2: Alisha Muirhead on The Truth About Starting an Essential Oils Business as a Busy Mom Without Being “That Person”

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Why essential oils?

Timestamp: 00:37

ALISHA:

I actually used to make fun of people who used oils. I thought they were just crazy. 

But you always have to eat your words when you have kids.

And it actually started when my daughter was born having stomach issues. And by the time she was three, it turned into respiratory stuff. We had done tubes in the ears, had her tonsils and adenoids out… And that was really the final straw that was supposed to fix everything.

And about 3 weeks later, we were going back to the doctor and she was in the back seat crying, "Mommy, I thought my surgery was supposed to fix me." 

And that just lit a fire under me. 

I was like, "Something is wrong. We're missing something somewhere. God did not design our bodies to be sick all the time."  

And obviously modern medicine was just not fixing the problem, so I needed to look elsewhere. 

That was where it started. Don't mess with the mama bear!

I had a friend who still uses modern medicine, but her pediatrician told her to use clove oil for teething.

So I went to the GNC–I would never do this now, but I went to GNC–and I bought clove oil and I took two drops mixed with a tablespoon of coconut oil, and it helped her!

When was the point where you stopped thinking about it and decided to do something about it?

Timestamp: 02:34

ALISHA

I distinctly remember my daughter stopped getting sick. 

I mean, let me rephrase that. she would get sick, but she would get better within 24 to 48 hours and we didn’t have to use antibiotics (which always snowballed into being sick for weeks and having to take multiple rounds of them, etc).

But the thing that really changed for me was my great aunt had something happen to her. They told her it would take her six months to heal. And I was like there's got to be a solution for this with the oils. 

So, I started YouTubing and I found this guy who had this protocol that his aunt (who was a nurse) used on him and he was better within a month. 

And so I called my aunt and I said, "I know that this is going to sound super crazy. But if you will agree to do this, I'm going to buy all the things that you need. I don't want you to pay any money. I just want you to use it. If you'll use it and it works, then I'm going to do this as a business. And if it doesn't work, then you won't have lost anything.” 

And she said, "Okay!" 

So, I ordered the stuff and had it expedited to my house. She came over and I showed her what to do. 

And I will never forget my uncle called about a week later and he was crying. And he said, "I just wanted to say thank you. You gave me my wife back."

It took her about a month to completely get but I was like, whoa! And then it made me really angry because why do people have to go suffer for so long when there's stuff like this out there? Why is it so taboo in our culture?

Because I was raised on modern medicine and it can be a good thing. I mean, if I break my leg, it’s great for crisis care. But it is just so overused in our culture. 

I think it's about 80% of the things that we use modern medicine for in our culture are obsolete. 

They  could be healed with diet, with exercise, and with just natural solutions. 

So when that happened, and then with my daughter, I was like I'm gonna do this for the rest of my life. I will use this stuff for the rest of my life. I will tell people about this stuff for the rest of my life. 

I may as well make a paycheck at it if I can do that, and that's kind of what got me motivated because I'm creative by nature, but I am not somebody that goes out and sells to people. I am not a salesperson. I hate gimmicky things.

And this was before affiliate marketing where you could really get on social media and do it from a distance. I had had so many people in my life come up to me, trying to get me to sell Amway. 

And I just remember thinking: the only way I would ever do something like that is if I could honestly tell people, you need to budget this. This is as important as your groceries. This is something that is essential.

And that was the only way.  

Nothing that I ever came across met that criteria. And honestly, nothing ever has until I found DoTERRA.

And even then, I was so skeptical. I mean, I researched and researched. 

I found all the bad things about DoTERRA that were written online and I found all the other oil companies and I was googling, I mean, I just dove into research before I joined.

But I had proof that it worked. 

And the biggest thing is that DoTERRA is built on the purity of their oils and the purity of their products. The number of tests that they do is far and beyond what any other oil company does.

ABIGAIL:

The reason why network marketing gets such a bad rap is because when you're building a business with them, they teach you to go pester your friends and your family as a way to get started.

Takeaways

• Start with what works in your own life. Pay attention to the natural solutions or lifestyle changes that create real results for you and your family—these experiences can form the foundation of a meaningful business.
• Only sell what you’d budget for yourself. Build your business around something you deeply believe in.
• Before committing to a company or product, dig into the facts—good and bad.
• Lead with service, not pressure. Focus on solving real problems for people. 

When you were getting started, and you didn't want to be that person, how did you get the word out? 

What was that beginning period like? And did you feel like you had to make it happen or did you just kind of let it grow organically?

Timestamp: 10:12

ALISHA

There was definitely some making it happen, but I mean, when the product works, it sells itself. But you do have to do the work.

My very first class was at my cousin's house about an hour away from here, and I had to go pick up my other aunts.

One of my aunts was dizzy all the time and modern medicine couldn't help her. And so I was in Podunk, Mississippi, with no cell service, but I was able to get one tick to get online and Google what to do for this situation and it said aroma touch and I happened to have it and she smelled it sitting there in my class.

I mean I had family on the floor. They were just packed into this little house.

And she stood up and she wasn't dizzy and she was like you've got to be kidding me. 

So everybody there that night and everybody was looking up all their issues and it was like a 4-hour class. It was the longest class I've ever done.

I mean, when you have a product like that, it just sells itself. 

So I was booking all these classes with family all over, because they all heard how it helped my one aunt. So I shot to leadership that fast: it was much faster than anybody else was doing at that time. So then all these upper ranks were asking me to be on their phone calls and asking me “how are you doing it..”

And I just kept telling them, “I'm just a southern girl from Mississippi with a big, sick family.”

Then it ended up that all my extended family was buying through me, and then I was making enough money off of that I was ranking up and then making more money. 

So the people who enrolled me were like they were kind of pushing people to me too because they were like here you're selling better than we are, so here.

I also was motivated because my marriage was not in a good place at that point and I was really concerned that it was not going to work and I needed to be able to support my daughter by myself. 

And if it did work out, then I wanted to be able to send her to a private Christian school that was pretty much out of our budget.

I met a lot of home health people and they would be like, "Hey, okay, this patient has this and this is not working. What would you have for this?" and so that opened up a lot of doors.

And then a couple years later I started going to a chiropractor and she was like, “How do you know about all this stuff?" And I was like, this is my business." And she said “can I join with you?" 

And I was like "Absolutely." 

So that became another avenue that opened up a whole new space. 

So by that point I had built my business, and I was pouring everything that I made back into my business. 

My marriage did work out (Praise God) so I was able to send my daughter to the private school that I wanted to. But then COVID hit and we started homeschooling. So then I had that money back. And so I was putting all that money back into my business.

And I was able to join Business Networking International, BNI, which is something that can be a money sucker if you aren't in a good group. Thank goodness I was in a good group. I would give it a good year if you do something like that. But you get to know these people and they become your marketing team for you. I haven't been in that group for about three years now and I still get referrals from them. 

Takeaways

• When your product actually helps people, word-of-mouth is your best marketing.
• Take advantage of where you’re already at: start with your existing circles. Don’t underestimate the power of showing up for your immediate community.
• Use your “why”—whether it’s financial independence, your child’s future, or personal healing—as fuel to keep showing up and doing the work.
• Take the time to build real relationships—they’ll market for you long after you leave.

What kind of tree would your business be?

Timestamp: 17:55

ALISHA:

I'm down in the south, so I guess I'd probably say an oak tree. It's hardwood, sturdy, and they pop up and grow everywhere. You can't kill them. So, I would probably say an oak tree. 

How big would you say your kind of business gets realistically? How big would be too big?

Timestamp: 18:57

ALISHA:

If you grow correctly, if you expand and plant new leaders–using the tree analogy–just like with the oak trees, I mean, you walk around and it's like it is a huge oak tree, but then there are all these smaller oak trees and they're different sizes.

Eventually they begin to grow enough and they start producing fruit of their own. So in the same way, that's kind of how my business is doing, and that's how I sustain it because at this point right now it is too big for me to sustain alone. 

I have to have leaders underneath me that are also growing, but I still need to grow, too. But I can't manage the hundreds of people that are underneath me. I have to have leaders that do that. And so, as long as I'm pouring into the leaders, and then they can pour into their groups

I have had times where I unexpectedly couldn’t work for a while. I was taking care of my grandfather and he passed away, and that was devastating because we had taken care of him for so long and he's just such a big part of our family. 

And I spent probably 3 months where I didn't do anything. And I still got a paycheck every month.

That is the brilliance of network marketing: when done correctly, you can have a residual income and have that financial freedom and that time freedom. 

That is so cliche, you hear it all the time, but that's exactly what it is. That’s when it really counts and you're like, man, this is so nice!

Takeaways

• Sustainable success comes from mentoring others to lead, not managing everything yourself.
• Build like a forest, not a factory. Think in layers: nurture leaders who can grow their own teams, just like trees spreading new roots and branches.
• Design for freedom, not dependence.
• Focus on depth, not just scale. Pour into the people who pour into others. That’s how you multiply impact without burning out.

What has worked to grow, and what has not worked to grow?

Timestamp: 24:43

ALISHA:

So, I have built everything organically, but you have to put the effort in. You have to want it to grow.

And there have been seasons where I've just kind of supported what I had and not pushed to grow. I think everybody has that. 

You have to understand when that happens that whatever you do in this month is going to reflect on your business three months from now.

So if you aren't doing anything today, three months your check is probably going to be smaller than what you're used to, so you have to be consistent. If you go hard at it for two months and stop a month and then stop a couple months and go hard at it for a month, you're not going to have a consistent income and you're not going to have a consistent clientele basis.

Just don't stop. I mean, we have a saying in our group. “If you don't want to quit at least once a week, you're not doing it right.”

I have other areas of income, but I could never do another network marketing gig. I could never do anything like that because I would never have the passion to do anything else.

If I were to quit, which I will never do, but if I were to quit DoTERRA, I could never do another MLM. I would have to go get a regular job because I would never have the passion to do this with anything else. 

I remember when I was trying to hit the first leadership rank, my mom was like, "What is the matter with you? You’re working more hours than you would in a nine-to-five job." And I was like, “But mom, it's not a nine-to-five job. It's entrepreneurship.”

Takeaways

• What you do today shows up in your business three months from now—stay steady if you want stable growth and income.

How do you sustainify it? How do you make sure that your business isn't taking over your life?

Timestamp: 33:17

ALISHA:

For me, what that looks like is communicating with my daughter when I need to pay attention to business stuff during the day. 

Like when I was taking her to the children's museum and I was telling her, "Okay, I have to be on a call for 20 minutes” or “I'm going to be texting this person, but it's the only way I can connect with them right now. So, I'm going to put my phone away and watch you play after this 20 minutes.”

One of the biggest things I did was get an Instacart subscription. So, I order my groceries and have them delivered so that I don't have to go take that time away. A lot of that was just kind of delegating and outsourcing some things at home that I would normally have done, which killed me to spend money on, but it was buying time back.

It wasn't paying somebody to clean the house or somebody to grocery shop for me. It was actually buying time back with my daughter. That's a big perspective shift now. 

And my daughter gets to watch me build a business. I've taken her to a lot of my events with me. She can sell just as well as I can because she's passionate about it as well.

You just have to be 100% present wherever you are.

You just have to figure out what works; and that looks very different depending on the ages of your kids, if you have kids, and how supportive your spouse is. You just have to figure out what works for you and make sure that you let go of the mom guilt.

Takeaways

• Buy back your time. Delegate or outsource tasks like grocery shopping to free up energy for what matters most—like family and focused work.
• Communicate with loved ones about work time and be fully present when you're off—balance is built through intention, not perfection.
• Let your kids witness and even join in your business—they’ll learn from your example and feel part of the journey.
• Let go of the guilt. 

What could you change to make the business take better care of you?

Timestamp: 40:04

ALISHA:

I don't know. Maybe if I'd had better boundaries at the beginning, that probably would have been helpful because I did let the business take over. 

I mean, we would have BOGO week and I would get on and do these Facebook lives (which I hate doing Facebook lives) but I would get $1,000 more in sales if I did this five minute Facebook live. Nobody was forcing me to do it. It was something I had chosen to do on my own.

If I had just known from the beginning not to feel guilty about that. I just didn't understand the work life balance. I'd never had to really deal with that before.

Especially when you're an entrepreneur, work does not cut off at 5:00 at night. And a lot of times it's going to look like late nights which is why it's really important to make sure you marry somebody who understands that. 

Yeah, if I had just known at the beginning not to have so much guilt about the time that I was going to dedicate to this. 

And also probably set some boundaries because, I mean, I just worked whenever I could.

Takeaways

• Set boundaries early.
• Entrepreneurship often means odd hours—having a partner who understands that is key to long-term balance.
• Just because something works (like lives that boost sales) doesn’t mean you have to do it—align your actions with your energy and values.

Do you think there would ever be a point where you needed to step back or stop actively working on it? What do you think that would look like? Do you have an exit strategy?

Timestamp: 45:18

ALISHA:

I don't really have an exit strategy per se. This is my big thing. I have other streams of income, but this is my main one, so I just foresee doing that as long as possible. 

If something were to happen, the biggest thing is to make sure you have leaders underneath you who are as passionate as you are about it. Without getting too specific, but in DoTERRA specifically, if you have leaders that are at least diamond underneath you, I mean, you're fine. You're gonna be fine.

And the other thing is that I can leave it to my daughter and that can be an income for her. That stuff probably sticks in my head way more than an exit strategy if I had to be honest about it. The biggest thing is that it will go to her.

Takeaways

• Build with legacy in mind. Instead of planning an exit, focus on creating something sustainable you can pass on to the next generation.
• A true long-term strategy includes how your business can support your family even if you're no longer at the helm.

How can we best support your mission?

Timestamp: 50:31

ALISHA:

I have a Facebook group and then I just have my page on Instagram. Just send me a request and a DM and just say "Hey, I'm from Abigail's podcast." I'll accept you. 

I just post real life stuff on there and you can always reach out and I'll have links on there, too. So, if anybody's interested, they can just reach out.

RESOURCES + LINKS:

Alisha - Facebook Profile

Alisha’s Facebook Group 

Free Sustainable Biz Resource Library 

Biz Level Growth Quiz