You might remember a couple months ago I mentioned on Instagram that I was starting the business side of Young Living, and then I went silent. I didn’t say anything further about it after that. Maybe you didn’t notice and that’s cool too. But if you did notice I wanted to write this to be super transparent about what was going on in my head and what’s happened the last month around that decision.
So let’s start from the beginning, I started the business side of Young Living after using their products for a over 6 months and legit loving them. I love the packaging, I love the autoship, I love the quality, the supplements, the cleaners, all of it. So starting the business just seemed like a cool next step. So I did just that.
And then… I fell down the googling of the Young Living founder rabbit hole… I read all the not so great reviews of the founder himself and some of the unethical behaviours he exhibited in the past. I also read a lot of other rather unflattering things about the company so let’s address these one by one and I’ll give you my thoughts on each of them.
- MLMS are pyramid schemes: I kind of feel this is an outdated argument but it persists so let’s address it. Yes there certainly are pyramid schemes that masquerade as mlms that are legit scams. But legitimate and legally registered network marketing companies are not pyramid schemes.
- The reps are just trying to profit off you. This is kind of a silly argument but let’s unpack it. Any business that sells a good or service, literally every business is trying to profit off you. The farm down the road, the photographer in your neighborhood, the coffee shop you love, everyone. That’s what a business is. Are there reps that try to be annoying or aggressive about it? Sure, of course there are, as with any business there are going to be sales people that are sleazy that’s just how the world is, we’ve all been to stores where they stalk you around the aisles or tried to buy a car from someone with way too much hair gel and a creepy smile. That’s not a reflection of the company as a whole it’s more the rep. So support reps as you would support businesses, those who deliver value, are honest and ethical people just as you would support your favourite small business.
- You pay more for the product because it’s an MLM and you’re paying more to cover bonuses and commissions: False. I just didn’t find this to be true. If you compare the prices of Young Living to any other high quality oil (cheap finds on amazon don’t count you’ll instantly be able to smell the difference even if you know nothing about Eos) you’ll find they’re all around the same price. The difference? other non mlm companies have different overheads; physical retail stores, large marketing budgets etc. Young Living does not, their reps are their ‘stores’ and their marketing in one. *Young living also lets you earn money back rewards as a customer so actually I think they’re on the less expensive end if you take those into account.
- Unsafe recommendations: This one is worrisome and can be true, again because of certain reps. And I’ll admit this turned my stomach when I saw some things being said by some people selling YL on their social media feeds. However the company as a whole has really clear usage instructions and communication responses to these sorts of things. Just the other day I say one of the local “Diamond’ Leaders (aka really high up) educating a large group of distributors what is NOT ok to say around the COVID crises. I found this really responsible and made me very happy to see they were trying to get ahead of any misinformation.
- The founder. This I’m going to agree with. You can google his history for yourself, but this is the reason I stepped back. I thought how can I back a company that was started by someone who could behave this way? Here’s my thoughts on this now; I really wish I could say that every single product or service I buy is from a company with a squeaky clean ethical record. And while I’m definitely trying to do more of that, I simply can’t. I just need to look at my nikes to know I need to do better in this. But here’s what I do know. The company is not the same company that was started by the founder 25 years ago (and he has since passed away). The company is run by entirely new people with different perspectives and approaches to health. I also know that the founder while he did have the vision was not the one creating the products. The company hired skilled farmers and expert distillers to create the products they now sell. *(I can personally attest to the quality in their farming because a really close friend of mine and her husband are full time farmers, who inquired with Young Living to be a YL farm but were turned down because many years before they bought their farm it used to be a dairy farm and therefore they could not guarantee their soil was 100% organic. True story).
So where did that leave me? Even when I “stepped back” I didn’t stop ordering. Because I legitimately love the products I buy from them, they’ve become a part of my daily routine (to see my routine click here) and I didn’t want to stop using them, and secondly my order wasn’t going to line the founder’s pockets it was supporting my friend and her business, the business that pays for her mortgage and her kid’s dance programs etc. I also started to read more about all the good the company does. Just last month they donated 1% of proceeds to Meals on Wheels and 2000 units of soap products to BABY2BABY for the month. The company has an entire foundation dedicated to raising money for charities every single month.
Wow this is getting long. So I’m going to wrap up with saying this. I’ve decided that despite my negative feelings on the founder, my positive experience and feelings on all the good the company does exceeds those feelings and therefore I will be adding Young Living products to my roster of offerings haha.
I also want to say this. As per point 2 and 4, I want to be a rep to be a source of open honest wellness product slingin’. If you are interested in getting started with the products or wanting to dip your toes in the business here is what I can 100% promise you
- I will always be completely transparent with you about everything. I will keep it 100% real in terms my opinions but also product usage safety, product knowledge, and science backed studies. I would never EVER make claims about products that are unsubtatiated or dangerous.
- I will never harass you or message you out of the blue to try and ‘sell’ you like a creep.
- If you want to try the business I will help you start your business based on the top two principles and share all the online marketing knowledge I have in my brain ( *I was the digital solutions manager for all of western Canada in my pre baby publishing career) so you don’t have to be that annoying sales person who harasses your friends and family.
- If you want to join the business side I’ll give you access to all my images so you can hit the ground running.
Thanks for reading my dissertation I hope that clarified where and why I’m at where I’m at.
Have a wonderful week!
xo
Emily
