Why I almost didn't join dōTERRA

Why I almost didn't join dōTERRA

Wow, what a ride it's been.

Over the past 9 months (!), I have unraveled the deceptive practices of one essential oils company and researched a ton of other ones.

I almost didn't join dōTERRA, and I was even ready to toss out the entire MLM concept altogether.

Only recently did I came to a decision I feel fully at peace with!

Where it all started...

Back in December 2017, I wrote an article on my relatively new and quiet website, explaining why I decided to leave the essential oils company I'd wholeheartedly invested in for the past three years.

The article was more of a document for myself than anything. I was wholly unprepared for the huge response that my heartfelt sharing would generate!

I was simply writing an explanation for my downline, and also to make sense of the betrayal and frustration I felt.

It actually took me several months to complete--and it was very cathartic to write. However, that article ended up touching a lot of people's hearts.

Unexpected Fallout

At the time I posted it, I thought maybe I'd get some flak from a few strangers--at most. Surprisingly, there wasn't much of that at all.

What I totally didn't expect to get was a TON of other folks, both strangers and friends, reaching out to me privately and thanking me for being someone they could confide in about their rotten experiences with Young Living!

These people were bullied, shamed, and even ostracized by their Young Living "family" just for raising concerns or asking questions--and I was shocked to hear it. So many people reached out and shared with me about their pain: lost careers, lost income, and lost friends, all because they didn't keep quiet and ignore the mounting evidence...

Quitting friendships?

Unsurprisingly, many of these folks quit multi-level marketing altogether. They were harangued and bullied by people they thought cared about them--and not just about loyalty to a company.

A big part of what led me to enroll with Young Living was because I greatly admired the couple with whom I enrolled. They were conscious and highly educated people who'd been with the company since the 1990s.

When I chose to disconnect from their business, they were curious, compassionate, and understanding.

We got to have a raw, in-depth conversation that was tough for all of us--but necessary. I still appreciate who my former upline are as people, even though we ultimately disagree about essential oil companies.

No anger, no blame, no shaming or shunning. We're still friends on Facebook.

THAT is what it's like when you find great people.

Throwing Out the Baby with the Bathwater

However, most people who wanted to leave Young Living (or any sort of MLM business) have not found that to be the case.

They were treated terribly for not falling in with the status quo--even though these same people had been so-called friends, worthy of their time, energy, and caring.

Now, I think that's especially tragic; because fractured friendships aside, MLMs also have the potential to be a really a great business model and an avenue for personal growth--IF you have the right people around you.

Now, some folks are so immersed in their current social reality that it's impossible for them to imagine friends and business mentors who are truly supportive and growth-oriented...without strings (or a cult mentality!) attached.

ALL the Options

So, another consequence of telling the entire internet that I was breaking up with my essential oils company was, everyone suddenly wanted to recruit me to theirs!

I was approached many times, in many ways--from people with dōTERRA and with other oils companies too. I spoke with several of them, explaining that I first wanted to get a feel for who they were, and how they ran their business.

Incidentally, I also researched many other essential oils companies, and concluded that the only other company I *might* feel okay about was called Plant Therapy.

They seem to be more geared toward aromatherapy use, however, and aren't the comprehensive and potent tools for total body healing that dōTERRA offers. They also don't follow the MLM model, and don't have nearly the amount of available training, scientific research, or medical backing that dōTERRA does!

Also, now that Plant Therapy has decided to model all of their sponsored ads using VERY similar language to my original (and 100% organically-shared) blog post, I'm no longer inclined to think highly of them.

Following My Gut - and Heart!

So, I talked to dōTERRA people. Believe it or not, I already know a LOT of them. There is literally no way I could say who first introduced me to dōTERRA because I have THAT many friends who have approached me about it over the years. #hardcoreskeptic

That's not even considering the folks who reached out to me via every avenue of my social media. Many of them were incredibly lovely--and more than one even offered me an existing position, where I could step right into managing my own downline + making money.

Tempting! But none of these options felt like a step in the right direction for me.

I am the kind of person that needs to feel like I'm in genuine alignment with those I associate with.

They say you become like the five people you hang around with most, and that goes for business as well as life.

Of course, money IS important, and this IS a business decision - but you may recall that I already abandoned a perfectly good stream of income because it no longer felt in integrity to me.

I wasn't about to jump on the first profitable thing I saw.

Choosing wisely can be very difficult indeed when you're looking at a multitude of factors.

"We Own You..."

Sadly, after I thought I'd already made a decision...I realized I had made a mistake.

One person who is a high-ranking leader in the upline I was considering turned out to be so appalling to me that it almost turned me off of dōTERRA completely.

My thought process unfolded chaotically...

"There's herbs and homeopathy, who needs oils...

"But, no. I LOVE oils, and I DO really want to use dōTERRA...

"WHY does this feel so complicated, when all I wanted to do was buy some essential oils--?!"

First, I was miserable. Then, I got angry.

I sat with my feelings and finally realized what I was experiencing was the same kind of energy that I felt over a decade ago...when my ex-husband was trying to manipulate me into staying with him.

I felt 'disallowed' from moving forward in the way that I felt was correct for me, because of the influence of someone who had high-pressure expectations for me to choose differently.

In romance, friendship, or business: Possessive, arrogant behavior feels gross.

I want nothing to do with that kind of energy, and I was ready to write off dōTERRA completely to avoid it.

Funny how situations show up that trigger our old traumas, just to see if we'll make the same mistakes again.

It took me a long time, back then--but I realized that my truth was more important than whether I could 'logically' defend my choice to others.

In the end, I must honor myself. I am accountable to myself, first and foremost.

I'm happy to say that I didn't wash out this time. I recognized the pattern and intercepted it.

It's like leveling up in consciousness!

In retrospect, I'm super thankful that I had that experience, because that sort of sharp contrast is a key indicator of whether you're on the right path or not.

"Thank you for showing me what you are, so that I may clearly see what I am not."

I get to choose my path. Nobody else does.

Too many people have had bad experiences that they blame on MLM-based companies--but really, it's because of other people treating them like property--or idle prospects.

The Growth Path - My Decision to Join dōTERRA

The truth is, so many of us can benefit from the true connection and empathy that belong in a great MLM company culture.

For many years now, I've been cultivating my inner voice and intuition. One thing about intuition is, sometimes it tells you things that are NOT logical.

But I've learned that if you can trust yourself enough to listen anyway...really, REALLY amazing things will happen. Things you maybe never even dared dream of!

So, I didn't choose what was tempting, didn't choose any of my "oily" friends (Thank you for respecting my decision!), or even the "fast track".

Instead, I waited...and trusted that I'd meet someone who would make me feel like I was on the right path--the path of growth.

As it turned out, a copywriting connection of mine helped me to meet someone in dōTERRA who feels like a version of me from the future...!

It's uncanny and amazing. We share a deep passion for natural health and women's empowerment, we're both birth professionals, and we even share a birthday and star sign (hey, Capricorns!).

Also - this is key: She never once asked me to join her team.

When we met, she already knew about The Viral Article I'd Written.

I told her that I already had many people approach me, and she instantly acknowledged the overwhelming headspace I was in, and respected it. Completely.

I got to be the one who started the conversation about joining her dōTERRA team. I didn't feel the least bit of pressure, eagerness, false friendliness, or anything at all that might indicate she had an agenda--because she didn't.

THAT is what respecting boundaries looks like, folks!

It's fucking important, too - don't think for a second it's not.

Birthing the Next Chapter...

I am proud to say that after nine months of contemplation (almost like bringing a baby Earthside, ha!), I'm now a member of the Transformational Essentials dōTERRA team!

Maybe you've been looking for an essential oils company AND a tribe of conscious, heart-led entrepreneurs who are truly aligned with helping people to achieve wellness and emotional balance.

Maybe you've already had a sour taste in your mouth from being treated like a dollar sign by others. (Gross.)

Well, get ready--because I think I've found nirvana.

At this point, I think I've done an uncommon amount of research, meditation, and heart-searching on this topic!

I hope that my decision to be public about my whole process has provided you with some greater insight. If you're simply curious about my complex and lengthy process of decision-making, I hope I've satisfied that curiosity.

Honestly, the volume of messages I received over the last few months was more than I could keep up with individually, so I do apologize if I didn't personally respond to yours.

If you're interested in trying what I truly believe are the best essential oils on the planet, I'd be honored to help you get started.

Thank you for witnessing my journey through these wild and uncharted waters.

xoxo ~ Krystal Trammell dōTERRA Wellness Advocate

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