It’s 2015, and our clinic is bustling—about 500 patients walk through our doors every week. My business partner (and then-husband) was seeing 50 patients a day. We had three physical therapists and two MDs handling Functional Medicine and Physical Therapy visits. It was chaotic, but our location in The Villages was exploding with growth, and new residents were arriving constantly.
With all these new residents came their families, and soon the area was swept up in a multi-level marketing craze. Patients would ask us to set up an “upline” and sell their products in our office. We always declined, believing it wasn’t ethical. Instead, we partnered with up-and-coming nutraceutical companies to stock our inventory. That’s when I first started to appreciate the importance of raw materials, though my understanding was nothing like it is now.
Multi-level marketing companies quickly saturated the area. Socializing became synonymous with attending product parties hosted by your new neighbors.
It all began for me with a woman who visited our clinic every week. She was bravely fighting a serious cancer, and following a traditional treatment plan that was working for her. Her mindset was a big part of her success, and weekly acupuncture helped her maintain it.
So when she missed an appointment without calling, we knew something was wrong. We tried her emergency contact—disconnected. We checked local hospitals—no record of her. We did everything we could, but found nothing.
Two weeks later, she walked into the office looking exhausted. The staff and I rushed to greet her. In my office, she told me what happened: she’d attended a multi-level marketing essential oil party, where she was told that drinking Frankincense essential oil would cure cancer. She believed it, drank a 5ml bottle, and ended up in the ICU at a university hospital. When I asked the doctors where this idea came from, Dr. Hall mentioned “boswellic acid”—something we’d just discussed over lunch. The connection was baffling.
A week later, another woman came in with bright red legs, asking for allergy treatment. Dr. Cheshire took one look and said she needed an allergy shot, not acupuncture. She’d covered her legs in undiluted lavender oil from a new bottle. We walked her to urgent care next door, and after two rounds of allergy meds, her legs improved. The doctor confirmed it was a severe allergic reaction.
These incidents left me confused. I realized I didn’t actually know what essential oils were. I knew essential oil products, but not the pure oils themselves. That’s a big difference.
So I started researching—Dr. Google, PubMed. There wasn’t much information, but what I found was fascinating. Could these little bottles really be plant medicine? How did it work?
Then, another essential oil injury changed everything for me, though I didn’t know it at the time. It was a Friday morning—Fridays were always lively in the office. One of our regular pickleball patients came in with her adult daughter, who had a blister forming on the back of her neck. It looked bad. Dr. Cheshire asked what happened. The daughter explained she’d put bergamot oil on her neck before playing pickleball in the Florida sun, not realizing it was phototoxic. We sent her to urgent care too.
After that, I went back to researching. I didn’t want to invest too much, just enough to understand. I asked Dr. Hall about it; he didn’t know much, but noted that some of the same plant names appeared in nutraceuticals.
I found a $50 correspondence course—a spiral-bound book and 20 tiny bottles of essential oil. It arrived from Hawaii, and that book blew my mind. I still find those little bottles around my house.
The next day, I registered at Aromahead and completed their scholars program. Then Pacific, then NY, then Atlantic. I took certification classes at Tisserand and started attending conferences. I was hooked. I kept asking the doctors questions about the human body and dove deeper into my studies.
It’s important to note that Dr. Cheshire—Chris—was my business partner and husband during this time. We have two kids. One night, after getting them settled in, I was sprawled out on the bed with homework everywhere. Chris came in and asked, “Why are you studying biochemistry?” He shook his head and walked away.
The answer was simple: it was part of the coursework.
I love to cook. One night, I was making roasted potatoes with fresh rosemary. As I handled the rosemary, I realized it was the same plant I’d just used in an essential oil assignment. That was my “plant epiphany.” That night, I signed up for my first herbal class. It was starting to get expensive, but I needed to know more.
Chris asked what I planned to do with all this new knowledge. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Maybe I could see patients? I looked for a certification—there wasn’t much. I got my Registered Aromatherapist designation, even though it wasn’t widely recognized. That’s when I discovered ACHS. For a while, I regretted not finding them sooner, but in hindsight, I had the best teachers and learned so much.
But I was a business person, not a clinician. I didn’t have a nursing degree or similar background. In Florida, I could work under the doctors’ license as a cash-based aromatherapy practitioner, as long as I kept notes in patient files and reported findings to Dr. Hall, our Functional Medicine director.
Chapter 1 Lesson: After finishing school, the first thing you should do is look up your state and federal statutes regarding aromatherapy. You can find these online by searching “aromatherapy essential oils [your state] statutes.” Don’t rely on AI summaries alone. If the statutes are confusing (and they often are), use AI to help break them down, but always start with the actual text. Mistakes are okay, but don’t make them on purpose. Learn what’s off-limits in your state and follow the rules.
With my plan of care and SOAP notes ready, I needed supplies. I bought everything retail or at student rates. One day, I entered our medical practice Tax ID on a supplier’s website and suddenly, prices dropped. It made sense to use the practice’s Tax ID for supplies, and my accountant agreed—until he didn’t.
Here’s the short version: there’s something called COGS (cost of goods sold), which includes inventory and materials. My aromatherapy supplies were raising that number, which wasn’t good for taxes. So, we decided to start a new company with all the proper paperwork. I agreed.
That’s how Faeve Plant Therapies, Inc. was born—a S corp LLC, owned by me. Or so I thought. Four years ago, I learned my accountant had set it up under the medical company, not me directly. The medical company was owned by both Chris and me. This mistake has haunted my business and is probably my biggest regret so far. More on that later.
Faeve Plant Therapies was trademarked and eventually became a Registered Trademark.
Chapter 1 Lesson: The way you incorporate your company is crucial. Laws, taxes, and business operations all depend on the structure you choose. Be diligent when deciding what type of corporation to form, if any. A good tax accountant or local SCORE advisor can guide you—often for free.
Now, I was officially a corporation.
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