Meet Jennifer - The Owner & Director of the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy
Hi!
For those of you who don't know me, I'd like to tell you a little about myself.
My name is Jennifer Wilson. I am a Registered Aromatherapist, owner and founder of Aromatic Elements, LLC, and the new owner and director of the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy.
Public speaking is not my forte, so that is why you are getting this in text instead of video format. Honestly, I am better on paper anyway, and I would much rather be behind a camera than in front of it.
If you are around aromatherapy long enough, eventually someone is going to ask how you were introduced to aromatherapy and why you are interested in it. Everyone has a story. If, like me, you are a big enough sci-fi nerd, we often jokingly refer to it as an "origin story," but mine is not quite that grand.
So here is “My Aromatherapy Why.”
Now, as most people know, South Carolina is not exactly known for being a Mecca for holistic health and alternative therapies. As a matter of fact, if you have ever seen that meme on social media that says, "My favorite essential oil is bacon grease," I'm pretty certain someone from here came up with that.
At least that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
For most of my life, if aromatherapy was ever mentioned, I thought it was just the use of some product (usually Lavender-scented) that had a pleasing or relaxing aroma.
Like many people, when I was first introduced to essential oils through family members in 2014, I had no clue what they were or how to use them. The only thing I knew about aromatherapy was that, occasionally, I would run across some candle, lotion, fragrance oil, etc. that included the term on the label.
Having never been exposed to them before, my first thought when I heard about them was, "You are going to put what where and it is going to do what!? Hahahaha, y'all have done lost your minds!"
Sure, some of them smelled nice, but I really didn't think they could have any real effects other than placebo.
However, a few months after that, I was bitten by something while working in the yard. For days, I dealt with the swelling, pain, and insane itching it caused. I had tried every over-the-counter antihistamine, cream, etc. that I could think of without any relief.
In a last-ditch effort, I rolled some essential oil blend on it that my mom had given me to try for something else. Almost instantly, the itching and pain stopped, and within a few hours, the swelling was almost gone. By the next morning, I couldn't even tell it had ever been there.
After that, I was totally hooked and wanted to learn everything about them.
Of course, I also wanted to tell everyone about my experience and what I was learning. However, I usually received one of two reactions when I mentioned them. (Remember: South Carolina and bacon grease.)
Usually, they either looked at me like I drank the Kool-Aid in some wellness cult and I was going to kidnap them into it, and make them eat kale all day, or they thought I was going to try and sell them something and were having a bad Amway flashback. Either way, they were usually trying to get away as quickly as possible.
It took a few years, but finally, most people have realized that even though I totally went a little crazy going down this rabbit hole, I am still me. I am not even close to being considered “crunchy”. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just isn't me. Think home fries, not carrot sticks.
On the crunchy scale, I am considered floppy. Seriously . . . I took a quiz once.
In all seriousness, though, (and you may have heard all this before) when I started learning about aromatherapy, I couldn't even begin to imagine the massive amount of information on the subject.
With all of the misinformation out there, it took me over 6 months just to find resources that could help me with the answers that I was searching for. I finally received help when someone was kind enough to take the time and reach out to me. Not only did she answer my questions, but she also told me who else I needed to pay attention to for more answers. For this, I am forever grateful, as I am not sure where I would be now if it had not been for that valuable information.
Since then, my goal has been to pay that act of kindness forward so that, hopefully, I can make that journey easier for others who have an interest in learning more about aromatherapy. That is why I started Aromatic Elements and why I am here.
It is also important to me that everyone knows that, as a professional aromatherapist, I did not learn (and continue to learn) what I know in a vacuum.
While there are times that I have a lot to say and blaze my own trail, it is always with the help of what I have learned from those who have gone before me and/or who walk beside me. There are also times I feel like there are others who have written something that I could not have said better myself.
All of these reasons are why I share as much as I can from other industry professionals on my social media pages (especially the Aromatic Elements Facebook page), as well as in the references and additional resources sections of my blog articles and courses.
If you want to know anything else, please feel free to ask me!
Learn more about Jennifer
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