Jo Wood

“My philosophy is about respecting our bodies, and our Earth. If we work with nature, rather than abusing it, in the long-term we will all reap the benefits.”

In 1989 Jo was taken seriously ill. She was misdiagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and placed on steroids for the next two years. However, Jo believed that there had to be other options available to her, and she set about to find another way to cure herself, the natural way. Through a chance press story she met a wonderful herbalist called Gerald Green, who taught her about all organic farming – about how we grow and consume food. Jo found herself in unfamiliar territory, but that didn’t stop her from learning everything she could – from the pesticides used in farming, how this affects not only our immune systems, but also wildlife and the environment, right through to nutritional healing. Jo’s holistic journey had begun, and it would prove to not only be lifesaving, but life changing.

As a natural progression, Jo then started to question what she was cleaning her house with – the chemicals found in products and the rise in allergies, and ultimately she started questioning what she was putting on her skin. Struggling to find organic and natural beauty products that not only looked great, but that actually performed on the skin, Jo took matters once again into her own hands, and in 2003 started developing her own range – Jo Wood Organics. Jo was on a one-woman mission to show the beauty industry that organic products could be luxurious, sophisticated, and decadent and that there were other consumers like her who wanted more of a choice. In 2005 Jo Wood Organics launched with Harvey Nichols in London.

The years that followed saw Jo champion and support green issues, with Jo becoming a spokesperson on environmental issues. She even wrote her first book ‘Naturally’ She started up her own pop-up restaurant – Mrs. Paisley’s Lashings with leading chef Arthur Potts Dawson as a way to raise awareness on sustainability. She continues to judge the Soil Association Organic Food Awards, and is an ongoing ambassador for the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion. She also writes for the Natural Health Magazine monthly. As of 2017, Jo Wood Organics has re-launched and is sold in Fortnum & Masons.

Jo currently juggles her time between her townhouse in Camden Town and her wonderful home in Spain, both of which she has interior designed herself. Jo continues to work tirelessly for charities & campaigns she supports, having made press trips to the slums in Bangladesh, and even taken a spiritual pilgrimage to Tibet.

Jo has 10 gorgeous grandchildren, and she continues to expand her diverse business portfolio.