Born and raised in Western Pennsylvania, Audre’s early life was driven by her aspirations and desire to explore broader horizons. Despite living in a small community with limited options, she was armored with strong values that significantly shaped her journey to seeking life beyond expectations and preconceptions on her career path. In this exclusive interview, we delve into her story as a trailblazer, change agent, advocate for fairness, and learn how she embraced upon a whole new world with Wisdom of the Earth.
Can you tell us more about your upbringing in Western Pennsylvania and how it shaped your early aspirations?
I think my upbringing in Western PA shaped two things: definitely my aspirations, but also my values and self-perception. In terms of the latter, the community was generally one of hard-working, middle-class families of modest means. I grew up in a small town, attended a public school with small classes (Class of ‘67 was under 200 students), and the culture was very diverse in terms of Central European countries, but not so much with regard to other religions (Catholicisim was dominant) and ethnicities (white culture was dominant). It was, overall, a very friendly community… people greeted you on the street even if they didn’t know you. When people asked you “How are you”? They were really interested in your answer. That small-town, Western Pennsylvania culture shaped me significantly.
In terms of my aspirations, there was little professional opportunity in an area dominated by steel mills and other manufacturing facilities. There was little information provided by school counselors to a young woman who had excelled academically (I graduated fourth in my class) and in terms of class leadership (I was named to participate as one of two representatives from the state of Pennsylvania in “Girls State”, a civic educational and leadership program), other than “become a secretary, a teacher or a nurse”. That was the only guidance I received, and I could not augment that with any of my own observations, for women in the area typically did one of those two professional occupations, or were secretaries in the offices of the manufacturing businesses. So, quite frankly, my driving aspiration was to complete college and leave the area to see what other options might be available to me.
What motivated you to pursue a teaching career initially, despite your interest in other fields?
Interestingly, I went to Slippery Rock State College because it was affordable, and because it was geographically near the school I really wanted to attend: Grove City College, a private liberal arts institution. I literally felt that it would be easier to physically transfer to a college that was under 10 miles from my current location. But, as life and luck would have it, as I became more familiar with Slippery Rock… attending classes, becoming involved in student government, and experiencing the campus life there…my desire to transfer weakened to the point that I committed myself to my experience there, and never looked back. The other interesting point is that, during my time at Slippery Rock, their educational emphasis broadened, and they began to offer an undergraduate liberal arts degree in my Senior year. So, in fact, I graduated with a BA in English and Sociology in 1971.
How did your experience at Slippery Rock State College influence both your personal and professional growth?
In terms of my personal growth, it was another opportunity to be a “big fish in a little pond”, similar to what my high school experience was. So my leadership and scholarship were recognized in any number of ways. For example, I was accepted in the top academic social sorority on campus (Sigma Sigma Sigma), where I held numerous leadership roles, and named one of two Outstanding Women of Slippery Rock State College in my junior year. I am not doubting the validity of those examples, but just being realistic in surmising that there may have been more competition for those types of recognition in a larger and more elite college or university.
Professionally, the role models represented in both the faculty and administrative staff were first-rate. The emphasis on excellence, coupled with sincere interest in and support of the individual, made a huge impact on me. I remember some of my teachers in high school instilling fear that “when you get to college you will just be a number” and “your professors are not going to coddle you… You will have to make it on your own.”
Nothing could have been further from the truth at SRSC. Professors, for the most part, were highly accessible to their students, kept regular office hours to provide needed support, and really acted as mentors. Yes, there were some exceptions, but this was literally the norm at Slippery Rock. I remember one situation where I felt I needed to turn to the President of the college for advice, based on some remarks he had made in a group meeting I attended. I was able to meet with him privately, and he was quite helpful in addressing the situation at hand, personally following up on options he had outlined, etc. It was an experience I will never forget and one which deeply influenced my own management style.
Could you share more about your journey and rewarding experiences working with the Educational Testing Service (ETS)?
I have often remarked that I was very fortunate to have my first professional employment opportunity at Educational Testing Service (ETS). It was a quasi-academic institution that modeled high professional standards, the importance of collegiality, and the value of continued education. I had the privilege of working with the team who was addressing Ralph Nader’s concerns about standardized test discrimination and creating initiatives designed to redress that issue. I was also named as staff to a New Jersey Commission on the Community College system, which was charged with making recommendations to the Governor on improved access and opportunity for students in that system, with a special emphasis on minority students. I authored the Commission’s report, which was very well received, and led to significant policy and program changes in the community college system.
I attained my Master’s Degree at Trenton State College (now the College of New Jersey) while working full-time at ETS and graduated Magna Cum Laude. A few years later, I was encouraged by my colleagues at ETS to undertake doctoral studies at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. My major was Organization and Management Theory. Due to my experiences at ETS, I was fascinated with the role of organizations in shaping people’s lives, and the role of people in shaping organizations. I was eager to learn more about management and organizational behavior and bring that learning to the business environment.
What led you to decide to leave the Wharton School of Business without completing your PhD, and how did that decision impact your career trajectory?
After completing 90% of the doctoral coursework, and identifying the topic for my PhD dissertation, I was faced with a huge career choice. I had been contacted about a great career opportunity in NYC at the national headquarters of Coopers & Lybrand (C&L), one of the then “Big 8” international public accounting firms. They were searching for a Director of Human Resources Planning, and I realized, after some initial discussions with them, that this was the “dream job” I would have sought upon receiving my PhD. This role involved conducting organizational research with the objective of creating Human Resources policies and programs that would be implemented firm-wide.
We got to the point of a very generous job offer, but it had one catch. I had to leave the doctoral program at Wharton, as the job was full-time and very demanding, and they did not feel it could be balanced with continued PhD study. After much thought, I accepted the position and left Wharton with the infamous “ABD” degree – “All But Dissertation”. I never regretted that decision, as it opened the door to an HR role that had a direct impact on how the company was run with regard to their most valuable asset – people.
How did your time at Coopers & Lybrand help you develop your views on organizational management and employee care?
The fact that public accounting is all about certifying the integrity of a company’s financial records… upon which many key decisions are made… naturally translated into a company culture that emphasized honesty and integrity. That resonated powerfully with me. However, the irony was that, at that time, there was not a high value placed on retaining employees. They were seen as an expendable resource, and that high turnover was just a “cost of doing business”. Through my research on employee turnover and staff utilization, which began to educate executive management on the financial and organizational benefit of employee retention, we were able to create policies and programs that increased the retention of women in the Firm and identified creative recruitment and training programs to attract higher quality personnel, who could effectively progress to the level of Partner. Our efforts were recognized industry-wide, and one study resulted in an article published in Issues in Accounting Education (1989) entitled “Square Pegs in Round Holes: Are Accounting Students Well-suited to Today’s Accounting Profession?”
My work at C&L underscored for me the importance of creating HR policies that were not only financially viable, but also resulted in higher employee satisfaction, as demonstrated by employee retention results and higher-performing employees.
What role has your family played in supporting your career, and how have you balanced your professional and personal life over the years?
My family has been supportive of my work, and without that, I think my successes would have been hollow. I was committed to finding a balance across all of the priorities in my life… becoming the best person I could be, contributing to society via my profession, and being a role model for my children. My “hack”, as we would call it now days, was to never let one leg of that three-legged stool dominate. If family had to “give” at one point, then work had to give at another point. To participate in volunteer or civic efforts, I found something that I could involve my family in. I took vacations (I knew people who hadn’t taken their vacation in years), I let my kids visit my place of work so they could picture where I was when I wasn’t with them. I explained to them when I had to be absent because of an important professional commitment. So I was always honest, my goal was balance, and wherever I was, I gave 100%.
What inspired you to transition from a corporate career to starting Wisdom of the Earth?
For many years, I had a dream to get “closer to nature”…to have chickens like my grandmother did, to deepen my connection to both the unseen and the natural worlds. The realization of that dream started innocently in late 1996, when my career, which had always been stimulating and rewarding, had begun to sour. The company I was working for at that time had been acquired, integrated, and then spun-off, all in a matter of a few years. My highly-respected boss had been replaced, and it was like a roller-coaster, except the ups and downs weren’t very much fun. Being VP of Human Resources, I dealt with the human side of these changes…many of which were NOT positive. The mixed messages and the focus on market share and stock price, at the expense of the people who were the heart of the business, began to take its toll on me – physically, emotionally and spiritually.
I will make quite a long story short. Because of the physical problems the stress was causing, I had begun getting physical therapy treatments. While at a week-long global management meeting in Philadelphia, I arranged for a massage therapist to work on my aching neck and shoulders. Fate sent Barry Kapp, armed with great massage skills and essential oils. I had never heard the term “essential oils”, so when he proposed using them in the treatment, I asked the simple question…“What are they?” He put Frankincense and Galbanum under my nose… and for anyone who knows what they smell like…well, let’s just say that I found them VERY pungent, and told him “NO.” After all, in a short while I had to meet with 150 of my global peers, and could not imagine myself smelling like that! To his credit, Barry persisted, and after three tries, I relented, on the condition that he “use something people have heard of… like lavender or orange.”
The rest is history. Twelve hours later, I was driving home, happily singing in Philadelphia’s rush hour traffic. I was filled with joy. I was euphoric. Having been the beneficiary of numerous massages, I knew it was more than the physical treatment…I knew it was the essences he had used in the treatment. I pulled out the business card he had given to me, called him to report the incredible results of the massage, and our professional relationship and friendship began. How often does a single experience open up a whole new world to you? Change the direction of the rest of your life? My introduction to essential oils was just that. All I knew was that I wanted to feel that aliveness, that joy, again. It was more than the relief of pain, though it certainly was that. It was also feeling a connection to the wisdom, love and support of the natural world that I had been sorely lacking in my life. The price of admission to that world was not cheap…I had to change many things about my life and in my life… job, relationships, world-view. But, though the changes were difficult, each one brought me a step closer to my authentic self.
In the months and years that followed, Barry and I created Wisdom of the Earth (WOTE), a beautiful company that provides pure plant and tree essences to those seeking “the real deal” in aromatherapy. We relocated the business to Arizona in 2001 and dedicated ourselves to teaching others about the healing power of the plants and trees, and sourcing some of the most powerful, pure essential oils available on the planet.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when establishing Wisdom of the Earth, and how did you overcome them?
Looking back, I have to first acknowledge a strength upon which the foundation of our company was built…our similarities and our complementary skill-sets. Barry had extensive knowledge about natural healing and essential oils. He had also been a solo entrepreneur. I had extensive education, teaching experience, management experience, computer skills and financial management skills. As people, we were very similar… dedicated to a goal, hard-working, creative, and we had significant mutual respect for each other. As such, we could, and would, listen to each other’s point of view or concerns.
With my background in Organization Development, we very consciously created a list of values around which we designed our company. Then, every decision regarding products and services we wished to offer was tested against, and designed to support, the values we had outlined. So, for example, one value was education. In support of that, we designed classes in aromatherapy, we provided significantly more information on our bottle label than was typical in our industry, and we created a Reference Guide to our line of oils. Also in keeping with that value, we only offered single essences, since most companies were offering blends, as our philosophy was that we preferred to educate our customers about the benefits and properties of essential oils instead of just giving them a blend for headaches or digestion. We would teach them which essential oils were helpful for those conditions and teach them how to use them either singly or together.
In terms of challenges, we identified numerous health-related conferences or expositions throughout the US and traveled there to speak at the seminars and have a booth where people could experience our essential oils and learn about how to use them. They could also sign up to attend our classes, and through these and other initiatives, we gradually built the business nationwide. This was grueling work, and we did it for many years, but it was through personal experience that people felt the difference between our oils and those offered by other companies. Not by reading about them, but, like me, so many years before, experiencing them and feeling how different they felt when they applied them. Word spread, and our classes began to be filled with yoga teachers, massage therapists, chiropractors and others who learned how to use the oils with their students and clients, who then became customers.
With the retirement of your co-founder, Barry Kapp, how has your vision for the future of Wisdom of the Earth evolved?
In the past five years, I have introduced e-commerce to the company, and that has greatly expanded our reach. We also have embraced teaching via Zoom classes, which we probably would not have attempted if we had not been forced to with the advent of Covid. As it turned out, we became very creative in how to do our “hands on” classes via the Internet, and our Zoom classes have become as popular as our in-person offerings. We found ways to create a very meaningful experience in a different way, and that has been very exciting. In fact, it has enabled us to reach more people in a highly cost-effective way, so people who couldn’t travel, or who could not afford the cost of the class and travel/accommodations to study with us in AZ, can now fully participate in our classes.
Wisdom of the Earth has also embraced Social Media, which was not a significant part of our marketing before. So I would say that we are embracing the changes that all companies are facing with regard to communication and finding the options that fit us in terms of our traditional clientele (women 30-65) as well as younger people seeking more earth-friendly and natural wellness options. We are seeing great interest among younger audiences, and feel good about introducing them to plant and tree essential oils that can offer great benefits to them. We are also partnering with a number of young entrepreneurs to introduce our oils to their audiences.
Can you explain the philosophy behind Wisdom of the Earth’s commitment to single pure essences and hand-poured oils?
First of all, in keeping with our commitment to education, learning the myriad of therapeutic properties one single essential oil can have is quite an eye opener for many people. So instead of saying “Use this blend for headaches”, we will advise a client on numerous essential oils, like Peppermint, Basil, Lavender or Marjoram, that are excellent for headaches. Of course, then we also ask questions to get to the “why” of the headaches. Is it eye strain from too much computer work? Stress? Worry? Exploring patterns of causality lead us to which of the options will likely work most effectively for them. They can then make an informed choice about which one they feel will work best for their situation and budget. We conclude with an overview of other health benefits of the essential oil they have chosen, so that they can use it for other health and wellness purposes.
About that issue of budget! Price does equate to quality in aromatherapy. If an essential oil is pure, and is not blended with carrier oils or other essential oils, it will not be inexpensive. In aromatherapy, you do get what you pay for. However, there can be a significant variation in the price of high quality oils recommended for the same health problem. For example, our Organic Peppermint, mentioned above, is less costly than our least expensive Lavender. Our large selection of oils gives people numerous options within a broad price range.
You ask about our commitment to hand-pouring…which is an absolute rarity in our industry. Our hand-pouring is really a signature aspect of our business. I prefer to use human beings to hand pour our essential oils, rather than machines. We believe it maintains the human-plant connection through this end point of the essential oil process. The hand pouring is done over natural materials…marble slabs… set into wooden tabletops, within copper rings on the marble. This utilization of natural Earth materials in the pouring process enhances the energy, the vibration of our oils. People remark all of the time how vibrant our oils are, and how alive they feel. Part of that is hand-pouring. Also, we work with farmers who care, who love what they do and who seek to do good on the planet. They provide us with a pure, vibrant oil. Our personal and individual attention to the oil as it is being poured continues that intimate process.
In that vein, let me tell you a quick story about a new lavender supplier I found in Greece. I had never sourced a lavender from Greece, and I was quite excited about it. After sampling the oil, I was convinced that it deserved a place in our product portfolio. I arranged to purchase a substantial amount. I waited for the invoice, and was surprised to receive a tracking notice that the lavender was going to be delivered on such and such day. I contacted the farmer, and said “I see that the Lavender oil is on its way… please tell me how you want to be paid.” He said “When you receive the oil and you love it, I will tell you how to pay me.” I was floored… we had never done business together before, and he was treating me like a trusted, long-term client. That is the kind of supplier I look for… mutual love for the plants, for the oils, and mutual respect and care for each other.
What strategies have you found most effective in educating others about the healing properties of essential oils?
As I alluded to earlier, there is no substitute for personal experience. When people at our Tester Bar apply one of our oils to their heart or wrists, that is when the “wow factor” occurs. So, as mentioned, in the early days of the company, we built the business by having a booth at key holistic health events, speaking at those events, and offering the opportunity for people to experience our Wisdom of the Earth line of oils.
Fast forward to today, when I no longer feel called to stand on a cement floor for 10 hours a day, I am constantly exploring ways to reach out to people that take advantage of the many on-line and virtual tools now available. That being said, many of those in our network of Master Distributors, who have studied with us, and most of whom are certified to teach our Level I Foundational Aromatherapy Certification Class, still enjoy and benefit from participating in the face to face opportunity offered at Holistic Health Fairs, Natural Product Expos, etc. However, I am enjoying creating videos or posts for our website or platforms like TikTok, Instagram, FaceBook, etc.
It is exciting how many people you can reach globally, and create an intimate, personal feeling across thousands of miles via Zoom and other on-line meeting platforms. We have developed “AromaKits” for such classes or presentations which contain samples of the essential oils we will be discussing, so we have been able to create that experiential component even when we are in virtual, instead of actual, groups.
Finally, I also send out a periodic e-news to subscribers called “Words of Wisdom”, where I teach about particular oils, or share essences that are particularly effective for certain health issues or emotional issues. We gave Covid-related tips… how to strengthen your immune system to help you avoid contracting Covid, as well as how to use oils to ease the symptoms of Covid… when that was on everyone’s mind. I shared a number of findings from researchers around the world on essences found to be effective for those purposes. I also post these e-news pieces on the website for those who do not receive it automatically.
What advice would you give to readers who are pursuing their dreams or career paths?
Always align your career path with what you love, what you are passionate about. That expressed passion, through what you do, how you do it, and whom you target as your audience, will be felt by those you reach, and will set you apart from those who are choosing a career primarily for the money or to take advantage of a current fad. I have always felt “Do what you love…the money will follow.” And I am living that belief. Always be your authentic self. Always. The more you practice that, the clearer your decisions on the choices that confront you will be. Something that is perfect for someone else may not be perfect for you. Only you can determine that. Interestingly, and this is rarely, if ever, talked about…I am convinced that using pure essential oils on a regular basis brings you to your authentic self. It’s as though Nature will not let you accept anything less. It is a beautiful, if sometimes challenging, process of growth. And, always care. I will close with one of my favorite quotes:
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible.
– Ronnie Oldham
How can people stay connected with Audre Gutierrez and get updates on the latest developments at Wisdom of the Earth?
Our website, www.wisdomoftheearth.com, is a great place to start. As I mentioned, my periodic e-news posts are compiled there, upcoming classes taught by me and my other WOTE colleagues throughout the country and globally are announced, and our entire line of beautiful essential oils and related products are shown, with information about each one.
We also have a Facebook page (facebook.com/WOTEFB), an Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/aromas.by.wote), and a TikTok account (https://www.tiktok.com/@aromas.by.wote).
I am happy to receive emails directed to audre@wisdomoftheearth.com, and texts at 928-300-5090.
Our Wisdom of the Earth office number is 928-649-9968. We are located near beautiful Sedona, AZ, so stop by if you are in the area! Our office/store hours are M-F from 8:30 am-4pm.
It’s clear that Audre Gutierrez’s legacy is not just in her professional achievements but in the profound impact she has made on those around her. Her journey reminds us of the power of staying true to one’s values and the transformative potential of combining passion with perseverance. We extend our appreciation to Audre, for sharing her remarkable story and for being a source of inspiration. We look forward to seeing you and Wisdom of the Earth continue to make a difference in the world. For another meaningful discussion, drop your comments, thoughts, or questions below. We’re excited to know which parts of Audre’s story resonated with you or get you inspired.
