In 1989, from the humblest of beginnings, D. Gary Young, our founder, started what would become the world’s leading essential oil company on a one-quarter acre farm in Spokane, Washington.On this small plot of ground, Gary carefully cultivated various herbs; with his background in agriculture, the growing season soon produced a robust, healthy crop. Toward the end of the season, Gary built his first distiller by welding two pressure cookers together with a swan neck of copper pipe. It was placed on the kitchen countertop, and the water for the cooler came from the kitchen sink. This yielded Young Living’s first tiny batch of therapeutic-grade essential oils.Gary and Mary Young wanted to share their love for the oils and their potential with everyone they met. In fact, it has been Gary’s mission from the start to share the oils with the entire world. To that end, Young Living Essential Oils was born. The first office in Riverton, Utah, was a dingy, flat-roofed building built in the 1970s. It had been most recently occupied by a small church congregation and was a quarter inch short of being condemned. Repairs and refinishing were undertaken simultaneously with the demanding activity of running a business. While Gary and Mary traveled and spread the word of natural health, a few employees did their best to support the growing demand for their excellent products.Young Living purchased land in the pristine forests of St. Maries Idaho to expand the acreage available for growing aromatic plants. The first stationary distiller was built at St. Maries, and it incorporated Gary Young’s pioneering research in low pressure, low temperature distillation. The yield of therapeutic grade essential oils was substantially increased each successive year. The first distiller at St. Maries had a boiler capacity of just over 3,000 liters. Within four years and the addition of six more boilers, the capacity totaled over 34,000 liters!Additional land was purchased in Mona, Utah, and Simiane-la-Rotonde, France, totaling over 2,000 acres devoted solely to the production of aromatic herbs, thus making Young Living’s farms the largest devoted to that purpose in North America and possibly the world. Fourteen boilers were built at the Mona site, which quickly became the main center of farming operations. Combined with St. Maries, Young Living Lavender Farms owns a total of over twelve distillers with boiler capacity over 115,400 liters.The office in Riverton was quickly outgrown, affecting the move to Payson, Utah, into an old renovated schoolhouse. This old, drafty, brick building housed the company during several of its early growth years.
In 2003, the Lehi corporate office was opened and is the current world headquarters. Young Living’s quest for high-quality effective products, its generous Compensation Plan, and unfailing emphasis on education has led Young Living to be one of the fastest growing companies in the nutraceutical industry and by far the largest supplier of essential oils.
Currently, there are offices in Europe, Japan, and Australia, with burgeoning distributor communities in Canada and South America. Young Living recently opened an office and warehouse in Great Britain to supply the needs of our European community.
Join us as we pursue new vistas and scientific discoveries from around the globe. The future promises to be even more exciting than our amazing past.
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The History…