencer, and then sometimes it goes viral. So how did you build the company? You know, it was baby steps and lots of wonderful humans who guided us along the way. We were 98 % retail, of course, because one, we didn't have the social media that we have today, but really more so because if you're a first aid product, then you went to your pharmacy, you went to the grocery store if you had poison ivy and you needed to get it that same day. We didn't have the option of same day delivery. So it was knocking on doors, calls, I'll never forget, you know, my first meeting with Walmart. I mean, and I was utterly terrified at one point, you know, I said, okay, to mom and my sister, I was like, okay, who's going to do the sales? Let's split this up. And my sister's like, I'm the herbalist. I don't do that. And my mom's like, I'm the graphic designer. I don't do that. I'm like, how did I draw the short straw guys? And so, I mean, I was a road warrior. I was gone three weeks out of every month for months. Yeah. And I found creative ways to bring my daughter and my husband. There were many times that I was in a meeting with a grocery store buyer and my daughters with my husband in the children's museum. And then I would meet up with them afterwards so that we could turn it into our family vacation just so I wasn't away from them for so long. But I was the road warrior for a long time before we could to bring in a salesperson. And, you know, I'd say a solid eight years before we even had a couple of salespeople. And when you're going to a retailer, manufacturing becomes a big thing because Walmart and Costco or whomever, they only buy in bulk. So how did you transition from being a small organization to being able to mass produce something and keep the authenticity of your formulas. That was critical. So, you know, we started hunting for manufacturers and, you know, we got the door closed. Nope, no, we don't do that. Why can't you do what Burt's Beast does and just mix it all in a pot and, you know, call it a day. And, and we just said, well, you know, this is why these products work. We cannot, we have to protect the integrity of, of the product and, and the performance. And we were at a trade show And someone came up to us and said, you know, I heard you said you have something for eczema. You know, my son has eczema and I would love to try this product. So we gave him some samples and he called us a handful of days later and just said, I actually run a manufacturing facility. This product is the first product that has ever worked for my son that's over the counter. And we have to find a way to bring this product to market. Like we want to manufacture your product. And we were like, great, because we need a manufacturer. And that's been our manufacturer to date. And all your formulas, for most like all the SAVs, anything that's infused. So like 95 % of all of our formulas. What, what a serendipitous moment. Yes, it's been very special. Wow. Okay, so then you had a professional manufacturer. And then that allowed you to go to big chain stores and we had to custom build everything custom build the tanks the lines I mean it was a very different process a dedicated team a dedicated line to do this and and then yes we started scaling from there and every major retailer you know from Walgreens to Rite Aid to Walmart Whole Foods across the board so we were we were going leaps and bounds and You know really every year almost doubling from the year before and all of us You know, we'd never built anything like this before so you felt like if I were to capture or name That time in my life. It was very much just fight -or -flight you were just constantly putting out fires and Tackling the next thing and there are so many times you just lay your head on your pillow and lost it, but your mind is still just racing. You know, what else is there that I need to get down? What did I miss? And, you know, we laugh at this point, mom, sister and I, you know, friends would see us from, you know, we'd go to an event or something and we would just be in a corner and we couldn't stop talking. And they're like, how do you do business with each other? And you're still so hungry to spend time with each other. And we're like, we're all in different departments, you know, outside of like our all hands meeting. We're not seeing each other. So yeah, we have lots to talk about and we just enjoy being with each other. Oh, that is just the dream in every possible way to work with people that you love and to love the people you work with, right? That's like that makes work not work. Now, that's a very interesting segue for my audience, which is During the building of this business, albeit to serve others and heal others, either physically or emotionally, or from an autoimmune standpoint, how were you managing your own stress and what were some of the tools that you and your sister and your mom were using in terms of stress management? Yeah, during that chapter, we did the best we could with the time we had. And I'd say it was pretty good. Knowing what I know now, I wish I had done more, but we were really good about exercise, eating healthy. It was kind of hilarious. We would do acupuncture every Monday. We had a local acupuncturist and she would rotate us out. So it would be my sister, then it would be my brother -in -law, then it would be me and then it would be my husband. Of course, all of us are working together and she would just get little different sound bites of, you know, what is going on over at Green Gear. I mean, she should write a book based on, you know, our journey. But things like that, you know, getting a massage once a month and just really making sure that we were resting, getting our exercise and eating well. I would say we were good about that piece. What I, what I wish we had done more was more from a mindset standpoint. Now I, I understand the value of getting present and investing more in that time, but you really felt like it was not even just a luxury, like I could go in and do a 20 minute acupuncture because when I came out, I just, you know, I felt physically amazing. So I was like, okay, I can keep pushing. But what I didn't recognize is I needed to fill that other part of my emotional intelligence, we'll call it, to really get balanced and get present. And you're just never living in the present when you're in that fight or fight state. And I don't think it's, it's not the advice I would give an entrepreneur or another human, really, it's not a luxury to get present, it's necessary. And getting present Will not only serve you physically emotionally and spiritually you will perform better like times 10 Even though it seems strange to slow down for two minutes I mean literally just two minutes can make all the difference and so well I think for a lot of people coming to this podcast Many of them who have listened to it will know what you mean But if for first -time listeners The concept of being present when you have been living in an adrenaline -fueled state either because of your personal life, professional life, or both, and most of my clients are in that highly -charged, high -adrenaline cortisol -producing state when they come to work with me. What would be some of those tips and tricks besides a monthly massage appointment or a weekly acupuncture appointment, which are both beautiful luxuries and highly recommended if you can afford the time and the money. But what are some of the tricks you now know or now have to help you get present so that you don't run off the cortisol high? Oh, yeah. Well, and to give some context too, so we sold the company and the idea was not to stop being a a part of the company, the idea is that we were going to expand globally and grow exponentially. And something in me said, I have spent the last 10 plus years in fight or flight mode. I need to better understand what it means to not live like that. And I want my next chapter to be different. Not knowing that by me starting this journey was going to be the thing that served me most. So a handful of weeks after we sold the company and I had started working with a coach that Really focused on you know, sort of positive intelligence as a model. So that was my first kind of exposure to it the company that we sold to one of their founders was raided by the feds and all of a sudden this company crashed and crashed fast so all of a sudden everything's fight or fight and you know they lost funding they lost their license and there was no way for me to get the company back and so now I'm unemployed I lost the company that we spent you know the last 10 years building all of our personal resources you know we're put into this company and I have massive adrenal fatigue, like in the worst way. And you just hit rock bottom. Like you can't even get up for that. You're just like, what is my purpose? How do I move forward? And thankfully, you know, having starting to work with this coach, you know, you taught me some real simple acts of, you know, getting out of bed and watching the sunrise and putting my feet on the ground and really feeling my feet and really focused on that sunrise coming through. And, you know, every three hours stopping and doing a breathing exercise for just two minutes, two minutes or a tactile exercise or a visual one where you just focus on, you know, I want you to look at that horizon and just look at that horizon, don't think of anything else. But for, you know, 30 seconds, look at the horizon. I want you to look at something else. And these are all things you can do for free. They don't cost you any money, but they're these mental exercises that help get you present. And then obviously have a domino effect on your body in terms of, you know, reducing that stress, becoming really aware. I started cold plunging, I live in a town that has a very cold river that comes off the mountain. And so I didn't have to buy a cold lunch and started doing that. And again, really grounding myself, getting centered, doing the breathing exercises. And with that came more wisdom, which came more confidence, more motivation. And I was able to find a strategy to buy the company back. And it took us 18 months to do it, but by me getting present and really in my body and having good clarity and not being reactive or impulsive and running off of adrenaline. And it's hard to believe this, but it was one of the most quote unquote difficult times of my life, but it wasn't the most stressful and 18 months later, we were successful and getting our company back. And, you know, we've only had it now for seven months, eight months, hasn't been long. But are you still with the same retailers? Or are you starting over in terms of we are starting over. So we were not production stopped because we couldn't, you know, produce product and so we had to, you know, let those retailers know and go. I mean, the good thing is I was the one who was a part of those relationships. So, you know, when that time comes, you know, we'll be able to go back and, and, and do that. But it's a, it's a walk before we run. It is a different season. You know, I, I had to recalibrate what is success and what is alignment and how to do this a little bit differently. And, and I think part of this too is It's not just about bringing these amazing products at people's homes, but I think it's really important to share the wisdoms that we cultivated through this journey to bring an extra that, again, that full circle of that mind -body medicine that we can impart as a result of this journey. So what is your distribution system now? Are you farmers markets? Are you at that level? Are you online retail? How would people buy your products or find out about your products now? So mostly online. So we are, you know, Amazon and our website. We do have mom and pops. We are still working with Walmart. So we do have, you know, Duluth trading and some, you know, retailers that people would be familiar with. But I think this chapter, we are going to be really focused on importing the independent mom and pops. And then obviously today you can have same day delivery if you have poison ivy, you can get it the same day and being able to preserve margin because what's happened is prices have gone up in everything and we wanna make sure that we can still give our customers the same quality products without having to get to a place where where it's just extraordinarily expensive. And so by doing, you know, by being online and being direct, we're able to preserve that for our customers. - That's so beautiful. All right, so let's talk about how people who are listening to this thinking, "Oh, but I have eczema and oh, I want, you know, "beauty care and I want natural deodorant "and I want sexual enhancement cream and all of the things. Where can they find you? Tell them your website and your social media and all the things. So our website is greengoo .com and our social handles are greengoo helps like we're helping you. And you can find us on Instagram and Facebook. And you can also find me on LinkedIn @jodyascott. And I can also point you in the direction there as well. And we do have a welcome 10 discount. So if it's the first time you're coming to the website, use welcome 10 and get your 10 % off. I'm wondering my stuff today. I'm so excited. This is such a pleasure to meet you and hear about your journey and to share it because again, so many of my so much of my audience is everything from people who are very interested in Eastern medicine or natural medicine, who want to feel better and less anxious, which is the whole point of, you know, less overthinking, who would like to find ways to rebuild their immune system, to slow down, to feel better, to look better, and it just feels very much in alignment with my audience to have you on today and to be able to talk about your journey personally and then also the products that you carry that can help others. - Thank you. It was a real treat to be with you. - All right, so go to greengoo .com and check it out. I'm gonna do that right now with my welcome 10 discount. And Jodi, thank you so much. It was such a pleasure. - Thank you. Back at ya.