The Scentsy Story
Scentsy began in 2003 with the powerfully simple idea of aromatic candles – decorative warmers with wax melted by the heat of a light bulb instead of a traditional wick and flame. Colette Gunnell and Kara Egan, Scentsy’s founders, shared enthusiasm for the idea. From this idea, they created a partnership and Scentsy was born.
Enter Orville Thompson, who first encountered Scentsy at a home show in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2004. When Orville saw the candles made by this tiny Utah company, he immediately knew they had huge potential.
Sensing there was something special about the wickless candle concept, he brought a handful of testers home to his wife, Heidi, and her mother and sister. After introducing them to the testers, he left them alone. When he returned an hour later, the women were still smelling the testers, laughing and sharing memories.
Orville and Heidi were intrigued by how smelling different scents brought powerful emotions and memories to the surface, and how natural it was to share those feelings and memories with others.
Within months, Orville and Heidi purchased Scentsy from Kara and Colette, bringing the tiny company to Idaho where its first home was literally a metal box. Orville had a 40-foot ocean shipping container on his small sheep farm, which housed Scentsy’s manufacturing and shipping operations for several months.
Orville and Heidi decided to market and sell Scentsy products directly to consumers through home parties. On July 1, 2004, Scentsy signed its first Consultant and officially became a direct selling “Party Plan” company.
Now celebrating its sixth anniversary, Scentsy is a recognized industry-leading company. In 2009 the Direct Selling Association awarded Scentsy its highest honor available to young companies, the Rising Star Award, for its growth and commitment to ethical business practices. In 2010, it was ranked 19th on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing privately held companies, and number one on the Inc. 500 list of consumer products and services companies.
With more than 70,000 active Independent Scentsy Consultants throughout North America, Puerto Rico, Guam and Canada, Scentsy is poised to lead the industry for the next five years and beyond.
What began in 2004 as a simple idea has truly grown into something extraordinary, as Scentsy continues to touch thousands of lives in profound ways.
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