Ep. 42: The Value Chain

I sit with three leaders in doTERRA and ask about their experiences on the doTERRA Co-impact sourcing trip to Guatamala, held in Nov 2019.  I learn exactly what it feels like to play a role in the Value Chain that this opportunity gifts us (and what that even means).  Cherie Birks:  "Standing in a warehouse full of Cardamom in Guatemala today, I tried to wrap my head around how to best describe this week to you. ⠀ ⠀ As the dried, crushed pods were being distilled, the strong heady scent reminded of the people we’d met along the unique process. ⠀ ⠀ ‘High quality people’ was a term that was used but so few words in the English language could come close to communicating those qualities. ⠀ ⠀ I am forever changed, for their stories are now our stories. " Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atthearomaco Danyel Waters:  "So here’s the thing. I truly believe that most human beings want to leave this earth knowing they’ve made an impact. The width of that impact is variable depending on how big they think and what they feel they are capable of. For me, finding out the lengths dōTERRA go to to ensure that the oil they source isn’t just the most potent, purist & highest quality but to ensure that WHERE they source it from will have the biggest positive effect on the communities who grow the plants we produce these oils from, was a HUGE selling factor. We live in the day and age where we, as consumers are becoming more savvy on just how big a role the dollars we spend can impact the wider world. Most people will understand now, that when you choose to buy cheap mass produced clothing, you’re choosing to support slave labour & brutal working conditions abroad. That when you buy the $1 milk & bread, you’re supporting the corporate giants who are ripping the livelihood of the farming industry to shreds. That when you give no thought to where your food, clothing or household products are sourced before you’re purchasing, you’re handing over your money with ignorance to the personal power YOU have to create change. If we, as a collective, began to exercise our conscious choice to stand behind those game changers out there who are producing fair trade goods, or choosing organic farming methods over chemically tainted profits, who are striving to improve the supply chain for ALL of us, we would witness a ripple effect that has the ability to touch every corner of the globe. Let me share an example of this, where I’ve seen my personal dollar & the dollars of my own customers make a difference this past week. My husband and I were given the opportunity to visit Guatemala on a Co-Impact Sourcing trip, a part of the world we would never have considered to travel otherwise, to see the supply chain of one of the essential oils we sell, Cardamom. Cardamom grows natively in Guatemala, with its biggest consumer being the spice traders. The essential oil industry only purchases 5% of Guatemala’s cardamom. Prior to dōTERRA’s & it’s partnership with Choice Humanitarians influence in the cardamom producing chain, growers, local families with larger plots, were making on average 80,000 Quetzals a year (equivalent to around AUD$15,000 a year). With the efforts of Choice Humanitarian and the backing of dōTERRA, those families now can earn up to 200,000 quetzals a year ( approx AUD$36,000 per year). That’s just by showing them how to grow a plant by seed so that it will produce fruit for years longer than growing from a cutting. By showing them how to harvest so that the yield of cardamom will be higher and fetch a better price. By showing them how to grow & produce other crops on the same land in cardamoms off season. By showing them how to grow a business that can be handed down through generations and the ripple effect felt for decades to come. By paying the farmers a fair & just price and reducing the instances of middle men or “coyotes” as they are referred to there, who pay the least they can for the produce, just to onsell it at a higher rate to another coyote, inflating the price sometimes 9 times over before it actually makes it to market. These improvements to the value chain along with the community projects that dōTERRA are involved in there, such as helping to build a water system to deliver fresh water to rural Guatemalan communities or helping in the construction of a Education Centre where community members can learn skills to help them become employable & propel them out of poverty, were what we witnessed in just one corner of the world that DōTERRA are working in. Multiple that by 48 others countries and you’ll start to understand the magnitude of the positive ripple effect that this company are having on the wider world. THIS is the kind of personal power YOU have by voting with your dollar and spending it with businesses and companies who actually gives a fk about the world. THIS is the dōTERRA Difference. And why we choose to proudly partner & create waves of change alongside them. 🌿 Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/danyelwaters/ Deanne Howard:  My mind was blown by the transparency, sustainability and heart that is displayed by the owners at our partner distillery. The processes and sustainability they have created is the first of its kind. They are the world leaders in creating environmental neutral essential oils.  Now that I have followed this process from the farmers to the distillery it helps me to truely understand why doTERRA oils are so powerful because there is integrity and heart in every step. I feel so blessed to be partnered with DoTERRA. Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/awakentheheartwellness/