From Chemistry Lab to Corner Office: Scott Bening on Entrepreneurship, Integrity, and Reinventing Life After Business

Episode notes

What happens when a chemist accidentally becomes an entrepreneur — and then has to figure out who he is after he sells the company he built? Scott Bening, author of "Formulating Solutions" and the newly released "The Back Nine," joins the podcast to share a career story that is equal parts unexpected and instructive. Scott grew up in Buffalo, New York, earned his degrees from St. Lawrence University and UIC Chicago, and spent just nine months in a laboratory before pivoting into technical sales. That pivot — combining deep scientific knowledge with a learned ability to sell — became the foundation for everything that followed, including leading MonoSol, a manufacturer of water-soluble films with an exclusive supply relationship with Procter & Gamble, and ultimately selling the company to a Japanese acquirer. In this episode, Scott and Michael explore the underrated power of a technical background in sales, the role that journaling played in Scott's first book, and why integrity and relationship-building are not soft concepts but core business drivers.