“An Oil is NOT Just an Oil”... From Confession to Confidence
- Joelle - Gold Level Leader for YL
- Oct 5, 2016
- 7 min read
So have you ever thought, “Why should I use Young Living brand versus a store bought oil or that other “well-known” brand? For years, I used to think this and actually used and bought other oils. (YIKES! Did I just say that out loud??) In reality, my experience was that all those oils smelled good but didn’t “DO” anything. Honestly, I am not a big fragrance person so spending a lot of money for pretty smells wasn’t my thing. So I pulled away from using oils for a while until one pivotal day, nearly 3 years ago. I needed help on supporting a health issue and all research pointed to using oregano oil. So, of course, I tried the “other” oils I had in my closet. Nothing. Feeling defeated and crying in my wine to a friend about the lack of natural options, my friend suggested I try Young Living. I honestly told her that I was skeptical and said I believed that “An oil is just an oil”. She urged me to try YL and since I had nothing to lose, I did. Within 24 hours I had evidence that an oil was NOT just an oil. I called her in utter amazement and asked her WHY these oils were different than ALL the other oils I had tried. She told me about YL’s Seed to Seal process. As a psychologist, I LOOOVE research so I had to know more. I started investigating and learning about JUST HOW DIFFERENT this company and their oils are from everything else out there on the market! It was mind-blowing. So, I wanted to share with all of you what I learned and experienced so that you too could appreciate how blessed we are to be a part of such an amazing organization.
First of all, to truly understand this company, you have to understand husband and wife team Gary & Mary Young who founded Young Living over 20 years ago. As of last year, this is a billion dollar company but you’d never know it by being around those two people. Gary is a farmer and a naturopath who most days, you’ll find either out in the fields or in the distillery. When he isn’t working on the farms, he is traveling the world researching oils or distillation processes of ancient times. He truly cares about producing the highest quality oil for supporting people with health and wellness. It is his passion. Gary & Mary have created an environment at Young Living that is more of a family than a company. From their executives to their field workers, everyone is treated like family to them.
So if Gary & Mary aren’t basking in the riches, what happens to all that money? It goes towards their global philanthropic endeavors. Young Living is determined to make a difference in the world… and they ARE. YL gives back on a global scale through the Young Living Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Young Living covers all administrative costs of the foundation, so 100 percent of every single tax-deductible donation goes directly to our their projects and partnerships!! What other philanthropy could say that!?!
**So, if you ever place an order and it asks you if you want to “round-up” to donate to the foundation… SAY YES!!!!!!**
Your money will be used for:
Healing Faith Uganda- your money puts up mosquito tents to protect children in Ugana from dying of malaria
African Hearts – your money helps rescue, house, clothe and feed children from the slums of Uganda that have been orphaned or abandoned
Sole Hope-your money provides education and shoes to protect citizens from a serious health concern (parasitic jiggers)
Maestral Orphanage – your money provides support and refuge for those removed from the home due to abuse or neglect in Croatia
Young Living Academy – your money educates children K-12 in Ecuador
Rebuilding Nepal & Ecuador after earthquakes
Ok, so now that you understand the hearts of those who run this company, you’ll have a deeper appreciation for the products they make for US. Gary is only concerned with making products that people need, want and benefit from. This past year, I was told in a conversation with a top executive from YL that although they had advised him to remove a couple products from the product line/catalog, he refused because it did have SOME sales and he said, “Somebody is getting help from it so I don’t want to take that away from them”.
I know all of you are aware of Young Living's Seed To Seal Guarantee for the highest quality oils available…maybe you heard about it at an Essential Oils 101 class (click here to host or join one) or you did your own research online. If so, then you already know that:
YL owns farms all over the world
YL has extremely stringent rules that their farms must follow to preserve the quality of oil Gary Young expects
YL guarantees this high quality because it is in control of its oil from the time it is a seed to the time it is sealed in the bottle!
DID YOU KNOW that the farms are open to public? You can pop on in and they will happily give you a tour anytime! :) As a member, you can also participate in the planting and harvesting?!? I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you all to either participate or at least visit one of their farms. Winter Harvest at Highland Flats farm is especially amazing!!
Over the last two years, I have had the privilege of visiting several of Young Living's farms: Lavender Farm in Mona, Utah, St Maries Lavender & Melissa Farm and Highland Flats Tree Farm in Idaho. I gained a deeper understanding and reverence for what the Seed to Seal guarantee REALLY means. It is more than a slogan, my friends, it is a principle that Young Living bases their entire company around and is what gives this company so much integrity. It is about preserving genuine traditional farming practices that have been passed on for centuries. Being at these farms and seeing first hand how it all works was truly humbling and brought me such perspective and appreciation for the farmers and staff that work SOOOO hard to bring us the oils we all love and trust. Young Living has TRUE FARMERS who are experts in the care and management of the soil, conditions & plants that they are cultivating. In the fields, the farming staff work sun up to sun down doing intense manual labor by hand weeding every acre and using oils for pest and plant health management.
#Virtual Tour-SEED
Since they harvest the plants before they go to seed, YL sets up a small section on each farm where they grow plants specifically to supply seeds. I couldn't believe how small of a patch it was (probably equivalent to your front yard landscaping) but it produces seeds for the entire farm! When they are ready to gather the seeds, they bring the plants into a greenhouse and seed them the good ‘ol fashioned way using a screen and a bucket. These seeds are then carefully planted and cultivated into seedling plants.
Aren’t these baby plants SO stinkin’ cute!?!
#Virtual Tour - CULTIVATE
They use these seeds gathered to tenderly cultivate seedlings inside their onsite greenhouses. Once they are ready for transport after a few weeks, they are planted in fields that have never seen chemicals or pesticides. The fields are full of nutrients and provide a fertile soil for the seedlings to grow. Young Living does not use any pesticides or weed control chemicals. Weeding is all done by hand 12 hours a day, six days a week. Yikes. Those guys REALLY need some PanAway!!
#Virtual Tour- HARVEST
Harvesting is usually done with traditional farming equipment except in the case of Melissa which requires more care. When Melissa is harvested, it cannot touch the ground or it will cause the plant to get stressed. Therefore, it is sent straight up a conveyor into a wagon or laid out on tarps. Gary is very stringent on WHEN to harvest the plants. THIS is a BIG part of what sets YL oils apart from others, by the way. Like a banana, these plants ripen and have a peak time for harvesting. Eating a banana that is too green is bitter because of chemical constituents are different then when it is perfectly ripe or past ripe and browning. Gary makes sure that the plants are sampled and tested numerous times to make sure they are at the optimal point for harvest. Rainfall, sunlight and temperatures are also critical components to determining proper timing. Click on video to hear Gary himself discussing how they determine if a plant is ready for harvest...
#Virtual Tour -DISTILLATION
Those who work in the distillery actually work around the clock because of the importance of distilling immediately after harvest to maintain the integrity of the chemical constituents of the plant as they distill into oil. The huge 9600liter stainless steel cooker pots are packed tight with 4 tons of plant material…which is about 3-4 acres of plant material!!! Then steam is run through the plant material and the oil and steam travel through a cold-water condenser and finally into a separator. Although each plant and its yielded oil is different, one distillation of Melissa only produces ½ quart of oil! NO WONDER this oil is SOOO expensive!! After distillation the 4 tons of plant material is recycled as compost to help with deterring weeds and replenishing nutrients in the soil.
#Virtual Tour -SEAL
Each batch of Young Living oils go through extensive scientific testing to make sure we are getting the highest quality oils available. Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Operations Walter Noot gives us an in-depth tour of the Young Living warehouse in Spanish Fork, Utah and walks us through the complex testing, batching, and bottling processes before products are packed by hand and shipped to your home.
Before being introduced to this amazing company, their practices, and products, our family of five struggled with maintaining health and wellness on a daily basis since my children were born 14 years ago. But, in the nearly three years that my family has been using Young Living products, I can proudly say that ALL OF US have been able to maintain health & wellness EVERY SINGLE DAY!! I know that not only using the oils but replacing all my chemical products in our home with YL’s PURE everyday living products like personal care products, (deodorant, shampoo, etc), soaps/cleaners/detergents & our daily supplements has really allowed us to lead the healthy lifestyle that I envisioned for my family . So, yes, I now shout from the mountaintops my confidence that “an oil is NOT just an oil”, and that Young Living is a company with humility, a heart for humanity and an integrity that makes me VERY proud member. <3
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