An open letter to dōTERRA. Dear David Stirling, Emily Wright, Dr David K Hill, Corey Lindley, Greg Cook, Mark Wolfert & Rob Young (the owners and Founders) and the entire corporate office globally.
I know historically open letters are generally used to start a dialogue around an issue, or to complain. But this is a different kind of open letter. One of gratitude and thanks. When you do big things in the world and create massive impact, many people take shots and there are huge obstacles to overcome. Many people grumble, complain and tell you how you should do things better, different, that it’s not good enough. Etc etc.
I’ve been guilty of this too. And sometimes constructive feedback is necessary and helpful. But also.. sometimes it’s just taking shots and causes harm. I find it helps to metabolise the poison (something Dave Stirling taught me) and keep moving forward when you also receive appreciation and gratitude for your work.
And whilst I’m sure the Founders and corporate don’t need this- as their vision and mission is so massive I trust they could steer through any level of adversity to continue moving forward. I’ll share anyway. And maybe it will remind them on those harder days that what they do makes a difference. Though I’m sure it would be impossible to forget. As the difference they’ve made is insurmountable.
I want to mention the difference the sourcing initiatives (growers of our plants) create globally. Through its global sourcing efforts, by 2018 doTERRA supported 122,095 jobs and impacted 541,349 lives, this number continues to grow.
In fact in 2020, such a difficult year for people globally- this grew to 300,892 jobs supported globally through sourcing efforts. This meant over 1,000,000 lives impacted because of these jobs. dōTERRA’s goal is to triple their impact by 2030. And I have no doubt they will achieve it.
But I want to talk about the impact made to individuals. Specifically, to me. When dōTERRA came into my life, I was severely lacking hope. I had lost hope for my health, for my financial future. I saw the world as an unsafe, loveless place. I was isolated and lacked community. I was angry, depressed and felt completely hopeless about my situation.
My health was extremely poor. When I was 18 months old I had contracted meningococcal, a very dangerous illness that can be severe and deadly and effect the spinal cord and brain. My parents rushed me to the hospital where they put vial after vial of penicillin into my spine via lumbar puncture, this saved my life.I spent many months in intensive care, my parents had to visit in full hazmat suits, prior to contracting meningococcal I was speaking in sentences and walking up and down stairs, I had to relearn how to walk and talk and actually had to regrow half my brain, which was only possible because I was under the age of three when I caught it.
While the antibiotics were life saving and very necessary and I’m very grateful for mainstream modern medicine (literally wouldn’t be here without it).Not much was known back then about replenishing good flora in the gut and I had years of super intense asthma (spent a LOT of time in hospital) and allergies.
I ate absolute trash as a teenager/young adult. Lots of white bread, pasta, McDonald’s, sugar, two minute noodles, processed foods, commercial dairy.In my early twenties I started to develop severe gut health problems, I was in constant pain, my joints hurt, I was bloated, I started reacting more and more intensely to different foods, my tongue would swell up in my mouth, I had rashes on my skin, severe cystic acne, and became more and more anxious.
I also had PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and had several cysts painfully burst on my ovaries, endometriosis and long, painful, very heavy bleeds.I was having several panic attacks a week, struggled to leave the house and cope with any kind of social situation and basic tasks such as going to the post office or shops. Filling in forms and answering the phone provided an alarming amount of anxiety and avoidance.
I was diagnosed with Aspergers/High Functioning Autism at 23 which helped me make some sense of things.My immune system was not functioning properly.
I caught Epstein Barr Virus, Adeno Virus (the killer cold) and remember being so sick my sister had to feed me. I would also catch vomiting bugs alarmingly regularly, it felt like just about every time I left the house I would catch something, I would end up regularly hospitalised for the stomach bugs as I just could not stop throwing up no matter what, I had to be put on an IV and given the wafer to stop it, multiple times in the same year.
Drs, Dietitians, Nutritionists and the Hospitals were not much help, I heard regularly, food has nothing to do with your symptoms, take antidepressants/sleeping pills/it’s all in your head. I find Western medicine can be incredible for emergency situations, but not so much for long term, preventative health care.
I saw a Naturopath in the end who said I was not absorbing the food I was eating, my gut was in a very bad way and diagnosed me as beginning to show signs of an autoimmune condition. Eventually I decided to take my health into my own hands and began researching how to heal myself/heal my gut.
I started studying natural medicine. I came across the work of Weston A Price, a dentist who studied traditional tribes all around the world and discovered why they were thriving and healthy, eating traditional nourishing foods including animal fats, grass fed protein, broth and grass fed butter. I became aware that a lot of what we are told about nutrition is funded by big food companies and isn’t actually founded in truth, but in profits.
Pushing low fat, high grain, sugar filled, seed oil filled processed shit and margarine, was killing us. So I started a petition to stop the heart foundation promoting seed oils and sugar filled junk. I started a blog and social media accounts to share my healing journey.
A woman that followed my journey online sent me some samples of dōTERRA essential oils. ZenGest our digestive blend, Balance, our grounding blend and OnGuard our immune/protective blend.
My first experience with one of our oils was when my oldest son Dominic, who was four at the time, came home from kindy with a nasty stomach bug. It was coming out both ends and he was pale as a ghost. I asked on socials if there was anything I could do to help him and the woman that sent me the oils said to put a drop of ZenGest in coconut oil and give him a clockwise stomach massage, and to put a drop in water and give him little sips. Within 10 minutes he had colour back in his face and promptly went to sleep and woke up fine.
I was shocked 
I had no idea that when you use actual pure essential oils from plants (unfortunately most on the market are synthetic/adulterated) that they have significant therapeutic value. I started using the ZenGest on myself daily, multiple times a day. My bloating and pain went down immediately. I started to be able to tolerate more foods. I started using OnGuard on the soles of my feet and in the diffuser. I stopped getting sick all the time. I started using Balance every day. On my feet, wrists, down my spine. I felt my nervous system settle and I stopped feeling so intensely anxious.
The woman that shared with me said hey Jessie, there’s also a business opportunity if you’re interested. You can share these oils with others and make money. I was an immediate full body yes. I was on Centrelink (welfare) at the time as my youngest was only 6 months old and I had been too unwell to work. So I got to work straight away, sharing on social media. Running little workshops every Tuesday night on my back patio in Coopers Plains. Running business trainings even though I had no clue what I was doing, zero business or leadership experience and was just 23.
I had huge belief in the products, based on my extensive research as well as my personal experiences with them, the company and the opportunity. So I backed myself and went out after my goals relentlessly. 11 months in from the date that I opened my dōTERRA account I had achieved Diamond. Six figures profit. And less than 2.5 years in to building my business I achieved Presidential Diamond, the top rank you can achieve. Making over a million in profit a year.
Along the way I’ve been able to help others make millions upon millions in combined commissions across Australia, New Zealand and the world.
I remember a few years ago I was in Sedona, Arizona for a top leadership conference with dōTERRA. All of the owners were on a panel on stage answering questions. Someone asked “what keeps you going when things are really tough?”
Dave Stirling answered “the individual lives changed”. And used me as an example. That when he first met me I couldn’t make eye contact. I went down to the stage to receive my award for achieving Silver, shook his hand quickly and got it off him and quickly got away. 18 months later I was in Arizona. Head held high. Shoulders back. Flying internationally. Speaking to people, making eye contact.
My whole life has changed thanks to this company. Financially, socially, physically, emotionally. Everything. I am the strongest, fittest, healthiest I’ve ever been. I am confident, empowered, liberated and free, both financially and with my time. I’ve been able to give generously to causes I’m passionate about and to travel Australia and the world.
Myself and my team have been able to help a football stadium of people (over 40,000) access essential oils and natural products and positively impact their lives as well.
Last night my friend Laura Gratton asked me to come co-facilitate a breathwork journey on the beach with her. And as we dropped people in with the oils and her and Tom facilitated breath, Laura and I walked around to each person and I used essential oils in my hands cupped over their faces as they breathed and Laura spoke so much love and safety into them. I had tears running down my face into the sand as I was doing it. Just so much gratitude that this is my work. That I get to be a medicine woman and literally help others heal.
At the end a beautiful woman who’s been to a number of our events recently, thanked me. Telling me how much better she feels on MetaPWR. That she’s walking the dog twice a day and that the oils have helped her so much with how anxious she has been.
I cried again.
I never used to be a crier. I used to push the tears back into my eyes. But these days I cry all the time. I feel what needs to be felt and I’m so grateful every single day for this incredible company. For their vision, mission, ethos and integrity. For their wild dream, to source the best essential oils in the world. And to help the most people. Thank you for helping me realise my own dreams. And in turn helping others realise theirs.
I am forever grateful.
Sincerely,
Jessie Reimers,
doTERRA Australia Founder
