4Ears: Family Helps the Frontline

4Ears
Danville resident Brian Goodell pivoted during the pandemic and relaunched his entire product line. He was on the verge of going out of business, but then looked on social media and saw that his product could be used by health care workers to prevent raw ears when wearing surgical masks. His product is now being used by health care workers all over the country to prevent raw ears from N95 masks. The product was originally created for marathon runners, but when races were canceled, he was forced to pivot fast.

Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Brian Goodell was supplying his product to St. Judes Hospital, The Michael J Fox Foundation, and runDisney. But Brian had to get creative to find a new use for his product, which was no longer in demand once the pandemic hit. Here is his story.. 

(BibBoards) was created for the athletic space but was on the verge of going out of business when every race started to get canceled due to COVID-19.  

When all endurance races were postponed including The Olympics, BibBoards was on the verge of shutting down its operations. The Founder had to lay off his entire staff. But then, he looked and social media and saw one of his loyal customers was using the BibBoard pin as an ear saver for their surgical mask.

He pivoted his business in a new direction and launched 4Ears- a product to prevent raw ears in health care workers on the frontline. The product is worn by everyone on the frontline from Amazon delivery workers to grocery store clerks. The raw ear issue affects everyone on the frontline, not just medical workers, which is why this product solves such a big problem.

Brian originally created his product for marathon runners and athletes. He never thought it could be used for another application by doctors, dentists, and respiratory therapists until he looked on social media and saw his product was being used in a very different way than he ever intended. 

“Doctors, nurses, vets, grocery store clerks, and Amazon warehouse workers came to us and asked, “Please can you help? My ears are totally raw.” We solved this problem with our product 4Ears.”- Brian Goodell, 4Ears

The Goodell’s have lived in Danville for the other 17 years and have found a way to make a difference to health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic through Brian Goodell’s business, BibBoards.
Brian and his wife Lindsey moved to West Side Danville, near Hap Magee Park, recently after living in Crow Canyon Country Club since 1993. Lindsey grew up in Lafayette and was a Sacramento Kings Royal Court NBA dancer.
Brian was a wide receiver at Idaho State University. After college, Brian began a career in Bay Area real estate and co-invented a patented smokeless tobacco accessory called DipTops. DipTops was nationally distributed and placed in over 30,000 retail locations around the country. Brian then went on to create BibBoards as a way to eradicate the use of unruly safety pins in endurance races. The Goodell’s have 2 sons and a daughter. Brian coaches his 8-year old daughter Tatum’s Danville team and his son Bryson’s flag football team.