Somewhere on Hawaii's Big Island, a crew of nursery workers is separating sandalwood seedlings into trays. Several thousand miles east, at a corporate campus in Pleasant Grove, Utah, engineers are testing a new mobile app built to give doTERRA's independent distributors better data about their customers and sales. One operation runs on soil and patience; the other on code and cloud infrastructure. Both belong to the same company.
That juxtaposition sits at the center of a short video doTERRA released in early 2026, which documents the company's investment in technology across its operations while emphasizing that none of those tools replace what doTERRA calls "Natural Intelligence." Coined during the company's March 2026 Leadership Retreat in San Diego, the phrase refers to the combination of nature, science, and person-to-person connection that doTERRA considers its competitive identity.
"Our 'Natural Intelligence' philosophy is more than a message. It reflects how we show up for each other every day," said Jessica Moultrie, president of North America for doTERRA, during the San Diego event. "When we combine the power of nature with science and authentic human connection, we create something truly meaningful for families around the world."
With Earth Day 2026 arriving this month, that claim deserves a closer look. doTERRA's recent moves offer a useful case study for an industry-wide question: can a company push aggressively into digital tools and device technology while staying rooted in the environmental and humanitarian commitments that gave it credibility in the first place?
A $2 Billion Company, Net Debt-Free, with New Tech Ambitions
doTERRA's annual sales surpassed $2 billion in 2024, with more than 10 million customers worldwide and over 3 million independent distributors, called Wellness Advocates. CEO Kirk Jowers announced the figures during the company's Jumpstart 2025 virtual event in January of that year, adding that doTERRA operates net debt-free and distributes products to customers in more than 155 countries.
Those numbers provide context for the company's technology investments. doTERRA is spending from a position of financial stability rather than chasing growth through a digital overhaul. Recent moves include the adoption of Workday for human capital management and recruiting in 2025, the launch of the doTERRA Pro App announced at the San Diego Leadership Retreat, and a new Business Hub designed to give Wellness Advocates better tools for managing their customer relationships.
Perhaps the highest-profile hire signaling this direction came in January 2026, when doTERRA appointed Steve Powell as executive vice president of Innovation and Advanced Development. Powell holds more than 70 patents and has generated over $1 billion in global revenue through his work creating device technologies for health, beauty, sleep, and IoT applications. His portfolio includes the development of light therapy technology for mood and sleep disorders, later acquired by Philips, and leadership of professional device platforms at Rodan + Fields and Nu Skin.
"doTERRA has built an extraordinary global community around natural wellness," Powell said upon joining. "I'm honored to join the team and excited to help shape the next era of innovation that empowers people to live healthier, more connected lives."
Powell's mandate focuses on next-generation device platforms that combine intelligent technology, personalization, and wellness science. For a company whose origins lie in bottling plant distillates, the addition of a hardware-and-IoT executive marks a clear expansion of scope.
611,019 Trees and Counting: The Earthbound Side of the Equation
Technology adoption only tells half the story. doTERRA released its 2024 Impact Report on Earth Day 2025, and the figures tell a different kind of growth story. Over 179,000 native trees were planted at the Kealakekua Mountain Reserve on Hawaii's Big Island in 2024 alone, bringing the total to 611,019 since the project started in 2018. doTERRA purchased the 9,627-acre former ranch for $7.3 million that year and has since partnered with the Hawaii State Division of Forestry and Wildlife on a management plan to restore native forest degraded by two centuries of logging and grazing.
The Kealakekua project constitutes the largest reforestation effort in Hawaii's history. Under its 10-year management plan, doTERRA only uses dead or dying sandalwood in essential oil production and must keep 75 percent of the land forested. The reserve's nursery grows seedlings for replanting and has welcomed nearly 4,000 visitors since 2021 through its Hiki Ola partnership, which supports educational programs, cultural preservation with Native Hawaiian communities, and hands-on reforestation visits.
"Earth Day is a moment to reflect on our shared responsibility to people and planet," Jowers said in the 2024 Impact Report announcement. The report also disclosed that doTERRA co-funded a climate adaptation program in Kenya supporting more than 1,000 smallholder farmers with sustainable irrigation, repurposed over one million pounds of birch through circular economy efforts in Pennsylvania, and distributed more than 97,000 hygiene kits across eight countries and 28 U.S. states in response to natural disasters.
The company won the 2025 SEAL Sustainability Innovation Award for its ginger sourcing efforts in Tanzania, following a 2021 SEAL Environmental Initiative Award for its Hawaiian sandalwood conservation work. Both awards tie back to the Co-Impact Sourcing model that doTERRA uses across 45 sourcing countries.
Healing Hands at Fifteen: $55 Million and the Structure Behind It
doTERRA's philanthropic arm turned 15 in June 2025. The Healing Hands Foundation has donated more than $55 million since its founding in 2010. doTERRA International covers all overhead and administrative costs of the foundation, a structure designed to ensure 100 percent of individual donations reach recipients.
"The doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation has transformed lives and communities worldwide, creating a ripple effect of positive change," said Misty Bond, vice president of corporate relations and philanthropy, during the 15th anniversary celebration. "Our projects not only uplift those directly served but also empower the volunteers and organizers who bring them to life."
In 2024, the foundation donated more than $3 million, funding initiatives in 14 countries that delivered clean water in Nepal, education in Ghana, and medical support in Eswatini. The Match Program, which provides grants of up to $15,000 to Wellness Advocates at the rank of Elite or higher for service projects, paid out nearly $1.33 million in 2024 alone. Healing Hands also highlighted its work in Bulgaria, where funds from doTERRA spa Rose Hand Lotion sales helped establish a mobile blood donation clinic in the Rose Valley community.
At the 2025 Global Convention in Salt Lake City, more than 850 participants assembled nearly 20,000 emergency hygiene kits. Attendees also raised over $20,000 for Rising Star Outreach during a live giving session, a figure that doTERRA matched.
Where Tech Meets Touch: The Direct Selling Model as Connective Tissue
The tension between technology and human connection plays out most visibly in doTERRA's distribution model. The company's 3 million-plus Wellness Advocates build their businesses through personal relationships, one-on-one education about essential oils, and in-person events. That model predates any app or analytics dashboard.
doTERRA's video makes the argument that technology should serve those relationships rather than replace them. New tools like the doTERRA Pro App and the Digital Marketing Kit give Wellness Advocates access to ready-made assets and business analytics, but the sale itself still happens person to person. Maquel Shaw, doTERRA's executive vice president of marketing, put it directly at the 2025 Convention: "Our convention is about more than products, it's about community and empowerment."
doTERRA's approach carries particular significance for the direct selling industry. The global essential oils market was valued at $25.86 billion in 2024, with direct selling accounting for 46.8 percent of distribution channel revenue, according to Grand View Research. Companies in the sector face constant pressure to digitize without undermining the relationship-driven model that differentiates them from conventional retail.
Boyd Blake, doTERRA's technology leader who oversees the global IT organization, brings 32 years of experience from Shell Oil Company, NuSkin and doTERRA. His team provides technology platforms and tools for both Wellness Advocates and customers, with a mandate to enhance rather than displace the person-to-person engagement that drives the business.
19 Awards, One Question
doTERRA collected 19 industry awards in 2024, spanning product quality, sustainability, and leadership categories. Gold medals came from the Global Makeup Awards for products including its Refreshing Body Wash, Serenity Stick + Valerian, and Roam Diffuser. The year ended with the company winning gold for Best USA Beauty Brand at the same awards.
Good Housekeeping selected the company's Laluz Diffuser as a winner in its 2025 Bath Awards. Bishnu Adhikari received a gold Titan Business Award for Sustainability Leader of the Year, and Shannon Bible won platinum for Team Builder of the Year. The company also received the 2024 SEAL Sustainable Innovation Award for its Co-Impact Sourcing model, adding to the 2021 and 2025 SEAL awards it has earned for environmental and sourcing work.
Whether these accolades reflect genuine differentiation or simply a well-resourced awards strategy depends on whom you ask. What's harder to dispute is the operational scope behind them: 45 sourcing countries, 611,000-plus trees planted, $55 million in charitable giving, and a Certified Pure Tested Grade (CPTG) testing protocol that the company says involves multiple rounds of chemical analysis for every batch of oil.
Earth Day and the Long View
Companies routinely publish sustainability reports around Earth Day. doTERRA is no exception. What separates its approach from a pure communications exercise is the capital it has committed to specific, measurable projects: a 9,627-acre reserve with a state-monitored management plan, a goal of 1 million trees by 2030 (with more than 60 percent already planted), and certified carbon credit development now underway at Kealakekua.
The company's 2026 Convention will be held in Orlando, Florida, this September, the first time in its history the annual event leaves Salt Lake City. It will carry the theme "Imagine." If the video and the recent leadership hires are any indication, doTERRA intends to pair that imagination with continued investment in intelligent devices and personalized wellness technology.
But the video's most telling moments aren't about code or hardware. They're about hands in soil, conversations between Wellness Advocates and their customers, and community projects funded by lotion sales. doTERRA's bet is that those things still matter more than any algorithm, and that the right technology makes them easier rather than obsolete.
It's a bet worth watching.
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