John Goodwin was born and raised in Vancouver, B.C. He attended the University of British Columbia, University of California-Los Angeles, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He began working for global corporations in London (UK) and Montreal, but he returned to Vancouver in 1973 to begin working for MacMillan Bloedel.

Goodwin joined the Strategic Planning and Development department and his role was to diversify MacMillan Bloedel beyond just the forestry industry. He did not have a background in the forestry industry, but rather brought his perspective of the broad industrial market instead to MacMillan Bloedel. After one year, he joined the Linerboard and Packaging Group; the majority of his records pertain to the work he did on various projects within this department. He focused on projects outside of the Canadian context, namely in the US operations HQ in Atlanta, Georgia and in Alabama as well as operations in the UK. From 1974 to his departure from MacMillan Bloedel in 1986, he also did specific project work or assignments directed by the various CEO’s he worked with over the years. Goodwin’s role was valuable to his superiors and he was referred to as the “chief of staff” occasionally. After leaving MacMillan Bloedel, Goodwin would work in various domestic and international business market consulting roles until 1995 when he became President of a management consulting firm, Effective Business Strategies, where he remains today.