Where to start? I have been doing a lot of computer work as of late, just because it seems the right thing to do.  In doing so, I have been made aware of some disturbing things.  Now granted I am biased in my opinion but it took me YEARS to get to this point. 

A reminder of who I am.  I advocate wellness, I have for years.  I have been eating clean for more years than I can remember and I have been using essential oils for over 30 years.  In recent years, I have partnered with my fiancé in a spice and oil shop, even more recently became a distributor for essential oils and since then received my certification in Aromatherapy.

So over the years I have done my research and still do today.  In my findings today I came across an ad regarding dōTERRA and the FDA.  This is not news to me as many holistic type companies, especially essential oil companies, have been the target of the wrath of the FDA.  All have been asked to comply, some are, some not so much.  I found today that there is a lack of integrity from a company called Young Living.  Now this company was one I looked into but did not follow through with, now I know why, they have taken out an ad on Google, yes and ad, attempting to defame one of their competitors, dōTERRA International, with respect to the notices that were sent in September 2014.  The ad shows the letter that was sent to dōTERRA by the FDA, what the ad didn’t mention was that Young Living received the same letter!!

Now these two have had their share of differences, they both had law suits brought against each other – the result – no one won, there was not enough for damages on either side and they were told to play nice.  In my opinion this ad is not playing nice.

I had found more research that Gary Young had retired from control at Young Living and that his wife Mary has taken place.  The release stated that he wanted to pursue other ventures, wouldn’t you take your wife with you?  A little more digging found that he had been asked to step down apparently due to the lack of participation with respect to the FDA.  They say you can only trust 50% of what you read, well with actions such as the ad Young Living took out against dōTERRA I’m finding it difficult to find their name on Santa’s nice list.

So why all the animosity, Young Living is a 25+ year old company and had been only one of a handful of oil companies.  dōTERRA was found in April 2008, that same year they hit $1 million in sales, so not surprising that $1 Billion has already been hit.  The minds behind this creation had been past employees of Young Living but not all and are well respected in their fields.  And that might not have been so bad if dōTERRA had not taken the bull by the horns, if you will.  dōTERRA has made some pretty remarkable mild stones:  they are THE largest essential oil company in the world, they have recently hit 3 million in membership, their rate retention is over 65%, in 2015 they reached $1 billion in sales, they have achieved the 2013 Utah Valley Business of the Year, Mayor’s Award, and Business of the year.

“dōTERRA is a world leader in the sourcing, testing, manufacturing, and distributing…” of essential oils.  Currently over 75% of their single oils are proprietary.  They offer several lines of oil infused products.  They have a beautiful, state of the art facility in Pleasant Grove, UT that offers a spa, and dōTERRA is completely free of debt and ahead of their growth projections in size and production.

So now to the financials, I could not find 2015 financial for Young Living on the internet but dōTERRA’s were very impressive, so in all fairness I will not share the numbers I found, but I do know that dōTERRA’s compensation plan ranks on top for MLM’s, the numbers don’t lie. 

So in closing what did I find, the integrity of Young Living is suspect at best and dōTERRA is one to use as a standard.  For me the choice became very clear.  Whether you purchase at wholesale as a customer or a business builder dōTERRA holds all the cards.