Recently, Jade Shutes, Director of Education for East-West School for Herbal and Aromatic Studies and President of the NAHA, reached out to one of the two largest MLMs, doTerra, to discuss this triad of concern. Here is what Ms. Shutes posted on the East-West School for Herbal and Aromatic Studies' Facebook page on 13 December 2014. It is a valid read for anyone considering EOs/Herbalism/Aromatherapy or even just selling EOs under one of the MLMs (side note: I left the original formatting and highlighting of this text as I copied and pasted the direct statement:)
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| Photo from 13 December 2014: https://www.facebook.com/AromatherapySchool |
One of the things I touched upon during NAHA’s conference Beyond Aromatics, was the need to begin building bridges of understanding and communication within the world of aromatherapy, including with mlm’s. Upon returning home from the conference and generally tired of the ongoing ‘war’ between different individuals on both sides of the coin, so to speak, I thought it would be of service to reach out and connect with one of the leading ‘mlm’s’ - doTerra. My goal was to open up dialogue on three main issues: Safety, Education and Sustainability.
I, as both Director of Education for the East-West School for Herbal and Aromatic Studies as well as the current President of NAHA, contacted doTerra and they too expressed interest in discussing these matters. A meeting date was set for December 11th. I felt it was important and crucial to also bring Annette Davis, NAHA’s current Vice president and soon to be President, as she is incredibly knowledgeable about the internal use of essential oils and safety concerns. So on Thursday, December 11th a landmark meeting between the traditional aromatherapy community (if I can call it that for lack of a better word) and one of the largest ‘mlm’ companies in the United States took place. We met with doTerra Chief Executive Officer/President, Mr. David Stirling, Executive Vice President/Chief Medical Officer, Dr. David Hill, Executive Vice President, Emily Wright, and International Executive Vice President, Gregory Cook.
Throughout the meeting we discussed various safety concerns and educational needs and I believe we were very much in agreement about the vast majority and most pressing of these issues. I shall be writing more about this as time allows and things unfold but I did want to share that doTerra is already implementing recommendations for doTerra Wellness Advocates to dilute their essential oils prior to using them on the skin and doTerra has a solid commitment to sustainability issues through what they call Co-impact sourcing.
I am incredibly thankful to doTerra for their willingness and openness to come together and discuss these important matters with us. I was deeply impressed by doTerra’s facility, their staff, their call center, their land, and the Executive Board members. I do believe that doTerra’s actions over the next year or two shall inspire other ‘mlm’ companies to follow their lead with safety, education and sustainability. There is still much work to be done, but I am confident that a bridge has been built and one that will address the core concerns of the traditional aromatherapy community thus cultivating a more productive and professional relationship within the worldwide and diverse aromatherapy community.
Attacks against mlm’s: How we could be more productive
During NAHA’s AGM, I spoke about how one of the strengths of mlm’s is that each company has a unified message that is carried throughout all their work, whereas in the aromatherapy world, often there are so many messages that it is hard for individuals to know what is true and what is opinion. For some, this is so disheartening that they question whether they should use essential oils at all or they simply become afraid of using them. We need to find a common message: a positive unifying message. That will be part of work in the new year and beyond...
I also used an analogy that we can either continue trying to push against the wave or we can go along with the wave. By riding the wave I mean joining in dialogue rather than attack (pushing against the wave). I would like to acknowledge the forum: Ethical Aromatherapy for being the bold leaders in supporting this type of dialogue and understanding. For sure, there are individuals out there, regardless of specific company affiliation, who make outrageous and unsafe statements with regards to utilizing essential oils. And sometimes we are able to enter dialogue with these individuals and sometimes we are not. But regardless, we have at least attempted to enter kind and intelligent dialogue rather than attack. I am seeing such dialogue occur on this forum. A healthy dialogue and one born out of respect for each other as humans and for the plants and their essential oils.
There seem to be those that go out ‘hunting’ each day to find one of these outrageous claims and then there is the inevitable outrage and horror expressed in various groups and direct attacks on specific companies. This seems to be most unproductive as neither party really benefits. Those who are tied up in their horror lose energy and those tied up in their ‘unsafe’ beliefs lose out on the opportunity to deepen their understanding of essential oils. The ‘war’ has been ongoing for so many years now that I wonder how much is real and how much has become a type of propaganda perpetuated out of fear and (for me this has been true for sure) the lack of really exploring in more depth what individual companies are actually doing. The ‘mlm’ community represents over 2+ million individuals throughout the world. In many ways their growth has spurred the growth of the worldwide traditional aromatherapy community. I am sure, for that, we are thankful.
So to conclude this rather long note......I honestly believe that good will evolve from all of this. Already I see on various social media forums and individual pages that the tide is turning more towards a larger community of individuals from all walks of the ‘industry’, we are seeing more individuals discuss the internal use of essential oils for the purpose of understanding rather than dismissal or to flame the fire of fear or disempowerment. For sure, as I said above, there is still much work to do in developing safe yet effective frameworks for different methods of application for both home use and in professional or clinical practice. But for now, I am happy the bridge has been created and truly hope others will join me (and NAHA) to elevate our field, our dignity and our professionalism within it. Through kind, honest, open, and sincere dialogue, much can be achieved. Here is to 2015.....
Reference:
Shutes, J. (13 December 2014). Building bridges: Taking action. [Facebook photo text]. Retrieved
from https://www.facebook.com/AromatherapySchool/
