The place where pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils begin.

In the spring of 2008, a group of healthcare and business professionals, who shared profound personal experiences with the life-enhancing benefits of essential oils, came together with a common vision: To bring a new standard of therapeutic-grade essential oils to the world.  They wanted something different, that would appeal to all people, from those who knew nothing of essential oils to those who were considered the experts in the field.

They asked themselves some defining questions:

• "What if we could provide the world with a new and powerful wellness alternative?"
• "What if we could provide this new level of wellness through a mainstream approach to essential oils?"
• "What if we could source, test and manufacture a higher quality of essential oil: more pure and more potent than any other oil available on the market today?"
• "What if we, in a most professional manner, could partner with major hospitals, doctors, scientists and opinion leaders, to provide the most compelling authentication of essential oils on the planet?"

They concluded that, with the hard work and commitment of others with a similar passion and vision, they could and would create a new paradigm for essential oils.  With that conviction, they organized a company and named it dōTERRA^®, a Latin derivative meaning "Gift of the Earth." 

dōTERRA's first offering of 25 single oils and 10 oil blends was introduced for sale on April 25, 2008, to the acclaim of essential oil experts and product enthusiasts, who immediately recognized the superior quality of dōTERRA's therapeutic-grade essential oils.

In addition to ongoing development of new essential oils and proprietary essential oil blends, dōTERRA's future product offerings will include nutrition, spa and healthy living products, based on essential oil technologies and a comprehensive wellness philosophy of nutrition, exercise, rest and stress management, reduction of toxic load, informed self-care and proactive healthcare.

dōTERRA's marketing model

dōTERRA^® products are sold exclusively through Independent Product Consultants who, working from home, introduce, educate and sell dōTERRA^® products locally, through person-to-person contact, and globally through personalized web shopping sites.

dōTERRA^®: The rest of the story

Although the people of dōTERRA^® feel strongly about leaving the past behind them and focusing on what makes dōTERRA^® special, I feel that you, as a customer or potential IPC, deserve to know some of the rest of the story.

Most of the top people at dōTERRA^® were former Young Living employees.  One was the CEO who brought Young Living back from virtual bankruptcy, one was Gary Young's personal assistant for several years and one was in charge of organizing events, like the annual Conventions.  There are many other formerly well-placed people at Young Living who are now working at dōTERRA^®.  In fact, since the 2007 Convention in Washington, D.C., there have been about 60 top people at Young Living who have resigned, about 25 of them key personnel.  Many of them have made their way to dōTERRA^®.

But, because of stories that have been floating around, it's important to understand that these people did not leave Young Living in order to form dōTERRA^®.  They didn't walk out with trade secrets or distributor lists or anything else.  And, while each person has his/her own reason for leaving, for most of them, the key factor was one of person integrity, centering around two main issues: The quality of products at Young Living (and the gap between what was claimed about them and what they actually were) and the way people were treated by the company.  (You can read a little about this in my newsletter article, Why dōTERRA^®: The heartbreak that is Young Living.)

Once these people had left Young Living, they still wanted to be involved with the essential oils.  They had learned how beneficial the oils could be, and wanted to keep them as part of their lives.  But, which oils were they to use?

After searching around, some of them came upon some oils that were unbelievably good.  They had exceptional purity, truly wonderful aromas — and, they worked far better than anything else they had used before.  It was like discovering aromatherapy all over again.  It was only after discovering these exceptional oils, and seeing how powerfully effective oils of such purity could be, that they got together and began talking about bringing you these oils through dōTERRA^®.

My personal story

Me (Tom Anson), playing my Guild 12-string guitar, cir. 1978

I have been an Independent Distributor with Young Living since about 1997.  Using the oils gave me back my life; they enabled me to climb out of over 30 years of severe disability, to start my own company.  I owe a lot to Gary Young and Young Living, for all the benefits I've enjoyed these past years.

However, over the past three-to-four years, I've noticed that the YL oils just didn't seem to work as well as they had before.  Applications that had been very helpful in the past seemed to have little to no effect anymore.  I assumed the problems were with me, since Young Living had such high standards for all of their oils.  Right?!?

Then, someone contacted me about dōTERRA^®.  After the exchange of a few emails, he sent me some samples of frankincense, lavender, lemon and peppermint oils.  Being so thoroughly indoctrinated in the Young Living myth, I was something of a hard sell, as I fiddled around with attempts at testing the oils in comparison to what I had been using for so long.  Then, for some reason, I applied some of the dōTERRA^® frankincense to my temples. 

Unbelievable!

The instant I applied the oil, it felt like an electric bolt shot through my head.  (I've since found that all of dōTERRA's oils are far more energetically active — and effective — than the YL oils.)  Even though I had been using Young Living's frankincense (and blends containing frankincense) reguarly, it never had the energy-balancing effect I found with dōTERRA^® frankincense.  It was utterly amazing.

I enrolled with dōTERRA^® that day.