Live from Amazon Accelerate with Plant Therapy's Chris Jones

Summary

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The CPG Guys Podcast

Episode: Live from Amazon Accelerate with Plant Therapy's Chris Jones
Date: December 28, 2025
Hosts: Sri Rajagopalan & Peter V.S. Bond
Guest: Chris Jones, Plant Therapy

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Episode Overview

This episode, recorded live at Amazon Accelerate 2025 in Seattle, features Chris Jones, founder of Plant Therapy, discussing the brand’s journey from a family-run garage operation to a successful national player in wellness products—especially through Amazon's marketplace. Host Sri Rajagopalan delves deep into Chris’s entrepreneurial story, the evolution and differentiators of Plant Therapy, leveraging Amazon’s tools, and the brand’s strong commitments to product transparency, quality, and philanthropy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origin and Evolution of Plant Therapy

• Roots in Family: Plant Therapy was founded in 2011, evolving from Chris’s mother-in-law’s garage business “Posergy” (Positive Energy) which sold hand-blended lotions with essential oils.
• Entrepreneurship: Chris purchased the business for $50,000 in 2009 and quickly realized the need for uniqueness and scale. (03:12–06:31)
• Pivotal Shift: By 2011, the brand pivoted to direct essential oils, motivated by surplus inventory and a need to generate cash—leading to the first Amazon listing under a new name suggested by his wife, Amanda: Plant Therapy.

  “She said, ‘how about plant therapy?’ I said perfect... In hindsight, I should have checked if the domain was available.” (08:18–08:32, Chris Jones)

2. Launching on Amazon and Early Growth

• Amazon Entry: Initial resistance but rapid success—sold more on Amazon in 60 days than the entire previous year in retail. (11:18–11:54)
• Hard Work: Chris juggled another job and family duties, sometimes working at 3am to keep the business afloat. (11:54–12:13)
• Growth Mentality:

  “It is all of my energy. It’s your baby.” (12:13–12:30, Chris Jones)

3. Leveraging Amazon's Tools for Growth

• Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA):

  “Amazon is the best of the best... FBA is the main thing—shortening the length of time from when we make a product to when it gets to the customer.” (12:56–14:20, Chris Jones)

• SaaS Program: Paid program grants a dedicated Amazon rep (“champion”) to help optimize the business. (14:37–14:49)
• Marketplace Dynamics: Recognizes Amazon’s shift where over 60% of sales volume is via third-party sellers like Plant Therapy, not 1P. (14:55–15:58, Sri & Chris)

4. Differentiation and Trust in a Crowded Wellness Space

• Early Mover Advantage: Plant Therapy built a reputation on quality and integrity.
• Transparency:

  “If we say that’s what’s in the bottle, and nothing else, that’s what’s in the bottle.” (16:33–16:39, Chris Jones)

• Quality Control: Strict sourcing and testing processes, with many essential oils rejected before making it to market. (16:45–17:07)
• Avoiding Dubious Claims:

  “A lot of the claims around essential oils were bogus... We shy away from that completely.” (17:57–18:35, Chris Jones)

5. Product Education and Community Engagement

• Assortment: Offers pure essential oils (e.g., eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint) and, increasingly, ready-to-use products (deodorant, body wash, etc.). (19:06–22:04)
• Community:

  “People want to buy from somebody that they feel like they know. An online community is a good way to engage.” (24:11–24:31, Chris Jones)

• Content Value: Constantly refreshing web and label content (rebranded five times in 11 years) to create value for customers.

  “When you're creating content, you need to create value. That's what's important.” (25:20–25:31, Chris Jones)

6. D2C Distribution and Channel Strategy

• Balanced Channels: Amazon less than half of total sales; Plant Therapy also robust on their own D2C platform. (20:53–21:04)
• Subscription Models: Once key for D2C but now phased out in favor of ready-to-use products over DIY trends. (21:18–22:15)
• Shipping Complexities: Some essential oils are classified as hazmat; managed through specific Amazon and D2C protocols, with few restrictions on national distribution. (23:06–23:42)

7. Philanthropy and “Force for Good” Recognition

• Amazon’s Force for Good Award:

  “It’s validation and recognition from Amazon that we are a force for good. We’ve just surpassed $6 million in donations.” (26:41–27:05, Chris Jones)

• Giving Back Initiatives: Support runs from anonymous funeral payments to broader charitable work, driven by empathy for the vulnerable. (27:08–27:32)
• Balancing Margins & Mission:

  “It isn’t necessarily about how much you can give... it’s about how much impact you can have in your circle—that ripple effect is what will change the world.” (27:53–28:37, Chris Jones)

8. Data, Feedback, and Customer-Centric Innovation

• Insights in Action:

  “There’s collecting data and then actionable insights from that data. Some people are really good at one and not the other.” (29:03–29:14, Chris Jones)

• Direct Feedback: Customer input is treated as a gift; all feedback goes to Chris via Slack, who seeks patterns to guide decision-making. (29:26–30:22)
• Advice to Entrepreneurs:

  “If philanthropy is your core, you will do it. If it’s not, you might talk but not act... it’s a constant line we walk.” (30:33–31:12, Chris Jones)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Chris Jones on family entrepreneurship:

  “The law of life—which is: listen to the wife.” (08:30–08:32)

• On maintaining quality in a crowded sector:

  “If we say that that’s what’s in the bottle and nothing else, that’s what’s in the bottle.” (16:33–16:39)

• On community building:

  “People want to buy from somebody that they feel like they know.” (24:11–24:31)

• On philanthropy and impact:

  “It isn’t necessarily about the dollars given out… it’s about the ripple effect.” (28:37–28:53)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic | |---------------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 03:12 | How Plant Therapy got started | | 08:18 | Origin of the “Plant Therapy” name | | 09:53 | First sales on Amazon; scrappy early days | | 11:18–12:13 | Realizing Amazon’s potential and the “grind” | | 12:56 | How Amazon tools, especially FBA, transformed growth | | 14:37 | Value of Amazon’s SaaS program (dedicated rep) | | 16:33 | The brand’s commitment to ingredient transparency | | 17:57 | Navigating skepticism and claims in essential oils | | 20:53 | Evolving sales channels: beyond Amazon | | 21:18 | Moving from subscriptions to ready-to-use products | | 23:06 | Shipping and compliance challenges (hazmat, D2C) | | 24:11 | The role of community and content in customer loyalty | | 26:41 | Winning Amazon’s Force for Good award | | 29:03 | Data and consumer insight as business drivers | | 30:33 | Advice to socially-minded entrepreneurs |

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Tone and Language

Chris and Sri keep the conversation warm, honest, and practical—mixing entrepreneurial grit with humor and mission-driven passion. The episode is rich with real-world advice, candid lessons, and encouragement for fellow entrepreneurs, especially in CPG/eCommerce.

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For More:
Find Plant Therapy on Amazon or @planttherapy on all major social platforms.

Key takeaway:
Combining operational excellence (Amazon/FBA), radical product transparency, and genuine human connection—internally and with customers—fuels long-term brand loyalty and growth.

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Transcript

[A]

Hey, it's PVSB with the CPG Guys. You know, we talk a lot about this on the show. For CPG marketers today, it's not just about reaching consumers. It's about connecting with them meaningfully at every touch point. Here's the reality. Shopping isn't just an event anymore. It's woven into daily life. And with consumers spending over 90 minutes streaming content, daily entertainment has become central to the shopping journey. Amazon ads unifies commerce, entertainment and open Internet to reach 86% of US households, turning trillions of consumer signals into powerful results both on and beyond Amazon. So visit advertising.Amazon.com to learn more. Welcome to the CPG Guys Podcast. Your host, Sree Rajagopalan and Peter Vs. Bond explore how brands and retailers engage consumers in an increasingly digitally driven world. And now, here are the CPG Guys.

[B]

Hello and welcome to this episode of the CPG Guys Podcast. This is one of several episodes I shot while up in Seattle. I was invited to Amazon accelerate 2025. Of course Sri, your co host and also CRO and co founder of Think Blue Consulting, your trusted partner in your omnichannel development journey. Get in touch with me at shreenkblueconsulting Co. Please do listen to my older daughter's music at www.rearaj.com and follow Laraj, my younger daughters and member of the world's fastest growing global girls group, Cat's Eye now, winner of an MTV vma. Excited to be here and recording live today with our guests or guest unable to join me today is my co host and co founder of pvsp who also moonlights as head of industry and client engagement at Flywheel, the E Commerce acceleration division of Omnicom. Make sure you're subscribing to a podcast on our preferred listening platform where you can get our latest episodes and even go back to consume some of the 530plus episodes we've already published. You know that the CPG Guys have had a great relationship with Amazon, what we consider one of the best e commerce retailers we have ever seen. So we're excited that we were invited to Amazon Accelerate. And here we go. Please enjoy this episode with one of the guests that was hand selected by Hunter PR for the CPG Guys to interview. Thank you Chris.

[C]

Welcome to the CPG Guys man. How you doing?

[D]

I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.

[C]

I know it's fun to be here in Seattle and not do traditionally what we do, which is over remote recording software called Riverside and this conference is special. I'm going to Ask you all why you came here. But before we do that, I want to know everything about plant therapy first. So I'm going to kick it off first, Chris, by asking you what was the vision behind plant therapy? Looks like you found it in 2011. So it's been 14 years. How did that vision evolve? Decade and change, Decade and a half, nearly. It looks like your wife is very much involved in the business and you act, your wife took you and your wife took over the business from her mother in Idaho. I want to get into that story. What was her mom doing? And then what did you learn from her mom that shaped what plant therapy is today? Give us a scoop, man.

[D]

All right. Yeah. Yeah. We started plant therapy in 2011, but it was an offshoot of another brand right before that. So in 2000, like prior to 2009, I was in more of a service based business. I've been an entrepreneur my entire life and wanted to get into a product based business because I felt like if we were in some type of a product, especially if it was small, if it was something that we could ship, we had a much larger audience and potential, like kind of exponential.

[B]

You want to build wealth and equity.

[C]

You get a product. You want to be in the services business and just serve you be like me. Just kidding, man.

[D]

Yeah, I think it does open up a world of possibilities, I think. And we were looking for something new. So yeah, my mother in law had started a business, it was called Posergy. That was like positive energy smashed together to make the word positive, which the.

[C]

World needs so much of.

[D]

Yeah, totally. And there was a good vision and idea behind it. But essentially what she was doing was buying like a five gallon bucket of lotion from a supplier, scenting it with essential oils, and then putting that in a jar and selling it to friends and family. She started a little bit of a business. So she was doing that out of her garage.

[C]

Most of these amazing businesses, including we're here at Amazon, started out of garage. So congratulations.

[D]

Yeah. And so, yeah, she found some success early on. I mean, she did maybe 30 or $40,000 worth of sales in, in that six months or so that she was.

[C]

This is 2011.

[D]

No, this is actually 2008, 2009.

[C]

Wow. Wow. I mean, those are big numbers for 2008, 2009.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Online especially.

[D]

Yeah. And especially just where she was just like hand doing it. All right. She was printing labels and herself and just filling these jars. And she's, she's a bit of a serial entrepreneur. So she would start a business and then get a little distracted or tired of it, move on to something else. So she did that for only about six months. And then we wanted to get in the product business so she was ready to move on. I said, why don't we buy that from you? And. And we bought that from her, I think for $50,000. And we opened a little retail store in Twin Falls. The problem that we ran into is our product wasn't really unique and the market was small where we were. The website wasn't doing a lot of business and we just didn't really have a unique selling.

[C]

Like a proposition.

[D]

Yeah. There wasn't a reason for somebody to buy from us. So we did that for. I bought that in the middle of 2009. Fast forward two years. I wasn't really working there. I was still working at another job and realized I started like kind of actually diving into the numbers. What are our costs of goods sold and started learning these things. I didn't know anything about cpg. Right. So I started learning like those P.

[C]

And LS can get very tricky in CPG land.

[D]

Yeah. And I realized like, we are not making any money. We are not going to make any money. We would have to like, you know, more than triple the business just to break even. And the business was growing, but it still was very small. Maybe I think that that next year we did maybe $60,000 in sales. Like no way we were making any money, especially with the little retail store.

[C]

But you stuck with it.

[D]

Yeah, well, we did until it was like, this isn't working. Something has to change. Either we need to like close this business or adapt somehow. Because I didn't see a path forward that was going to work. So at that time we had like our largest inventory asset was in bulk essential oils. And we were using those to sent the other products and just. I wanted to clear. I wish there was like. I could tell you there was some grand vision. There wasn't. I wanted to just to clear out some of our inventory.

[C]

But sometimes that's the vision.

[D]

Yeah. Turn it into cash. That's what I wanted.

[C]

The number of. Number of senior merchants and chief merchants I talked to at the largest retailers in the world, from Kroger to a whole. If I ask him what's your number one problem? They'll tell me. Cleaning out inventory. So you're in the same space.

[D]

Yeah. And we've. We've had to do that over the years too. Over and over. But yeah. So we. So I decided to list the products on Amazon. The funny thing is I didn't want to, I didn't want to list them under pauser G's name because I didn't want to like dilute our brand which, which I find a little funny now because we didn't have a brand and there was nothing to dilute. But so, so I was talking to my wife, said, I want to list these things on Amazon. Like, what's a name I should list them under? She's didn't really care. Kind of like, you know, she, she wasn't really involved in the business and, and didn't, wasn't really interested in that. We have four kids, so she was focused on being a mom full time.

[C]

Four kids is a fun life. I have two myself, two daughters.

[D]

They're awesome. It's, yeah, absolutely the best.

[C]

I have four pets as well. Three cats and just a quiet puppy. So it's a full house.

[D]

Yeah, same with us. We actually have two dogs. We're getting a third one and then, yeah, a couple cats. 12 chickens. 12 chickens, yeah.

[C]

Awesome. You hear us talk about pets often on the podcast.

[D]

Oh really? Yeah, it's great. I love them. So I, I, she said so like how about plant therapy? I said perfect. In hindsight, like I should have checked if the domain was available.

[C]

The law of life, which is listen to the wife.

[D]

That's right.

[C]

And look where plant therapy is today. Well done. Well done.

[D]

Thank you.

[C]

Do that religiously. Never failed me so far.

[D]

Yeah, she's definitely the, the brains in.

[C]

Our then what's the difference in y' all both roles on the art. Plant therapy. What do you do and what does she do? What's her name?

[D]

That's, her name's Amanda and she's actually not involved in the business. She hasn't been really from the beginning.

[C]

She's got the IP for the name.

[D]

Yeah, that's exactly right. Which was, which is like a phenomenal name, I think. And it just happened to be, you know, there wasn't a lot of thought behind it. Just like use this name. Great. I, I, I spent, so this was in like September of 2011. I spent the next month creating a brand, creating a logo which was, which looked terrible. Creating labels which look terrible. And printing, printing these labels in my office and hand filling these bottles of essential oils with the bulk. We were taking these.

[C]

A true ground up entrepreneur.

[D]

Yeah, for sure. It was like it was literally taking a pipette and taking it from the bulk into the container at the beginning and, and you know, hand capping everything. So like taping the fingers to make sure we can get those caps on all of that. And that was it. So then we launched our first sale on Amazon on October 20th of 2011. So we're about to celebrate our 14th birthday.

[C]

Congratulations. And that's a big deal.

[D]

Yeah, thanks.

[C]

And then what brings you in particular to Accelerate? I mean, the fact that Amazon paired you with us on the CPG guys to be our first podcast recording. You're obviously doing very well on the Amazon platform. But what in particular brings you here? What are you looking forward to the next day and a half?

[D]

Yeah, I think that it is learning. It's just learning, like, how can we be better and how can we be better as a company? What tools are available? And then also just like learning from our peers. I think that's really what.

[C]

And so you're looking forward to some of the general sessions, just mingling with other sellers, getting to know what they do, what you do, and then hopefully impart some knowledge like you're doing on our podcast right now for other sellers as we get through this conversation. Is that the primary reason to be here?

[D]

That's really it. Yeah.

[C]

That's awesome, man. So 2011, you say, hey, let's get these launched, let's go online. Why did you choose Amazon?

[D]

I think it just was something new for us. I actually wasn't really even buying on Amazon up to that point. I knew that it was a selling platform and it wasn't that long before that they opened it up to third party sellers and essential oils were just starting to become popular. And so it was, it was just like, I just want to sell some product. There was somebody at, there was one other company already selling essential oils on Amazon, but she, she was selling a product that she was charging shipping. First of all, it wasn't through fba and so I thought, and her, but her, her listings were good. It was beautiful. I thought her pricing was good and I thought if, if it was like the same concept but through fba, maybe we can get some traction. And then immediately, like within 60 days, we had sold more on Amazon than we had in the previous year in our retail store. And then it was like, I still didn't know we had a business though, because this was November, December, and I thought this is holiday sales. I had little kids at home, so I wanted to be home for dinner and bedtime. So I was going into work sometimes at three o' clock in the morning to try to. Because I'm still doing it.

[C]

That's what it takes. Yeah, I'm still putting in 14 hours a day?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I have a consulting business and then with what my family does in the entertainment business, literally flying back tomorrow, coming back tomorrow night from la. But that's what it takes. Sounds like you've really built this ground up. Is it still the grind today, 14 years later?

[D]

It is still. It is not the same. I'm not putting as many hours in the office. I put probably 50 hours a week in the office. But if you're an entrepreneur and it's in your blood, it's like I am putting. It is all of my. It's your baby and my energy.

[C]

Your mother in law's baby. IP by a wife and operated by you.

[D]

Yeah, that's exactly.

[C]

Family IP in business. Best case scenario, man.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

So going back to Amazon, right? How have Amazon's tools and services on the platform that's available to sellers? You mentioned that's part of the reason you're here, to understand the latest stuff. How has that helped your business and grow over the years?

[D]

Amazon is the best of the best and I think that they're continuing to launch new products and services that the entire intention is to sell more product. And that's what we want to do. Right. I think just following their lead, if they launch a new product, we should probably try to take advantage of that. And I mean just like the FBA program, as a consumer, I trust Amazon Prime. I know I'm going to get it fast.

[C]

Finally, like no one questions it anymore.

[D]

Yeah, absolutely. And knowing that as a consumer, like as a business owner, I should just follow what the consumers want and so.

[C]

You'Re on fba, I assume, and Prime.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

And it's working out well.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Awesome. And then where are you guys shipping from? Are you a national distribution and only certain parts of the country?

[D]

We are. So we, we're our own manufacturer and we. So we make everything in Idaho.

[C]

In Idaho.

[D]

Swin Falls, Idaho.

[C]

That's awesome to hear, man. Of all those tools, services offered by Amazon to you, is there one that stands out in mind that you lean on like the media platform, perhaps your retail media is the talk of the industry these days or is it more the analytics that you're anchored on? What do you lean on to continue to leverage and optimize the experience and the business itself?

[D]

I think, I mean the main thing is fba.

[C]

I think so it's fulfillment.

[D]

Yeah, it's fulfillment. Shortening the length of time from the time we make a product to getting into the customer's hands. And Amazon's really efficient at that. So that's the main thing. But then we also, you know, we're part of the SaaS program which has been pretty beneficial.

[C]

Say more about the SaaS program for our listeners.

[D]

That is where we have an Amazon rep and we pay for that. We pay for that service. But it is a person on the inside who's like a direct contact.

[C]

Your champion.

[D]

Yeah, our champion. That that is there to help us succeed. That's their job.

[C]

I remember listing for Frito Lay back in the days and we had it was called some other name. It wasn't called SaaS. It was called something as 2012. And of course we went one P. A little known fact. I won't say secret, but a fact is Amazon's majority of Amazon's volume over 60% is actually third party sellers like yourself. The 1P business is actually less than 40% but the industry doesn't know it and still wants to gravitate to 1P and you're a success story if you do it yourself. You do fba. You lean on the reliable services and tools that Amazon offers. You can indeed crush it and keep growing. But you are in a very crowded wellness therapy kind of space. There are hundreds of players in the space you're competing with. Right. I'm just think just trying to wear your shoes for a second. You're constantly going to have to SEO optimize, make sure your content, your digital content, your pictures, your videos, your used videos is constantly new and up to date. So how do you differentiate in such a crowded space on such a large retailer?

[D]

Yeah, it's very difficult. I think for us we had early mover advantage, so we gained a name and a reputation. Like it's important to me. Our entire mission is to positively impact as many lives as possible. So that's our mission. But one of the ways we do that is just like by being honest and being transparent.

[C]

So the business you're in, transparency is very important because people are actually using your products on their body. And so what kind of transparency are you bringing for your consumers?

[D]

I think just the fact that if we say that that's what's in the bottle and nothing else, that's what's in the bottle.

[C]

Ingredients.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Then talk to us about quality of your in sourced ingredients.

[D]

Quality is, is paramount and that goes along with what we say is in the bottle is in there. Um, but I, but our, our quality process is pretty in depth and the amount of time that it takes to source a product till the time we get it in house is pretty lengthy because of that Process and. But we reject. Almost all of the oils we test get rejected.

[C]

Are you personally involved in that process?

[D]

I am not personally involved unless there's a reason why.

[C]

An anomaly of some sort.

[D]

Yeah, Gotcha.

[C]

Yeah. These days, I feel in this space, especially quality, how you source. Transparency is a big part of the business. Most people think I have to optimize search. But if you got a good product at the end of the day, at the right price points, it's going to win value. Right. So essential oils and wellness products sometimes face skepticism or regulatory scrutiny, and there's a lot of negativity flowing as much as how important those products are for a person and how it can change their daily life. How do you ensure credibility with consumers, which is safety testing, certifications, scientific backing, so that the innovation that you create is as important as a stable assortment out there?

[D]

I think that that comes back to the transparency and like, and just being honest with the consumer. I think there's a lot of negativity there. There has been in the past around essential oils because, first of all, like, most of them were sold through multilevel marketing. And a lot of. A lot of the claims around essential oils were bogus. Like, there's a lot of claims about, you know, curing cancer or like, I can heal you from Ebola. That was a big thing for a little while. And we have. We have never marketed anything like that. We shy away from that completely, I think.

[C]

Is there any essential oils for my 0 into New York Giants to do?

[D]

Say that one more time.

[C]

It's been 10 years since the Giants have had a winning season. Is there any essential oil we can give them to? Just. All I want is. All I want is a 9 and 8 season. I'm not asking for the Super Bowl.

[D]

I wish I could help, man. I wish.

[C]

But going back to what you were saying. Right. So the skepticism based on previous history of stuff. So educate our listeners. When we say essential oil, what are those? What, what, what is that? Give us the names of a few.

[D]

Okay. Yeah. So essential oil basically is the scent extracted out of a plant. So. Got it. And once you're talking like eucalyptus, lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, lemon tea tree. These are. These are some of the most popular.

[C]

And then in plant therapy, the scents come out and then are these lotions. Tell us about the assortment.

[D]

So essential. We sell pure essential oils, just like a small bottle, like a 10 ML bottle or a 30 ML bottle.

[C]

And do people apply that directly to their skin? Do they mix it? How does it Work.

[D]

Yeah, it's kind of inherently a DIY product. You need to do something with it to be able to use it. So yeah, you could dilute it. You could put it in like a diffuser on your countertop just to make.

[C]

You sell those as well or do you recommend a diffuser?

[D]

We sell them as well. Yeah, gotcha.

[C]

And so if someone wanted to try our essential oils, just go to Amazon and type plant therapy. That's pretty much it. And they should be able to find it for sure. So tell us about the assortment. So you said eucalyptus. What else? Lavender.

[D]

Yeah, lavender, lemon, peppermint. And they have, each of those have a little bit different property. Right. So like eucalyptus is really good for. It smells good. It smells strong. It's good for clearing the sinuses. It's good in like a steam shower or something like that. Right. Some of them just smell great, like orange. One of my favorite essential oils. It just smells good. And if, and if you're smelling something that smells good, it just makes you feel better.

[C]

Oh, heck yeah.

[D]

So I think that lavender has calming properties.

[C]

So I've been personally using eucalyptus for God knows how my entire family, especially my kids, they just love it. It seems to be a stress reliever for them. So let's talk about your successful channels. Right. Obviously e commerce Amazon is a big part of what you do. Is it the only way you distribute?

[D]

No, Amazon represents less than half of our sales today. Although we started Strict. We started as an Amazon business. Then we built our.com and D2C. Yep.

[C]

And then what price points are you at?

[D]

We have pricing anywhere from, you know, the essential oils start at probably six or seven dollars for a bottle. So pretty, pretty inexpensive, pretty accessible.

[C]

So there was a time when subscriptions was everything. Do you still lean on subscriptions or is that yesterday's way of life?

[D]

You know, our number one SKU on our website used to be oil of the month subscription. It's not anymore. In fact, we don't even offer that anymore.

[C]

Oh, that's. I was going to ask you, what's the oil of this month?

[D]

Yeah, yeah, we don't. It. That was a unique program where it's like we would, we would sell an oil that was kind of obscure or something that we wouldn't offer normally and not generally available in the market. But as the, as our business is evolving, we're moving more towards ready to use products. So a plant based natural ready to use products like deodorant, body wash, face care. This is hair care. Yeah.

[C]

We've a Couple years, that kind of thing.

[D]

Yeah, well, several years. But we're continually launching new products and. And moving more away from like a DIY type product to a ready to use product that's more consumable.

[C]

Is it like a. More like a Covid trend where people just want shortcuts?

[D]

Yeah, I think DIY was a craze for a while. Everybody, especially during COVID Covid was actually.

[C]

We still like a diffuser.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, it's great. I still run a diffuser too. It's the easiest way to like, scent your home naturally, I think.

[C]

So. I got a. I got a question for you that just came up in my head and is it feasible to put a diffuser in a car?

[D]

It is, yeah.

[C]

Can people do that today?

[D]

Yep. There are several options available. It could be as simple as like a vent clip that you put a little bit of essential oils on. It could be something that plugs in or battery operated. Yeah.

[C]

How awesome, man. So D2C, right?

[B]

What are the pitfall.

[C]

What advice would you give to others who want to follow you from a D2C perspective? Are there pitfalls? Like, I know entry level, price point is important, you're shipping liquid. Are there any challenges with that?

[D]

There are some challenges. And a lot of the essential oils are considered hazmat based on. They are based on the Flashpoint. Yep. Which. And the flashpoint is like, at what temperature does this product become flammable? So there are some.

[C]

Does it mean you have to get licenses from states? So what does that mean if it's hazmat?

[D]

Yeah, I think as far as Amazon is concerned, it's different warehousing. So it's. We have to be part of the hazmat program where it's warehoused in a specific areas or in a specific area.

[C]

But it doesn't restrict you from distributing nationally?

[D]

No, it does not.

[C]

And then D2C, it doesn't restrict you either.

[D]

Correct. Yeah, gotcha.

[C]

And talked about transparency. Right. But again, you're in the business of trust with consumers. Experience, sensory, emotional. These are kind of the things that come to top of mind when it comes to essential oils. And so therefore, you already talked about transparency, but what about community building, education and content? What role do those play in your consumer acquisition strategy?

[D]

Super critical. I think that. So community, I think that people want to buy from somebody that they feel like they know. And so I think an online community is a good way to engage your customers.

[C]

Is that ratings and reviews or do you have your own.

[D]

It's ratings and reviews and it's also social media and just the ways that you get in front of the customers and things like that.

[C]

If someone wants to look up your social media, do they just look up Plant therapy? Everything's just app plant Therapy, TikTok, Instagram, all of the above.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Awesome. And so let's talk about community a little bit more and the role of content in community. Right, so content is on the website, content is on Amazon. Are they homogeneous? Do you have to create more content for D2C? How does that work? And then how often are you refreshing it?

[D]

We have, over the last 11 years, we have refreshed our label look, I think five times. So it's happened, it's happened over and over and we're in the middle of a rebrand right now again. So that is like refreshed content. But also.

[C]

But the name hasn't changed.

[D]

The name hasn't changed. And I think that, I think it's important when you're creating content, you need to create value. That's what's important. So I, it isn't.

[C]

Now more than ever, consumers are looking for value and the definition of value is different. Someone's looking for price, someone's looking for an ingredient. It's just so different.

[D]

And even when I'm talking about value, I'm like in your posts, they need to be, or your emails, like, why does the customer want to open that? You need to provide value to them in that contact.

[C]

Well said. So I'm going to guess here and say that's a big piece of advice you want to give people. You create content value above and beyond anything else. But over the years, 2011, 2025, do you find open rates for emails to have diminished? Are they about the same? Are they improving overall?

[D]

Oh, it just, it just comes and goes. Yeah, it's kind of just depends up and down.

[C]

Is there a season where people want your product like the holidays or is it because you're in the business of essential oils? It's just all your thing.

[D]

It's an all year thing. But they are very giftable and we sell a lot of gift sets and gift, you know, these kind of things that are very popular holiday Items. So yeah, Q4 for us is a big deal.

[C]

A big congrats from the CPG guys because I learned you're a recipient of Amazon's Force for Good award. Tell us what it's about.

[D]

Yeah, the Force for Good is, is awesome. It's just, it's just like validation and recognition from Amazon that we're, that we are A force for good. And part of a big part of our business is our giving back initiatives. And you know, we're, like I said, we're almost 14 years old. And over that 14 years, we've just surpassed $6 million in donations, which I'm super proud of. Yeah. Because what. That's.

[C]

Where do these donations go?

[D]

They go all over. So some of it is, some of it is to individuals. For example, we've paid for a lot of funerals without. Without people even knowing it. We would just go to a funeral home and pay the fees without. And, and most of that is done anonymously. But then there's also lots of, like, charitable organizations. I'm really passionate about helping vulnerable people, improving people's lives.

[C]

That's what it's about.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

That's part of your community role as well.

[D]

Yeah, it is.

[C]

I got to ask you the dirty question.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

There's always margin pressures on the pnl. How are you able to keep up the philanthropy in a challenged P and L, especially in a world since 2023 when volume has been challenged in retail for anybody and everybody?

[D]

Yeah. Yeah. It's really difficult. The, the. For me, I think the biggest thing is that like, we were built because we want to impact lives positively like that. That is who we are in our core and, and in our ethos. And it isn't, it isn't necessarily about how much you can give to charity. I think it's about, like, how much can you impact the people within your little circle. And then if, if I can build you up just a little bit. When we're done with our conversation, if you felt better about yourself than when we started, then I think you will take that and you will, in your interactions with other people, you will help them feel a little bit better. And that ripple effect is like what will change the world. It isn't necessarily about the dollars given out.

[C]

Awesome message given how we're faced in the world today. Let me wrap this up by asking you, how are you using data? Such an important piece of growing innovation, I imagine. Consumer feedback, usage behavior, product reviews to stay out of emerging customer preferences. So many terms come to mind. Clean label, organic fragrance profiles. How are you doing that? Is data part of your DNA or employees DNA?

[D]

Yeah, it is. So there's two pieces of that. One is collecting data and then the other one is actionable insights from that data. And those are. Those are two separate things. And some people are really good at one and not good at the other.

[C]

Very well said. Largest companies in the world are good at one, not both.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Yet they'll say, I'm brilliant at what I do because I have data. But if you don't have insights, what's the have data going to do for you? So tell us more.

[D]

Yeah, I think it's critical your customers will tell you what they want. And I think like, in my opinion, every kind of feedback we can get from customer is a gift and they are taking their time. Even if it's negative. Most often when it's negative, and I assume if there's a negative feedback from one customer, I'm assuming there's at least 10 people that feel the same way and aren't going to say at least 10. And so we really pay attention and listen to our customers. And when they. There's a. There's a feedback channel. Anytime a customer gives us feedback, it shows up in my slack channel. I personally see that every time a customer that's awesome leaves us feedback, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. And if it isn't, we look for a pattern. If it's like one person that's upset, okay, I know there's a few others like that, but if it's like we get the same feedback over and over, there's something there. Their customer is telling us something. We should listen to them and pay attention to that.

[C]

Very well said. Lastly, for other budding entrepreneurs who want to follow in your footsteps, grow a business, want to be philanthropic in nature, what advice would you give them?

[D]

I think that to, to. To be like, to have. As far as the philanthropy piece goes, if it is in your core, if it's like, if you want to do it, you will do it. If you don't want to do it, you might talk about it, but you're not actually going to do it. I think it has to be like innate. You have to like actually really want that to make it work because it's very difficult to balance. We're not a nonprofit and balancing profits with giving back is. Is a constant line we walk. But what I think what our. Our entire team at Plant Therapy is focused on that and focus on that impact. So I think the philanthropy piece, I think is just second nature to us. That is just who we are.

[C]

So congratulations on all the success. Hey, I know this is a busy week for you. Thank you for making time to join us on the CPG guys at Amazon Accelerate 2025. It was a pleasure having you, Chris. Enjoy the rest of the conference.

[D]

Thank you. Appreciate you having me.

[C]

Thank you. That's a wrap.

[D]

Wow.

[B]

What a terrific conversation here at Amazon Accelerate 2025. Let me thank our audience for listening to this wonderful episode. Do leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite listening platform. It informs us how we're doing as well as if we're having the right conversations. To all of you, thank you from Peter and me. You make this show happen to all our sponsors, whether this podcast or parties, at events, hosted dinners, having us speak at panels. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The show doesn't exist without you. That's a wrap. We look forward to speaking with you on the next episode of the CPG Guys.

[C]

Foreign.

[A]

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