DoTerra

doTerra

Company type	Private
Industry	Multi-level marketing, Essential oils, Health and beauty products
Founded	April 2008 (2008-04)
Founder	David Stirling, Emily Wright, David Hill, Corey B. Lindley, Gregory P. Cook, Robert J. Young, Mark A. Wolfert
Headquarters	Pleasant Grove , United States
Area served	International
Key people	Kirk Jowers (CEO), Murray Smith (President), Emily Wright (Board Chair)
Products	Essential oils, skincare, nutritional supplements, health and beauty goods
Number of employees	4461 (2022)
Website	www.doterra.com

doTerra (also presented as dōTERRA or doTERRA) is a multi-level marketing enterprise headquartered in Pleasant Grove, Utah, focusing on essential oils and associated merchandise. Established in 2008 by former Young Living executives and other partners, doTerra conducts its business through independent representatives known as Wellness Advocates. These representatives generate income from their individual sales as well as from the sales made by their recruited network.

The company’s product lineup encompasses essential oils, skincare, nutritional supplements, and health and beauty goods. As of 2022, doTerra employed roughly 4,461 staff members and operates in various international markets. The leadership team includes CEO Kirk Jowers, President Murray Smith, and Board Chair Emily Wright.

doTerra’s expansion strategy is built on a multi-level marketing framework to increase its global market presence. Nevertheless, the firm has been criticized for promoting unverified health benefits of its products, including claims related to preventing or curing illnesses such as cancer, autism, Ebola, and COVID-19. Regulatory agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission have issued warnings addressing these assertions.

History

doTerra was established in April 2008 by founders David Stirling, Emily Wright, David Hill, Corey B. Lindley, Gregory P. Cook, Robert J. Young, and Mark A. Wolfert. The company’s business approach utilizes multi-level marketing to distribute essential oils and complementary products. Stirling, Wright, and Hill previously held executive roles at Young Living, a major competitor in the essential oils sector. The brand name derives from Latin meaning "gift of the Earth," launching initially with 25 single essential oils and ten blends.

In August 2013, Young Living initiated legal action against doTerra accusing it of misappropriating trade secrets and unlawfully copying manufacturing processes. The dispute centered on allegations concerning product purity and the use of synthetic substances, with contradictory claims about the genuineness of doTerra’s oils. By that year, doTerra employed approximately 450 corporate personnel worldwide with headquarters in Utah alongside offices in Taiwan, Japan, Europe, and Australia. Subsequently, the firm announced plans to establish a new headquarters in Pleasant Grove, Utah. By 2014, doTerra had broadened its product assortment to over 150 items including dietary supplements and personal care products.

In October 2014, numerous claims against doTerra were dismissed by the courts; both parties resolved lawsuits involving false advertising and trade secret controversies by retracting disparaging statements about each other’s product integrity.

During 2015, the count of Wellness Advocates—independent distributors—increased by more than 120%. By the end of that year, doTerra reported exceeding $1 billion in revenue. In April 2016, the company disclosed a data breach impacting customer and distributor personal information caused by a third-party vendor; as remediation, it provided affected individuals with two years of credit monitoring services.

By 2017, doTerra employed around 1,650 corporate staff and supported over three million Wellness Advocates operating in more than 100 countries, demonstrating considerable international reach and market influence.

In July 2018, a court determined that Young Living had acted in bad faith during litigation proceedings and mandated payment of $1.8 million to cover doTerra’s legal expenses. In 2021, doTerra recalled approximately 1.3 million bottles due to non-compliant child-resistant packaging issues. In April 2022, the company entered into a $5 million research collaboration with the University of Mississippi aimed at advancing essential oil research.

Furthering its global expansion efforts, doTerra commenced operations in Kazakhstan in April 2025 with an inaugural event held at Almaty’s Palace of the Republic.

Distributor allegations

On September 22, 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to doTerra after distributors promoted their products as remedies or cures for Ebola, cancer, autism, and other illnesses, which violated the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. This prompted federal authorities to review doTerra’s records in connection with these assertions.

During the 2017 California wildfires, certain distributors claimed that doTerra products could purify the air, despite a lack of scientific validation. In 2018, some distributors were accused of sharing anecdotal accounts suggesting essential oils benefited children.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, several distributors made unsupported claims regarding immune system enhancement attributed to doTerra products. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cautioned the company to cease making such unsubstantiated health claims and to avoid overstating potential earnings.

In 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice, acting on behalf of the FTC, secured legal victories against three doTerra distributors who had promoted false COVID-19 treatment claims. The court prohibited them from marketing unapproved health assertions without FDA authorization, mandated credible clinical evidence for any other disease-related claims, forbade misleading statements about product benefits, and imposed civil fines totaling $15,000.

More than a dozen female employees working for doTerra’s frankincense supplier in Somaliland reported issues including inadequate wages, sexual misconduct, and hazardous working environments. Although doTerra halted operations in the region and initiated an independent inquiry, reports suggest that some affected individuals continue to face risks.

doTerra Healing Hands Foundation

Established in 2012 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the doTerra Healing Hands Foundation advances the company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives. In 2016, it collaborated with Choice Humanitarian to provide vented brick stoves to households in Nepal and Guatemala.

Following Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the foundation gathered contributions from distributors to distribute relief kits containing company products to evacuees in Dallas. Initial delays in delivering aid drew criticism; however, shipments were ultimately dispatched to residents in Houston, illustrating the complexities of coordinating disaster relief within a multi-level marketing framework.

Kealakekua Mountain Reserve

In 2018, doTerra invested $7.3 million to purchase land within Hawaii's Kealakekua Mountain Reserve aimed at sustainable sandalwood harvesting. The company implemented a decade-long strategy emphasizing extraction from dead sandalwood for essential oil production while conserving approximately 75% of the forested area. A nursery was created to propagate seedlings and safeguard indigenous species; over 300,000 trees have been planted so far with ambitions to exceed one million by 2030. This project exemplifies doTerra’s dedication to responsible sourcing and enduring leadership in the industry.