We're Raising a Family of 5 (almost 6) on a Teacher Salary?

Have you ever wondered how teachers can have so many kids at home when it is so well known that they don't get paid enough, or even what they're actually worth?

I would even argue the point that teacher's families get more "income" while in school through grants, loans and a part time job than they do once starting their actual career.  So how do we families of public school teachers make it all work?

The History & Why:

When I was younger my Dad always talked about the career of teaching as if it were one of the best because it was stable.  In public school it is funded by the state, meaning that there will never be a mass firing due to inadequate funds from an economy flop.  This sounded cool to me so I always kept an open mind about it.  My list of experiences and jobs I wanted to pursue was long and sometimes felt endless though.  I wanted to learn and experience so much and placing all my eggs into simply teaching was never really in the cards for me I guess.

I met my husband while we were still both going to college and we were not one of those couples to wait till events finished in order to start new turns in life.  So, we got married.  We also believe that "God will provide a way" as many others believe about having children.  I think my children are up to the Lord's timing, not my own.  I do have preferences, but would rather focus on what the Lord would give me, and when, then my own plans.  His plans seem to pan out better for me than my own ever did.  So, you guessed it, we had our first baby.  Yes, while we were both still in college.

I was unable to continue my education or my job nearing the end of the pregnancy and after the baby was born.  That was ok though.  It was a big transition and felt like a huge job to take care of a new life instead of focusing on those other things.  This left my husband to both work and go to the University full time.  Together we had grown dreams of creating art through video and photography.  Opening a digital media center and then expanding into other business opportunities, like running a reception center and art gallery.  They were big dreams and we had started the first classes to get a degree toward that purpose.  After I couldn't go with him anymore, he decided he needed to switch from where we had been going to school, back to the University we met at, and go into some type of stable degree like teaching.  We decided the most stable and most enjoyable degree for him would be the generalist art teaching degree because that degree allowed for him to teach any type of art.  It could be drawing, painting, printmaking, video, photo, ceramics... all the fun stuff.  Specializing felt like it would be limiting his potential for getting that future teaching job, so we veered away from that, although he did get a bunch of extra certifications in his favorite topics, like video editing.

Ok, so we had our first baby in college... well, by the time he switched programs he had 5 years of additional schooling he would need to do.  About a semester of that his old credits counted towards, but this decision basically started him over.  We also had him do summers and squeeze in the max limit of class credits to finish in around 4 years instead.  I've had a baby every 2 years so far.  Our second baby was born during one of his busiest semesters.  He'd wake up early to work at an elementary, go straight to class, do homework at the campus, and make it home most nights by 2am.  Thank heaven this wasn't every night, and thank heaven his work was flexible with his school schedule.  Our third baby arrived just a couple months after he graduated.  He was called with his job acceptance to teach video, photo, and drawing at a high school in a very nice east side neighborhood while we were in the hospital with our 2 day old little one.  He is in his second year of teaching now and we are expecting another little spirit at the beginning of next school year.  Wow that is coming up fast now.

The Finances:

Ok, so that is the history behind why and how we got here.  Now for the nitty gritty finances.  We have 3 kids ages 5 and under.  We love entrepreneurial projects so we like to do those, but we did much more of those while my husband was still attending college courses.  Time is a hard commodity to come by for a good teacher, and when he does have time our kids love and need him so much that those other things are hard to get to.  Our personal video business used to do about $10,000 a year, and then what we needed to live beyond that in school we budgeted per semester for and used grants, scholarships, and student loans to pull off.  We felt tight, but in control.  When I was pregnant I was able to get the government assistance program called medicaid to help pay for anything that went wrong (I barely used it though, because 2 of my 3 were home births).  Food assistance was also offered to us.  We felt very blessed, but wanted to be self sufficient as soon as possible.  We couldn't wait for my hubby to graduate and get into his career so that we could have enough extra income that we wouldn't need to ask for help anymore.

Actually dealing with finances once we didn't have semester by semester loans coming in, and instead had a monthly income, has been tough.  It is far easier to budget 4 or 6 months out at a time and just stick to that than it is to budget per month.  We thought our income would feel like much more, so we bought a house at the very tip top of our qualifying range within a mile or so of where my hubby was working.  Its a cute little house (small for having a fourth one on the way, but it'll work somehow).

Now, I know teachers in each area make different amounts of money and then that changes according to how many extra pet projects they do for the school, as well as extra certifications, and extra years of teaching experience within a district.  My husband does a lot of random projects, and took on an extra class period, so he is barely above base pay right now.  I tried to calculate what his take home pay was after all the deductions that they make for both taxes and for medical.  Take home pay is just over $28k a year.  No wonder I feel more poor now than I did while we were in school.  No one is helping us with food or co pay expenses anymore, we have almost double the housing costs (a little more than $1350 in mortgage a month with a little less than $250 in utilities), we have bigger stomachs to feed as the kids grow, and there is no more income now than there was with all those loans coming in.  We are on a repayment plan that allows us to not pay anything toward our student loans unless we want to, thankfully.  With this as our primary income and only maybe $400 coming in from our side projects a year now, its interesting to try to find a happy financial medium for raising kids.

What we're doing to survive:

We try to buy everything we can in cash, this includes small and big things alike, from books to cars.

We try to cut medical expenses by prevention.  Eating healthy, taking vitamins, using natural solutions and remedies to help with anything that comes up.  For example, it is much less expensive to use a drop of Lavender essential oil on a cut than it is to use something like Neosporin.  Though I have used both. Essential oils and natural solutions have taken care of most of the problems with health, first aid or hygiene my family has faced and has been much less expensive and usually is more quickly effective than the co-pays and doctor prescribed remedies I also tried many times.  This has saved our family hundreds, if not thousands of dollars (not to mention the saved time).  When we have a little bit more income, like we did in school, I like to go to a chiropractor that specializes in pregnancy and children once a month for each member of the family.  This keeps the nerves properly aligned so there is better behavior along with better health and immune function.  It also helps the kids recover faster when they do get sick or when they fall.  We have to live without this chiropractic perk for a bit but will continue it once we get a small raise or find time to do more entrepreneurial work (hard to come by lately).

We have never purchased a new car with car payments.  We usually purchase cheap used cars that seem like they would be reliable.  Some have been more reliable than others, but it has been cheaper to fix up a $2,300 van and spend $2,500 to fix it up that year, than it ever would have been to purchase a new van and make payments for both principle and interest.  We plan to purchase new one day, but only when we have the cash.  We will never have a car payment.

There have been moments where we have to use credit cards, but we try to pay these off within the month that we use them so that no interest is able to accrue on our purchase.  We try to avoid ever having a balance or even spending on our credit lines when possible though.

As of now our only debt is the student loans and our mortgage.  The mortgage is close to what we'd pay in rent for the same size home, so I think of it more as investing in a rental to ourselves.  A forced savings account for the equity is how my husband puts it.  Even if we built no equity, we've been able to stay here without a landlord looking over our shoulder, and paying the same price for our size in this area.  So the mortgage was worth its title of debt for me.

The student loans however, I do regret.  We needed them to get through school, but they are hanging over our heads now and we do not make enough income to even touch them.  So they are just there accruing interest until we get a raise in a couple years or we come up with some other inventive income stream.  They also have made it so we qualify for a much smaller home than we would have without them.  Even though we could earn a substantial equity by selling our house now, because of the student loans we don't qualify for the type of home we feel would best suit our kids.  Without those loans we would be able to qualify easily, and ironically our payments would go down drastically even though we'd be moving up.  Too bad the decision to take these loans gets in the way.  It does help us with getting more inventive every day to make life comfortable for adding a fourth to the home we are in now.

I laugh when people want to sell us things on a payment plan (big or little).  Really, we can't afford the extra payment for anything.  If we could, it would just come out of our food money, and I would rather eat.

For food it is easiest to stay in budget when we use a meal plan and buy our vegetables and fruit in bulk.  Meats are best bought on sale.  We love the bulk case lot sales and the year round case discounts we can get.  Buying bulk looks more expensive up front, but is cheaper in the end.  Produce can be cheaper at local farmer's markets as well as through co-ops too.

For the kids clothes it is rare that we buy them new clothes.  Instead we accept hand me downs from friends and family, gifts of clothing in every size, and if we need something that no one gave us (which happens occassionally), we make a trip to a local thrift store and find it for only a couple of dollars.  Even my oldest is in gifts and hand me downs regularly.

When the kids have outgrown their clothes I do not get rid of them.  Instead I have a system of bins, labeled by size.  When the next kid gets to that size I have clothes for them.  So we are always cycling through clothes.  Some clothes get more worn than others and aren't useable anymore, but luckily we can either replace those cheap at the thrift store or someone jumps in to give us more hand me downs.

One of our key values as a family is to be close in proximity to everything we need to be doing.  This helps us in many ways.  One way is it saves us when the car is broken or we want to not waste gas money.  My husband rides the mile bike ride to work in these times and most days that works out great.  There is a grocery store just down the hill from our home, about a block away, that we have used our bikes to shop at as well.  The kids ride in a bike trailer and we put the food in the back of the trailer to bring it home.  Another reason I value this centralized life is laughed at by many, but it is important to me.  I love knowing that if there were some major calamity, like an earthquake (which we are supposed to get here), then it would not be far for us to reunite as a family.

We started to do public school for our oldest, but due to a very long story of experiences and a very difficult transition of decisions in prayer we have turned to homeschooling.  This year we were enrolled in an online public school since I didn't really know where to start as I had never considered this for our family.  For our homeschool lessons I created a couple fun things along with finding materials that can be used and re-used for each child as they grow into needing the material.  I don't do the programs that I have to buy each year, but save money by buying entire programs that will last me multiple years at a time.  I regretted a few purchases, but was able to return those easily.  My lessons have to be next to no pre-planning (I just don't have time) and they have to be very interesting to keep my kids attention.  Most of it is literature based, as my daughter learns best that way, but my son learns best with kinesthetic learning styles, so for him we read it and then have to have an activity to reinforce what we learned.  Life has become much easier with teaching them at home.  I learn right along with them from their curriculum and it is just fun and easy to do school as time to learn & play together.  Without the right program in place both public and home schooling is challenging, but when you find what your family needs, no matter where that is, things just start to flow better.  It costs a couple hundred dollars a year for me to homeschool with my own choices of curriculum, but that is not per child, that is per family because the curriculum is reused for future kids.  There are lots of fees associated with public school, so I figure its not too big of a price difference, just a lifestyle difference.

Conclusion:

We have made a lot of mistakes and have a long way to go, but I still believe that when you have kids in the Lords timing he somehow makes the finances work, even if it feels really challenging to do so.  I am excited for the day that we feel like we have some financial wiggle room, but right now it just works out somehow, and that's ok.  If you have kids and are worried about finances like I was, you probably only found what I did.  People sharing stories like this, but they only had one or 2 kids, not 3 or 4.  It is possible.  It can be an emotional roller coaster if certain unexpected expenses pop up or when people respond to you in hurtful ways for having more kids with "that income."  In the end kids can get by with very little, and so can we.  The most costly portions of living are food, housing, and then whatever lifestyle choices your family deems necessary.  If you are satisfied with a very conservative lifestyle than this may be an easy feat for your family.  Every family is a little different, but somehow it all works out for the better.

I look up to women with husbands and kids and don't feel sorry

Recently, actually at church, I was informed of a blog post that seemed completely rediculous to me called "I look down on women with husbands and kids and don't feel sorry".  I had one child, then two, now three, and I know there will be more.  They are each two years apart, leaving me with a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a one year old.  I love my kids, but I have to say that I had no idea how much harder 3 would be than 2.  Two was easy comparatively.  Yes I still had to work very hard to keep up with the daily tasks and challenges before, but now I have a tornado of destruction following me as I clean up.  Women who are mothers and striving to be the best at what they do with multiple young kids  understand this well no matter how many kids, I believe.

I live next to many 90 year old women.  I am in their book group.  They are so very accomplished in so many ways.  Most of them have raised on average 7 kids.  Some speak of remembering great events from our history books that I can't even imagine living through.  These women have many great things they will be remembered for when they pass away, but I don't think their jobs and corporate successes are what will inspire and be remembered most.  I think the way they lovingly endured through children throwing food on the walls and all kinds of other drama while teaching their kids how much they are loved by a father in heaven is most memorable.  When there is love as a basis for everything things flow so much more smoothly.  Love pushes us to show great moral character as well as to serve those around us.  No amount of titles and clout can top these mothers service to their community and family.

Our families are all different, and what works one place may need to be different for another family.  When taking on the role of a stay at home mom I don't feel like I gave up anything, in fact I had to learn to become even more accomplished than I was before.  I took much of what I learned as my myriad of "supervisor" and "assistant manager positions" and have to use proper management skills on a day to day basis, among an onslot of other skills and positions I have never held.  

Over the years I've had to learn to take on the skills of a doctor - to take proper care of my kids whooping cough, injuries, measles, and every other thing that has come up.  If I didn't study for that role than my kids would probrably be at the hospital a lot because I couldn't do the preventative or immediate care needed without the right skills.  

A Judge - Kids fight and get in trouble all the time, you can't pretend that training, defending, disciplining, and monitoring kids is a piece of cake.  No, I don't have the same credentials or go to a physical court, but there is a lot that goes into the monitoring and forming of behavior, as well as deciding how you will enact this part of the family.  It takes a lot of self control and patience.  An amount of patience that most of us are not born with (even as women), but that we have to learn.

An interior designer, a cook (creating non-processed food recipes that taste good), a maid.  To be honest the job of maid is hardest for me with 3 little kids who essentially undo all the cleaning right behind me.  I feel like I have to apologize for mess all the time, but people don't realize that each area I clean has a very short life span of staying that way.  Its rediculous to judge a mother by her ability to keep up with the disasters her kids lay before her.  Sometimes kids are angels and helpful and when they are shown that they are loved and that there is security for them in their parents hearts, they learn to be more and more helpful as they get older.  When they are so young it is more important to lay that foundation for them emotionally, and very challenging to prevent the animalistic dirtying of the home.  

I personally feel like a better mom when I pay attention to what ingredients come into my home through both food and other products.  I like the simplicity of buying pre-made "green" products, but prefer to just make my own simple, cheep and effective formulas.  I want to be and teach my kids to be self sufficient in as many skills and from scratch products as possible.  I like going back to basics and find a lot of joy in it.  This includes more skills needed than I care to write right now.

I also ended up feeling that I needed to do more than just raising my kids, but didn't feel like it was right to do day care in my family situation.  This led to my hubby and I becoming entrepreneurs.  When the kids are asleep I write books or work on one of our family home businesses.  I help people learn about natural solutions for healthcare as a wellness coach and also run a photo & video studio with my husband.  The rare babysitting for a job gives me time to recoup my perspective of my kids importance to me as a mother.

The point of all this, no matter how people choose to parent or what the skills needed specifically in their family.  We are all accomplished.  When I've hit those hard days and wondered why I became a mom I always hit a point of knowing... I wouldn't be anything without my family.  They are what makes me accomplished in the end.  When I die others will actually have things to admire me for.  I would not have anything significant to write about in an obituary, no matter my accomplishments, if I had not had my kids.

On that note I want to send a little love out to all those I know that have tried for years to have kids without success, who have had the amazing ability of adopting, and also to those like myself who for each of their children endured overwhelming sickness during those long 9 months.  Those with traumatic births as well as those who have discovered hypno-labor for smooth pain free births with much dedication and work.  It may not be hard for some people to get "knocked up" or "hitched" but to create a marriage that lasts and a home that feels like a little piece of heaven on earth is monstrously hard work, and I think that is what most of us deep down are working toward.  Don't fret.  I know its hard but keep plugging away and you'll get there.

Is White Sugar Toxic?

Its amazing to me that so many of us can be blind to how toxic some of our average food products can be for our health.  Just the sugar alone surprisingly can hurt us, not to mention the other additives.  I found this video very interesting, and learned a lot about how sugar reacts in our bodies.  I hope you learn and enjoy it as well.

The Healthiest Pizza in the World

I found the best pizza recipe!  It is paleo, gluten free, you name it.  Probably one of the healthiest ways of making pizza out there.  Best part, you really don't need to be too concerned with weight gain or nutrition on this one.  Eat as much as you want cause this one is both yummy and good for you!

-- Just an updated note.  I finished testing out this pizza and it tasted very good, but I surprisingly like my other recipe a little more for the crust which has ground flaxseed, fine small coconut flakes unsweetened, and egg.  This one just felt a little too cheesy for my taste buds, even though I love cheese, but on its behalf its my sister's favorite way to make pizza.  Its definitely worth trying cause it is really good and we all respond and like different foods a little differently from one another.

How to get rid of bad breath naturally!

This is an awful problem when it becomes a chronic issue.  Embarrassing as it may be I and my husband have both experienced this condition at different times.  There are several things that cause bad breath but when it is chronic you know that there is something going on that is not quite right in your body.

Some reasons for bad breath:
-The food we eat temporarily stinks it up.
-We need to make sure all the nooks and crannies in our mouth are cleaned and free from rotting food, rotting teeth, or high bad bacteria ratios.
-We could have a dry mouth from being dehydrated.
-We could have Tonsil Stones.
-We could have a number of different gut conditions or problems that are pretty bad.

How can we help the bad breath?
-Eat more green veggies and parsley to counteract smell of garlic and onions we eat (and helps with other smells and gut health as well).  Taking a chlorophyll supplement can also be helpful.
-Make sure to get extra doses of vitamin C as that can help diminish bad and strengthen good bacteria in our mouths.
-Supplement your vitamin intake with probiotics as well as supplementing your food intake with probiotic rich foods like water kefir (or other kefir's), sauerkraut, any other fermented foods.  These are expensive to buy but cheep and easy to make if you feel confident in the kitchen.
-Keep self hydrated by drinking lots of water.  Kangen water is especially hydrating as it is a highly alkaline water.
-Chew food for at least twenty chews for each bite before swallowing.  This increases saliva while getting the digestive tract working more effectively as well.
-An option to increase saliva is to chew a xylitol gum as well.
-Try "oil pulling" out.  This was what the medicine men in native american tribes used to use for their clients tooth aches and other mouth conditions.  It helps saliva production but also helps to pull some of the toxins and bad bacteria built up in the mouth out.  If you are not using products that prevent remineralization than it also helps the teeth to remineralize as well.  It works well with fractionated coconut oil.  You can optionally add a drop of essential oil (like clove, cinnamon, lemon, on guard blend, or thieves blend) to the small amount you will be swishing around in your mouth.  You do this for about 10 min. but you can start at 5 and work your way up if you need.
-Eliminate common allergens from diet for 3 months.  This includes gluten grains like wheat, also corn and soy of any form.  If you are using my meal plans they pretty much do this for you without needing to think too much about how to replace them.
-Eat foods that strengthen the gut and increase your bodies nutrition.  Basically eat whole foods and super foods!  This will benefit more than just your bad breath which is a good perk too.
-Take nutritional supplements that strengthen the gut and provide greater nutrition to strengthen the body.

This video I found is a very complete video guide for helping us heal from bad breath.  Enjoy!

Increasing Milk Supply While Nursing

Due to many requests I'm going to give my story around milk supply.  My little girl was not handling foods that I was trying to introduce well so I felt I would have to nurse much longer than I might have needed to with the older two.  Simply for nutritional reasons.  One day around a year my milk supply plummeted.  I was terrified cause there were maybe 3 foods she was tolerating outside my milk.  I did a little digging.  By far the best thing that helped the most was rubbing therapeutic grade Fennel essential oil on my chest night and morning.  This doubled my milk in less than 2 days.  As I searched I also found "lactation cookies".... these are the coolest cookies ever!  They are paleo, gluten free, sugar free, but they taste amazing and give super food nutrients.  This boost of specific nutrients helps many women with milk supply, no matter the age of the baby.  This was also the first cookie my sweet little girl could handle without an allergic reaction.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
3/4 cup maple syrup
4 Tablespoons water
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups ground flaxseed
2 cups coconut flakes
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
2 Tablespoons brewer's nutritional yeast
Directions:
Mix all wet ingredients with all dry ingredients.  After batter thoroughly mixed spoon cookies onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  This recipe can make up to 12 dozen depending on cookie size.

Young Living vs. DoTerra and their lawsuit....

A while back I stumbled on something that talked about a lawsuit between these two essential oil companies.  It didn't surprise me much since I've seen large companies typically sue their worst competitors at some point.  Even when it is just for show with their current clientele to "keep face" on certain occasions.  I am one of those that can't let things drop till I know every nitty gritty detail and have it fully cleared up in my head though.  Very detail oriented.  I did a little digging and found some chemists that did a lot of research on both and the conclusions that their independent tests gave helped me to understand that scientifically standing many reports against doTerra were simply ridiculous.

People I talked to weren't as detail oriented and would just tell me that if I had good results, to focus on those rather than all this mumbo jumbo and deeper talk.  I had sleep deprivation from not being able to figure it out though, so I kept going on with my research.  Overall what I found for myself was...

1.  I never want to diminish another business or the good that they are doing.  And yes, I feel that both companies have brought some good into this world.

2.  I also found that for myself I am proud to stand by the products that I have seen work for me (which happens to be doTerra, but I've also seen some less substantial benefits from a myriad of other brands).

3.  I personally believe that those people that had a connection with Young Living, but ended up using DoTerra, did so with very virtuous intent (wanting to give people, including themselves, the highest quality option they could while helping as many as they could).  There has never been any action by the leaders to ever indicate any alternate intent beside helping people around the world in the best way they know how.  I really appreciate having an honest and virtuous team leading doTerra without needing to wonder if they're just in it for the money.  Many times direct sales businesses sale higher quality products and are a much better buy, however, where I get wary is when there are leaders of companies that put in hidden ways to make themselves wealthier while the distributor doing all the work is paid less (this has happened to me before so now I know what to look for).  I try to be very aware and steer clear of this wherever possible (both in conventional and direct sales business models).

I don't know why it was so hard to find as it was a statement provided in 2010, but this is the first and last statement from doTerra executive on the issue of all the weird allegations from users of other brands.  Reading this made me very confident in what I felt I had already learned through my diligent research, but it was good to hear straight from the source and I feel like should be more readily accessed by those who are curious.

Here it is... Enjoy!
(the title is a link to one of the blogs that I found this statement)

"Doterra Founder David Stirling explains break with Young Living

Doterra Founder David Stirling

 The doTera company executives are focused on Doterra and it’s mission focusing on the qualities of their products, rather than purported shortcomings of any specific company.

Young Living is an essential oils company that does over $100 Million in sales annually. They are well known. In fact, when you Google search essential oils, they are your first hit.

David Stirling, Emily Wright, Gregory Cook, and Rob Young have years of experience with Essential oils and Young Living.

In the rare event one of the executive mentions Young Living , it is always in a positive way. They mention how they respect Gary Young and how he was instrumental in paving the way for essential oils in the United States.

=

I personally have seen great results of Doterra product. Doterra has attracted top level executives and distributors worldwide.

Despite the fact, there has been a lot of rumors and speculations online.
Four executives of Young Living Essential oils start an essential company of their own.

Critics question the executives motives or ethic.

David Stirling clears up the air officially with the following email in August 2010

Dave Stirling President of Doterra

The following is a copy of the email:

Please forgive this intrusion into your email, we hope it will not need to happen again.  However, we cannot allow continued disparagement of our company and its leaders.  We previously requested moderators of internet groups to post this response to unfair statements made regarding doTERRA, but they have made it clear they have no intention to do so. The following is a response from David Stirling to those ongoing negative and false statements.

August 31, 2010

Call it weakness if you wish, but for some reason the rhetoric expressed in recent email exchanges (especially by some who I feel know better) has hit a chord in me.  So I’m going to break a three year silence and respond in part to the more serious allegations.  This response will not be sufficient for those most loyal to Gary and his mission, nor for those most loyal to the distributorships they have worked so hard to build….but for those desiring a clearer perspective; I hope this may serve in your search for understanding.

As the Chairman of Young Living’s Executive Committee and its lead manager for four years, there is of course much information and knowledge to which I am privy.  I have no desire to damage YL in any way or to say anything that might be embarrassing to anyone there.  Life is too short to stir up those sort of emotions.  As one of the executives on the YL team used to say concerning people’s reputations (a man for whom I still have a lot of respect), “It is an awfully thin pancake that has only one side.”  We have allowed others to define us for the past two years, with information that has often been unkind and unfair.  While I suppose all of us may be guilty of trying to share things in a way that will put us in the best light, my hope and desire here is to simply share some of the other side of the story in a straightforward, simple, and personal manner.

First, for my part, I did not leave YL to start a competing essential oil company.  In fact, the thought had never occurred to me.  My entire heart and soul were with YL and its distributors and I had no other desire than for the success of the company and those distributors who were working so hard to help make that success happen.  Two months before I was fired, I went down to Ecuador to meet with the owners for a few days.  Certain views and ideology were shared with me, with the desire they be integrated as a part of the company’s mission going forward.  Some of these were contrary to what I felt I could support or even be associated with, to which I expressed my concerns.  I knew as I left that my time with YL would be short, and it was.  Not long after my departure from YL, a few former YL associates including myself, Dr. David Hill, Emily Wright, and Greg Cook came together and discussed the need the world has for a better way of sharing essential oil healing.  I will only say that we all felt strongly that it was the right thing to do, and were compelled to move forward.

We believed that if we could provide a new standard for pure essential oils, and educate people unfamiliar with natural medicines; we could disperse some of the enmity existing between the allopathic and natural medicine worlds.  Unfortunately, assertions have been made that we (the founders) stole formulas or other proprietary information when leaving YL.  I have also heard claims from some that doTERRA supplies inferior oils or dilutes or extends them with some sort of carrier.  Of course, the fastest way to resolve this question is to simply remove the cap and try them.  Frankly, we were confident that through the use of real research, combined with experience, we could equal or improve on any formulation.  Having said that, I would like to state very clearly that there were never any formulas copied or used in any way from YL.  Nor was there anything ever done in our departure that could be seen as illegal or dishonest.  We value our personal integrity far beyond any success or advantage that might be achieved by such actions. ALL of our formulas are original, and we believe, improved.

While we had many YL distributor friends who likely would have joined doTERRA in our early days, we were very careful to not approach them.  Nor were we then or are we now in possession of any distributor lists.  That would be illegal.  I am proud to say that almost all of our leaders who built doTERRA in the first two years were new to essential oils, and did what they did because they discovered the power of the oils and that they work in an almost miraculous manner.

The part of the email that was primary in spurring my response today, painted doTERRA’s founders as a bunch of hustling salesmen, caring little about the oils, in it only for themselves.  This is so far from the truth that I’m tempted to go through person by person just to share their backgrounds, credentials, and wide respect with which they are held in their professions and communities.  I myself have nine children and we are heavy users of the essential oils.  In fact, my wife and I owe a deep debt to doTERRA’s Frankincense oil, which played an important role in helping to control seizures in our youngest child when nothing else seemed to work.

When the doTERRA management was forming, two things were of greatest importance.  First, the members of the team had to be completely trustworthy and honest.  Second, they had to be the best at their job, in terms of skill and judgment.  When these two things are in place, you can move very fast, as it is no longer necessary to “check” someone’s work or worry that their intentions may be less than completely honest.  When we decided to go forward with doTERRA, funding immediately became a front and center issue.  There was no shortage of people/groups willing to support our endeavor, but because we felt the need to preserve the integrity of doTERRA’s mission and the essential oils, in the end we decided to see if we could fund it ourselves.  This resulted in the founders leveraging every bit of equity they had in their homes or any other asset.  It also meant that they received no income from doTERRA for the first 13 months, and far less than they were accustomed to earning after that!  For all, this was a significant sacrifice and for some it represented a very real trial of faith.  Something like this is unheard of in today’s business environment.  It served to forge a united team that is 100% committed to the purpose for which doTERRA was formed.  It is also something which gives me a tremendous sense of pride for this team.

If you were to visit doTERRA’s headquarters in Orem Utah, you would experience an environment of high energy, love and respect, with a sense that employees really love doing what they’re doing.  We have a great time because we love and respect the people with whom we are doing this.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

In starting doTERRA there was nothing more important to us than the purity and medicinal quality of our oils.  This is the primary reason for our success thus far and simply will not be compromised in any way.  Of course we know the primary brokers that YL and others obtain their oils from.  We have chosen to use none of them, and likely never will.  Our oils are sourced from all over the world.  We pay more (some significantly so) because we require a higher grade.  doTERRA also puts our oils through an unequaled quality assurance process, ensuring medicinal grade as well as their being free from other contaminants.

Please know that there is absolutely nothing more important to us than the quality of our oils, without which the expected results simply cannot be obtained.

Again, my desire in writing this is not to paint YL or any other EO company in a poor light.  I would be the first to acknowledge and give credit to Gary Young for his role in introducing the US to the medicinal use of essential oils over the last 15 years.  There have been others as well like Penoel, Schnaubelt and Tisserand.  I would also include Dr David Stuart and Dr David Hill, who have worked tirelessly in this effort and are tremendous educators.

Perhaps an important point to make, is that doTERRA is not about a single person’s mission or story.  The essential oils have a mission of their own that is larger than any man or individual.  We see doTERRA as being something of a steward in helping to bring about the mission the essential oils have in doing good for the peoples of this earth.  You will not see any executive member of doTERRA emerge as an iconic figure.  When it comes to doTERRA, you will also never see any improper or overt references to deity or faith healing from the stage.  Please do not misunderstand.  Each member of our team has a deep and abiding faith in God, which like many of you influences everything that they do.  We are simply committed to sharing the oils in a manner that can be understood and accepted by your typical mainstream (western medicine raised) person.

doTERRA’s mission is not to compete with or try to destroy other essential oil companies.  Our vision is to become a very large multinational company, partnering with hospitals and research universities all over the world.  These efforts are already well underway with offices opened in Taiwan and the United Kingdom.  There are also significant efforts and exciting progress happening in Australia, Japan, and Latin America.  It is so gratifying to see many distributors finding great success, some of whom have worked hard in other companies with only marginal results.  In fact, last month doTERRA broke five new Diamonds alone, bringing the total to 12 so far this year!  doTERRA is growing at unprecedented rates, largely because the world is ready for a company focused on its mission of a mainstream approach to essential oils.  I do not mean to sound overly confident or presumptuous, but our expectations and plans are for doTERRA to continue to double in size every 3 to 4 months.  Our 25,000 distributors are part of this mission to bring about a wellness revolution, bringing essential oils out of relative obscurity and onto the world stage for the purpose of benefiting more people than could otherwise be achieved.

In conclusion, I hope that we can always be respectful of one another’s businesses, products and reputations.  If a Gary Young or another EO leader has made a difference in your life and you feel a loyalty to them, then please do not change that.  Relationships take time to build and can be lost in a moment.  When such relationships are mutually edifying, they are worthy of our efforts and should not be sacrificed.  I apologize for the length of this email response.  My hope is simply to provide some information that might serve to soften some hearts and perhaps even change some opinions out there regarding doTERRA.  I will now return to my relatively quiet position on these issues and allow people to form whatever opinions they may.

David Stirling

President and CEO

doTERRA International LLC"

If Interested in learning more about the lawsuit controversy, there are chemists and aromatherapists who discuss it in a forum that is both controversial and informative.  Here is the link to check that forum out.  YL-vs-doTerra-lawsuit-separating-fact-from-fiction