Who we are

Our beginnings

The Stirling Foundation had its beginnings in the family of David and Laurea Stirling. In 2008, David Stirling founded the company dōTERRA with a group of colleagues. Over the years, the company has grown into a major international organization with operations throughout the world. As David and Laurea traveled, they saw the tremendous needs and opportunities to help. Together with their children, David and Laurea decided to establish The Stirling Foundation to give back to the world community and to make a difference now.

The story of The Stirling Foundation is best captured by a letter written by one of David and Laurea's daughters to her parents:

Dear Mom and Dad, 

As one of your nine kids, I have had the opportunity not only to watch this mission come about, I have lived it.
It has shaped my life. I watched as the two of you, two ordinary, but good people worked, saved, served, and put your trust in God. A God that I knew you felt a very real and close connection with. 

I have to laugh when I think of all the times we ate beans with cheese sprinkled on top for dinner and homemade lunches because you were working to pay off the house and cars. I took peanut butter and (homemade) apricot jam sandwiches to lunch every day for a year. I couldn’t stand apricot jam for a long time after that. I still remember the day you pulled us into the family room and told us that you had paid off the house and cars. I don’t remember how old I was, and I know I didn’t really understand why it mattered, but I remember your excitement. 

I was 17 when the two of you first started talking about dōTERRA. I remember Dad was out of work, and had job offers but had been waiting for the right thing to come along. One afternoon I was sitting on your bed and listening to Dad talk about a call he’d had from Doc and Emily. He looked at me and said, “We’re going to change the world." I believed him. 

I watched as you, the most frugal and financially responsible people I know, leveraged the house, and went a full year without pay. You shared a vision of what could be and had the faith to step out into the unknown to make it happen. I don’t think you will ever know how much that impacted us as kids. In our own way, we stepped out with you. 

I could never understand it when people would come into the office in those early years and have doubts. I knew it was going to happen. My dad had said it would and I had felt in my heart that that was right. I wanted to look at them and ask, “Don’t you know? We are going to change the world!” 

I remember when you called the family over to dōTERRA for a family counsel. I sat in that conference room and listened to you talk about dōTERRA, about the great blessings that had come from it, that it wasn’t ours, that we were simply stewards of the means that had been given to us and that those means were to be used to bless the world. You wrote a number up on the whiteboard, I don’t even remember what it was, but you looked at us and said “This is your inheritance, we are giving it away. Do you want to help?” I felt a thrill in my heart that I was blessed to be a part of this crazy adventure. 

Now, years later, I have been impacted by truly remarkable people from all over this world. My way of thinking and even my belief patterns have been shaped by the incredible opportunities and experiences that I have been gifted over the years. It has changed my life. I grew up with this and in it. It is rooted deep in me. And even if the money went away tomorrow, I think I would spend the rest of my life trying to help in this work with whatever means I had. 

Just know that I love you both, and with all the craziness, I am sure grateful for the ride. 

Your daughter.