Trish Naudon Thomas always has two notebooks on her bedside table: one for lyrics and one for herbal remedy ideas. She and her husband, Chris Thomas, are both rock musicians (she plays drums; he plays bass and guitar; they both sing) and the sole owner-operators of Good Body Products. For ten years, they have been making award-winning, small-batch, plant-based, therapeutic body care products using locally sourced ingredients in Guilford, VT. Their skillfully formulated salves and balms have a loyal following among people suffering from ailments like eczema, sore muscles from athletics, and chronic pain.
HERBALISM PRE-MED
Trish comes from a lineage of herbal healers/doctors/shamans in Mexico that goes back several generations. Her education in herbal medicine started at her abuelita’s knee in Mexico when her family would visit her dad’s hometown of Guadalajara, Jalisco, during the summers, and in the Mexican public school system, which, remarkably, included classes on medicinal herbs. She continued learning more as an adult, first as a grad student studying Mexican herbalism from an anthropological perspective, then as a gardener in Jersey City, and then here in Vermont, where she has pursued multiple certifications in various traditions. She has a Master’s in herbalism, has studied with the legendary Rosemary Gladstar, and is studying to become a certified Ayurvedic practitioner. She says that the education herbalists go through is as rigorous as a pre-med program, although that often isn’t recognized by our society and culture.
Trish seems to have lived multiple lives. In addition to being in touring rock bands, she was previously the head marketing executive at one of the major digital music rights companies (that’s where she and Chris met, back in the early 2000s in Manhattan). During the whole Napster uproar, she was frequently a guest on news programs to give her talking points on those issues. She’s been a Division I field hockey player, a professional synchronized couples roller skater (second in the world during a time when it almost became an Olympic sport), and was one of the first people in the world to ride a snowboard (her family was friends with Jake Burton Carpenter, creator of Burton snowboards, and they were given a prototype).
So, how did she get into herbalism? As a younger person, she’d rejected it as outdated, irrelevant, or uninteresting. But when she got pregnant in 2010, suddenly that changed. When the typical challenges of pregnancy and infancy arose (morning sickness, diaper rash), she knew exactly what she needed to do: learn about the plants that grow here, and heal herself and her child. That led to the batch of homemade diaper cream that started the Good Body ball rolling: she gave away the extra cream to friends and family, requests for more started coming in, and so it began.
While Trish is responsible for the formulations of their products, Chris is at the helm of their small hemp and herb farm and works on the logistics of sourcing, planting, and harvesting. Many of the ingredients in Good Body Products are grown in their backyard on a one-acre plot, and the vast majority of what isn’t grown by them in Guilford comes from other local sources, like High Meadows Farm in Putney and Zack Woods Herb Farm in Hyde Park, VT. Trish and Chris always base their decisions on what is best for people’s health and for a sustainable economy.
ROLLING STONE CBD
“In 2013, Vermont Governor signed Senate Bill 157, legalizing hemp production for registered farmers. According to the law, hemp and its derivatives are agricultural products having a THC potency of 0.3% or less.” (Source: https://vermontstatecannabis.org/cbd)
Very early in the days of the legalization of CBD, Chris and Trish began to pursue the cultivation of hemp in accordance with the new Vermont laws for medicinal use in Good Body Products. According to Chris, they may have been the first business to sell a topical CBD product in the nation. The history of hemp in our country is a long and complex one, and as a country we are still in a process of transition. Those early days of this process were tumultuous, with federal and state regulations sometimes contradicting each other.
A turning point for their business came in 2016. Chris and Trish set up a Good Body booth at the annual holiday fair at the Cotton Mill here in Brattleboro. They were still tentative about advertising the CBD content too overtly, and instead had the name of the specific strain of hemp printed on their labels. Despite this, word got out about this rare opportunity to purchase CBD balms and salves, and they sold an incredible amount of product.
Shortly afterward, they were contacted by Rolling Stone magazine. The reporter was writing a piece on the then-current state of the hemp industry in the U.S. Chris and Trish agreed to speak with her on the condition that they not be too visible, for fear that they would get in legal trouble, lose their business, or worse. But when the article appeared, their names were literally the first words!
Happily, there weren’t negative consequences from that unexpected publicity, and the attention boosted sales enormously. Their online market grew by leaps and bounds as a result. Suddenly, their little local company had national visibility, and people wanted what they were offering.
WHY YOU SHOULD SLATHER
Another major turning point was when our Co-op began selling their products. We were the first retail store to carry their products, and they give a lot of credit to the BFC for allowing their business to take root and grow, not just financially, but also because of how legitimizing it felt and how it has connected them to the greater community. The Brattleboro Farmers’ Market, too, has been hugely important to their growth and connectedness; Chris was even their board president during the pandemic. They plan on returning to the market soon, mainly because they enjoy engaging with people so much, and, as Trish said, everyone’s bodily expression is unique, so there’s always something for them to learn from individuals’ experiences.
At the BFC, we sell several Good Body balms, butters, and more. Their anchor product is the Green Power Salve; the Wellness staff said it’s challenging to keep it in stock. It contains CBD, arnica, and comfrey, which creates a powerfully soothing effect on sore muscles and skin. The Whipped Wonder Butter also contains CBD, along with frankincense and achiote, for a luxurious medicinal calming balm. The Super Slather contains helichrysum, arnica, and over twice the amount of CBD as the Green Power Salve. Our Housewares buyer, Cindy, uses it for lower back pain. “It takes the edge off in less than five minutes,” faster than any other product she’s tried, and the relief lasts about three hours—perfect for when she needs to fall asleep. She always takes it with her when traveling because she “doesn’t want to be without it.” She doesn’t need it every day and only uses a fingernail-sized amount when she does, but if the need arises (for instance, if she’s going hiking and develops sore muscles), she wants it to be on hand.
Customers also rave about the effective-yet-gentle power of Good Body creations that don’t contain CBD. The Oak & Ivy Rescue Powder, which is meant to be used on poison ivy rashes as a poultice (mixed with water and applied as a paste to the rash), is another item that’s hard to keep in stock. The After Bite Salve is also a big hit, as are the No Buzz No Bites spray and salve. Their products work.
Skin Glow Salve is their second-best-seller online but hasn’t developed as much of a following in-store. It’s not quite as pointed in its indication as an acute problem-solver like Green Power or Oak & Ivy Rescue, which may be why it gets overlooked… but it’s a secret gem! It was created for their daughter’s dry skin and occasional diaper rash as a toddler. Its soothing and nourishing qualities are expressed in dozens of reviews, as well as the Whipped Butter version of the same product. Many people have had their chronic skin conditions or chapped winter dryness be calmed and healed by its potent dosage of calendula and lemon balm.
Susan, one of our trained herbalists on staff in Wellness, said she appreciates that Good Body isn’t just following trends by focusing on a single ingredient like CBD. They’re practicing good herbal medicine: their formulations are thoughtful, powerful, and medicinal, with potent ingredients, sophisticated processing methods, and the wisdom of many herbal traditions in their recipes.
A GOOD SPOT
In addition to producing all their amazing products, Chris and Trish single-handedly operate The Good Spot, an apothecary and wellness lounge in the Vermont Marketplace (previously known as the Exit One Outlet Center). They sell a variety of healing herbs, essential oils, and gifts, and they also have an excellent medicinal mocktail bar and music area. It’s very sweet, with a lot of good energy, producing an immediate blood-pressure-lowering sensation upon entering the shop. You can hang out and do a puzzle, chat with Trish and Chris, drink a functional beverage, or just peruse their wares. They’ve had some moments of uncertainty in the recent past, but the community they have built over the last decade is strong—people have come to the rescue to help see them through times of difficulty. They’re still suffering financially from the ramifications of last summer’s flooding. Though none of their property was destroyed, many local herb farmers were deeply affected by the floods, which impacted their ability to source quality ingredients. Worse, the traffic that otherwise would have been coming in the store completely stopped because tourists were given the impression that the entire state of Vermont was shut down just before one of the busiest tourist seasons of the year.
And yet, Trish isn’t one to stress. She tells a story of her childhood home in Mexico being destroyed by a hurricane—twice!—and yet her father did not despair. He immediately accepted the situation and got to work on moving into the next phase of living. It seems Trish has a similar constitution, that she always expects a little bit of magic to be just around the corner… and that it almost always is. She and Chris both have a lot of feeling for a deeper meaning behind what they’re doing, and a wider sense of reality than most. They told me, with a chuckle and a smile, about singing to their hemp plants in the full-moonlit night before the harvest and that the crop was so bountiful that year that they’ve done it ever since (with equally abundant results). For those of us who are sensitive to, for lack of a better word, vibes, Good Body is a sure-fire winner.
Good Body Products Demo! Friday, July 26, 11:30am-2:30pm.
Written by Ruth Garbus