Over the past year I've been asked {more times than I can count} why, after being a Young Living customer for so long, did I start using some Doterra products...and ultimately become a Wellness Advocate? I thought I would sit down and write my "journey" with oils...my testimony, if you will, to help answer some of those questions and explain my heart behind the switch. Buckle up and get cozy because in true Jess fashion, this is sure to be long...

{how I got started}

I started using essential oils a little over 6 years ago, long before they were so widely popular or "trendy" and back before there was an endless amount of resources available online like there are today. I ordered a starter kit from Young Living and, very timidly, started playing around with the oils. I honestly didn't even know how to use my diffuser without reading the directions, if that tells you anything. I played around with basic diffuser blends and pulled out an oil here and there to try as certain things came up and, as I begin moving forward in my journey to healthier/non-toxic living I went ahead and enrolled in their essential rewards program about 6 months after I purchased my kit. I continued to expand my oil collection and also began to swap out things throughout our home like cleaning products. For the next 4+ years I learned a lot by doing my own reading/research and while I definitely used oils regularly and recognized their power and benefits, I wasn't reaching for them constantly or even using them every single day. I was mainly using them as basic first aid-type solutions and diffusing them often...and  overall felt pretty happy with that. Over the years we tried them for things like sleep support & emotional support but never saw or felt a huge difference, despite trying lots of different blends/combos and sticking with a routine to give them plenty of time to work. I shrugged it off thinking they just weren't going to support us in those areas and for those things and continued to be happy that they were making the house smell good without toxins and that they were good tools to pull out to help with things like cuts & burns, upset tummies, fevers and things of that nature.

I've always been one to share healthy living topics and things I use & enjoy with friends and family so it was natural for me to share some essential oil info in a casual way over the years. I never "sold" Young Living or even had the thought to, even though I was set up to do so if I wanted to (back when I joined your account was automatically set up to "share" the oils and make commission but I never once suggested anyone place an order through me). While I believed I was using the best oils there were and that nothing could compare to the Seed to Seal promise, I personally felt the essential rewards program was a bit too rigid for my liking and, as the years went by, I noticed I had this mildly annoyed feeling with the vibe of things in general. Because I wasn't at all involved with the business side of things I just sort of ignored it, continued to get what I wanted/needed and planned to cancel my essential rewards account because I felt like I was spending more than I needed to be just to keep my "perks." Over the years I did try the probiotic and Ningxia Red (both for a few months) as well as some skincare items items but never loved them enough (or noticed enough of a difference) to justify the cost and stick with them. Basically I was just ordering cleaning concentrate (which lasts forever), toothpaste (which was only for me because Jason didn't like it), and some oils, etc.....none of which I was going through fast enough to warrant a $50-ish re-order every single month and every time I tried to redeem the product points I had racked up, items I really wanted (one of many examples was a 15ml bottle of Frankincense) were ineligible to be purchased with points. All of that combined with the fact that if I didn't purchase 50 PV worth EVERY single month, I lost my perks and was no longer in the program. And Lord have mercy, do not get me started on my annoyances with shipping speed and cost. I will also add, because I haven't already, that I was a part of a very large "team" with tons of resources and very high ranking leaders.

Early in 2018 I really began to dig into all things "wellness" related, specifically topics concerning the beauty industry. I learned SO much about laws & regulations (or lack there of) and also transparency, as it relates to these kinds of topics. I began to really look at not only all of the products I was buying but the specific ingredients in them AND how transparent companies are when it comes to ingredients they use and how they source them. It was also during this time that I began to take a hard look at my own wellness because as a busy mama with a small business, I had fallen into the trap of being in "hustle" mode all the time and had completely pushed my own self care aside. Yes, I was using non-toxic products and being more mindful and particular about the kind of food we were buying, etc. but I was juggling too much, staying up to late, not exercising regularly and overall just pretty amped up from a brain in constant overdrive over my seemingly never-ending "to do" list. The result was a level of anxiety I had never experienced before, constant exhaustion, zero patience, imbalanced hormones, skin & gut issues....the works. I had done a real number on myself. I began to dive into my symptoms and started connecting all of the dots in terms of how everything was related. That led me to making some changes, shifting priorities and truly looking into "investing" in my health. I got on a good probiotic and some other supplements and spent several months (from March-September) continuing to pay attention to how I was feeling, what changes were making a difference and which ones weren't. I had heard from multiple friends who swore by Doterra's Life Long Vitality supplements (all of these people were just wholesale Doterra customers and not out to "sell" me anything), so I did some research of my own and decided they were worth a shot. I placed my order for those at the end of September and added a "cheer" roller as well, just because it sounded good...when is some extra cheer ever a bad idea, right?! I didn't have to buy a kit to get access to wholesale pricing, which I appreciated, and just purchased a regular wholesale membership for $35. (The membership fee is waived if you do go with a kit option but I was sitting on over 100 bottles of YL oils and multiple diffusers so I felt like a kit was unnecessary.) I was also really interested in the Copiaba Soft gels, the kids kit/collection of rollers and the Magnolia touch roller that were set to release in October and honestly thought I would keep wholesale accounts open with both companies to have the freedom to grab whatever I wanted....my (then) ride or die Thieves stuff and some oils from YL (stress away was always my favorite and what I used most) and maybe some supplements and other odds & ends from Doterra.

Then I got my first Doterra order.

You guys, I was OBSESSED with the Cheer blend. Literally the best smelling oil I had put under my nose ever, without question. I was using it every day, multiple times and telling everyone they needed it in their life because of how obsessed I was with it. Then came my copiaba soft gels and I will never forget the first time I felt them work and the way the anxious tension I was feeling across my chest and neck literally melted away. My girls were completely obsessed with the kids collection from the get-go and what initially drew me to those was that they're geared towards kids being able to use them on their own...from the cute little storage case they come in to the color coded lids that coordinate with the set of cards that comes with them. My girls are SO independent and they loved learning what color to use for what feeling/issue AND they were completely obsessed with how they smelled. 

{what prompted me to start researching}

It was shortly after this that I noticed I was using oils a lot more than I ever had and that it was my Doterra oils that I was reaching for on repeat. I started building my collection, mostly sticking with their blends because 1. They were unlike anything I had currently sitting on my shelf and 2. I was completely obsessed with every single one I tried. I was super curious to see if Balance, Copiaba (and now the Adaptiv line) would help me with my anxious feelings and/or if Serenity would offer the girls some support in the sleep department so I ordered those....and they did. What really caught my attention was how Jason responded to Serenity, a blend that contains lavender. Up until then he could NOT, would NOT tolerate anything with lavender in it. You guys, I tried for 5 years and if that man got a whiff of lavender, he was complaining about it. Not only did he not like the smell but it bothered his eyes, made his throat scratchy and even caused headaches sometimes. Lavender was definitely the worst for him but everything bothered him to some extent. I couldn't use Sleepyize on the girls, Tranquil on myself and it didn't matter what I blended it with, if there was a drop of lavender in a diffuser, he would turn it off the second he got near it. Doterra's Lavender (or anything with lavender in it) doesn't bother him at all.  I can put it on myself and he doesn't complain and I can run it in the diffuser in the girls' room and he'll not only not complain about it but will actually fall asleep in there. We put the kids "Calmer" blend (which also contains lavender) on the girls at bedtime and started diffusing Serenity with Wild Orange in our room at night because we both love it so much. He no longer had any allergy symptoms from being around oils and was reaching for them daily on his own. This, combined with the fact that I was suddenly using oils on myself every single day and my girls were enjoying them more than they ever had as well, led me to do some digging....

{what sealed the deal}

I had heard chatter about Doterra's sourcing practices but never dug into them because I had always assumed that nothing could match Young Living. I wasn't outwardly snooty about it by any means (I even had a Doterra person teach an "oils 101" class to my beauty & wellness group members over the summer, partially because I respected her so much as a resource and partialy to show people that I respected their choices if they didn't use YL like I did)...but I totally walked around with the mindset that "seed to seal" was king and nothing could match it. When the whole Jason/lavender situation came up it make me want to know WHY Doterra was different for him and, keep in mind, I was also at a place in my wellness journey where I had a good understanding of what true transparency looks like. Here's a bit of what I learned as I researched:

Doterra only sources plants from their indigenous environment(s). For instance, their lavender oil is indigenous to the Provence region of France and the high altitude at which it's grown results in the plant having high ester and sesquiterpene alcohol content, which increases its therapeutic benefits. That native habitat and those growing conditions can't be duplicated anywhere else and although lavender grows just fine in the United States, the oil it yields is different than what you get from plants grown in their native habitat. (Doterra lavender oil is only sourced from France & Bulgaria for this reason.) Call me crazy if you want but, I'm telling you, you can SMELL the difference. Another example is their lemon oil, which is indigenous to Sicily. This region is known for their lemons and the combination of rich soil conditions, the Mediterranean Sea and the rocky terrain can't be duplicated. Lemon essential oil can be sourced from places like the United States or Argentina for much lower prices but Doterra only sources theirs from Sicily. Again, call me crazy if you'd like, but even my 6 year old can pick out Doterra oils as the purest and best smelling (or "yummiest," as she describes it) when she blindly smells them compared to others. I've literally never smelled anything like them in the 6+ years I've used essential oils. (These are just a few examples of where they source their oils from and why...you can read more info on this here.) I also noticed things like the fact that many of Doterra's oils contain multiple species of the plant. Example: their Copiaba contains 4 different species of Copiaba trees, their Frankincense contains 3 different species, etc. We immediately noticed how much more potent and effective those oils were, compared to what we had been using for years and, sure enough, when I checked my Young Living bottles to see what species(s) those oils contained I found they only contained one...not multiple. 

From here my interest was seriously piqued so I kept on digging and was immediately intrigued by Doterra's transparency. This is already running super long so I'll save the specifics of their in-depth CPTG testing protocol and just share here what literally made me pump the brakes and really reassess the whole situation. (If you want more details on their testing process you can read up on it here.) What caught me off guard is that they send EVERY batch of oil...let me be more specific...they send every LITER of oil to an independent, verified 3rd party lab for testing and each bottle is given a lot number, which you can punch in online here to view the test results yourself. Think about how small of an amount 1 liter is...that's half of a 2L bottle of soda, to give you a visual. They aren't 3rd party testing huge amounts at one time (there are less than 4 1/4 cups in a liter) and are providing you with proof of purity for every single batch.

Let me say it again for the people in the back: they have EVERY LITER oil tested by an INDEPENDENT, VERIFIED 3RD PARTY LAB AND YOU CAN VIEW THE TEST RESULTS WITH YOUR OWN EYES.

This immediately took me back to a time when I was told that Young Living doesn't share test results because they're "too science-y" for most people to understand. It rubbed me the wrong way at the time but, at the time, I had no idea that a higher level of transparency existed when it came to essential oils. Now I know they pride themselves on their farm tours and the fact that you can tour a farm without an appointment or a guide but I never personally saw how that translated as FULL transparency. Sure, it would be a fun & neat experience but to pull that card out when the topic of transparency comes up feels (to me) like a distraction. I'd rather them go the extra mile and show the proof. That speaks more to my heart than a farm tour. Young Living puts every batch of their oil through rigorous in-house testing and sometimes uses 3rd party labs to run tests as well. (taken from their website: "While our labs can conduct all of these tests, we routinely use our third-party labs to supplement our internal testing. Each of these labs have highly skilled and trained scientists.") I mean, it sounds good to me at face value...until I dig into it a bit. Notice there it doesn't say that every batch is 3rd party tested and full transparency in the form of letting you view test results yourself just does not exist. This was huge for me, y'all, HUGE.

Once I let all of that sink it, I realized that for 5 years I was  trusting someone's promise to me....it all sounded really great and the long & lengthy description of what that promise entailed left me walking away feeling like I had chosen the gold standard...but where was the proof? I had never thought about it before but really, WHY, if you say you're so dedicated to purity and the process and have all of the science to run the tests and make sure things are the best of the best, WHY do you not share the proof that backs that up? In the end, I chose full transparency and proof in the form of lab reports over a long winded explanation of a "promise." 

Transparency and proof of purity are also why, when it comes to healthcare, Doterra is the name you see over and over again. Hospitals like Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, St. Elizabeth's (among many others), have chosen to only use Doterra oils on their patients, in their facilities and in their research because, and I quote a representative of Johns Hopkins University, "Doterra is the only verifiably pure essential oil company we can find." Take note of the word verifiably, y'all. A huge healthcare system like Johns Hopkins (and the others mentioned) have the resources to seek out the best....and they have chosen Doterra. This speaks volumes. 

Who's still with me?

I could go on with other things I found during the months I dug into research- and I'm talking about actual facts, not someone else's opinion (court transcripts are public information, FYI.) The cliffs notes version of all of that is that once I opened my first bottle of Doterra oil, something was different for me...which led me to try more...which led me to the realization that I was reaching for those oils constantly...which led me to investigate as to why that might be...which led me down a path that opened my eyes to what I really and truly wanted in the form of transparency and answered all of the questions as to why these oils were working for me in ways that others never had before.

The culture of Doterra is what followed for me and it's unlike anything I've ever seen. I noticed that as Young Living really began to grow everything felt exclusive to specific "teams," whereas with Doterra, the vibe I got was that everyone was on the same team. I had never seen leaders run Facebook groups that were open to anyone, regardless of whether or not they were enrolled under them. Heck, I wasn't even turned away as a devout Young Living customer. That spoke volumes to me. You'll see Doterra leaders all over social media offering classes and trainings and talks....both to teach on general oil topics AND to offer pointers for the business side of things for anyone and everyone to learn from. I had never personally seen anything like that before. Their co-impact sourcing also goes hand in hand with the culture and it's seriously amazing to learn about all the good they do around the globe through it. It creates sustainable jobs, reliable income, fair labor conditions, environmental stewardship, community development, etc. in rural communities that are in need. They also have the Healing Hands Foundation which builds schools, clean water systems, clinics, etc. in these areas and they fight human trafficing through the foundation as well. You can read more about that here and here if you're interested (and here for info specifically related to Healing Hands).

Here's my thing: I believe strongly that the highest form of self care is advocating for your own health and making INFORMED decisions when it comes to those choices. I never want anyone to just take what I say and run with it and my hope is that whenever I educate about a certain topic or share my experience with something in particular, that is serves as a starting point for you to dig into it even deeper. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH! MAKE YOURSELF INFORMED! ASK QUESTIONS! Don't just do something  because someone says it's great or even because it seems to be what everyone else is doing...know why you choose what you choose and why you're doing what you're doing (or what you hope to accomplish/change because of it). That goes for everything from taking supplements to drinking celery juice to picking a non-toxic deodorant to using essential oils.  

I ultimately chose Doterra because I feel that their transparency and sourcing practices are unmatched, because the culture and community are magnetic and mesh perfectly with my own heart...and because their oils made such a positive impact on my health/wellness from the moment I started using them. I joked with a friend recently and said that although I used oils regularly for 5 years, it took trying Doterra to become an absolutely obsessed "hippie" over them...and it's totally true!

If this left any questions unanswered, reach out! If you know me then you know I'm an open book. I know this was lengthy but I really wanted to share as much of my story as I could because I know how overwhelming choices and topics related to your health & wellness can be. I also come from a place of pushing self care aside for years because I had no idea of the domino effect it can (and will) have on your health. It was my determination to climb out that mess and my commitment to truly investing in my own health that helped lead me to Doterra.  If you take anything at all from this, my hope is that it's to realize the importance of advocating for your own health and making informed decisions that you feel good about, as it relates to those topics.