Oil &
Water
W
hen Jim Hicks says he knew from
the beginning that dōTERRA was a
goldmine, his wife Lara can quickly clarify
that he is obviously joking. “Jim was the
biggest skeptic,” she says. “He called it
‘snake oils’ and thought it was a total waste
of money. It took weeks to convince him.”
It took several “coincidental” experiences
with the oils’ effectiveness on their family
for Jim to be convinced that they really
worked. From there, the Hicks started
telling everyone. Jim says, “Because we
loved the oils, we couldn’t help but tell
people about them.” They had always been
passionate about helping others, as shown
through their nonprofit Thirst Relief that
provides clean water solutions to developing
countries. The oils were just another way
they could help those around them.
“We swore we would never do the business,”
Lara says. “We were never going to be that
weird oil couple.” Jim says they were antinetwork marketing, but after three years
of simply sharing the oils with people they
knew, they one day received a $1,500
check in the mail. Jim realized, “If we can
get that kind of money doing nothing with
intention, what if we were intentional?” He
decided they were going to devote more
time to building this business.
20
dōTERRA ESSENTIAL LEADERSHIP I Spring 2014
“Oil and water don’t usually mix, but they do in our family.
The oils have managed to combine with our passion to help
bring clean water to the world.” –Jim
ND
O
R
R
Westerville, OHio, usa
dōTE
Jim & Lara Hicks
S
NEW
NEW dōTERRA DIAMONDS
A DIA M
“We exist to transform communities through clean water solutions. These
are long-term sustainable solutions. We believe it’s a hand-up out of poverty
versus a handout. Clean water is the most significant factor when it comes to
ending extreme poverty, slave trade, the AIDS epidemic—everything stems from the issue of clean water. The sickness
that comes from lack of access to clean water makes people vulnerable to these things. We are radically committed to
helping end the world water crisis.” –Jim
For $10 we can
provide someone
with clean water
access for a minimum
of 25 years.
300,000 people have
been served through
our projects.
We have an ongoing
partnership in eight
different countries,
and have been able
to go into nine.
100 percent of public
donations go toward
projects.
Healing Hands
donated $10,000 to
Thirst Relief at the
2013 convention.
For more information visit thirstrelief.org
Not long after that, their nonprofit lost one
of its major donors that contributed to their
salary. The Hicks then decided they were
going to devote themselves to dōTERRA
in order to be able to move to volunteer
status with Thirst Relief. They joined
Diamond Club with the intent of being
Diamond at the end, and they were able
achieve that goal in a stable way. Jim says,
“We’ve been able to sustain that Diamond
status every single month, which allowed us
to return to volunteer status at the nonprofit.
We feel like we really were the winners.”
The Hicks have found that maximizing your
time effectively is the key. Lara says, “You
can spin your wheels and be really, really
busy, but if it’s not in strategic places, then
you’re just keeping really busy.” For example,
instead of holding lots of little classes, she
holds one large class that everyone can
come to. She also makes sure to empower
her leaders to duplicate what she does so
they can become independent.
Jim and Lara are grateful that through
dōTERRA they are able to pursue their
passion of changing the world. Lara says,
“Because of dōTERRA, we are able to run
after our passion for Thirst Relief. That is
truly our calling in life, but if the finances
weren’t there, we would have to be stressed
about getting the funds. We don’t have to
worry about that anymore.” Jim says, “The
oi