How DōTERRA Heals The World One Drop Of Essential Oil At A Time

High-risk pregnant women in Somaliland, poor students in southern Kenya, and wild wintergreen harvesters in the Himalayas are all among the nearly three million people whose lives have been meaningfully impacted by the essential oils and related products of dōTERRA, based in Pleasant Grove, Utah. 

Founded in 2008 by former executives at the essential oils company, Young Living, dōTERRA might not be a household name yet, but given its extraordinary growth, impact, and goals, it likely will be soon. 

CEO Corey B. Lindley, who’s been with the private company since its inception, leads about 5,000 employees, including thousands of expertly trained sales affiliates and “health advocates” from China to India, and from South America to the US.  The name dōTERRA is a Latin derivative meaning “Gift of the Earth.” 

Essential oils are compounds extracted from plants that capture the plant's scent, flavor, and natural healing properties that can be an effective alternative to chemical medicines for the treatment and prevention of countless ailments, from insomnia to psoriasis. The oils are obtained through distillation and/or mechanical methods. dōTERRA sources only the purest, most potent, highest-grade, therapeutically effective oils on Earth, says Lindley. It can back that claim because it sets the quality standard for its industry. 

Across the essential oils trade, up to 80 percent of products are variously altered from their natural form, according to dōTERRA research, says Lindley. That translates to likely less effective – and potentially even dangerous – outcomes for people.

dōTERRA’s CPTG Certified Pure Tested Grade® designation, on the other hand, ensures that the company’s essential oils are unadulterated and uncontaminated.

“Purity is a very important issue for us,” says Lindley. “And it's become more important because of the level of science that we're bringing to the table through the research that we're doing. Safety, too, is of paramount importance to us. It's only through doTerra and our sourcing that you know that through specific dosing of the essential oils, that one or two or three drops mean the exact same thing every time.” 

Essentially a healing solution

Even before a dōTERRA essential oil is used by a person, the company’s mission and impact are in full force. In addition to responsible packaging and waste reduction, says Lindley, “We are empowering individuals and communities with natural solutions for their health and well-being. 

“Our purpose is to just help people. Help people move forward in positive ways, whether it's our growers or our wellness advocates or our employees. We just want to get along and help people. Our purpose is to heal the world.”

dōTERRA is the only essential oil company focused on independent growers and harvesters, meaning it doesn’t contract with huge farms (which would be both easier and cheaper, says Lindley, but not commensurate with the company’s purpose).

Instead, the company works directly with farmers in different countries to ethically-source essential oil ingredients while supporting local communities. Through this “co-impact sourcing” model, says Lindley, “We're able to impact communities and individuals in a very strong way.  

“We have three hundred thousand individual growers that we work with; growers and harvesters, because some of these are “wildcrafted;” [the plants] are just in nature and [our people] go out and they harvest them. These women can go out and harvest and make an income that they then can help their children go to school and be able to pay their school fees. It's a remarkable thing.”

Lindley references “women” because most of the company’s employees and contractors are women. The company’s model of person-to-person selling relies on the fact that “the vast majority – 90 percent – of our salespeople are women.

“In our world today, it's not always possible for someone to just get a job, make whatever minimum wage is … There are so many families that need to supplement their income, and we are honored to be part of that solution.” Defending against the critics of the direct sales model, Lindley points to the thousands of families dōTERRA has been able to lift out of poverty, especially by employing women. “Part of the solution—that’s what we want to be. We're not shying away from who we are. We actually embrace it.”

The benefits of co-impact sourcing cannot be overstated. Although the company typically works with small-scale growers, in Hawaii, where sandalwood is a precious resource and a principal product for dōTERRA, the company purchased a 10,000-acre ranch, and is reforesting all of it. “It's the largest reforestation project in the state of Hawaii. We've put hundreds of thousands of trees back onto this land.”

The company actively participates in several other SI and EI initiatives, including through the dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation, which supports multiple humanitarian projects worldwide. “Our foundation allows us to give back on a global scale. It’s not just about profits; it’s about making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.”

Pure ambition

The Hawaii project is an ideal example of the company’s commitment to sustainability, because, as Lindley puts it, “We won't see the impact of that for fifteen or twenty years.” But the project is helping heal the planet.

Lindley, who began his career at Deloitte, says, “I think that the number one key for me is that you have to stay true to your purpose and who you are as a company. Companies can get easily distracted, he says. So, you must “put purpose front and center” and “help all of your employees understand that.

“In our management and leadership meetings, I always go back to how does this impact our purpose? How does this impact helping the world heal in a positive way? If it doesn't do that, we don't want anything to do with it.”

The philosophy seems to be working. With an annual revenue $2+ billion, dōTERRA has demonstrated consistent financial growth since its inception. “We're trying to re-engineer some of our processes so that we can become a six, eight, ten billion-dollar company,” Lindley says. “That's a big change. There's a big difference.” Along the way, dōTERRA aims to become carbon neutral by 2030. “It’s a daunting goal.”

“But, our commitment to sustainability is not just a buzzword. It’s embedded in our DNA. We believe in leaving a positive impact on the world, one drop of essential oil at a time.” 

If you’d like to dive deeper with more purpose-led companies like DoTERRA, check out the Lead with We podcast here, so that you too can build a company that transforms consumer behavior and our future.